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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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UW-Madison alum Ada Deer will be honored by the university with an inaugural award for her lifetime of social activism. 

Native American activist Ada Deer to discuss memoir

Native American activist and UW-Madison alum Ada Deer will discuss her life experiences and political involvement alongside her new memoir “Making a Difference: My Fight for Native Rights and Social Justice.” 

Deer graduated with a degree in social work in 1957, going on to become the first woman to head the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

During her time in office, Deer helped set federal policy for more than 550 federally recognized tribes in the United States. 

A member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Deer is a well known advocate for both Women’s Rights and the indigenous community. It was her work on behalf of the Menominee people that lead to the Menominee Restoration Act of 1972, which returned the reservation to its federally recognized status. 

“I speak up. I speak out,” Deer said in an interview last year recognizing the 150th anniversary of women getting undergraduate degrees at UW-Madison. “It’s not like I plotted and planned. I just had this general goal. I want to do and I want to be and I want to help. And I’ve been able to do it.” 

In early November, Deer was inducted into the National Native American Hall of Fame. 

“People think you’re born this way but you create your way as you go along. No. Your life evolves,” she said. “You create your own way as you go along. You can, and I did.” 

Deer’s book recounts her life from growing up in poverty on the Menominee Reservation to running for Congress and serving as the assistant secretary of Indian affairs for the U.S. Department of the Interior.

“I was born a Menominee Indian. That is who I was born and how I have lived,” she wrote in her memoir.

UW-Madison will honor Deer with the inaugural 4W UNESCO Chair Prize on Gender, Wellbeing and a Culture of Peace prior to her talk due to her lifetime of commitment to social justice. 

Theda Perdue, professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and book contributor, will be joining Deer at the talk. Both will be available for questions and book signings after the presentation on Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. in Union South.

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