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48th Annual Benefit
You’re Invited to the Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum
48th Annual Benefit
Come spend an evening with Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum at the PALM House in Evanston, to celebrate our 48th Annual Benefit. We will reflect on the progress made across the region to uplift Great Lakes Indigenous cultures and will be joined in conversation with our guest of honor, Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass. As our premiere fundraiser, this immersive evening offers the best of Native American cuisine and entertainment.
Date: Saturday, November 8, 2025
Time: 5:00pm VIP Reception, 6:00pm – 9:00pm Gala
Guest of Honor: Robin Wall Kimmerer, author
Location: Palmhouse, 619 Howard Street, Evanston, IL 60202
Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, which has earned Kimmerer wide acclaim. Her first book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing, and her other work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and numerous scientific journals. In 2022, Braiding Sweetgrass was adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith. This new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth’s oldest teachers: the plants around us. Robin’s newest book, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World (November 2024), is a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world.
Robin tours widely and has been featured on NPR’s On Being with Krista Tippett and in 2015 addressed the general assembly of the United Nations on the topic of “Healing Our Relationship with Nature.” Kimmerer is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, whose mission is to create programs which draw on the wisdom of both indigenous and scientific knowledge for our shared goals of sustainability. In 2022 she was named a MacArthur Fellow.
As a writer and a scientist, her interests in restoration include not only restoration of ecological communities, but restoration of our relationships to land. She holds a BS in Botany from SUNY ESF, an MS and PhD in Botany from the University of Wisconsin and is the author of numerous scientific papers on plant ecology, bryophyte ecology, traditional knowledge and restoration ecology. As a writer and a scientist, her interests in restoration include not only restoration of ecological communities, but restoration of our relationships to land. She lives on an old farm in upstate New York, tending gardens both cultivated and wild. https://www.robinwallkimmerer.com/
48th Annual Benefit
Schedule of Events
Featured Chefs
Arlie Doxtator
Menu
Cedar Smoked Lake Trout and Pickled Onions
Roasted 3 Sisters Hash
Roasted Corn and Squash pudding
Bio
Arlie Doxtator has been known as an Indigenous professional chef for nearly 40 years in the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin. Over the past 20 years, he has conducted research on many of the Indigenous foods of the Lotinuhsyoni, also known as the People of the Long House, with an emphasis on Oneida Nation-specific foods and cooking techniques, particularly cooking in Lotinuhsho=ni Clay pots.
He has worked wth the Oneida Cultural Department and world-renowned Mohawk clay pot makers, and others from the Six Nations, to reintroduce their Indigenous foods and cooking
techniques to his people and shares his journey of Shiakwa>shutlané yukwakkwa> reconnecting to our foods. He has mentored younger generations of Original Peoples’ chefs and culinarians and advocated for those who have taken the call to secure food sovereignty in Indigenous Nations across Turtle Island. You can find him working in the gardens, presenting at Native food summits, or cooking alongside some of the best cooks in Lotinuhsyo=ni=Conderacy, preparing meals for the recitation of The Great Law of Peace and the constitution of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and doing outreach work for the Oneida Nation.
Mikiya Alloway
Menu
Apple Cider Braised Buffalo
Fall Harvest Wild Rice Pilaf
Carrot & Apple Salad
Bio
Chef Mikiya Alloway Is a breakout indigenous culinary artist representing the Potawatomi/Menominee/Oneida and Winnebago nations. Her spirit name, Wawasmok, means ‘lightening,’ which aptly reflects her passionate and energetic personality.
Earning her degree from Escoffier School of Culinary Arts in 2023, Mikiya’s technique for infusing traditional culture into her craft has propelled her into a successful and popular catering business.
In 2023, Mikiya became the founder and owner of Wild Plume, a unique culinary experience that incorporates cultural and ancestral ingredients into innovative recipe development. Her unique recipe development approach, combining traditional culture with modern techniques, has garnered attention for private and intimate gatherings and large events of over 350 attendees, demonstrating her ability to deliver exceptional fine dining experiences at scale.
Mikiya draws inspiration from her Native American roots and is especially passionate about empowering Indigenous youth in the culinary industry. Broadly, she aims to demonstrate a pathway
for the next generation of chefs to embrace their traditional culture and make their mark in the culinary world.
Make a charitable donation to support the Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum and celebrate the work of Robin Wall Kimmerer and others to promote Indigenous land stewardship practices and traditional ecological knowledge.
Become A Sponsor
Interested in becoming a sponsor to showcase your commitment to cultural responsiveness and help uplift and elevate Indigenous voices? We have a plenty of options for sponsors to participate in our 48th Annual Benefit and become one of our committed partners.
We offer sponsorship opportunities ranging from $1,000 to $10,000, each tailored to demonstrate your dedication to increasing the visibility of Indigenous perspectives and environmental sustainability. To discuss how we can tailor a sponsorship package that aligns with your objectives, please contact Joseph Gackstetter at jgackstetter@gichigamiin.org.
Current Sponsors
