The Trouble with Tragedy: Imagining the Native American Past, Present, and Future [SOLD OUT]

This event was recorded. Please view the lecture on our Vimeo or Youtube channel.

This event is sold out.

This is an in-person event.

The Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP) and the Harvard Art Museums present a lecture by author David Treuer.

David Treuer, an Ojibwe Indian, will offer a fresh and in-depth perspective on the current state of affairs for Native and Indigenous peoples in the Americas. Drawing from his experience growing up on the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota and as an accomplished academic, Treuer’s work includes both nonfiction and fiction.

A New York Times–bestselling author and critic, David Treuer has published four novels and three works of nonfiction. He is the winner of three Minnesota Book Awards, the California Book Award for Nonfiction, and the Housatonic Book Award, and he was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Carnegie Medal. His writing has appeared in Harper’s, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post, among others. He divides his time between his home on the Leech Lake Reservation and Los Angeles, where he is a professor of English at the University of Southern California.

This will be the second installment of the HUNAP Annual Lecture, a series of talks intended to elevate and promote the sophistication of Native ideas, arts, literature, and culture. Last year’s lecture was delivered by U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation. To learn more about HUNAP, visit the program’s website.

This lecture is sponsored by the Harvard University Native American Program and the Harvard Art Museums, with generous funding from a private donor.

The lecture will take place in Menschel Hall, Lower Level. Please enter the museums via the entrance on Broadway. Doors will open at 5:30pm.

Please note that while face coverings are optional in all other spaces in the Harvard Art Museums, they are required for attendees at all programs in Menschel Hall. The museums will make disposable masks available for visitors who do not bring their own. Please review our general visitor policies, including details on COVID-related precautions.

Free admission, but seating is limited. Reservations may be arranged by clicking on the event on this form.

Limited complimentary parking is available in the Broadway Garage, 7 Felton Street, Cambridge.

This lecture will be recorded and made available for online viewing; check back shortly after the event for the link to view.