Native American Student Council preserves traditions
The Native American Student Council at Utah State University offers a stable environment for one of the smallest minority populations on campus.
Multicultural students of many different backgrounds find friendship and guidance from this specific council on campus.
Antonio Arce, a graduate student in sociology, currently serves as the president of the council. He said the council represents a population of about 60 to 80 people on campus who consider themselves Native Americans and actively participate in holding on to their traditions and culture.
“Technically there are about 160 people on the school records who manifested themselves as Native American,” he said. “But some of them might just have a drop of blood from their ancestors and don’t hold on to any traditions.”
Arce is a Kuechua Indian and has roots in Bolivia and Argentina where his family currently resides. Although he isn’t what most people in this area consider a Native American, Arce said he is as native as someone can get.
“After I graduated from BYU in 1997 I moved to the four-corners area to get closer to my people,” he said.
Arce said he is trying to keep his traditions and culture alive by staying near his culture and promoting the heritage of the native people.
“The first part of a culture that will go away is usually the language,” he said. “A language can easily be lost in just one generation.”
Although he speaks Spanish fluently and English with a slight accent, Arce said he is trying to hold onto his Keuchua language as well.
Orlando Norton, a junior in forestry, said he is doing all he can to hold on to the culture he grew up in too.
Norton was raised in Montezuma Creek in Southern Utah and had stayed close to the Navajo traditions his grandfather has taught him.
“My grandfather only speaks Navajo, so when I am home that is what I use with him,” he said.
Norton said he plans on teaching his children Navajo so they will retain those same traditions he has learned.
“Our people are becoming what we call ‘white-washed’ and losing their history. My mom tells me all the time though that I must teach my children to preserve their culture,” he said.
Four percent of the students at USU are considered minorities, Arce said, and half of those are Hispanic. This means the other minority groups make up the other half of the population.
“Unfortunately we are seeing a decline in the percentage of Native Americans on campus,” Arce said. “While the population of the university has increased, the actual number of Native Americans has stayed almost the same.”
Both students said they wish the numbers were bigger and everyone understood more about their past.
“There is a stereotype of us being savages,” Norton said.
He said he has always been taught by his people to take only what he will use and leave the rest for someone else.
“I try to stay away from the stereotype. Sometimes I feel I should set an example. They seem to be trying to change the image in Hollywood too – to be more fair and show things right,” he said.
Arce said students from all cultures are welcome in the council as well as members of the community in Cache Valley.
William Primmer is one of these members who participates actively in the council but is not a student at USU.
At first, or even second glance, Primmer does not have the stereotypical Native American look.
“My great-great grandfather was a Cherokee Indian, but the English and German traits are the part that shows,” he said.
Speaking of the history of the Native Americans and claims of land in America, Primmer said he has an internal conflict of sorts which fights between the white side and the Native American side.
“I am caught between two worlds. I can see the peace and better living from my Native American ancestors, but I can also see what the other side did to them,” he said.
Now Primmer does his best to regain his past by learning Cherokee. Even though there are no people in the area who speak the language, he listens to language tapes to help learn to speak his lost language.
“[Primmer] also helps out a lot in the council by providing workshops and supporting the activities,” Arce said.
The council meets every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in Animal Science, Room 101E. All students are welcome to attend.