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Image for event: Wassaja and Other Famous Native Americans in Illinois

Wassaja and Other Famous Native Americans in Illinois

2025-11-01 14:00:00 2025-11-01 16:00:00 America/Chicago Wassaja and Other Famous Native Americans in Illinois The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Saturday, November 01
2:00pm - 4:00pm

Add to Calendar 2025-11-01 14:00:00 2025-11-01 16:00:00 America/Chicago Wassaja and Other Famous Native Americans in Illinois A featured program for Native American Heritage Month. The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

The Urbana Free Library

The Lewis Auditorium

A featured program for Native American Heritage Month.

Join our special guests Rosalyn LaPier and David R. M. Beck to hear the fascinating stories of Native Americans living in Illinois in the early 20th century.   

University of Illinois’ famous alumnus, the Yavapai man Wassaja or Carlos Montezuma, was one of the most renowned physicians in the U.S. in the early 20th century. He was also a national advocate for Native American causes and issues from his base in Chicago. Learn about him and other Native men and women leaders who made northern Illinois an intellectual mecca for Indigenous people in the early 20th century.

Rosalyn LaPier is an award winning Indigenous writer, environmental historian, and ethnobotanist.  She works within Indigenous communities to revitalize traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and to strengthen public policy for Indigenous languages.  She has written two award winning books, two Blackfeet language lexicons, and dozens of articles and commentaries and she  has over 25 years of teaching experience at research universities & Native American-controlled institutions at the undergraduate & graduate level.  She splits her time between living in the lands of the Peoria & Potawatomi peoples in Urbana, Illinois, the Salish in Missoula, Montana, and the Blackfeet reservation. She is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana and Métis.

David R. M. Beck is the author and co-author of several award-winning books on the history of federal American Indian policy and urban American Indian history, His most recent book, Bribed with Our Own Money, examines federal use of coercion and bribery in an effort to eliminate the U.S. relationship with American Indian nations in the 1950s and 1960s. Dr. Beck taught in the Native American Studies Department at the University of Montana for more than two decades, and prior to that at NAES (Native American Educational Services) College and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

This program is cosponsored by Native American House at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, and is part of Native American Heritage Month.  See the complete listing of programs here.

 

AGE GROUP: | High School Students | Adults |

EVENT TYPE: | Teen | Adult |

TAGS: | Native American Heritage Month |

The Urbana Free Library

Phone: 217-367-4057

Hours
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Mon, Sep 29 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Tue, Sep 30 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Wed, Oct 01 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Thu, Oct 02 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Fri, Oct 03 10:00AM to 5:00PM
Sat, Oct 04 10:00AM to 5:00PM
Sun, Oct 05 12:00PM to 5:00PM

About the library

Conveniently located at the corner of Race and Green in downtown Urbana.

Upcoming events

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Sat, Oct 04, 9:00am - 2:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Sat, Oct 04, 11:30am - 4:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - Cherry Alley

Sat, Oct 04, 3:00pm - 7:00pm
Downtown Urbana

Sat, Oct 04, 3:30pm - 4:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Sun, Oct 05, All day
The Urbana Free Library

Sun, Oct 05, 1:30pm - 3:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Mon, Oct 06, 9:30am - 11:30am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Mon, Oct 06, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, Oct 07, 10:15am - 10:40am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, Oct 07, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, Oct 07, 6:00pm - 7:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Jean Evans Archives Room
This event is full

Wed, Oct 08, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Wed, Oct 08, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Teen Open Lab - The Lewis Auditorium

Thu, Oct 09, 10:15am - 10:45am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Thu, Oct 09, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Thu, Oct 09, 4:30pm - 7:30pm
Urbana Middle School

Fri, Oct 10, 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Cornerstone Fellowship

Fri, Oct 10, 3:45pm - 4:45pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Sat, Oct 11, 11:00am - 11:45am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Sat, Oct 11, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Sun, Oct 12, 1:00pm - 3:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Mon, Oct 13, 9:30am - 11:30am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Mon, Oct 13, 1:00pm - 4:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, Oct 14, 10:15am - 10:40am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, Oct 14, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, Oct 14, 6:00pm - 7:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Jean Evans Archives Room
This event is full

Tue, Oct 14, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, Oct 14, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - Online

Wed, Oct 15, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Satterthwaite Conference Room

Wed, Oct 15, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Wed, Oct 15, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - Online

Thu, Oct 16, 10:15am - 10:45am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Thu, Oct 16, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Sat, Oct 18, 11:00am - 11:30am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Sat, Oct 18, 11:00am - 4:00pm
Market Place Mall - 2000 N Neil St, Champaign, IL 61820

Sat, Oct 18, 1:00pm - 4:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - Cherry Alley

Sat, Oct 18, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Cancelled
Sat, Oct 18, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
The Urbana Free Library

Sun, Oct 19, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Mon, Oct 20, 9:30am - 11:30am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, Oct 21, 9:00am - 2:30pm
King Elementary

Tue, Oct 21, 10:15am - 10:40am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, Oct 21, 11:15am - 12:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, Oct 21, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, Oct 21, 5:00pm - 7:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - Graphic Novel Corner

Tue, Oct 21, 6:00pm - 7:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Jean Evans Archives Room
This event is full

Tue, Oct 21, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, Oct 21, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Holiday Inn

Tue, Oct 21, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - Online

Wed, Oct 22, 9:00am - 12:00pm
Thomas Paine School

Wed, Oct 22, 10:00am - 11:30am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Wed, Oct 22, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Wed, Oct 22, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Teen Open Lab - The Lewis Auditorium

Thu, Oct 23, 9:00am - 12:00pm
Thomas Paine School

Thu, Oct 23, 10:00am - 2:00pm
State Farm Center

Thu, Oct 23, 10:15am - 10:45am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Thu, Oct 23, 11:00am - 12:00pm
Orchard Downs Community Center

Thu, Oct 23, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Sat, Oct 25, 8:00am - 12:00pm
Urbana Farmer's Market

Sat, Oct 25, 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Downtown Urbana

Sat, Oct 25, 3:00pm - 4:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Mon, Oct 27, 9:30am - 11:30am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Mon, Oct 27, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, Oct 28, 10:15am - 10:40am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, Oct 28, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Wed, Oct 29, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Wed, Oct 29, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Teen Open Lab - The Lewis Auditorium

Thu, Oct 30, 10:15am - 10:45am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Thu, Oct 30, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Fri, Oct 31, 2:00pm - 5:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - Cherry Alley,Children's Area,The Lewis Auditorium

Sat, Nov 01, All day
The Urbana Free Library - Children's Area

Sat, Nov 01, 11:00am - 12:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Sat, Nov 01, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Sun, Nov 02, 1:00pm - 3:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium