(Re)connecting with the 6 Rs (2025)
Day 3: Relationality
April 4, 2025 | In person (Fort Hall and Pocatello)
L.E. and Thelma E. Stephens Performing Arts Center
1002 Sam Nixon Ave. Building 88, Pocatello, ID 83209
Slides (PDF)
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 8:00am – 9:00am | Breakfast |
| 9:30am – 10:30am | Keynote address by Lynn Manning John, Principal of the Owyhee Combined Schools, Nevada. |
| 10:45am – 12:00pm | Workshop–Right Relationships in Research by the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Language and Cultural Preservation Department |
| 12:00pm – 1:00pm | Lunch provided |
| 1:00pm – 2:00pm | Workshop-Mapping Relationships into Practice by the Reconnecting with the 6Rs planning committee |
| 2:00pm – 2:30pm | Closing |
| 2:30pm – 5:00pm | Field Trips to Fort Hall and to Indian Rocks and Lava Hot Springs (Detailed information below!) |
| 6:30pm – 9:00pm | Dinner and Cultural Demonstration (Detailed information below!) |
Keynote Speaker: Lynn Manning John
Lynn Manning John, M. Ed., is the Principal of Owyhee Combined School located on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation on the Idaho/Nevada border. In her 27th year in education, Mrs. Manning John has been a classroom teacher, project facilitator, program coordinator, and school administrator. She has served on curriculum committees, provided professional development, delivered keynotes, and served as the Master of Ceremonies at events throughout the west. For over 20 years, she has worked with the Nevada Department of Education’s Indian Education Program, is a former chairperson of the Nevada Indian Commission’s Indian Education Advisory Committee, and has recently been appointed to the Idaho Department of Education’s Indian Education Committee and the Boise State University College of Education Dean’s Advisory Council. Mrs. Manning John holds a bachelor’s degree in Education and Child Study from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she was named the 2024 UNLV College of Education Alumna of the Year.
Mrs. Manning John is an enrolled member of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation and also has Chippewa-Cree and Hopi ancestry. Mrs. Manning John and her husband, Joshua John, are the proud parents of 8 children. In her free time she enjoys traveling, coaching and supporting her children’s sports and activities, participating in powwows, sewing, and gardening. Her future goals include pursuing a PhD in Indigenous Education and carrying on her family’s ranching and farming operations on the Duck Valley Reservation.
Field Trip Options
Option 1: A Tour of the Fort Hall Bottoms and Boarding School
(Optional. Seating limited to 40)
Flowing into the Snake River Basin, the Fort Hall Bottoms is an ecologically and culturally significant area on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. It includes a fishery, several spring-fed streams, and provides grazing for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes’ bison and a wild horse herd and habitat for moose, elk, deer, and many species of fish. Opened in the early 1900s, the Fort Hall Boarding School, also called ‘The Big School’ is one of the many North American boarding schools that supported U.S. assimilationist policies by removing children from their families and forcing their attendance at the schools to train in Western economic practices and religions. Together, these two sites demonstrate impacts of historical harms and contemporary resilience of the Shoshone and Bannock peoples.
Option 2: A Visit to Indian Rocks Petroglyphs and Lava Hot Springs.
(Optional. Seating limited to 40)
Indian Rocks is a former state park that is the site of several petroglyphs that tell the story of Shoshone and Bannock ancestors. Signage created by The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Language and Culture Department details the history of the local river as the location of several Shoshone and Bannock traditional foods, and the creation of the Fort Hall Reservation. Lava Hot springs, which resides in the original territories of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, is not only a geothermal spring, illustrating the natural connection between water and energy, but also a traditional place of healing for the Shoshone and Bannock peoples and others. Together, these sites illustrate the relationships of people, culture, water, and place. We are happy to support this as a truly immersive experience of these relationships. Thanks to Carrie Bottenberg, Director of ISU Geotechnology and the Geopaths grant, funding for admission to the hot springs is included. Please bring a bathing suit, sunscreen, and towel.
Evening Dinner and Events
After a rest and refresh break from 5:30-6:30pm, we have an evening event scheduled from 6:30 to 9:00pm. This event will focus on illustrating the interrelationships among cultural practices and their grounding in place.
Thank you to the ISU Department of Anthropology and Languages for funding supporting the evening dinner and cultural demonstration events.
6:30 – 8:00pm Dinner and Cultural Demonstration
Drummers, dancers and singers from the Shoshone and Bannock communities will share the meanings and styles of music and dance and their relationships to cultural practice and land and place. Songs, dances, and even Powwows unite people through shared traditions, supporting cultural pride, sense of belonging, and are essential to building and maintaining relationships.
8:00 – 9:00 Handgames (Optional)
Handgames, also called ‘stick game’ are a traditional wagering game of chance played with natural resources and including both traditional and innovated singing. The games are lively, fun, and unpredictable. Handgames predate recorded histories and are storied to have been played by the animals long ago. Today, they are still practiced as continuation of traditional culture at gatherings such as powwows and celebrations. As a team sport, the games illustrate relationality through non-verbal communication and community building.
Saturday ISU Native American Student Council Social Powwow
Powwows are interTribal and intercultural social and cultural gatherings featuring traditional drumming and singing, dancing, and food and crafts. Open to the public, these are community-centered events in which people come together to share cultural heritage, cultural preservation, and relation to the land.
1:00pm First Grand Entry
4:00 – 6:00pm Feast
7:00pm Second Grand Entry