🎃 What to do with those leftover pumpkins

🍂 Add Some Pumpkin Spice to Your Leaf Piles

• Now that Halloween has come and gone, Madison Streets Division says residents should go ahead and put their old pumpkins in with their leaf piles and other yard waste for pickup.
• There are three guaranteed curbside collections during the season. Check the city’s yard waste website to find out when your set-out dates are.
• The city also has tips if you want to compost the pumpkins yourself. If you want even more composting advice, we’ve got you. [City of Madison, Madison Minutes]

🎒 MMSD Sees Enrollment Increase for Second Year in a Row

• After several years of enrollment declines, officials announced Madison Metropolitan School District showed an increase in enrollment for the second year in a row.
• The district reports that enrollment went up by 125 students, from 25,565 to 25,690. Officials said enrollment seems to have stabilized after several years of pandemic-related declines.
• Listen: Today on the City Cast Madison podcast, MMSD Superintendent Joe Gothard talks about the district’s two referendums on the Nov. 5 ballot. [MMSD, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

🏫 Sun Prairie High School Principal Steps Down

• Sun Prairie Area School District officials aren’t providing a reason why Renee Coleman is no longer serving as Sun Prairie High School principal.
• The district announced Tuesday that Coleman is no longer serving in the role heading the school and that East High School associate athletic director Jim Ertel will serve as interim principal for the rest of the school year. Officials declined to elaborate further.
• Several students staged a walkout to protest the move. Some held signs reading “Bring Ms. Coleman Back.” [WMTV]

November was officially designated as a heritage month in 1990 to recognize America’s original inhabitants and celebrate their rich culture and contributions, then referred to as National American Indian Heritage Month. However, efforts to pay tribute to Indigenous people started long before.

The first official American Indian Day was declared by the New York state governor in May 1916. President Joe Biden’s 2024 proclamation for this heritage month makes a commitment to work with Native communities to “write a new and better chapter in American history.”

There are 574 federally recognized nations, tribes, and pueblos within the U.S. comprising about 9 million people who identify as American Indian, Alaska Native, Native American, and Indigenous.

In Wisconsin, there are 12 sovereign Native American Nations: Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Brothertown Indian Nation, Forest County Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk Nation, Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Oneida Nation, Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Sokaogon Chippewa Community, St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, and Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians.

How to Pay Tribute in Madison This Month

“Indigenous Wisconsin: A Story of Resistance” at Madison College

From Nov. 4 to Dec. 6, Madison College will present an art show featuring the work of Native American artists from Wisconsin. The theme of the show is “Indigenous Wisconsin: A Story of Resistance,” a celebration of the resilient spirit throughout the 12 Tribal Nations. The opening reception will take place on Nov. 14 with several of the artists in attendance.

Teejop & Beyond: The KICC Anishinaabe Music Circle at Lakeview Library

Learn about (and play) Anishinaabe instruments, including hand drums, flutes, and shakers, with Dawn and Rob Moneyhan of the Kwewag Indigenous Culture Church, on Nov. 9 at Lakeview Library.

“Native Art Market 2024” at Art + Literature Laboratory

Celebrate the work of local and regional Indigenous artists at this annual market on Nov. 16. The market is a centerpiece of a weekend of Indigenous arts programming, including a porcupine quill jewelry workshop on Nov. 15 and a black ash plainted basket workshop at Nov. 17 at the Textile Arts Center of Madison.

“Tales From Planet Earth – Bad River” at Wisconsin Union Theater

Catch a free screening of the documentary “Bad River,” on Nov. 18, which chronicles the Bad River Band’s determined fight with a Canadian energy company over a pipeline on tribal land. The screening, sponsored by the Nelson Institute For Environmental Studies, will be followed by a Q&A featuring several of the people in the film.