Jeneile Luebke, PhD, RN and Brian McInnes (School of Human Ecology) were awarded a Reilly-Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment grant to support the project, Anishina be-Mishtadimoons Inawendiwin – Restoring and Awakening the Cultural and Ecological Context. Baldwin grants are funded through generous gifts to the UW-Madison from Ira and Ineva Reilly Baldwin. The primary goals of the project are to develop an Indigenous-informed equine-related research protocol that: (1) uncovers the Lac La Croix pony’s deep historical and cultural significance to First Nations peoples; (2) restores relations with the spiritual history of the Lac La Croix Indigenous Ponies through reclaiming Ojibwe language storytelling traditions; and (3) creates product materials to educate communities and students about the importance of traditional Ojibwe horse society, and people’s relationship to them, and emphasis of land-based healing and resiliency building.
The investigative team includes an all Anishinaabe team including PIs Dr. Jeneile Luebke/Noojimo’iwekwe and Brian McInnes/Waabishki-makwa (Associate Professor, Civil Society, and Community Studies, UW-Madison School of Human Ecology), and co-I Dr. Emily Loerzel/Mino-naadamaage-kwe (recent PhD graduate of UW-Seattle and The Humble Horse operations manager and founder). Other community partners include The Humble Horse and the Great Lakes Intertribal Council, Mole Lake Tribe, Grey Raven Ranch, and the Ojibwe Horse Society, which is the international “mother” organization of Ojibwe horses that deals with record keeping and global community communication on Ojibwe horse caretakers and enthusiasts, Darcy Whitecrow, an Indigenous author and founder of the Grey Raven Ranch. The total award is $119,357 and is administered through the School of Nursing.