Community Listening & Learning Sessions 2021
After over a decade of dormancy, Cooweeja Native & Indigenous Affinity Group was reestablished through the work of the current board and a series of virtual community listening sessions. Through those sessions, the name Cooweeja was chosen meaning “Forward” in the Ho-Chunk language. The community listening sessions and the current board helped to reestablish the group through:
- Learning about the history of the group
- Talking about the former group name and having community conversations that helped to establish a new name for the group before officially reestablishing
- Getting a sense of where Native and Indigenous alumni are across the globe
Fireside Chat 2022
Following our wonderful Community Listening & Learning Sessions in 2021, Cooweeja Native & Indigenous Affinity Group was able to officially reestablish in the Fall of 2021. Once reestablished and getting trained in the important processes for keeping the group active with WAA, we were finally able to throw our first community event! The event was digital to include as many alumni as possible. The Fireside Chat in Spring of 2022 was a fun day of celebrating our formal reestablishment while also reintroducing ourselves to our community who helped us during the Community Learning & Listening Sessions in 2021. We were also able to hear good ideas for how to do keep improving as we build the group for the best of our community and talked about future plannings and gatherings.
Laughter is Medicine 2022
Cooweeja Native & Indigenous Affinity Group was happy to bring our community together for our first in-person event on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 in the Memorial Union at The Play Circle hosted during UW-Madison's Homecoming Week. Laughter Is Medicine brought us together for an evening of laughter and community gathering with a Native Comedy Show featuring nationally known Native comedians Marc Yaffee and Janelle Niles with music provided by a live DJ followed by an alumni and community networking reception in Tripp Commons.