CEHD Reads

CEHD Reads is part of the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development’s (CEHD) First Year Experience Program. The 2026-27 selection is “The Seed Keeper” by Diane Wilson, who will be the guest speaker for this year’s event.

Wilson is a Mdewakanton descendant enrolled on the Rosebud Reservation. She currently lives in Shafer, Minn., and is an activist and author of multiple award-winning books for adults and children.

“The Seed Keeper” focuses on Rosalie Iron Wing, a Dakota woman living in late 20th century Minnesota, but stories of Rosalie’s ancestors are interwoven into the text. Although the work is fiction, Wilson includes various historical and political events that shape the lives of these ancestors and play a role in the unfolding of the narrative.

About the Speaker

Diane Wilson (Dakota) is a writer, educator and environmental advocate who has published four award-winning books as well as essays in numerous publications.

Wilson’s recent novel, “The Seed Keeper” (Milkweed Editions) was awarded the 2022 Minnesota Book Award for Fiction. Her memoir, “Spirit Car: Journey to a Dakota Past” (Borealis Books) won a 2006 Minnesota Book Award and was selected for the 2012 One Minneapolis One Read program. Her 2011 nonfiction book, “Beloved Child: A Dakota Way of Life” (Borealis Books) was awarded the 2012 Barbara Sudler Award from History Colorado. Wilson’s middle-grade biography, “Ella Cara Deloria: Dakota Language Protector,” was an Honor selection for the 2022 American Indian Youth Literature Award. She is a co-author of a 2022 picture book, “Where We Come From.”

Her most recent essays — which explore seed advocacy, food sovereignty, social justice and cultural recovery — have been featured in acclaimed anthologies: “Kinship: Belonging in a World of Relations,” “We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World” and “A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota.”

Wilson is the former executive director for the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance, a national coalition of tribes and organizations working to support food sovereignty, and Dream of Wild Health, a Native-led farm. Wilson is a Mdewakanton descendant, enrolled on the Rosebud Reservation. She lives near the St. Croix River in Minnesota, where she cares for an Indigenous seed garden, native perennials for pollinators and a Tamarack bog.

UMN Conversations at Northrop is a collection of lectures, panel discussions and other conversations focused on important and timely issues presented in collaboration among numerous University of Minnesota departments and held at Northrop.