Wikipedia

Brenda Child

Brenda J. Child (born 1959) is an Ojibwe historian and author.

Brenda J. Child
Child in 2016
Born1959
Occupation(s)Historian, Author, Educator
Academic background
Alma mater
ThesisA bitter lesson : Native Americans and the government boarding school experience, 1890–1940 (1993)
Academic advisorsLinda K. Kerber
Academic work
DisciplineAmerican Indian History, Indigenous Education
Sub-disciplineTwentieth-century Ojibwe history of the Great Lakes
InstitutionsUniversity of Minnesota
Doctoral studentsPatricia Marroquin Norby
Websitehttps://cla.umn.edu/about/directory/profile/child011

Early life and education

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Child was born on the Red Lake Ojibwe Reservation (Miskwaagamiiwizaag'igan) in Northern Minnesota in 1959. She is a citizen of the Red Lake band of Chippewa and a historian.[1]

Child received a Bachelor of Arts in history and social studies from Bemidji State University, a Master of Arts in history from the University of Iowa (1983), and a Doctor of Philosophy in history from the University of Iowa (1993).[2]

Biography

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Child is Northrop Professor of American Studies at the University of Minnesota.[2] Her scholarship focuses on American Indian history, including the legacy of American Indian boarding schools in the United States,[3] the role of Ojibwe women in preserving culture,[4] Indigenous education, social history,[5] and the historical legacy of the jingle dress.[6][7][8] She also published an award-winning children's book, Bowwow Powwow Bagosenjige-niimi’idim.[9] She served as president of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association from 2017 to 2018.

Child has worked closely with several museums and heritage organizations, including the Minnesota Historical Society.[10] She was a trustee of the National Museum of the American Indian Smithsonian where she served on the Repatriation Committee, Executive Committee, and the Scholarship and Collections Committee from 2013 to 2019.[11] Additionally, Child offered her expertise for the Heard Museum as a consultant during the creation of the exhibit, Remembering our Indian School Days.[12] In 2022, Child was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her work.[13]

Child served on the Constitutional Reform Committee of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, of which she is a member, to write a new constitution for the tribe.[2][14]

Scholarship

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Child's research and scholarship focuses on Ojibwe history. She has also curated museum exhibits and contributed to public history efforts, including co-founding the Ojibwe People's Dictionary with John Nichols.[15] In 2019 Child curated an exhibit about the legacy of the jingle dress titled, Ziibaask'iganagooday: The Jingle Dress at 100.[16][17][18] Dr. Child is currently working on a new book entitled, The Marriage Blanket: Love, Violence and the Law in Indian Country.[19]

Selected works

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  • "Relative Sovereignty: Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl”, in Fight of the Century: Writers Reflect on 100 Years of Landmark ACLU Cases, eds. Michael Chabon & Ayelet Waldman, (New York, Simon & Schuster, 268–279, 2020)
  • Bowwow Powwow: Bagosenjige-niimi’idim, trans. Gordon Jourdain, illus. Jonathan Thunder (Saint Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2018)
  • My Grandfather’s Knocking Sticks: Ojibwe Family Life and Labor on the Reservation (Saint Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2014)
  • Indian Subjects: Hemispheric Perspectives on the History of Indigenous Education, with Brian Klopotek (Santa Fe: School of Advanced Research Press, 2014)
  • Holding Our World Together: Ojibwe Women and the Survival of Community (New York: The Penguin Library in American Indian History, 2012)
  • "Politically Purposeful Work: Ojibwe Women’s Labor and Leadership in Postwar Minneapolis,” in Indigenous Women and Work: From Labor to Activism, ed. Carol Williams, University of Illinois Press, 240–253.
  • “The Absence of Indigenous Histories in Ken Burns’ The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” The Public Historian, Vol 33, No 2, May 2011, 24–29.[20]
  • "I’ve Done My Share: Ojibwe People and World War II,” with Karissa White, Minnesota History, Volume 6, Issue 5, 196-207, 2009.
  • “Wilma’s Jingle Dress: Ojibwe Women and Healing in the Early Twentieth Century,” in Reflections on American Indian History: Honoring the Past. Building a Future, edited by Albert L. Hurtado with an introduction by Wilma Mankiller (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2008) 113–136.
  • Away From Home: American Indian Boarding School Experiences, 1879–2000, eds. Margaret Archuleta, Brenda J. Child, and K. Tsianina Lomawaima. (Phoenix: The Heard Museum, 2000).
  • Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900–1940 (Lincoln: The University of Nebraska Press,1998).
  • “The Runaways: Student Rebellion at Flandreau and Haskell,” Journal of American Indian Education, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, Vol. 35, No. 3, Spring, 1996, 49–57.
  • “Homesickness, Illness and Death: Native American Girls in Government Boarding Schools,” in Women of Color and the Experience of Health and Illness, eds. Barbara Bair and Susan Cayleff, (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1993) 169- 179.
  • "A bitter lesson: Native Americans and the government boarding school experience, 1890–1940." PhD thesis. University of Iowa, 1993.

