Courtney M. Leonard (Shinnecock, b.1980) is an artist and filmmaker, who has contributed to the Offshore Art movement. Leonard’s current work embodies the multiple definitions of “breach”, an exploration and documentation of historical ties to water, whale and material sustainability. In collaboration with national and international museums, cultural institutions, and indigenous communities in North America, New Zealand, Nova Scotia, and the United States Embassies, Leonard’s practice investigates narratives of cultural viability as a reflection of environmental record.

Dr. Kate Beane (Flandreau Santee Sioux Dakota and Muscogee Creek) holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She is the Executive Director of the Minnesota Museum of American Art, and serves as adjunct faculty in American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. She is vice chair of the board for Vision Maker Media, a national organization based out of Nebraska, chair of the board for Wakan Tipi Awayankapi in St. Paul (Imnizaska), and in 2020 was appointed by Governor Walz to serve on the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board (CAAPB), which oversees Capitol complex preservation and development (including public art) in downtown St. Paul.  Previously, Kate served on the leadership team at the Minnesota Historical Team where she was the director of Native American Initiatives engaging with both Native communities and tribes and advocating for and implementing Indigenous interpretation and involvement at historic sites throughout the state. In 2018 Kate and her father Syd Beane completed a documentary film, Ohiyesa: The Soul of an Indian, which shares the story of  her grandfather, writer, reformer, and physician Charles A. Eastman and in 2019 she presented a Minneapolis TEDX talk titled “The Lasting Legacy of Place Names,” which spoke to her family’s work restoring the Dakota name to Bde Maka Ska in south Minneapolis (Bdeota).

Moderator: Dr. Roxanne Biidabinokwe Gould (Kitchiwikwendong Anishinaabe) is a professor emerita of Indigenous Education and Environmental Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Her work includes projects and research throughout the Indigenous world with a focus on Indigenous education, land and water justice, restorative practice, traditional ecological knowledge and environmental sustainability. Her international experience includes work with Indigenous women’s cooperatives in Guatemala, leading educators and students for decolonization travel seminars to Namibia, Guatemala, Mexico and Bolivia.  During her work with Bolivia, Roxanne facilitated a three-year agreement with Bolivia’s Ministry of Decolonization and the Phillips Indian Educators to work collaboratively on issues of climate change, education, health, well-being and culture.  Her community work includes serving as founder of the Indigenous Women’s Water Sisterhood, and co-founder of the Bdote Learning Center, a place-based Dakota and Ojibwe language immersion school. She also serves on the governing council of Makoce Ikikcupi, a Dakota land justice project, as founder and elder council member for Dream of Wild Health, a Native food sovereignty project, and on the Indigenous Round Table for the Science Museum of Minnesota.