Elizabeth Michaelle Rinehart

Elizabeth Michaelle Rinehart is a citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, a woodland tribe of the Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana region. She currently teaches at the Huron Potawatomi Head Start program. Elizabeth attends Grand Valley State University as a graduate student, majoring in curriculum and instruction with a ZS endorsement for early childhood. Elizabeth weaves traditional language, songs, and stories into outdoor lessons as a way to revitalize the Potawatomi culture. Prior to Huron Potawatomi Head Start, Elizabeth co-facilitated project Kit-ta-Gin, a food sovereignty program through the WK Kellogg Foundation. This project is aimed at empowering vulnerable children and their families via improved access to healthier food through gardening. She also has been a recipient of the Neighborhood Match Fund grant from the City of Grand Rapids. Elizabeth’s work with Kit-a-gin has been published in Native Head Start Leadership Quarterly.