Reflecting on Mona Susan Power’s Novel 'A Council of Dolls'

Learn more about the history and context of writer Mona Susan Power’s work and the social justice issues she highlights in her novel, A Council of Dolls. This includes the American Indian boarding school system, intergenerational trauma, and settler colonialism. Debra Barker, Professor Emeritus of English and American Indian Studies at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an enrolled member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, will provide some reading strategies for approaching Power’s novel from an Indigenous perspective, focusing on the management of time, important historical events noted by various narrators, and the magic of Power’s Dakota storytelling.

Program Sponsors: Friends of the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, Mayo Clinic Health System, Chippewa Valley Museum and the Wisconsin Humanities Council*.

*Funded in part by a grant from Wisconsin Humanities, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Wisconsin Humanities strengthens our democracy through educational and cultural programs that build connections and understanding among people of all backgrounds and beliefs throughout the state. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.