SOU to host 40th annual Oregon Indian Education Association conference
NEWS RELEASE (available online at https://goo.gl/8Ot59R)
(Ashland, Ore.) — The Oregon Indian Education Association’s 40th annual conference, to be held April 20 and 21 at Southern Oregon University, will feature a special presentation by tribal attorney Tara Houska, the national campaigns director for Honor the Earth and Native American affairs advisor last year to Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
The conference, “Radical Hope and Indigenous Futures: Native Knowledge Transforming Oregon Indian Education,” is sponsored by SOU’s Native American Studies and affiliate programs. Registration for the full, two-day conference is $120 for the general public and $75 for students and elders, but SOU students will be admitted free to most of the event’s various presentations. Admission rates for portions of the conference are available on the OIEA website.
Those who attend the conference may choose among 18 presentations during four sessions on Thursday and seven presentations during two sessions on Friday. A film festival will be held Thursday evening. The conference will seek to incorporate indigenous knowledge into public education and promote quality educational services to Native American students and their families.
Houska, who is a citizen of the Couchiching First Nation, practices as a tribal attorney in Washington, D.C. Her talk will be during a special luncheon session on Thursday.
The OIEA emphasizes that teaching Native American histories and contemporary issues at every level of public education benefits all students by encouraging them to engage with their regions, cultivate civic engagement and learn to be responsible global citizens.
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