Join College of Western Idaho's (CWI) Anthropology Club, Inclusive Excellence Committee, School of Social Science and Public Affairs, and School of Arts and Humanities as we honor Indigenous Peoples Day at the Nampa Campus Academic Building Monday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m.
The entire CWI community is invited to join us for refreshments and a presentation led by Indigenous community members, followed by a thoughtful, interactive conversation.
Indigenous-Led Education Through Relationships
No one person, organization, or institution is responsible for the solutions to complex policy issues such as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP). Solutions to this issue present themselves when we, as community members, build relationships with our Indigenous relatives who are impacted by missing or murdered loved ones. Jillian Putra, Brooke Putra, and Mel Fillmore model community engagement to address important questions surrounding the future of Indigenous-led policy in Idaho.
Presenters:
- Melanie Fillmore (they/them/she/her) – Fillmore is an urban mixed Hunkpapa, Lakota of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota. As a seeker of the beloved community, their work is an iterative process to understand the impacts of imperialism, settler-colonialism, and violence against marginalized communities in data. They envision the future of community-led policy research rooted in ancestral wisdom of lived collective experiences. Fillmore holds a master’s degree in Political Science and a graduate certificate in User Experience Research. They are currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Public Policy and Administration Program at the School of Public Service at Boise State University. Their dissertation work centers on Indigenous peoples leading a collaboration to understand Idaho's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons policy.
- Jillian Putra – Putra is Shoshone-Paiute Chippewa Cree and is an enrolled member of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation. She is an alumnus of Boise State University and has a Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management from Western Governors University. She has worked in integrated healthcare technologies for the last nine years and is employed by a large healthcare organization in Idaho. She is a 2023 Conservation Voters of Idaho fellow which promotes diversity in Idaho boards and commissions. She values cultural practices, land protection, justice, and efforts to decolonize Indigenous communities.
- Brooke Putra – Putra is a part of the Shoshone-Paiute and Chippewa-Cree Tribes and an enrolled member of the Shoshone Paiute tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation. Putra has worked in Special Education/Behavior Intervention for the last four years. She has a degree in Sociology from Boise State University. During her time on campus, she introduced the first Red Dress Exhibit on campus at the 2018 Tunnel of Oppression and also wrote the resolution to have Indigenous Peoples Day recognized at Boise State in 2016. Putra currently sits on a committee at Boise State committed to creating a land acknowledgment for the University.
Nampa Campus Academic Building (NCAB), 102E
This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be available prior to the event.
The State of Idaho has officially recognized the day since 2019 when Governor Brad Little issued a proclamation declaring every second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
For those with questions or in need of more information, please contact Nikki Gorrell at nikkigorrell@cwi.edu.
