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LCSC Native American Awareness Week is March 9-12
The 22nd annual Lewis-Clark State College Native American Awareness Week will be held March 9-12 and will feature the theme “Honoring the Past, Empowering the Future.”
The four-day event features two pow wows, video presentations, panel discussions, a comedy night, and the annual Friendship Banquet. The public is invited to all events, which are free except for the comedy night performance.
The week kicks off on March 9 with a special reading by Native American actors at the LCSC Silverthorne Theatre. The event is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and run for approximately 90 minutes.
On March 10, area fourth grade classes will participate in a mini pow wow, which will be held at 10-11:15 a.m. at the LCSC Activity Center. The pow wow will feature young dancers in traditional Native American attire and information about the dances they will perform.
Two three-hour workshops also will be held that day at the LCSC Williams Conference Center. The first workshop is on Nez Perce Protestant Christian Hymnody by former Washington State University music professor Loran Olsen, who has spent more than 30 years cataloging and recording Nez Perce Music. His workshop runs 9 a.m.-noon.
After lunch, Catherine Tkacz, a special consultant for rare books and manuscripts at Gonzaga University, will hold a workshop on Nez Perce Catholic Hymnody at 1:30-4:30 p.m.
That night, comedians Lux Devereaux, Vaughn Eagle Bear, and Fred Hill will perform, starting at 7 p.m. at the Silverthorne Theatre. Admission is free for LCSC students with student ID cards, and $3 for general admission. Tickets will only be sold at the door.
On March 11, there will be three 75 minute discussions, a three-hour workshop on flute making, and the annual Friendship Banquet, all at the Williams Conference Center. The day starts at 9 a.m. with Olson discussing Nez Perce music. After a short break, the 10:30 session is “Education in a Multicultural Society” by Howard Rainer, who is with the Native American Education Outreach Programs at Brigham Young University. Following lunch, a panel discussion about “Native American Craft Tradition in a Contemporary World” will start at 1:30 p.m. The panel includes Marcus Amerman, an artist of Choctaw descent who lives in Santa Fe, N.M., and Jenny Williams and Gary Greene, who are Nez Perce.
Also at 1:30 p.m. there will be a three-hour workshop on Elder Berry Flute Making by Olsen in the WCC.
That evening, starting at 7, the annual Friendship Banquet will be held. The free dinner features the annual Isaac “Ike” Wilson Memorial Scholarship and other scholarships will be presented, along with the award of the Native American Awareness Week Lifetime Achievement Award. The winners won’t be announced until that evening.
March 12 features more discussions as well as the annual LCSC Pow Wow at 6:30-11 p.m. at the LCSC Activity Center.
The final day begins with at 9 a.m. with a 75-minute discussion led by Brian McCormack on “Landscape Architecture and Native American Culture” with Brian McCormack, owner of McCormack Landscape Architectures in Lewiston. At 10:30 a.m. is a talk on the “Stories and Peoples of the Columbia River” by Ed Edmo, a Shoshone-Bannock storyteller and historian, and Loretta Halfmoon, a Nez Perce senior citizens program director.
At noon, there will be a presentation on the Nez Perce Music archive that is at the Washington State University library. Cheryl Gunselman, manuscripts librarian at WSU, will discuss the collection, which includes many from Olsen.
The final discussion is on the “Power of Vision” by Rainer, which runs 1:30-2:45 p.m.
That evening, starting at 6, will be the LCSC Pow Wow. The dance categories include Tiny Tots (age 0-6), boys and girls (7-12) teen boys and girls (13-18), men’s and women’s (19-and-over), and men’s and women’s golden age. Dances will be traditional, fancy and grass combined, or fancy and jingle combined. All drums as well as arts and craft vendors are welcome. Concessions will be available from the LCSC Native American Club and Sodexho Food Services.
The week’s events are sponsored by LCSC, the LCSC Native American Club, the LCSC Warrior Entertainment Board, the Idaho Humanities Council, the Clearwater River Casino, the Nez Perce Tribe, Pi’amkinwaas, Rosehill Estate, Associated Students of LCSC, and the LCSC AISLE Grant.
For more information on the event, contact Bob Sobotta, LCSC Director of Native American/Minority Student Services, at (208) 792-2812.
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