Overview

The Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative (CAICC) is pleased to announce the 9th Annual Urban Native Education Conference on March 7-8, 2025. We are excited to host this year’s conference at the Newberry Library with the support of the D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies. This conference is free and open to the public. 

Weaving Worlds: Collaborating X Communities

Chicago (Zhegagoynak – via Pokagon Band of Potawatomi) is a place of woven worlds. For thousands of years, Native communities have traversed waterways and trails and converged on the shores of Lake Michigan to gather, trade, and build relations with one another. This connection is reflected in our theme for the 9th Annual Urban Native Education Conference: Weaving Worlds: Collaborating X Communities.

This year’s theme celebrates the intricate, transformative work of education, broadly construed, as a collaborative act of creation. Our conference theme invites presenters and participants alike to consider the numerous ways we are linked and how this is reflected in collaborations across communities that build a brighter tomorrow for future generations. Our theme explores the connections between ancestors and descendants, understanding that the past and future are woven together in the present. Through this lens, weaving becomes a metaphor for confluence, coalition, and community.

The image of the woven X guides us to a place of confluence, a point of intersection that reinforces and binds, symbolizing the strength found in unity. A dynamic intersection of ideas and perspectives, where we come together not as a monolith but as a collective of many different lived experiences to build something greater with intention and purpose, demonstrating the power of different strands coming together for shared goals without canceling or erasing our differences.

Our diverse collaborations take root within urban intertribal communities, expand as we build across nations and places, flourish beyond as we partner with dedicated allies committed to the work, and foster representation across multiple spectrums, past, present, and future. Our theme asks us to consider the many ways we are weaving old, new, and remembered traditions together to create stronger communities throughout Indian Country.

We invite Native American and Indigenous community leaders, knowledge keepers and scholars, students, educators, youth, administrators, helpers and staff of educational programs, organizations and institutions, from Chicago-land and beyond to share their experiences and the wisdom they have gained in creating educational opportunities to prepare future generations of Indigenous leaders to inherit a world ripe with possibility.

We encourage presenters to imagine this theme in an expansive way and hope that folks will easily see how their work is weaving the worlds of tomorrow through their unique collaborations across different communities. If you are unsure how your work fits within the theme, we encourage you to still submit as all topics related to Indigenous knowledge systems will be considered.

Through the exchange of strategies, tools, and research for Native American education in urban communities, our goal is for attendees to engage in meaningful discourse, and come away feeling hopeful and inspired by thought-provoking ideas shared from our collective community. And then, like many of our ancestors who traversed lands and waterways from one camp to another, we want attendees to respectfully steward their newly gained knowledge home to share with their communities.

The mission of the CAICC Education Committee is to provide, advocate and support an inter-tribal urban system of education, through networks of Native American Programs and other providers to increase academic and career success for multi-generations that recognizes formal education and tribal cultures/traditions.

We hope you will propose a presentation for the 9th Annual Urban Native Education Conference. We are thrilled to learn from and engage with you.

Conference Details

Venue Location: Newberry Library Chicago (60 West Walton Street, Chicago, Illinois 60610)
Date/Time: March 8, 2025, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Registration has ended If you missed the chance to register for both events beforehand, don’t worry. On-site registration will be available.

Parking:
Both events will be held at the Newberry Library, located at 60 W Walton St, Chicago, IL 60610. Free parking is available for all attendees. There are two options for parking:

1. Park in the Newberry’s back lot off of Oak St. No pass or ticket is required to park here, though space is limited.
2. Park in the Newberry’s partner garage located at 100 W Chestnut St. This garage is about a four-minute walk from the Newberry. The garage will provide you with a ticket. Please bring that with you to the conference, as conference organizers will provide you with a voucher to use upon exiting the garage.

For a detailed agenda and additional conference details, including speakers, sessions, and logistics, please click on the link to view our Conference Program.

Call for Volunteers: If you’re interested, please sign up to volunteer at the conference. https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/71947998096/true#/invitation We appreciate your support.

Become A Sponsor

Gain valuable exposure for your brand and help us ensure the success of our 9th Annual Urban Native Education Conference by becoming a sponsor!

Want to build valuable connections with Indigenous and Indigenous-serving educators, youth, elders, community members, and organizations and reinforce your commitment to advancing urban Native communities? Become a sponsor for the eighth annual conference! We appreciate your support and participation more than ever to ensure a highly valuable and successful conference experience for all.

We rely on our volunteers, sponsors and fundraising to make all that we do possible. With your support and participation, we are able to increase awareness of urban Native American educational issues, share ideas and knowledge, create community and support the mission of the CAICC Education Committee. Please consider becoming a sponsor. We appreciate your ongoing, generous support!

Questions? Please contact Aaron Golding at [email protected] or Haku Blaisdell at [email protected].