North Idaho College will host a slate of events next week celebrating and exploring the region’s tribal culture and language during American Indian Heritage Week.
The events, which run from March 24 -28, come as both nationally and at the Idaho State Legislature there is pushback against cultural and racially specific events and spaces on college campuses.
At a time when centers for specific student groups are closing across Idaho, centers for Native students remain.
Two proposed Idaho Senate bills (SB 1048 and SB 1123) that target “diversity, equity and inclusion ideology” have carve outs for programs that support American Indian cultural events, scholarships and centers. Both bills are currently awaiting hearings in the State Affairs Committee.
Amy Bardwell, American Indian Student Advisor at NIC, said the celebrations are an opportunity to share Native culture with the NIC community.
“We are all about learning about things outside of, beyond what we already know,” Bardwell said, noting for non-Native students, faculty, and community members, the week is a unique opportunity to engage with the region’s history.
“This provides the opportunity that they might not come across on their own,” Bardwell said.
Over at least the last decade, the college has held a variety of events from round dances to speakers and workshops to celebrate local indigenous culture.
This year, the celebrations center around Native languages.
Coeur d’Alene Tribal Member and Language Expert Cheffrey Sailto is set to present on the importance of sustaining the tribe’s language and how elders are passing it on to young people.
Sailto’s presentation will be followed by a screening of “We Will Speak” which looks at how Native children were punished for speaking their language 100 years ago but the language survived. The film showcases the importance of education as Cherokee Nation takes steps to revitalize language use in their community and among tribal members.
The two most popular events, Bardwell noted, are usually fry bread and the art workshop, which bookend the week this year and invite students to the American Indian Student Center on the bottom floor of the student union building.
Bardwell said that for Native students having a physical space to connect with their peers is important.
“Frankly, Native Americans are the only ones that are truly native to this soil so that idea of being connected to a space is important,” she said.
American Indian Heritage Week events:
- $5 Fry Bread in the Edminster Student Union Building Plaza from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday. Proceeds go to the American Indian Student Alliance
- “The Language of the People who were Found Here” presentation — Coeur d’Alene Tribal Member and Language Expert Cheffrey Sailto will share why the Tribe believes it is important to sustain its language and how the Tribe is helping young people learn and use it. At Noon Tuesday in the Lake Coeur d’Alene Room in the SUB followed by a screening of “We Will Speak”
- Indigenous Knowledge for Effective Education Program (IKEEP) presentation on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the SUB — Geared toward students, educators, parents and all those interested, this presentation is on a University of Idaho program that helps teachers become more aware of incorporating cultural understanding and practices that can engage students.
- “Coeur d’Alene Tribe Natural Resources Objectives” presentation on Thursday at 1 p.m. in the Lake Coeur d’Alene Room — Jesse Steele, a forester of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, will speak on workforce development and how the Tribe approaches environmental issues.
- Drop-in beading workshop on Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the American Indian Student Center, lower level SUB — Get creative with the traditional activity, making a lanyard keychain. Materials will be provided by the NIC American Indian Student Alliance.
