Pattee Hall: A New Home for American Indian Studies
When the University of Minnesota’s Department of American Indian Studies (AIS) was founded in 1969, it was the first of its kind. Over five decades later, the department marks another exciting first: a building of its own.
Pattee Hall is a dedicated space that connects the storied past of the department with a promising future. Situated on the banks of the Mississippi River, the building is not only a place for academic growth but also a symbol of community and resilience.
The department held an opening celebration on October 30 to welcome the community into the space.
“This is a momentous and joyful day for all of us,” said David Aiona Chang, chair of the department, during its opening ceremony. “Colleagues, faculty, and staff of AIS, thank you for your extraordinary work,” he continued. “Students, look around you. This is your building. This is your home.”
This move reflects the department's ongoing commitment to serving and collaborating with Native communities while upholding the values of justice and cultural preservation. “We move into this new home thanks also to the work of Native American activism and protest. It is in large part thanks to the pressure of the TRUTH Report,” continued Chang, referencing the groundbreaking 2023 report that reframed the narrative about the University’s relationships with Indigenous peoples. “We know that we are here because of the community and that we must serve the community.”
The TRUTH Project
The Towards Recognition and University-Tribal Healing—TRUTH—project is a Native-organized, Native-led, community-driven research movement that offers multiple recommendations on how the University of Minnesota community can be in better relation with Indigenous peoples.
As community leaders and advocates gathered at the opening ceremony, the significance of the moment was clear. Pattee Hall is more than just a building. It’s a home for learning, a testament to Native activism, and a new chapter for AIS and the students, faculty, and community it serves
“We will, from this home in Pattee Hall, continue to press the University to live up to the imperative suggestions of the TRUTH report,” Chang vowed. “We will continue to honor this building. We will continue to honor this community.”
“This move is long overdue,” said Rebecca Cunningham, president of the University of Minnesota. “Today marks an incredibly important milestone by the University to enhance its support of the department and reaffirm its commitment to the TRUTH Report. The rich histories, cultures, and contributions of Indigenous people must be understood and honored.”
Event highlights
“This is a good place for our students. We’re trying to build community here, not just for the languages but culture and history as well.”
“We are truly in a very special place here in Dakota land. We move into this new home thanks also to the work of Native American activism and protest.”
“If people ask me what the most important thing I did as interim dean was, I would say Pattee Hall."
"We did it. There’s a building, there’s a program, there are students, there are community members, we’re in great shape and you have great leadership with David."
“I’m confident the American Indian studies department will continue to flourish. I can only imagine, if it’s flourished this far in the spaces that it had, how it will now flourish in this beautiful way going forward in its new home here in Pattee Hall.”
Meet Pattee Hall's first Indigeneous Scholar
College Football Legend, Attorney, Judge, and Native American Leader
The Department of American Indian Studies is honored to make its new home in the building that was once the academic home of Edward Lowell Rogers, also known as Enwwayiedung. Pattee Hall was built to house the University of Minnesota Law School, and Rogers was the first known Native graduate of the Law School. His leadership and service to American Indian people in Minnesota inspire us.
“Eddie” Rogers was born in 1883 in Aitkin County to Mary Sahgoshkodaywayquay Williams Racine (1860–1934), an Ojibwe woman. His father was William Andrew Rogers (1848–1912), a white lumberman from New Brunswick, Canada. An enrolled member of the White Earth Nation, Eddie moved to Minneapolis at age seven to begin school. He entered Carlisle Indian Industrial School, a boarding school in Pennsylvania, in 1897. Eddie captained the Carlisle football team and was a hero on the field. He began law school at Dickinson College before finishing his law degree at the U of M in 1906. While in law school, he was elected captain of the U of M football team and was voted All-Western End in 1901, 1902, and 1903. He married Maryanna (Mayme) Bultrowicz, then coached the Carlisle football squad to a 9–2 record and the undefeated Saint Thomas team to a league championship. In 1968, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
He began his illustrious legal career by practicing law in Minneapolis, then Mahnomen, then Cass County, where he was elected county attorney in 1910. In 1914, Rogers was elected Chief of the General Conference of Chippewa, an early effort to link the Ojibwe of Minnesota into one organization. In 1936, he drafted the constitution of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (MCT). Rogers served as the first president of the Tribal Executive Committee and as MCT attorney from 1941 to 1945.
He passed away on October 17, 1971, and his remains lie in Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Minneapolis.
In the rooms of this building, Edward Rogers learned the legal skills he would use to work for his people. As the home of the American Indian Studies Department, Pattee Hall will once again be a place where U of M students will learn to work for Native rights, Native sovereignty, and the Native community, just as Edward Rogers did.
– David Aiona Chang and Patricia Johnson-Castle
Read more in the local news
The Pattee Hall opening was featured in the MN Daily.
This story was written by Regina Ramos-Francia Ylizaliturri, an undergraduate student in CLA.
