Native American attorney Carly Bad Heart Bull to deliver Carleton convocation

Carly Bad Heart Bull, a Native American lawyer, teacher and advocate, will deliver Carleton College’s weekly convocation address on Friday, Nov. 8, from 10:50-11:50 a.m. in the Skinner Memorial Chapel. In her presentation, titled, “A Lasting Legacy: Acknowledging Dakota Resiliency in Mni Sota,” Bad Heart Bull will discuss the importance of updating history to honor indigenous peoples.

A member of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, Bad Heart Bull is essential in promoting the well-being of Native communities in her region. She works as the Native Nations Activities Manager at the Bush Foundation, and has also spent time as a Dakota preschool and kindergarten teacher, and as a child welfare advocate at the Indian Child Welfare Act Law Center. Last year, Bad Heart Bull and her sister, Kate Beane, worked with their family to restore Lake Calhoun to its Dakota name, Bde Maka Ska, in her ancestral homeland of Bde Ota (Minneapolis).

Bad Heart Bull argues that through names and narrative, we experience physical places in profound and sometimes unseen ways. A name can evoke a concept, a sense of home, connect us, and have deep meaning for communities and families. She believes that the dominant narrative of history should be updated and rewritten to honor the languages, lives and legacies of its indigenous peoples.

Bad Heart Bull joined the Bush Foundation in 2014 as a Ron McKinley philanthropy fellow. She holds a BA in history and American Indian studies from the University of Minnesota and received her JD from the University of Minnesota Law School.

This convocation is sponsored by Carleton’s Office of Intercultural and International Life. For more information, including disability accommodations, call (507) 222-4308. The Skinner Memorial Chapel is located at First and College Streets in Northfield.