Ryan Winn

“We are what we imagine,” Kiowa author N. Scott Momaday wrote. “Our very existence consists in our imagination of ourselves. Our best destiny is to imagine, at least, completely, who and what, and that we are. The greatest tragedy that can befall us is to go unimagined.”

While Momaday’s message affirms the views of optimists who see life’s proverbial glass half-full, as well as those dreaming lofty dreams for themselves and their loved ones, I’ve found it resonates loudest in the output of artists. The assertion is perhaps most apparent in the works of emerging talent.

Much can be gained from breaking bread with those half a world away. At the College of Menominee Nation’s Sustainable Development Institute, the meal is metaphorical but the knowledge it fosters is what provides sustenance.

Jennifer Gauthier is inspired by indigenous food stories. The Menominee tribal member recognizes that the important work tribal nations throughout the world were doing to practice food sovereignty was inherent in the knowledge of her people.

Dr. Lauren “Candy” Waukau-Villagomez is a “change agent” for Native American education. In the administrative world, that moniker refers to someone who is hired from outside an organization to be a catalyst for reinvention. For the College of Menominee Nation professor known endearingly as “Dr. Candy,” it means transforming the Western model of education into one that produces culturally responsive teachers.