Michigan State students march toward The Rock on Farm Lane during an Indigenous Peoples’ Day march hosted by the North American Indigenous Student Organization at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026.
Students from the North American Indigenous Student Organization marched across campus Monday to commemorate Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
The event brought together NAISO members, MSU faculty and local tribal members to stand in solidarity, reflect on historical and present Indigenous struggles and showcase Indigenous culture on campus and in the Greater Lansing area.
William Lawrence, the Democratic candidate for Michigan's 7th Congressional District, and Rashida Harrison, the Democratic candidate for Michigan Senate District 28, were both present at the event.
Before the march began, NAISO members and local tribal members gathered at Beaumont Tower to pass out signs before marching to the Hannah Administration Building. Here, through speeches, students and faculty connected this day to personal experiences and the influence of NAISO on their personal cultural identity.
NAISO co-chair Brielle Tate, a descendant of the Spirit Lake Nation Tribe in North Dakota, said her grandmother was taken to a boarding school as a child, where she was taught to reject her Indigenous culture and identity. Tate grew up without knowing about her Indigenous culture and community, leaving her feeling very disconnected.
“I grew up knowing that I was Native American, but I didn’t know what that meant,” Tate said in her speech. “I met the most amazing people (at NAISO), and I didn’t expect to find my close friends.”
The group later marched to The Rock, painted the previous evening with vines and flowers, where MSU faculty and local community members shared their struggles as part of the Indigenous community. Mary Lee, who is part of the Anishinaabe Indigenous community, described her experiences as a boarding school survivor, where they cut her hair and attempted to erase her cultural identity and language.
NAISO co-chair Maggie Broderick, affiliated with the Seneca and Cayuga nations within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, said that she came to MSU because she surrounded by her community.
“As someone from Ohio, there are very few Natives there, and I wanted to be in the community,” Broderick said in her speech. “I wanted to go to Powwow; I wanted all of the things, because you can only go so far not in the community.”
While NAISO has been a beacon for Indigenous students to attend MSU, the organization has dealt with its fair share of struggles. Near constant financial woes have hindered NAISO's ability to host its annual Powwow and pushback for a land acknowledgement plaque has delayed the process for six years.
“Across the board, there is a lack of student support, and it really shows the priorities of the university when students and cultural organizations that you made treaties with and formalized promises to aren’t respected in the name of things like money for sports,” Broderick said.
Regardless, MSU academic specialist Shay Sandoval-Flores, a descendant of the Ojibwe, Seminole and Choctaw nations, said it's important to amplify Indigenous voices.
“We are here, but we’ve been raised and programmed to fit into society, but society has never really been programmed and raised to fit into our society and to acknowledge us,” Sandoval-Flores said. “So that’s the importance of continuing to speak, to continue to be, to persist and resist.”
Tate reiterated the importance of knowing Indigenous culture.
“It’s important to know about your culture, to celebrate your culture no matter what it is,” Tate said. “It doesn’t matter the amount of knowledge you currently have; you could always learn more.”
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