Public event expected to draw hundreds features Indigenous artisans, guest speakers, dancers and singers from at least 20 tribes and a salmon bake
By Sydney Seymour, Ashland.news
Southern Oregon University (SOU) will host a Native American Heritage Month Celebration — open to anyone — from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, with an Indigenous artisan market, a salmon bake lunch, dancing, and singing.
Doors open at 10:30 a.m. at Stevenson Union on the SOU campus. SOU Executive Vice President and Provost Casey Shillam will offer a welcome address and land acknowledgement around 11 a.m, followed by a salmon bake lunch at noon for $10 per plate (cash only).
About 20 informational and artisan vendors will run the Indigenous market along with two food trucks. A section with activities for children will also be available.
The celebration will continue with guest speakers like Belinda Brown from nonprofit Lomakatsi Restoration Project and Potawatomi Elder David West, who helped start the Native American Studies Program at SOU. Dancers and singers will perform throughout the day, including a Brush Dance demonstration and Hoop Dance.
An ‘intertribal’ event
Native American Heritage Month is celebrated every November to honor Indigenous culture, history and contributions. Saturday’s event is hosted by SOU Native Nations Liaison Kenwanicahee (Kenwani) Kravitz in collaboration with the SOU Native American Student Union (NASU), and sponsored by the city of Ashland and the Wesley Foundation of SOU.
The deets:
Native American Heritage Month Celebration, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, Stevenson Union at Southern Oregon University, open to the public, salmon bake $10/plate (cash only)
SOU moved what would be their eighth annual Indigenous Peoples Day celebration to Saturday’s Native American Heritage Month celebration, Kravitz explained, “due to unforeseen circumstances.”
The theme of this year’s event is “We are still here,” Kravitz said in a phone call to Ashland.news. It resembles the “resilience of our people and culture given the history between the United States and our tribes.”
Attendees will learn about the importance of Native American Heritage Month and the presence of Native American students on SOU campus. “It’s a space to learn about who we are as a people,” NASU co-chair Zion LaMarr said over the phone to Ashland.news.
Expecting 200 to 300 attendees, Kravitz also said this event is an opportunity for people “to learn about us from us. Rather than other people, we get to tell our own stories and ensure our culture and history is passed down inter-generationally through our voice.”
Saturday’s event is unique in its “intertribal” aspect, pointed out Kravitz, who is an enrolled tribal member of the Madesi Band of the Pit River Nation and a descendant of the Northern Wintu people. At least 20 tribes are represented across speakers, dancers, singers and vendors.
“It’s not one size fits all. This is going to highlight groups of people that represent different tribes and their different cultures,” Kravitz said.
The other SOU NASU co-chair, Luke Wolgamott, is an enrolled member of the Shawnee tribe (originally from the Ohio River Valley area) and Osage nation (originally from the Missouri area). He also described this year’s celebration as “intertribal.”
The event “celebrates Indigenous excellence and how Native college students are pushing through adversity in a place and an institution that wasn’t made for us,” Wolgamott told Ashland.news in a phone call. “College is hard for people who are born on the rez and have different cultures.”
Wolgamott said he encourages those that don’t have lived experience as a Native American “to come with a respectful mindset and to learn things — about this area, how we are stewards of the land, how we take care of it and how we practice ceremonies.”
Email Ashland.news reporter Sydney Seymour at sydneyseymourr@gmail.com.
Related stories:
‘Our people are still here’: SOU to host two-day event celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day (Oct. 15, 2024)
SOU Native Nations Liaison: ‘We have been educators since time immemorial’ (Oct. 15, 2024)
Flags honoring Oregon’s nine tribes given to SOU on Indigenous Peoples Day (Oct. 10, 2023)
Hundreds gather at SOU for Indigenous Peoples Day (Oct. 11, 2022)
SOU commemoration of Indigenous Peoples Day returns as in-person event (Oct. 8, 2022)
