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OCTOBER 10, 2018 • Number 40, Volume 37
‘A step toward healing’
Indigenous People’s Day celebrated at Oregon Tech By HOLLY DILLEMUTH H&N Staff Reporter
C
olumbus Day, a federal holiday, symbolizes many things to the Native American community — slavery, cultural genocide, an undermining of the existence of indigenous people who lived in the Klamath Basin since time immemorial, according to Will Hess, youth initiative coordinator for the Klamath Tribes. “But to have it recognized as Indigenous People’s Day by the state of Oregon, it helps counteract some of those falsehoods … that are out there on the Columbus Day holiday,” Hess said. On Monday, about 70 area high school students celebrated the first Indigenous People’s Day, which replaces recognition statewide of a federal holiday honoring explorer Christopher Columbus. It’s the first time Oregon Tech has hosted a day celebrating the event and the first year students are participating in the day since Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed a proclamation in 2017. The event on Monday was coordinated in collaboration with both city and county school districts, Oregon Tech, and the Klamath Tribes. Native American students from schools, including Klamath Union High School, Bonanza Junior/Senior High School, and Chiloquin Junior/ Senior High School attended the event as a regular school day.
Zoe Coombes-Tecumseh, 15, a sophomore at KU and a member of the Klamath Tribes, was among those who attended the day of activities. CoombesTecumseh appreciates the day being being acknowledged by the state and local schools.
Klamath Falls 7-Day Forecast Oct. 11-17
“It being actually acknowledged is important for our culture,” Coombes-Tecumseh said, during a tour of Oregon Tech’s renovated Cornett Hall. Coombes-Tecumseh is interested in nursing programs in the future, and along with other students, got to learn about what the campus has to offer as part of the day. She also got to listen to presentations, including one by Chiloquin graduate Tana Atchley, who now serves as youth engagement coordinator for the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board. “Knowing and understanding
our history and how we all got to be in this one place is important,” Atchley told an auditorium of high school students during a portion of the day’s events. “Having that connection to the place where you’re from is really important because the people who are from those places observed what was happening … they were the caretakers of those places. “We were here before Oregon was Oregon,” Atchley added. Atchley empowered students to search for answers and to ask why, when it comes to the land on which they live.
Grass-roots effort to the statehouse
Atchley recognized members of the Klamath Tribes Youth Council for making the day happen, by submitting a request to Gov. Brown in 2017 for recognition of the day. The group that requested the designation did so because they were first denied a similar request by Klamath County Board of Commissioners in 2016. “But they kept pushing for it and ended up going and writing to Gov. Kate Brown,” Hess said. “The youth that got together, they wanted to raise awareness
This Week's Local Forecast
Weather Trivia What was the costliest hailstorm in the United States?
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Precip Chance: 5%
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Answer: In July 1990, Denver had received damages totaling $625 million.
Caretakers of the culture
Photo courtesy of Tana Atchley
Tana Atchley, youth engagement coordinator for the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board, takes a selfie with students attending the First Indigenous Peoples Day at Oregon Tech on Monday. The event drew about 70 Native American students to campus from both city and county school districts.
about the true history behind the Columbus Day holiday.” “How awesome is that,” Atchley said, before leading the group in applause for members of the youth council stand. “You guys did something that when I was in high school would have been just an idea or something we talked about.” Hess said the day is part of a movement gaining momentum around the country as well. “We’re definitely now more than ever moving forward, past the outdated idea that Columbus was some sort of hero,” Hess said. “Really he represents destruction of indigenous culture, and someone who really shouldn’t be celebrated. “It’s not just a holiday for native people,” Hess said. “It’s a holiday for everyone. When we look back at the history books, we know a lot of what we learned in the past growing up is not necessarily accurate and so educating everyone on the truth about these types of holidays … that’s a step toward healing.” Hess emphasized that acknowledgement of Indigenous People’s Day is a chance to for all, both tribal and non-tribal people, to consider the land in which they live and the history surrounding it. “I’d like to see going forward all the schools being able to attend,” Hess said. “And then for all of the schools to hold their own educational components around Indigenous People’s Day, because it’s important not only for indigenous students to be educated on their history, but it’s important for everyone to be able to know and acknowledge these things. “That’s a goal going forward for the future as long as this day continues to be acknowledged by this day,” Hess said.
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