Jens Jensen Day in Evanston 2024

Recentering the Land and the People

Celebrate Jens Jensen Day in Evanston by learning about the Potawatomi people, the first stewards of the land.

Join this year’s celebration of Jens Jensen Day in Evanston, at which we will shift our focus away from Jensen and focus on the Potawatomi people who were the original stewards of the land.

Our guests and presenters for the day will be Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick, Chair Person of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation; Susan L. Kelsey, Board President, Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, author,
and filmmaker, most recently of the film The Negotiator: Billy Caldwell, which tells the story of the exile of the Potawatomi and other native nations from the Midwest in the 1830s; and Sharon Hoogstraten, photographer and author of Dancing for my Tribe, Potawatomi Tradition in the New Millennium, a powerful record of how “tribal members are translating traditional designs into their own artistic celebration of continuing existence, lighting the path forward for the next seven generations.” 

Come to learn the story of the land on which Evanston’s Jens Jensen garden sits today, and stay to learn about how today’s land stewardship will restore aspects of the natural world that existed before Europeans arrived, even as we acknowledge, document, and strive to undo the harms that surround its recent history.

We will meet outside on the east side of the Evanston Public Library (1703 Orrington) at 8:30 am where a bus will take us to Jens Jensen Gardens in Evanston at Lighthouse Park. Buses will return to the library around 12:00 pm. In the afternoon, beginning at 1:15 pm, we will move into the Community Meeting Room in the library for an abridged screening of Susan Kelsey’s film, followed by a panel discussion with our three guests.

All are welcome! Please reserve your spot by emailing info@jjge.org so we can get an idea of how many people will be riding the bus. 

Presented by Jens Jensen Gardens in Evanston and the Evanston Public Library.

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