The Native American Awareness Council proudly presents numerous educational events throughout each school year in an effort to separate stereotypes from realities of indigenous Americans. Some of the events for 2014-15 are described below.
An unveiling ceremony for a marker denoting what was once the intersection of the Catawba and Kittanning Native American trails was held on September 6, 2014. Several dignitaries spoke at the ceremony and a Native American dance troupe performed. The marker is located near the Hadley Union Building (HUB). The actual intersection was near what is now the campus Oak Grove. These trails functioned as avenues for trade, communication, and warfare and later served as the foundation for our modern highway system.
Carrie House, a Two-Spirit Navajo (Dine) and Onieda, presented a lecture and film on November 6, 2014. She is an advocate for social justice, LGBTQ2, cultural, and environmental issues. She also visited several classrooms while on campus. House is a writer, filmmaker, Robert Redford/Milagro Scholarship recipient, and a cofounder of the Gallup Film Foundation. She resides on the Navajo Indian Nation in Oaksprings, Arizona, and in Sante Fe, New Mexico.
In addition to the Native American Awareness Council, these events were sponsored by the GLBT Commission, Department of Anthropology, Department of Sociology, Department of History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Religious Studies, and the Office of Social Equity.
Jenny Tone-Pah-Hote and Keith Richotte, both of the University of North Carolina American Studies Department, were on campus Monday, February 16, and Tuesday, February 17, 2015, to visit Anthropology classes and present evening lectures.
Tone-Pah-Hote presented “Examining the ‘Indiana Princess': Kiowa Women and the American Indian Exposition, 1934-1945.” Richotte lectured on “Tribal Constitutional History and Its Relevance to Tribal Nations Today.”
These events were sponsored by the Native American Awareness Council and the Office of Social Equity.
Additionally, the Council hosted an outdoor showing of the film American Outrage in honor of Earth Day 2015.
