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For well over a century, a building that sits prominently near the main entrance to the Gallaudet University campus was called Dawes House, a name that both honors a man who supported Gallaudet in its early days, and who brought despair to untold thousands of Native Americans who were dispersed from their tribal lands across the nation. The late Sen. Henry L. Dawes (R-Mass) was the architect of the Dawes Act of 1887, which is now considered one of the most destructive policies in history for Native Americans.

The pain caused by the Dawes Act will never be forgotten. But a new beginning to chart a brighter future took place on October 17, 2024 at a ceremony to formally rename the building òkànkwèpihëna tëtpi/Circle of Signers. The name comes from the Lenape language practiced by the Nacotchtank and Piscataway Peoples, the first residents of the land that would become the District of Columbia. 

“Our healing begins today,” said Hallie Zimmerman, a member of the Winnebago and Omaha tribes, at the Healing and Renaming ceremony outside the building that, coincidentally, houses the Office of International Affairs, a campus unit devoted to promoting intercultural value and excellence. The building, designed by deaf architect Olof Hanson, was originally built as a men’s dormitory in 1895, and the name “Dawes House” was inscribed on a wooden plaque standing outside its door. Native American culture normally calls for the sign to be burned so that the trauma and suffering associated with the Dawes name could be dissipated into the wind by the smoke. But since there was a large gathering present, including alumni who returned to campus for Homecoming, a replica was broken into pieces by the emcee, Steven Brunelle, E-’79, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.

A procession of people, some in Native American clothing, walk through the middle of the Gallaudet campus. Several are holding flags. The man at the front of the procession is holding a small drum.
The healing ceremony included this parade of flags through the campus. At top, the new sign is unveiled. (Pictured left to right: Hallie Zimmerman, Wanette Reynolds, Johnny Reininger, Jr., and Melanie McKay-Cody)

The ceremony marked an end to a 60-year effort by Native/Indigenous members of the Gallaudet community who have appealed to the Gallaudet administration time and again to remove the name from the campus building of a man whose actions resulted in 90 million acres of tribal land being taken from Native Americans under the misguided notion of assimilating them into American culture, thereby weakening their own, and diminishing the importance of their history and traditions. 

Eliminating any reminder of the grievous offenses brought about by Dawes’ hand, and to raise awareness of the injustices suffered by Native Americans, was a cause taken up by Turtle Island Hand Talk (TIHT), of which Zimmerman and Brunelle are members. TIHT is a North American Indigenous group that provides services and advocacy for Indigenous Deaf, DeafBlind, and hearing people. In 2020, the group found welcoming champions in Gallaudet President Roberta Cordano and former Interim Provost Jeffrey Lewis. A review committee was formed to make recommendations to the Board of Trustees, who unanimously approved removing Dawes’ name. Beginning in May 2021, the building was simply called House #103 until a proper name, one that would not signify a person, but rather a unifying concept, could be decided upon.

Turtle Island Hand Talk Healing Ceremony member Dr. Wanette Reynolds, PhD ‘16, a CODA (child of deaf adults) and a member of the Cherokee Nation, followed in her deaf mother and aunts footsteps in enrolling at Gallaudet. Reynolds recounted that her ancestors lived on Native American land that is now Oklahoma. She said her grandmother survived the infamous Trail of Tears, the forced displacement of Native Americans from their land – a testament to the resilience of the deaf and Indigenous community in the U.S. – including those who are alumni; many of them worked persistently with Gallaudet administrators since the mid-1960s to remove the Dawes name from the building.

The name Circle of Signers, Cordano told the audience, “carries weight and meaning.” It reflects a collective group of people working together, and pays respect to the prior stewards of the land, the Nacotchtank and Piscataway Peoples, and signifies a monumental responsibility for the University to maintain and respect it now and in the future. The renaming ceremony also symbolizes a time of collaboration, for the Gallaudet community’s work toward restorative justice and building a more inclusive, welcoming future, while recognizing past harms inflicted upon Native Americans, said Cordano. “The journey does not end here,” she said. “We have a collective responsibility to work for justice, and for the University to remain a place where all voices are recognized.

Before reading the Board of Trustees’ resolution that approved the permanent naming of the building, Board of Trustees Chair Jose “Pepe” Cervantes paused to say how moved he was to see so many people – by some estimates nearly 500 – who were present to witness the historic event. “This has been a long time coming, and I’m happy to be here to share (the resolution),” said Cervantes.

The ceremony coincided with the opening of the “We, Native Deaf People, Are Still Here!” exhibit in Chapel Hall, on display for the next two years, a venue for Indigenous Deaf people to tell their stories, and explore what it means to reclaim and heal through art, language, and history. 

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