On Sept. 18, 2025, Winona State University hosted two events hosted by Wicanhpi Iyotan Win Autumn Cavender, a midwife, artist and activist who came to Winona State to discuss the issues of colonialism and reproductive rights that is present in the current Western medical system in the United States.
Cavender’s first event, “Medical Ethics, Cultural Competency, and Colonial Privilege” was an open class lecture where up to 170 students were able to gather in the Great River Ballroom and learn more about the different perspectives on cultural understanding, medical ethics, practices and integrating traditional medicine with Western medical practices.
Gracy Butcher, a fourth-year sociology major, and Ty Bergner, a fifth-year social science history teaching major, both attended the open class lecture. They found that the lecture was extremely helpful in learning more about medical ethics and its history, which they could use in the future for their careers.
Part of the conversation lead to some, like Butcher, coming away having learned how they could incorporate medical ethics, traditional ethics, and cultural competences into social work.
“We are not only healers of our own physical bodies, but also our mental bodies, and how just having compassion for others and also understanding where they are in their lives,” Butcher said. “You can’t fully understand somebody else’s culture, but you can understand that their culture isn’t the same as yours and you need to be mindful and sensitive of that.”
Cavender’s first event was helpful to those that attended to learn more about medical ethics and how it is important to include cultural understanding and competency when caring for others, especially in the medical field, to foster the most positive interactions.
The second lecture hosted in the Great River Ballroom by Cavender, “Reproductive Justice, Decolonization, and Anti-Colonial Practices” discussed the history and current state of reproductive justice, in relation to the medical system. Cavender specified how decolonization works to overturn colonialist structures; it’s not just about reform, it’s about replacing and restoring traditional practices.
Cavender asserted, “western medicine is sick with colonialism.” She detailed the symptoms of how western medical treatments have large disparities in perinatal care because of colonialism. She explained the history of how western medical practices adopted and twisted traditional medical practices; she used stories from her own family and community to help illustrate the horrific history that western medicine has inflicted upon people. She finally went on to explain a “treatment” for western medicine where people work to replace current practices that are harmful and replace them with more traditional practices.
Having two events to help educate students going into medical fields, Cavender spoke specifically to what she hoped students who are going to health care fields could take from her lectures.
“I think it’s really important to understand the social and historical context that Native folks come from,” Cavender said. “But honestly, even the ideas of just informed choice and attuned consent and the ideas every person needs to be treated as a person, as a whole person, and that health is a thing, and that we don’t always value health as a forward thing is really crucial.”
Mary Jo Klinker, a Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Professor, finds there’s an important link between indigenous liberation and reproductive justice, and Cavender hit that point home in her lectures.
“As an advisor for the Reproductive Justice Club and a co-advisor of the Turtle Island Student Organization, I think it is important to bridge an understanding of the shared struggle for reproductive autonomy and Indigenous liberation. The lecture was also critical because it disrupted the misuse of decolonization in higher education,” Klinker said.
When looking to resist colonial practices and structures it’s important to stay informed on such issues, Cavender’s lectures were an impactful way for students, staff, and community members to come together and continue educating themselves on issues of colonialism.
As Bergner suggests, students should continue to stay educated and encourage others in their journey to stay educated and get involved. “You go to an event like this you learn, you spread information, you encourage people to keep going to events like this. You encourage people to take action themselves and advocate with Indigenous people on campus to achieve their goals, which would be your goals as well, just be a lifelong learner.”
