New American Indian center opens Wednesday

In the mold of La Casa and the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, a new center for American Indians on campus will soon open its doors on the sixth floor of Eigenmann Hall.\nThe First Nations Educational and Cultural Center will hold an open house from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to create awareness for a center that focuses on providing support for American Indians.\n“We wanted to create a strong support system for Native Americans here on campus,” said Dennis Lamenti, co-chairman of the Native American Graduate Student Association.\nBesides providing support for American Indians, some of the goals for the center is education and awareness of American Indian culture.\n“The center will be for people of all colors to learn about Native American traditions – not just for those who identify with that culture,” said Rebecca Riall, the center’s steering committee member. \nAfter weeks of uncertainty and long proposals to the University, those advocating for the center were thrilled to learn that they had finally found a home. Yet awareness of the center around campus still presents an issue to those who have fought hard to advocate for it.\n“We are very pleased that they found space for us in such a short amount of time,” said Meredith Johnson, a steering committee member for the center and American Indian Student Association member . “But things are running a little slower than usual.”\nThe access issues that Riall and Johnson describe include the rule that all doors be locked after 5 p.m. on Eigenmann’s sixth floor.\n“We asked for a La Casa size house, and hope that this location in Eigenmann is only temporary,” Riall said.\nThe group is still excited for the chance to offer completely free programming, both to students at IU and to all residents of Bloomington. Future programs for the center include a silversmith workshop and a cooking class. The Marilyn Cleveland Distinguished Artist Workshop on beadworking will also take place today. For more information, contact nagsa@indiana.edu.\nThe center will also feature a film and video library collection for students to check out videos at no charge.\n“This has professors excited as well because they will be able to loan out material on the subject for free,” Riall said. “Their budgets are tied, and we’ll be there for them when they need it.”\nWith more than 100 American Indians on campus, the First Nations Educational and Cultural Center hopes to be a resource for those who may not think that they have anyone else here.\n“People think that they have to drop their culture when they come to a higher-education institution like IU,” Lamenti said. “But really, we are here for them to share their culture and embrace it.”