USU Inclusion Center hosts series of events for Native American Heritage Month

The Utah State University Inclusion Center is putting on a series of events during November to celebrate Native American Heritage Month. 

Here’s what to look forward to this month:

Aggies Be Cookin’ Indigenous Edition 

Nov. 2, Nov. 16 and Nov. 22

The Inclusion Center kicked off this series of tutorials for indigenous recipes on their Instagram story Monday. 

The first of these recipes was native cornbread. Indigenous Program Coordinator Alina Begay, who filmed the recipe tutorial, explained both the traditional way the food is cooked and the way the recipe has been adapted for the modern-day. 

The series will continue with three sisters stew on Nov. 16 and Navajo steam corn stew on Nov. 22. 

Thanks-Talking 

Nov. 5 at 5 p.m.

Dr. Cornel Pewewardy, professor of Indigenous Nations Studies at Portland State University, will host a discussion on decolonizing Thanksgiving over Zoom tonight. 

The talk will focus on Thanksgiving from a Native point of view and how the Thanksgiving story taught in schools is a romanticized version of the real First Thanksgiving. 

The Zoom meeting will be conducted in webinar form, and students can join with the meeting ID 841 3329 0104 and password deco!onize. 

Beading Circle

Nov. 10

Students can pick up a beading kit from the USU Inclusion office on Nov. 6, or visit the Inclusion Center’s website for a list of beading supplies to purchase themselves. 

Video tutorials will be put up on the Inclusion Center’s Instagram stories on Nov. 10 teaching beading techniques for students to learn from home.

Not only will students learn beading techniques, but the tutorials will include instruction from traditional native knowledge, such as how to be in tune with your feelings and with the land while you are beading. 

The beading circle is usually taught in person, but due to COVID-19 most of the traditional Native American Heritage Month events have been moved to virtual platforms and others canceled completely. 

The Inclusion Center traditionally puts on the Miss Native American USU pageant this month and students usually perform the Fancy Dance at the Homecoming halftime show, but both won’t be conducted this year.

Alina Begay, the Indigenous Program Coordinator for the USU Inclusion Center, wants the events this month to foster peace and harmony between students and dispel indigenous stereotypes. 

“I think it’s important being able to share my culture, but the correct culture, not an appropriated and romanticized version of my culture, and especially to students, and to remind students that we’re still here and that they have fellow students that are also here,” Begay said. “This is our land. This is where we’re from. This is our culture.”

Darcy Ritchie is a second-year journalism student at Utah State from Idaho Falls, Idaho. Outside of writing for the Statesman, she loves to DJ for Aggie Radio, eat french bread in the Walmart parking lot, and tweet.

—darcy.ritchie@usu.edu

@darcyrrose