Heritage month celebrated
Alex Belz
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: News
The Native American Student Association (NASA) along with other groups, are celebrating Native American Heritage Month by hosting a variety of events, including a lecture by a motivational speaker and a cultural diversity presentation.
"I think it's a great opportunity for people on campus to go out and learn a little bit more. This culture is really prevalent in the U.P.," said NASA Chairperson Connie Goudreau. "I still feel like a lot of kids at Northern don't take the opportunity to learn more about it, so that they can connect better with the people around them."
The series of events start with the showing of "Alcatraz is Not an Island," a documentary about Native American activists who occupied Alcatraz island from 1969 to 1971. The film will be shown at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5 in Jamrich 105.
Motivational speaker, author and success coach D.J. Eagle Bear Vanas will be giving a presentation titled "The Little Warrior Within" on Monday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. in Jamrich 103. Vanas was the youngest officer to achieve the position of Chief of Minority Enrollment at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
"I saw it last year," Goudreau said. "It's pretty cool; he's actually a really awesome guy."
On Nov. 11 NMU political science professor Ruth Watry will be giving a lecture on the "Native American Citizenship Experience," sponsored by the Multicultural Education and Resource Center and the League of Women Voters. The talk will discuss the history of interactions between the U.S. government and Native Americans.
"I go back to the 1700s," Watry said. "I'm talking about the influence that the Iroquois Confederation had on the way our government was set up, the influence on Benjamin Franklin; some of the common values. How much of what we didn't like King George doing to us, we've done to the Native Americans."
The talk also focuses on the struggle for Native American citizenship in the U.S. Though Native Americans were given the vote federally in 1924, some U.S. states didn't recognize it fully until much later. New Mexico didn't give Native American citizens the right to vote until 1968.
"I think it's a great opportunity for people on campus to go out and learn a little bit more. This culture is really prevalent in the U.P.," said NASA Chairperson Connie Goudreau. "I still feel like a lot of kids at Northern don't take the opportunity to learn more about it, so that they can connect better with the people around them."
The series of events start with the showing of "Alcatraz is Not an Island," a documentary about Native American activists who occupied Alcatraz island from 1969 to 1971. The film will be shown at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5 in Jamrich 105.
Motivational speaker, author and success coach D.J. Eagle Bear Vanas will be giving a presentation titled "The Little Warrior Within" on Monday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. in Jamrich 103. Vanas was the youngest officer to achieve the position of Chief of Minority Enrollment at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
"I saw it last year," Goudreau said. "It's pretty cool; he's actually a really awesome guy."
On Nov. 11 NMU political science professor Ruth Watry will be giving a lecture on the "Native American Citizenship Experience," sponsored by the Multicultural Education and Resource Center and the League of Women Voters. The talk will discuss the history of interactions between the U.S. government and Native Americans.
"I go back to the 1700s," Watry said. "I'm talking about the influence that the Iroquois Confederation had on the way our government was set up, the influence on Benjamin Franklin; some of the common values. How much of what we didn't like King George doing to us, we've done to the Native Americans."
The talk also focuses on the struggle for Native American citizenship in the U.S. Though Native Americans were given the vote federally in 1924, some U.S. states didn't recognize it fully until much later. New Mexico didn't give Native American citizens the right to vote until 1968.
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