On April 3-4, renowned scholar of indigenous history and culture Karl Leonard will give five presentations on the Bemidji State University campus.

Leonard is a celebrated leader of the Maori language revitalization movement. He is traveling to Bemidji State on a Fulbright Scholarship from New Zealand. The Fulbright Scholarship Program brings scholars and professionals from abroad to colleges and universities in the United States to culturally enhance campuses.

Leonard is one of approximately 850 outstanding foreign professionals who will teach and/or research in the United States through the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program in 2012-2013.

He holds a master’s degree in Maori language and management, comes from a family of Maori artists and thus brings a lifetime of experience in traditional Maori art forms including weaving, carving, and dance. The Maoris are the indigenous people of New Zealand of Polynesian dissent.

Leonard will be giving the following presentations:

April 3, 8 a.m.: Indigenous Research Class (Tessa Reed class)
Presentation Title: Indigenous Research

April 3, 3 p.m.: Indian history 1887-present (Vivian Delgado class)
Presentation Title: Indigenous History: A Maori Perspective

April 4, 10 a.m.: Ojibwe History (Tessa Reed Class)
Presentation Title: Maori History

April 4, 1 p.m.: Intermediate Ojibwe Class (Giniw-giizhig Class)
Presentation Title: Tribal Language Revitalization

April 4, 2 p.m.: Clan Systems (Vivian Delgado Class)
Presentation Title: Clan Systems and Community

All presentations are free and open to the public.

For more information please contact the American Indian Resource center at (218) 755-2032.