Potawatomi Food Traditions

Presented by Madalene Big Bear as part of Great Michigan Read programming at the Parchment Community Library.

Madalene Big Bear, a citizen of the Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi Indians nation, is a highly engaged Géknomaget of Indian Country. For over fifteen years, she has dedicated herself to the preservation and advancement of Bodwéwadmi customs and traditions. In particular, Madalene anchors her work to the key obiective of creating safe spaces within her nation’s homelands where Native people can thrive as distinct and autonomous shepherds of this land. Indeed, she is a staunch advocate for the return to community living within each distinct nation’s cultural boundaries.

Madalene cultivates pivotal relationships through her community service, like chairing Anishinaabe Circle, an urban Indian nonprofit organization serving the Grand Rapids, Michigan Native population. It is Madalene’s relationship building that often results in the dissemination of culture, both to reinvigorate the broader tribal communities’ sacred identity and to circumspectly expose the non-native community to nurture respect and allyship.

Join us on Monday, February 12 at 6:00 p.m. to discuss the Great Michigan Read book, Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley. Click HERE for more information.

The 2023-24 Great Michigan Read is presented by Michigan Humanities and supported by national, statewide, and local partners, including the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Meijer Foundation, Library of Michigan, Image Creative Group, BiblioBoard, and Michigan Radio Reads.