Awards

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  • Guggenheim Fellowship Award (2022-23)[19]
  • American Indian Youth Literature Award, Best Picture Book (ALA) (2020)[21][9][22]
  • AASLH Award of Merit for Leadership in History (2016)[23][24]
  • American Indian Book Award (Labriola National American Indian Data Center) (2014)[25]
  • Best Book in Midwestern History (Midwestern Historical Association) (2014)[10]
  • North American Indian Prose Award (1995)[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Holding Our World Together". Kirkus Reviews. December 4, 2011. Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "Brenda Child". College of Liberal Arts. University of Minnesota. Archived from the original on December 30, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  3. ^ Child, Brenda J (2012). Boarding school seasons: American Indian families, 1900–1940. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6405-2. OCLC 869214214.
  4. ^ Child, Brenda J (2012). Holding our world together: Ojibwe women and the survival of community. New York: Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-02324-0. OCLC 733230611.
  5. ^ National Museum of the American Indian (March 18, 2016). "Strong Women/Strong Nations 2: Brenda Child". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  6. ^ Child, Brenda J. (December 18, 2020). "Born in Minnesota, the Ojibwe tradition of jingle dress dancing brings healing". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on January 1, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  7. ^ Child, Brenda J. (May 28, 2020). "Opinion | When Art Is Medicine". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  8. ^ College of Letters and Science, Montana State University. "Western Lands & Peoples: Perspectives on the American West Lecture Series, Brenda Child". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 6, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  9. ^ a b León, Concepción de (January 27, 2020). "Graphic Novel Wins Newbery Medal for the First Time". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 28, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Brenda Child". Native American and African American Education in Kansas, 1830-1960. December 12, 2016. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  11. ^ "Brenda Child". Native American and African American Education in Kansas, 1830-1960. December 12, 2016. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  12. ^ "Brenda Child". Native American and African American Education in Kansas, 1830-1960. December 12, 2016. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  13. ^ "Professor Brenda Child Awarded 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship". University of Minnesota. April 20, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  14. ^ "Brenda Child: The Red Lake Nation: Laying a Solid Foundation for Constitutional Reform | NNI Database". nnigovernance.arizona.edu. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  15. ^ "The Ojibwe People's Dictionary". ojibwe.lib.umn.edu. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  16. ^ "Ziibaaska' iganagooday: The Jingle Dress at 100 Exhibit". Explore Minnesota. Archived from the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  17. ^ "New Exhibit Explores the History of the Ojibwe Jingle Dress and Marks Its 100th Anniversary". Minnesota Historical Society. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  18. ^ "Jingle Dress Dancers in the Modern World: Ojibwe People & Pandemics". | College of Liberal Arts. September 10, 2020. Archived from the original on December 30, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  19. ^ a b "Brenda J. Child". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  20. ^ Child, Brenda J. (2011). "The Absence of Indigenous Histories in Ken Burns's The National Parks: America's Best Idea". The Public Historian. 33 (2): 24–29. doi:10.1525/tph.2011.33.2.24. ISSN 0272-3433. JSTOR 10.1525/tph.2011.33.2.24. Archived from the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  21. ^ "Twin Cities writers honored with American Library Association Youth Media Awards". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  22. ^ "Bowwow Powwow: Bagosenjige-niimi'idim". American Indian Library Association. Archived from the original on December 14, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  23. ^ Author, AASLH Contributing. "AASLH Announces 2016 Leadership in History Award Winners". AASLH. Retrieved September 11, 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  24. ^ Author, AASLH Contributing. "My Grandfather's Knocking Sticks: Ojibwe Family Life and Labor on the Reservation". AASLH. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  25. ^ "Labriola Center American Indian National Book Award | ASU Library". lib.asu.edu. Archived from the original on January 12, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
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