Recognizing Indigenous student organizations, Native American Heritage Month
Central Michigan University celebrates Native American Heritage month through multiple events this November. Through these celebrations, CMU Office of Indigenous Affairs and North American Indigenous Student Organization provide cultural exposure and education.
Kasey Perez, the director of the Office of Indigenous Affairs and the Student Transition Enrichment Program at CMU, said that there are multiple RSOs that have been aligned with Indigenous students such as NAISO and previously, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society.
She said the importance of the RSO’s is having that representation within each other for the campus.
"It's about having peers to be able to connect with and to have a community to build relationships with," Perez said.
Perez said the Office of Indigenous Affairs is also a space for students to be seen and heard.
“It’s creating a space for our student organizations to meet, be those listening ears for our students and being the go-to person to be able to help them out as their advisor,” she said.
Perez said the prominence of Indigenous RSOs depends on the leadership and members which varies from year to year therefore leading to the amount of exposure there is on campus. Perez said the CMU community does a good job of inviting NAISO to take part in events.
“CMU really showcases who they (NAISO) are and who their culture is on campus,” she said. “We’ve had requests from admissions, from the Center for Student Inclusion and Diversity (CSID), from Student Activities and Involvement (SAI) and other departments asking NAISO to be involved in sharing the culture with the community.”
She said CMU does an incredible job of bringing awareness and exposure to indigenous communities and is only getting better when working within different departments of the university.
“We work with not only the Saginaw (Chippewa) Indian Tribe but other tribes to create that exposure and to welcome the students here, creating that home based community,” Perez said. “This includes everything from the mural that’s up in the Bovee University Center to having the Anishinabemowin taught in our classes.”
Perez said although CMU and the Mount Pleasant community is on track to representing and bringing awareness to the Native American community, there is still room for improvement. For example, there could be more on-campus events, community involvement and more awareness to the Indian Industrial Boarding School era.
“It’s answering the question of how we recognize, respect and honor that history here in Mount Pleasant and by making sure that our students and our community know it was here, that it’s respected within Mount Pleasant and within the tribal nation here.” Perez said.
She said students are more recognizable for who they are as indigenous people, but NAISO is more focused on embracing education on the culture.
“Like the do’s and don'ts of our culture, and how to appreciate instead of appropriate,” Perez said. “Sometimes it’s about socializing and creating community, other times about educating and teaching.”
Perez said the best way to get a good taste of everything from education to cultural performance is to attend Native American Heritage Month events.
The Office of Indigenous Affairs is the main host for all the events along with the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Clarke Historical Library, NAISO, Program Board and CMU Dining.
Perez said everybody and anybody is welcome to visit the Office of Indigenous Affairs. Visitors are encouraged to learn, volunteer and see the behind the scenes of how things happen and work.
Here are the upcoming Native American Heritage Month events:
- Nov. 14: Program Board presents a movie showing “Woman Walks Ahead”
- Nov. 15: Cocoa, Crafts and Beading
- Nov. 18: Shi Shi Be-Bodewadmi Bingo
- Nov. 19: Two-Spirit Talking Circle
- Nov. 21: Indigenous Food Tasting with Chef Sam Anglin
- Nov. 25: “Where They Last Saw Her” book club discussion with author Marcie Rendon
- Nov. 25: Indigenous Storytime
