The University of Illinois is not renewing their contract with the school’s first associate vice chancellor for Native affairs. Associate Vice Chancellor Jacki Rand said it’s part of a larger problem Native faculty and students face.
Illinois has remains belonging to about 13,000 individuals.
The law requires teachers to cover contemporary Native American history and urban communities like Chicago.
Six figures dance across a set of old documents at the Spurlock Museum at the University of Illinois. This is called ledger art, and it’s part of a new exhibit about modern Native American culture called “Welcome to the Pow-wow.”
The show is part of a growing movement to heal past harms committed against Native Americans. Other efforts include a bill requiring Native American history in public schools and new commitment by the University of Illinois to repatriate ancestral remains.
Measure passed House last month.
Despite being in an untenured position, Jenny Davis took a risk. She persuaded the University of Illinois to establish an office dedicated to implementing the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is one of many universities behind in repatriating Native American ancestral remains — as required by law.