John Trudell Lecture in Native American Studies

The 2025 John Trudell Lecture in Native American Studies will be by Janelle Whipple on April 8 at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’ Community Engagement Center Rooms 230/231.

Topic: Since time immemorial Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples have enjoyed a deep-rooted kinship connection with our plant relatives. Plants have been our food source, our medicine, and an important source of mental clarity that has helped us maintain balance. It is our collective responsibility to continue to nurture that harmony between us and the natural world, with whom we have kinship obligations. Therefore, a foundation of our continued wellbeing and a pillar of our human rights as Indigenous Peoples means securing access to and knowledge about our plant relatives within our Native communities for all the generations to come.

Dispossession of our homelands and assimilationist policies endangered these precious relationships in the past. If we are further prevented from keeping that knowledge alive our relatives—both plant and human—will suffer. Hence, we need to hold space for learning or re-learning our plant medicines; by knowing how to look for them, how to harvest and process them appropriately, and how and when to administer them responsibly. This knowledge should and will be preserved within our kin groups and communities, yet we should guard against those who might misappropriate our traditional knowledge for their own gain. Outside our communities, we seek allies to ensure our rights will be recognized to continue to harvest our special plants and use them openly.

About the lecturer: Janelle Whipple (Santee/Ponca) is a dedicated professional and scholar with a rich background in Native American education, leadership, and community service. She is completing her doctoral studies in Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University. Janelle also holds an MA in Tribal Administration and Governance from the University of Minnesota Duluth. In addition to her expertise in Tribal Nation building and federal Indian Law and policy, Janelle possesses a deep interest in traditional ecological knowledge and plant medicines.