2023-24 Great Michigan Read
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
This year EMU is participating in the Great Michigan Read. This year’s book, Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley, is free to download as an audiobook or ebook at the Read Michigan website until October 18. (We have given away all of our free copies.)
Every other year, Michigan Humanities' Great Michigan Read creates a statewide discussion around a Michigan-themed book. The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and the Eastern Michigan Writing Project (EMWP) are partnering with the Great Michigan Read to invite the EMU community to read and discuss Angeline Boulley’s best-selling, award-winning debut novel. Boulley is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and she writes about her Ojibwe community in Firekeeper’s Daughter and the companion novel, Warrior Girl Unearthed.
Please join us for Book Chats & Crafts!
This fun and light-hearted group will chat about themes from Firekeeper's Daughter while enjoying camaraderie and creativity with fellow book-lovers!
Meeting Schedule:
- Thursday, October 12th, 4:30-6:00, Intersections Room (2nd floor Student Center) - No prior reading necessary; Painting miniature birdhouses! DISCUSSION TOPIC - Reading love & the “I couldn’t put it down” book
- Thursday, October 26th, 4:30-6:00, Intersections Room - Discussing chapters 1-15; Decorating cookies! DISCUSSION TOPIC(S) - Why do we call them “crushes” & identity/belonging
- Thursday, November 9th, 4:30-6:00, Intersections Room - Discussing chapters 16-26; Adult coloring pages! DISCUSSION TOPIC(S) - Will they, won’t they & cracking the mystery
- Thursday, November 16, 4:30-6:00, Intersections Room - Discussing chapters 27-39; Making lip scrub! DISCUSSION TOPIC(S) - Broken promises & love stories
- Thursday, November 30, 4:30-6:00, Intersections Room - Discussing chapters 40-57; Mocktails and friendship bracelets! DISCUSSION TOPIC(S) - Spill it! What did you think?
Hosted by the Eastern Michigan Writing Program (EMWP) in its partnership with the Great Michigan Read and in collaboration with EMU's Women’s Resource Center (WRC).
More upcoming events presenting Indigenous history and culture:
Eric Hemenway, Director of Repatriation, Archives and Records for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, will give two presentations as part of the History Speaker Series:
“The System of Civilization: The Indian Boarding Schools” on Thursday, October 19th at 4 p.m. in Strong 100. This talk will look at the policies, ideologies and actions that helped to create the Indian Boarding School system in the United States and the lasting impact these schools had on Native American peoples. It will focus on the Odawa of Northern Michigan.
“Incorporating Indigenous Sources and Topics into Your Courses” (for faculty and future teachers) on Friday, October 20 at 11 a.m. in Halle Library’s Faculty Development Center. Native populations are often left out of the American narrative yet the tribal nations of this continent have shaped and influenced the story of every single inch of land in this country. This session will give help educators weave in native history into the classroom, with examples of primary sources, topics and historical events that have significant, native participation. The focus will be on the Anishnaabek of Michigan.
William Johnson, Interim Director of the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways, will deliver a talk, "Boarding School and Back Home" for the Star Lecture Series. Johnson will speak about the “emotional roller coaster when we begin to learn more about the history of the boarding school era and what that meant for our mothers and our fathers and our grandmothers and our aunties to be assimilated into the white culture, to lose their language and their culture – as we learn about it, those difficulties affect us in our daily lives. A lot of times it’s difficult to work on the project, but we have a solemn duty to make that history known and to use it to educate others.” November 15, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m., on Zoom.
Michelle Lietz, Ypsi Yaqui poet and EMU alum, will lead a workshop, “Celebrate Native American Indian Heritage Month,” presented by YpsiWrites and the Ypsilanti District Library. Participants in this workshop will learn about Indigenous understandings of the universe, which influence the art of storytelling and narrative through various examples of poems and stories by Native American authors. This workshop will explore ways of ethically engaging in cultural exchange while giving participants a chance to try out poetic and fiction forms and devices that make use of repetition. Saturday, November 18, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. via Zoom Register here.