Join us online as we welcome Dr David S Koffman for the two lectures focused on the historical intersections and relationships between Indigenous and Jewish American communities. 

In this first lecture, Dr Koffman will highlight significant moments in history that helped shape the dynamics of these relationships from the colonial Atlantic world to the Civil Rights era. It touches down on the fur trade routes in Indian Territories  of the “Old West” in the late 19th century, in the curio shops of the Pacific Northwest, Southwest and Plains, the frontier newspaper and memoirs of Jewish western pioneers, and the New York and Washington offices of policy makers, lobbyists and anthropologists of the New Deal era. Based on his award winning book, The Jews’ Indian: Colonialism, Pluralism and Belonging in America, professor David S. Koffman will host a lively discussion about a largely unknown, complex and fascinating history of an interpersonal and intercommunal meeting. 

Next up in this two part series is Jewish-Indigenous Encounters: New Trends. In this second lecture, Dr David S Koffman will take a closer look at more recent relationships between Indigenous and Jewish communities in America and Canada. How have these sets of communities interacted and continued interacting with one another in recent years? What is the current state of "dialogue" around genocide, colonialism, language revival, and sovereignty? What's at stake in North American Jewries' newfound engagement with questions of colonialism and indigeneity? Tune in to the second and final lecture by Dr David S Koffman where he will provide answers to these questions and much more.