Native American Awareness Month promotes campus cultural awareness

Each month Boise State University and communities nationwide aim

to raise awareness for specific cultures. November celebrates

Native American Awareness Month. Events will take place on campus

Nov. 3-19.

The BSU Cultural Center will host the events with aid from the

Intertribal Native Council. The Cultural Center provides the

financial backbone and the driving force behind the events, while

the INC heads fundraising and publicity.

Awareness is definitely needed for Native Americans, according

to Rosario “Ro” Alvarado-Parker, Cultural Center

coordinator. “They are the only race that is still

dehumanized,” said Parker. They are still used as mascots

from elementary schools to professional sports. They are also used

as product names and are stereotyped in all forms of media, she

said.

Event topics vary, but all promise to be informative as well as

entertaining. Events range from films that portray Native American

culture, to crafts and a play. A dream catcher workshop will teach

the history of the dream catcher and its function as well as how to

make one.

One of the films to be shown is titled, “Historical Impact

of the S-Word.” It documents the recent struggle of Native

Americans to eradicate the word “squaw” from Idaho

landmarks because of the negative connotations surrounding it.

The other film scheduled is “Alcatraz is not an

Island.” It speaks of the effort on the part of Native

Americans to reclaim Alcatraz in the late ‘60s and the

beginning of the “Red Power” movement. It will be

followed by a discussion led by LaNada Boyer, a founding member of

the Native Americans Right Fund and long-time supporter of Indian

issues.

The play, which will take place Nov. 18 as a matinee, is geared

toward families and younger audiences, said Parker. It is about two

cultures coming together and is titled “In the Land of the

Grasshopper Song.”

The Cultural Center is making several efforts to raise awareness

concerning Native American culture and all cultures. They host

several events throughout the year to attract student interest and

involvement. Parker is aware of the responsibility BSU has as a

culturally diverse campus to present cultural opportunities to

students and the community as a whole. “If I do my job well,

there will be no need for a cultural center,” she said.

Ryan Gorringe
Special to The Arbiter

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