Speaker

Aaron Bird Bear

Director of Tribal Relations

Aaron Bird Bear is a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa & Diné Nations (enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation) and has served as the Director of Tribal Relations at UW–Madison since 2019.

Bird Bear came to UW–Madison in 2000 as the American Indian Student Academic Services coordinator in the College of Letters & Science. From 2009 to 2019, he worked in the School of Education, most recently as an assistant dean responsible for leadership around recruiting, supporting and retaining historically underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students. Bird Bear co-created WisconsinFirstNations.org to help PK-12 educators identify quality resources to teach the history, culture and tribal sovereignty of the 12 American Indian Nations of Wisconsin.

In 2003, Bird Bear helped develop the UW-Madison First Nations Cultural Landscape Tour, a place-based, experiential education tour of American Indian landmarks on the UW–Madison campus. He co-leads the Our Shared Future Initiative that is creating signs honoring the Native presence on campus, including the new “Our Shared Future” marker on Bascom Hill that recognizes the land as the ancestral home of the Ho-Chunk.