Shambhu Sharan
Issue date: 11/30/07
The Native American Cultural Café was presented at Eastfield on Nov. 27, and was attended by about 75 students.
“The purpose of the event was to explore Native American culture and to foster a better understanding of the culture,” Judy Schwartz, Student Program Development Specialist, said of the event. “We want students to learn tolerance, and to learn that being different doesn’t mean being wrong. We want students and staff to value diversity and appreciate the heritage, traditions, language and culture of the students represented at Eastfield College.”
Five percent (52 students) of Eastfield’s current enrollment are Native American Indian students.
Featured guest speaker, Dr. Sherry Smith, Professor of History at Southern Methodist University was scheduled to speak on “Re-imaging Native American Indians,” but her flight from Cairo was cancelled. A Native American video, “Spirit of the Dawn,” replaced the lecture.
According to www.native-languages.org, there are about 150 Native American languages spoken in Canada and the United States, and another 600-700 languages spoken in Central and South America.
One of the attendees, physical education equipment manager Dannis Pavageau, still understands the native Choctaw language, but does not speak it fluently.
Others have lost this skill. “My parents are Native American, and they were not allowed to speak Native American language at Bacon College Creek Nation, Oklahoma,” student Ona Harris said. Fine Arts major Amanda Tubbs has Native American heritage, but also doesn’t speak her tribal language.
The video “Spirit of the Dawn,” by Heidi Schmidt Emberling, explained the history and culture of the Crow tribe. The video tells about changes in education from the boarding schools of the past, where children were beaten for speaking their native language in school, to more culturally aware classrooms.
On the Crow reservation in Montana, sixth-graders participated in a class that encouraged them to create beautiful poetry celebrating Crow culture and history. Through the children, their parents and their teachers, people saw the strength of a community fighting the constraints of the past to secure a future for its children.
According to the video, education is the most powerful weapon to change society because education can help Native Americans increase awareness for their tradition and culture.
“Education is to vow to understand people,” Schwartz said. “We appreciate the differences and we value the differences. We need diversity to see the culture.”
Handmade, traditional equipment, made mostly from natural resources and used by the Native Americans, were also on display. The Native Indians mostly used natural resources.
Pavageau brought different kinds of traditional equipment and explained its use. A wooden musical instrument, a wooden knife, and a wooden hammer were on display. Pavageau said he likes Native Americans traditions and culture and attends traditional functions every year.
SPAR staff and students served food and drinks, which included Native American fried cornbread.
SPAR hosts several cultural events every year, each with a different focus. There will be a holiday social with refreshments, door prizes, and fun in room C-135 on Dec. 6, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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