On Harborwalk students made dreamcatchers to the sound of traditional Native American music.
To kick off Native American Heritage Month, the Multicultural Activities Council (MAC) showcased a Native Spirit Exhibition. During this event, students experienced a museum-like atmosphere and moved from booth to booth, reading and learning about Native Americans’ way of life.
Religion, attire, healing methods and oral stories taught students about the four Native Americans tribes: the Chippewa, Seminole, Cherokee and the Mojave.
“We are trying to make the whole school aware about different types of tribes,” said Pauline Tendoh, a member of MAC’s education committee.
Various aspects of the daily life of the indigenous people were displayed, including details about their medicines and other survival techniques.
Savanna Carnell, Marketing Chair for MAC, said that even in light of the Standing Rock situation in South Dakota, Native Americans are still underrepresented and many tribes are unrecognized by the general public.
An interactive game about Native American attire was one of the highlights of the Native Spirit Exhibition. First, students read about the four tribes of Native Americans and how they dress. After reading, students were prompted to the next booth where they matched each traditional outfit to the tribe they belong to.
Heidi Colon, MAC’s Education Chair, talked about what it took to make an event like this happen.
“In previous years we’ve had performers, but due to budgeting and issues that came up, we decided to do a little bit of a twist and have a museum and exhibition feel and get more information out of it in a different way,” Colon said.
Although entertainers weren’t accessible this year, Colon hopes that next year they will be able to perform for the students.
MAC decided to incorporate physical activities because students tend to retain more of the information when working with something that’s tangible.
“There’s obviously a lot more to the culture, but there is only so much we can touch on so people don’t get too overstimulated, which is why we chose these activities,” Colon said.
MAC is a student organization that strives to promote diversity and inclusion through events that help students on campus become culturally aware.
To end their celebration of Native American Heritage Month MAC will be hosting another event on Nov. 8 from 5-7 p.m. There will be a showing of The New World with food and music.
