First Nations Center prepares Indian Heritage Month events

November is important for the First Nations Educational and Cultural Center, because starting in 1990, the U.S. Congress has named the month National American Indian Heritage Month.

“Native peoples don’t get to tell their story that often,” said Dr. Brian Gilley, associate professor of anthropology and director of the center. “This is an opportunity for native people to discuss their culture.”

The FNECC will be planning a variety of events to celebrate NAIHM. From film screenings to academic lectures, the FNECC, in association with the Native American Community Center, is hoping for public involvement during the month.

“These are all events designed to engage the IUB community with native issues,”
he said.

Gilley said he hopes the events will promote a dialogue about Native American culture in the Bloomington community.

There is a stigma with discussing Native American culture, he said, that he hopes events like these can help correct.

“A lot of times with this cultural dialogue, the Native American identity is thought of as something in the past, something to do with history 500 years ago,” said Paul Hagan, member of the Native American Graduate Student Association.

“It is very important to discuss the issues of being Native American today.”

Upcoming events include a reception at City Hall on Thursday, a language symposium Friday and a Cherokee Basket Weaving Workshop on Saturday.

Gilley said that most of the events are happening in the first part of the month because of Thanksgiving break.

“It’s a combination of the informative, the entertaining and the academically serious,”
he said.

All events are open to the public, and FNECC members said they hope the events can change perceptions of native people in the community.

“I think that National American Indian Heritage Month is often seen as an opportunity to make people feel like shit about colonialism and that is not what this is about,” Gilley said. “To me, National American Indian Heritage Month is more about engagement the community.”

— Charles Scudder