Community Day: Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum & Block Museum

Save the date for a festive day exploring the Block Museum of Art and the Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum in celebration of exhibitions Woven Being: Art for Zhegagoynak / Chicagoland and Living Stories: Contemporary Woodland Native American Art. Shuttles will run between each museum from 12-5pm, so that attendees can easily attend events at both museums. Enjoy open galleries, storytelling and scavenger hunt activities, and more. 

Co-presented with the Block Museum of Art.  

For full schedule and to RSVP, visit https://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/events/2025/community-day-gichigamiin-indigenous-nations-museum-block-museum.html.

Contact The Block Museum of Art: (847) 491-4000 or email us at block-museum@northwestern.edu

Contact Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum: (847) 475-0911 or email us at info@gichigamiin.org

Full schedule of activities:

Free shuttles between the Block and the Gichigamiin depart from each museum every 30 minutes at 12:00, 12:30, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 2:30, 3:00, 3:30, 4:00, 4:30, and 5:00 pm. There is also free parking on Northwestern’s campus and at the Gichigamiin. 

At the Gichigamiin:

The Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum is located at 3001 Central Street in north Evanston.  It will be open from 10 am-5 pm.

10:30 am-11:30 am: Storybook reading by author Maria DesJarlait (Arikara)

Maria “White cedar woman” Des Jarlait is an indigenous woman from the Arikara tribe of Fort Berthold reservation in North Dakota and Ojibwe from Red Lake, Minnesota. She was raised on the reservation in North Dakota and went on to college in Chicago, IL where she earned her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and English as a second language. She teaches preschool in Illinois, where she has seen the need for books that represent Native American children as people of today. She writes her books based on her experiences as a child with her grandmother and her two daughters’ experiences with their adventurous grandmother Peggy as well. She hopes to inspire more Native American children to dream big. 

1:00 pm-2:00 pm: Artist talk by muralist Sergio Ceron (Otomi-Pame)

Sergio Ceron is from Elgin,IL. He comes from the Otomi-Pame peoples of central Mexico.  He is a powwow singer, beader, painter, tattoo artist,feather worker and bone carver. “Growing up in what is traditionally Great Lakes indigenous land, I feel a responsibility to give thanks to those spirits through my art and incorporate them into my life. I seek to preserve the old craft culture of my ancestors and apply them and the teachings they hold in today’s world. Tlazohcamati (thank you).”

At the Block:

The Block Museum of Art is located at 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston, IL 60208 and will be open from 12-5pm. 

12:00 pm-1:00 pm: Storybook reading with Terra Foundation Woven Being Fellows, Teagan Harris (Cherokee) and Marisa Cruz Branco (Isleta Pueblo/Portuguese)

3:00-4:00 pm: Artist talk by Nora Moore Lloyd (Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe) 

Nora Moore Lloyd (Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe, born 1947) was trained as a photographer and videographer. She works in multiple mediums to create artworks that document the stories of Indigenous elders and to connect with cultural practices related to harvesting birch bark and wild rice. Nora has been an active member of Chicago’s Native American community for decades. 

At the Aloha Center:

The Aloha Center is located in the annex building next door to the Gichigamiin, at 3009 Central Street.

1:00 pm-1:30 pm: Haki Kino hula class

1:45 pm-2:15 pm: Powere Uke lesson

2:30 pm-3:00 pm: Keiki ‘Ohe Kapala children’s workshop