Rice University’s Native American Student Association hosted an Indigenous cultural celebration involving dancing, music, food, beading, crafts and storytelling Nov. 22 at Farnsworth Pavilion as part of National Native American Heritage Month.
The event served as a way for members of the Rice community to reflect on their ancestry as well as share customs and traditions of North America’s Indigenous people with fellow Owls.
“It’s a time for people to learn more about the culture and resolve the narrative around the past,” said junior Isabella Bourtin, a health sciences major who is also a member of the Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama. “November is meant as a month of respect as well as a time to celebrate the resilience of our culture. This gathering and this month allow people to realize the history and contributions of Native Americans and Indigenous people.”
Traditional foods like fry bread and Three Sisters Soup along with corn husk doll-making materials and literature about Native American history filled tables throughout the room. The pinnacle of the event was a performance from Itzcoatl Tezkatlipoka, a local group that specializes in Aztec dancing.
National Native American Heritage Month originated as an effort to increase recognition for the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the U.S. The first American Indian Day in a state was declared on the second Saturday in May 1916 by the governor of New York. In 1990 President George H.W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Similar proclamations under variants on the name, including “Native American Heritage Month” and “National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month,” have been issued each year since 1994.
