Living with Treaties: The 1817 Project, the University of Michigan, and the Western Expansion of the United States
Michigan Union and Palmer Commons
The Living with Treaties: The 1817 Project, the University of Michigan, and the Western Expansion of the United States conference will explore the role of treaties in the development of both the University of Michigan and the state of Michigan, while considering how their effects continue to resonate locally, regionally, and nationally today for an Indigenous present and future.
The conference will bring together members of Anishinaabe Tribal communities; U-M faculty, staff, and students; K-12 educators; scholars; tribal historians; and community activists for roundtable discussions, panels, and workshops that aim to inform and connect with non-specialist audiences.
The Living with Treaties: The 1817 Project, the University of Michigan, and the Western Expansion of the United States Conference is part of The 1817 Project: Land, Culture, Memory, and Repair, one of the major research initiatives of the University of Michigan’s Inclusive History Project. Led by Eric Hemenway, Bethany Hughes, and Michael Witgen, The 1817 Project is a multi-disciplinary examination of the foundational land transfer by the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Boodewaadamii nations in the 1817 Treaty of Fort Meigs (also known as the Treaty of the Maumee Rapids), which was part of the University of Michigan’s 1817 origins in Detroit and subsequent relocation to Ann Arbor, as well the university’s ongoing connections to Indigenous land and contemporary issues of Native American student experience. Learn more about The 1817 Project.
The conference is free and open to all, and will be livestreamed and recorded. Registration is encouraged but not required.