Students at the Indian Community School (ICS) in Franklin, Wis., have learned firsthand that they can foster meaningful change. Starting in 2016, fourth-graders at the K-8 school in Franklin initiated a grassroots campaign to get Indigenous Peoples’ Day recognized in Milwaukee County on the second Monday in October, on what is federally designated as Columbus Day. After generating enthusiastic support within their school and beyond, that goal was achieved in December 2016, when the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution to that effect. Then, ICS students turned their attention to gaining statewide recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Although that effort was stymied at numerous turns, ICS students did not give up.
After Milwaukee County Supervisor Felesia A. Martin was elected in 2018, she was inspired to introduce a resolution to rename 10-acre Columbus Park, which is located in her district on Milwaukee’s northwest side (at 7301 W. Courtland Ave.). That initiative, approved by the County Board this year, culminated in last week’s dedication of Indigenous Peoples’ Park. Milwaukee’s Common Council also passed a resolution last week recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day within the City of Milwaukee.
At a spirited, well-attended celebration on Monday, Oct. 14, members of the ICS community took center stage as they spoke, sang and drummed before the park’s new sign was unveiled. Jason Dropik, head of the school, emceed the celebration. Chief Clayton Winneshiek of the Ho-Chunk Nation, accompanied by numerous politicians involved in various phases of the many-pronged effort, also spoke. A repeated refrain was, “This is just the beginning” of recognizing contributions of indigenous people in the region and state.
Learning by Engaging
Around 2014, longtime fourth-grade teacher Allison Jornlin began annually teaching a segment at Indian Community School about how Indigenous Peoples’ Day was starting to be honored in many places. Such efforts sought to balance one-sided and misleading narratives about Christopher Columbus and the “founding” of the United States of America.
Photo credit: Dave Zylstra
Allison Jornlin is a former teacher at Indian Community School.
“That really ignited a spark in my class in 2016,” Jornlin said. “They wanted such a day recognized in Milwaukee. The whole class got fired up and wanted to learn more” about what it would take to make that happen. They believed, “We can do this,” even though they were only nine years old, she said.
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The students set out to learn together about how government works. They invited Milwaukee County Supervisor John F. Weishan Jr. to visit their class to explain the legislative process: how resolutions are written, introduced, reviewed and ultimately voted upon.
Jornlin said that students then “studied a ton of resolutions about Indigenous Peoples’ Day” that had been approved in other communities. After analyzing those documents, they chose language they liked and also drafted original text relevant to their greater Milwaukee community. The final draft wove a detailed narrative about indigenous history locally and nationwide.
Weishan agreed to introduce the resolution, and students attended the Personnel Committee hearing when it was reviewed and unanimously approved that November. Several students “were brave enough to testify at the hearing,” said Jornlin. Students wrote their own “heartfelt statements, which came together easily for the students, since it meant so much to them,” said Jornlin. They also wrote many letters urging support of the resolution.
As they prepared for the meeting of the full county board, students took an innovative—and ambitious—approach. Since the public could not speak when the full board deliberates, students decided to create “support mosaics.” Each student carried a different poster with affirmative statements and photos enlisted from over 100 individuals from nearby and around the world. When the vote was called, the entire class stood and silently held their posters. The resolution passed 16-1. The meeting’s invocation had been read in both Ojibwe and English by Michael Zimmerman Jr., who teaches the Ojibwe language at ICS.
The Long Road to Statewide Recognition
In 2017, state Rep. David Bowen of Milwaukee introduced a bill in the state legislature, for the second time, to create Indigenous Peoples’ Day statewide. He was invited to ICS to engage with students about the issue. During that visit, he urged them to attend a “Lobby Day” for the bill at the state Capitol in November 2017. All students from third grade and higher traveled to Madison for the day. Dozens of students spoke before microphones on behalf of the proposed legislation. A YouTube video of the students’ testimony displays their poise, persuasiveness and thoughtful research. Many introduced themselves first in their native language. Students acknowledged that native peoples, their language and culture are not extinct. “We are still here,” declared one student.
Jornlin said that even though that state bill was defeated, “students saw it all as a learning process.” That made it even sweeter early this month when Gov. Tony Evers used an executive order to create Indigenous Peoples’ Day on the second Monday in October throughout Wisconsin, which will coincide with the federal Columbus Day. He chose to visit ICS to make that announcement and “to meet the students who had worked long and hard to help make that happen,” said Jornlin. Although she left ICS after 13 years to pursue writing and history projects, Jornlin was delighted that the effort continued and that the park was also renamed. The Indian Community School has a long history of activism since its founding 50 years ago. “It's an amazing testament to what can happen when you believe in kids because they don’t have to wait until they are adults to make a change,” Jornlin said.
As for Indigenous Peoples’ Park, proposals have been floated to interpret tribal history there in some manner, including how the park came to be renamed and the Indian Community School students’ campaign to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day. One idea is to plant trees honoring tribal ancestors and the fact that “native land in Southeastern Wisconsin was taken from the Ho-Chunk, Menominee and Potawatomi for the building of our current community.”
