Faculty Profiles
Chantal Norrgard
Title: Assistant Professor of Native American Studies
Office Location: Wheeler 327
Phone:715-682-1354
Email: cnorrgard@northland.edu
Education
- Ph.D. History, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
- B.A. History, University of Minnesota, Duluth
Profile
I grew up in Minocqua, Wisconsin and later in Cloquet,
Minnesota-towns that border the Lac du Flambeau and Fond du Lac
reservations respectively. Both of my parents work with tribal
communities. Growing up in these contexts meant that I became aware of
key issues impacting Native people at an early age. My decision to
study Native American history developed from my desire to understand the
roots of these issues further as well as to work cooperatively with
Native communities. I majored in History at the University of
Minnesota, Duluth and then went on to earn my Ph.D. in U.S. history with
a primary field in Native American history at the University of
Minnesota, Twin Cities. While I was doing my graduate work, I found
that the resources for looking at this history were particularly rich in
the Chequamegon Bay area. I spent a great deal of time looking at
Ojibwe collections in the archives of the Great Lakes Visitor’s Center.
I also had the opportunity to work as an intern for the Great Lakes
Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, and I have written articles for
their quarterly newspaper Maazina'igan.
I am impressed by Northland students’ dedication to learning about
indigenous peoples in this area and also with their interest in engaging
with Native communities. I believe that the College's commitment to
drawing from the wisdom and perspectives of many different disciplines,
its close proximity to a number of vibrant Ojibwe communities, as well
as its initiative to create an Indigenous Culture Center all contribute
to make it an exciting place to teach and to take courses in Native
American Studies.
Research
My interests include federal Indian law and policy,
indigenous political movements and activism, historical memory,
contemporary Native communities, American imperialism and colonialism,
and labor history. I am currently working on a book that explores the
critical relationship between Ojibwe livelihoods and their struggle to
exercise their treaty rights as U.S. colonialism became increasingly
entrenched in the Lake Superior region in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries.
Publications:
- Seasons of Change: Labor, Treaty Rights, and Memories of Historical Transformation among Lake Superior Ojibwe. Book manuscript under advance contract, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
- “Beyond Folklore: Historical Writing and Treaty Rights Activism in the Bad River Works Progress Administration,” in Tribal Worlds, eds. Brian Hosmer and Larry Nesper (Albany: SUNY Press, forthcoming).
- “From Berries to Orchards: Tracing the History of Berrying and Economic Transformation among Lake Superior Ojibwe,” American Indian Quarterly 33, no.1 (Winter 2009): 34-61.
Fellowships:
- Five Colleges Programs for Crossroads in the Study of the Americas Fellowship, 2010-2011
- Post-doctoral Fellow, History and Ethnic Studies, Lawrence University, 2008-2010
- Pre-doctoral Fellow, American Indian Studies Program, Michigan State University, 2007-2008
- Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), American Indian Studies Fellowship, 2006