Here’s a great way to spend Indigenous Peoples’ Day this Monday! Mark you calendar to attend in person or watch via livestream link (below).
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY
Leah Slick-Driscoll and Stephanie BadSoldier Snow discuss efforts the Meskwaki Nation of Iowa are making to elevate Native peoples, especially students, in the areas of food and language. Culture for the Meskwaki is both a deep source of pride and an important place to contest modern day legacies of colonialism. On this Indigenous Peoples Day, they advocate for a better, less oppressive world, in which sovereignty and revitalization are advanced through celebrated and longstanding “indigenizing” practices.
Leah Slick-Driscoll is a member of the Meskwaki Nation of Iowa (Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa) and is also Winnebago from Nebraska as well as a member of the Wolf Clan. She received her B.A.s in History and Social Studies Education from the University of Iowa in 2009. She received her M.A. in Social Studies Education from the University of Iowa in 2014, along with a certificate in American Indian/Native Studies. She has been honored to teach 9-12th grade social studies at the Meskwaki Settlement School since 2009. She has a passion for Native American history and Indigenous Studies. She loves to research and get involved in issues that affect Native American people today, and to give her students opportunities to research and be a part in solving these issues. Moreover, Slick-Driscoll has worked closely as a guest speaker and contributor to the Social Studies Education department of Grinnell College under Dr. Debra Michaels, the University of Iowa History department under Dr. Jacki Rand, and at Iowa State University under Dr. Katy Swalwell. She is a guest speaker and presenter in the areas of Social Studies education and American Indian History and literature and has contributed writing pieces to the book (RE)PRESENT: Racism and Resistance in Iowa, concerning the Meskwaki Settlement School and Meskwaki sovereignty and land reclamation. In addition, she leads a simulation she created on Native perspectives for history students, social workers, teachers, and those in the public health field. The simulation is included in both the University of Iowa’s “Iowa Native Spaces” website and publication, and in the book, Social Studies for a Better World: An Anti-Oppressive Approach for Elementary Educators by Noreen Naseem Rodriguez and Katy Swallwell. Slick-Driscoll has seven children and three grandchildren.
Ms. Stephanie BadSoldier Snow is the Education Coordinator for the Meskwaki Nation. She was raised on the Meskwaki Settlement with traditional Meskwaki beliefs and language and is a member of the Swan Clan. She is an enrolled member of the Ho Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. Along with her Meskwaki and HoChunk heritage, Stephanie is also Lakota and Umohon. As an independent scholar and public speaker, Stephanie presents at schools, colleges and universities, for corporate organizations and at diversity conferences. As a performer in a local Native American song, storytelling and dance troupe she’s also had the opportunity to work with acclaimed Native American artists, performers and actors. Research in healing Individual Trauma and Historical Trauma through “indigenizing” the diet and physical activity, as well as reconnecting through ceremony, is among the many interests she pursues. As assistant to the director of Meskwaki Historical Preservation and Museum, Stephanie was directly involved in the inception of the Meskwaki Food Sovereignty Initiative in 2012, and worked closely with the program for years, including representing the Meskwaki Nation at the National Conference for Women in Sustainable Agriculture in 2013. Since 2008, Stephanie has been involved in the Meskwaki Anthropological Symposium as a committee member and speaker/presenter/facilitator. Ms. BadSoldier Snow earned a B.A. degree in Anthropology with an independent focus in Native American Studies.
Indigenous Strength: Food Sovereignty and Language Revitalization
MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2025
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY
Also Streaming Online at: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/cu/nAa5q5W
Hosted by ICFRC board member Eunjung Kim