Students Find Ways to Celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day – KentWired

Students Find Ways to Celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day – KentWired

Indigenous Peoples DayThe annual holiday, celebrated on the second Monday in October, honors, remembers and reflects on the Native Americans of the United States. The holiday is celebrated in many different ways, and local students on campus have their own unique traditions.

“I’ve never really celebrated growing up, but now I’m definitely wearing my pearls and I’m proud that today is Indigenous Peoples Day and not Columbus Day,” said Sydney Beason, a fashion design major and Choctaw member. Nation. “Me and El Lewis are trying to get the Native American Student Association (NASA) is up and running and we’re trying to put something together to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day.”

El Lewis (Taqqiq), a biology student and president of the Native American Student Association, of the Inuvialuit tribe, said her tribe traditionally celebrates the holiday with dancing, drumming, throat singing and eating traditional Inuit dishes such as muktuk, aqpik and bannock.

Professors are working to find ways to include Indigenous people centrally in their curriculum and the institution.

“How can we as a university better engage Native American students, faculty and staff in Native American studies, not just as a major but across all curricula?” said Dr. Elaine (Lan Yin) Hsiao, assistant professor in the Faculty of Peace and Conflict Studies.

Hsiao, who identifies as an Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI), has studied the integration of peace and conflict studies with indigenous and community governance. Hsiao explores the disruption and revitalization of Areas and territories protected by indigenous peoples and local communities in Rwanda.

For years, Indigenous Peoples’ Day was strictly recognized as Columbus Day, but indigenous people’s struggle for historical consciousness leaves the holiday’s true meaning up for debate. In 1977, the United Nations held a conference to discuss discrimination against indigenous populations in the Americas, initiating the holiday shift.

In 2021, President Joe Biden became the first president to officially do so recognize Indigenous Peoples Day. Although the day is still not recognized as a holiday according to US federal law Pew Research Center.

Hsiao said it is important for the university to use Indigenous Peoples Day not only to acknowledge the horrific past of exploitation, but to go beyond recognition. Hsiao hopes the university begins to uncover the history of Indigenous people on the campus and its property, and reflects on the ongoing work that needs to be done in the Kent community.

The E. Timothy Moore Student Multicultural Center is currently in the process Planning for this year’s Native American Heritage Month (NAHM), the center’s interim director Ilianna Garrett said in a statement.

Lauren Bischof is a beat reporter. Contact them at [email protected].