First Nations embraces culture

IU has more than 7,000 students in its freshman class, and only 16 are Native American.

On Wednesday night a reception to celebrate National American Indian Heritage Month brought food, music and people to City Hall to recognize this minority at IU.
The evening was a joint project between the First Nations Educational and Cultural Center and the Safe and Civil City office, said FNECC interim director Lillian Casillas. Safe and Civil City director Beverly Calender-Anderson said as a cultural group, the heritage of American Indians is under-celebrated.

Bloomington resident Earl Reagan was one of the driving forces behind encouraging more American Indian cultural events in Bloomington, especially in light of the many celebrations for other groups like black students and the Latino community.

“Bloomington seems to pride itself on its diversity,” Reagan said. “At the same time, they have never stopped to consider the first people who were here, and we’re standing here saying, ‘What about us?’ ... It’s not like we want people to put us up on a pedestal, but acknowledge our presence and that we were here first.”

Reagan said he is happy this reception occurred and hopes to see it grow in the future.

The exhibit for the evening, entitled “Sovereign Nations: Honoring the Indigenous Peoples of America” displayed fact cards, maps and information tables, as well as a Cherokee “tear dress” and the flags of the Miami nation and the Pokagon band of the Potawatomi nation, the two main groups native to Indiana.

A section about stereotypes made fun of products like unrealistic figurines, craft books and the symbol for Land O’Lakes butter, a young American Indian woman.

There was also a table dedicated to the “Columbus Day Project,” for which participants stood on busy Bloomington walkways for five minutes wearing T-shirts with facts printed on them such as “13 percent of Native Americans hold bachelor’s degrees compared to 28 percent of the general population.”

Sophomore Tasha Hauff said she is disappointed so few students came to the event, though the overall turnout was good and she enjoyed herself.

“I’m glad they’re putting this together, especially around Thanksgiving,” Hauff said.

Organizers chose to hold the event in City Hall because the city government wants people to feel welcome there, said Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan in a speech. He officially recognized the heritage month in the city of Bloomington by presenting Casillas and First Nations with a certificate and encouraged residents to celebrate it, saying a town is only a community in which everyone feels active.

“It is our city. It’s everybody’s city, everybody’s City Hall,” Calender-Anderson said.