Wunk Sheek, UW-Madison’s “only organization that can speak for the indigenous voices on campus,” received eligibility for funding from the Associated Students of Madison Student Services Finance Committee Thursday to finance enduring cultural traditions and the development of new programming.
Wunk Sheek’s largest events are the month-long Native November campaign and the annual On Wisconsin Spring Powwow.
The powwow is Wunk Sheek’s largest event and the largest student-run program at the university. According to the organization, the over-40-year-old powwow serves to bring together UW-Madison and indigenous communities.
Due to difficulty finding a venue, last year’s powwow was held at the Alliant Energy Center. While Wunk Sheek provided bus transportation, the location raised concerns from SSFC Vice Chair David Morel regarding student attendance and accessibility.
“One of the core requirements for core programs is that 75 percent of the beneficiaries are students, so we want to make sure that all the events meet that criteria,” Morel said.
According to Wunk Sheek, the organization reached out to UW-Madison Athletics to perhaps secure the Kohl Center as a location, but was told that none of the facilities can accommodate the projected 8,000 attendees for this year’s powwow.
According to Morel, SSFC would readily work with the organization to push for an on-campus location for the 2018 powwow.
Representative Samuel Park added that Wunk Sheek’s programs provide UW-Madison students with unique opportunities they would not otherwise receive, pointing to the organization’s education on indigenous culture and history.
“There is no programming on the university that even recognizes these types of things, so I think Wunk Sheek is a very necessary organization on this campus,” Park said.
Wunk Sheek is also in the process of developing its new Indigenous Workshop and Dialogue and Discussion series.
The Indigenous Workshop series is a per-request continuation of the crafting workshops during Native November.
“It builds a certain community when you guys can connect with beading something, or appliquéing something or making corn-husk dolls and sharing that story,” said Faith, a member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians and co-president of internal relations for Wunk Sheek. “You’re building a community within Madison.”
Dialogue and Discussion will hold conversations regarding issues within the indigenous community and foster civic knowledge and engagement within UW-Madison and indigenous communities, specifically in light of an incident of discrimination that occurred at Dejope Residence Hall last spring.
“We want people to see that we are here, we’re not in the history books, that there’s still many more ways to live in contemporary native America,” Faith said. “You’re not just living in America. You’re living in the contemporary, the now, the here, and we want to share that with the whole campus.”
Madeline Heim contributed to this report.
