Past Events

          

In November of 2023, IEI organized a Native Indigenous Film Festival focused on Indigenous and Native women activists. The event engaged the outlying community by having the first film shown at the Oldham Theater in Winchester, TN. After each film, there was a discussion and Q & A with a person who worked on the creation of the film.

Regular Events
     
Sewanee hosts Indigenous Peoples’ Day annually with a series of events organized by the Indigenous Engagement Initiative. On October 12, 2026 the day began with a Sacred Fire and Water Ceremony at the Sacred Turtle Space near Lake Cheston Dr., led by Indigenous Spiritual Leaders Dan Hull (Ojibwe) and Christina Ulibarri (Dine). Students, faculty, and community members gathered for traditional ceremonial music and prayer, and the Sacred Fire stayed lit all day. Starting around 12:30, a labyrinth was set up on the main campus Quad, accompanied by Hull and Ulibarri’s teachings, flute, song, and drumming, and participants could drop in anytime until 2:00 pm. The day closed at 6:30 pm with a service at the Lake Cheston sacred space, again with a sacred fire, to welcome the spirits of the Trail of Tears ancestors back to the Land. Attendees were invited to reflect on the history of Indigenous Peoples on the Mountain without shame, blame, or guilt, in the spirit of healing, truth, and reconciliation.

  

The Winchester Trail of Tears Commemorative Walk is an annual event in which community members are invited to walk .8 miles in the footsteps of the Cherokee, who walked the same ground in 1838. The walk is succeeded by an informative talk on the history of the Trail of Tears in this area, known as the Bell Route. 

Native American Talking Circles

Every third Thursday of the month, IEI hosts Native American Talking Circles. Led by Indigenous Spiritual Leaders Dan Hull (Ojibwe) and Christina Ulibarri (Dine), these circles create a space for Sewanee students, faculty, and community to gather and share without judgement, interruption, or hierarchy.

Future Endeavors

In partnership with the Office of Community Building and Connections, as well as the Office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability, the Indigenous Engagement Committee is seeking to install a turtle effigy in the grassy area near the dog park at Lake Cheston. Rather than serving as a monument or a memorial, the Turtle is intended to serve as a symbol and an invitation towards truth, memory, responsibility, and healing. The Turtle is a call for integration with one another as a human family and from that of the land which sustains all life.

For more upcoming and current events, visit us at: @ieisewanee