Event-filled week celebrates American Indian heritage
By: Susan Prosoco
Issue date: 3/29/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Since 1965, the United Native American Organization and the American Indian students at New Mexico State University have celebrated the history of their cultures, languages and traditions during a chosen week, and this year has been no different.
American Indian week began on Monday, March 26, with a themed "pueblo throw" outside Corbett Center Student Union. Tuesday, NMSU welcomed guest speaker Dan Wildcat to lecture on environmental activism.
"We had a pretty good turnout for the guest speaker," said American Indian Program Director Don Pepion.
Patrick Natoni, advisor for the NMSU American Indian Program, said the turnout so far has been above average.
"It's going pretty well, we have another guest [on Wednesday] speaking about the history of the Apache tribe," Natoni said.
Phyllis Riley, a community health major and member of the Laguna Tribe said she enjoyed the guest speaker on Tuesday.
"I'm planning on going to the other events this week too," Riley said. "It's been like tradition for this school, which is really good because we have such a diverse population on this campus."
Specifically, American Indians make up 3 percent of the student population at NMSU, and there are over 500 different tribes in New Mexico.
Despite this, Natoni said he would like to see more initiative and demonstration from the different tribes being represented at NMSU.
"There's so much diversity just between tribes, it would be good to show everyone else on campus," Natoni said.
"It's good for other people to get a taste of our culture too," Riley said. "People who have lived here their entire lives don't really know that much about it."
One of the main objectives of UNAO, a chartered organization of NMSU, is to promote a mutual understanding of different cultures and steer away from the stereotypes associated with Native Americans.
"We're trying to avoid the commercial image of Native Americans," Natoni said. He also stated one of the ways of educating the public on topics and values of Native Americans is done by Miss Native NMSU. The pageant has been on-going for over a decade now.
"She travels and visits to increase positive visibility of Native Americans," Natoni said. "She's basically a good will ambassador."
"I encourage students to come to the activities," said Pepion. "It's one of the few opportunities to learn about their culture."
Tonight there will be a screening of "Raven Tales" at 7 p.m. in the Corbett Center auditorium.
Friday, March 30, the Native American Business Association will present the Miss Native NMSU pageant, beginning at 6 p.m.
Saturday, March 31, there will be a Pow Wow and arts and crafts expo from 12 to 6 p.m. at the outdoor amphitheater by Corbett Center.
The week of March 26-31 is an event-filled week put on by the United Native American Organization, American Indian Science and Engineering Society and the Native American Student Business Association. The events have been funded by the Associated Students of NMSU.
American Indian week began on Monday, March 26, with a themed "pueblo throw" outside Corbett Center Student Union. Tuesday, NMSU welcomed guest speaker Dan Wildcat to lecture on environmental activism.
"We had a pretty good turnout for the guest speaker," said American Indian Program Director Don Pepion.
Patrick Natoni, advisor for the NMSU American Indian Program, said the turnout so far has been above average.
"It's going pretty well, we have another guest [on Wednesday] speaking about the history of the Apache tribe," Natoni said.
Phyllis Riley, a community health major and member of the Laguna Tribe said she enjoyed the guest speaker on Tuesday.
"I'm planning on going to the other events this week too," Riley said. "It's been like tradition for this school, which is really good because we have such a diverse population on this campus."
Specifically, American Indians make up 3 percent of the student population at NMSU, and there are over 500 different tribes in New Mexico.
Despite this, Natoni said he would like to see more initiative and demonstration from the different tribes being represented at NMSU.
"There's so much diversity just between tribes, it would be good to show everyone else on campus," Natoni said.
"It's good for other people to get a taste of our culture too," Riley said. "People who have lived here their entire lives don't really know that much about it."
One of the main objectives of UNAO, a chartered organization of NMSU, is to promote a mutual understanding of different cultures and steer away from the stereotypes associated with Native Americans.
"We're trying to avoid the commercial image of Native Americans," Natoni said. He also stated one of the ways of educating the public on topics and values of Native Americans is done by Miss Native NMSU. The pageant has been on-going for over a decade now.
"She travels and visits to increase positive visibility of Native Americans," Natoni said. "She's basically a good will ambassador."
"I encourage students to come to the activities," said Pepion. "It's one of the few opportunities to learn about their culture."
Tonight there will be a screening of "Raven Tales" at 7 p.m. in the Corbett Center auditorium.
Friday, March 30, the Native American Business Association will present the Miss Native NMSU pageant, beginning at 6 p.m.
Saturday, March 31, there will be a Pow Wow and arts and crafts expo from 12 to 6 p.m. at the outdoor amphitheater by Corbett Center.
The week of March 26-31 is an event-filled week put on by the United Native American Organization, American Indian Science and Engineering Society and the Native American Student Business Association. The events have been funded by the Associated Students of NMSU.
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