On Monday night, East Lansing’s first Indigenous Peoples’ Day was celebrated on campus through a community event. The event was put together by the North American Indigenous Student Organization, or NAISO, to celebrate and show their appreciation for the recognition of the new holiday.
The event took place at the Rock on Farm Lane, where it was decorated with a tarp and a NAISO flag that could help onlookers identify the event. Unlike past years, the event was a celebration instead of a protest.
"It’s just a win for our community and it just didn’t seem right to take something that the city no longer recognizes and protest it," NAISO co-chair and world politics senior Cassandra Shavrnoch said. "It just is important to show that we acknowledge what the city has done and say — not necessarily ‘thank you’ to the city, because it shouldn’t have been recognized as Columbus Day anyway, but just show our appreciation."
The celebration involved music, dancing, speakers and ways for those attending the event to get involved, like community dances and an open mic portion. Ultimately, it was a way to say that the indigenous population is a community that is strong and thriving, Shavrnoch said.
During the celebration, Lee Sprague, a member of the Tribal Council of the little River Band of Ottawa Indians in Manistee, spoke. Sprague also goes by the name Mitigwabwak, which means "wood that bends but doesn't break," like hickory. Sprague was one of the members of the original Indigenous Peoples' Day Committee in Berkeley, Calif., where the first Indigenous Peoples' Day was held.
"I can honestly say that 24 years ago for the first Indigenous Peoples' Day in Berkeley, California, I was a little younger, and I thought it would be over, all of it would be over, like, five years ago," he said. "So what I have learned is that it takes a lot of people and it takes time and it takes all of us working together."
During the event, topics that significantly affect indigenous populations were brought up by speakers. These issues included the protection of the environment, the continuation of colonization, the Dakota Access Pipeline, the U.S. court system and the indigenous people of other nations in their push to protect the earth.
"Something that’s very hard to understand, maybe, is that we are less than one percent of the population in our own lands," Sprague said. "And we love this earth, and we need you to love it, and so when you hear those indigenous voices, speaking for the water, speaking for the earth, speaking for the children, speaking for future generations, I’m inviting you to keep your ears tuned. Keep listening. It’s a hard thing to hear sometimes, the indigenous voices in a hurricane of other voices coming from all these directions, so I want to applaud you to be here today, to hear some of these words."
Environmental studies and sustainability sophomore Sara Lehman and sustainable parks, recreation and tourism sophomore Jasmine Overholt are both students who attended the Indigenous Peoples' Day celebration in an attempt to learn more about what such a day would look like for indigenous peoples.
“It raised awareness, for sure," Overholt said. "People are walking by, seeing this and it’s nice that it’s out in the open."
Lehman agreed and said she was proud of East Lansing for getting behind the cause.
"I think it’s super important to get Indigenous Peoples' Day out there and just to get people together, doing something together," Lehman said.
Sprague and other speakers encouraged attendees to use Indigenous Peoples' Day as a way to open discussions about the holiday and about the issues affecting indigenous populations.
"Now it’s your turn to step up," Sprague said. "Use this platform of Indigenous Peoples' Day to talk about the truth. Engage your students, engage your teachers, engage this community. It’s like we’re walking into our futures backwards — we don’t see sometimes. But please, please continue the good work here today. And celebrate! This is a good occasion! We need to dance, we need to eat and we need to continue these celebrations."
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