The Renaissance
Page 3
October 2014
This year’s Eagle Stock was a rainy success Glenda Winfield Staff Writer
Eagle Stock is an annual festival held in October - October 11 of this year - when the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts’s (LSMSA) clubs gather to sell a multitude of goods and services to the other students to as a fundraiser. This money goes to many purposes, such as club activities, sponsoring dances and covering initial costs of future fundraising. This year, despite the stormy weather, students filled the Center of Performance and Technology (CPT) to support LSMSA clubs. Many clubs had booths on some level of the CPT and sold their individual wares. The Junior Class sold autographed photos of LSMSA faculty with quotes. Animal Welfare Club painted faces in just
about any decoration patrons could imagine. The Feminist Union sold cookies. Theater Club/Improvasaurus sold “Sexy Cocktails.” The LSMSA Cheer Team came up with a new “Cheer Gram” booth where cheerleaders were paid to cheer at people for five minutes unless paid to stop. SPICE club wowed people with their Samosas. Anime Club and Movie Club each held raffles, offering Walmart gift cards and baskets of movie watching goods respectively. As always, the Student Activities Board (SAB) was in charge of converting cash to tickets for the festival goers. They were also selling Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts’s goods such as T-shirts, sweatpants and tumblers. LSMSA has lost
Laser Tag players looking fierce.
Taken by Elizabeth Fontenot
Theater Club marketing their “Sexy Drinks for Sexy People.”
Taken by Elizabeth Fontenot
There was even a high attendance of faculty and families mixed in the cluster of students, doing everything from getting Henna to being cheered at by hired cheerleaders. Therefore, despite the dreary weather, students were able to enjoy their Saturday in a fun way.
a few of its older clubs in the past year; although gone, they are not forgotten. Spice Club continued the defunct Indigo Club’s tradition of doing Henna; The cheerleaders brought back Art Club’s traditional Jail Cell, and SAB served Medex’s classic “Jell-O Shots.”
There was laser tag on the CPT’s second floor, and there were water balloons outside when the rain subsided. This year, many clubs were able to boast of higher earnings, often even hitting the triple digits. This success is likely due to the high number of attendees and the pleasant mood of the day.
Zoe Couvillon showing off her artistic skill on the canvas of Isaiah Benavides’ face for the Animal Welfare Club. Taken by Elizabeth Fontenot
Proud cheerleaders posing in front of their inmates. Taken by Elizabeth Fontenot
The Renaissance
October 2014
Page 14
Indians continue to thrive in the south Aliyah Newell Staff Writer
Southern Indian identity has made a strong comeback since the sixties, and Indians in the Southern United States are alive and thriving today. On September 30, in the Friedman Student Union, Northwestern State University hosted a panel and presentation about Native American identity in the south. The presentation was a discussion of what it means to identify as Indian from the colonial period to the 21st century. Dr. Denise Bates, a historian, author, and faculty member at Arizona State University, was the keynote speaker of the presentation. Bates talked about her own diverse background. “Although I look like my French father, I was raised by my mother‘s family, who were Choctaw, Creek, and Cherokee from Alabama,” said Bates. Bates went on to explain her initial interest in Indian history. In her California primary school, when her teacher asked the class to describe their heritage, her teacher did not believe she was Indian. More importantly, when she related the event to the Native American side of her family, her mother was angry about the teacher’s
ignorance, while her grandmother was angry that the young Bates did not simply accept the teacher’s comment that Bates could not be Indian. Attitudes towards being Native American have changed since the 1950s. Many Southern Native Americans, hoping to ‘pass’ as white for academic, financial, or social purposes, stopped identifying as Indian altogether. Entire tribes disbanded and disappeared into obscurity. The rise of civil rights movements in the sixties, however, sparked a fire in the Indian world to take back their identity. “The movements caused people to start talking about civil rights more concretely,” said Bates. “This is the context for when all of this change is happening.” Conferences held by the surviving Indian leaders initiated actions. Laws were passed in favor of Indians, and tribes, like the Coushatta of Louisiana, slowly started to regain their federal recognition. In addition to casinos, Indians have successful schools, charities, and housing projects. More Indians started returning back to their tribes, and people who do not even have a significant Indian heritage have
Dr. Denise Bates, a southern Native American and historian, gives a presentation on southern Native identity from past to present. Courtesy of Northwestern State University
claimed Indian for the exclusivity of being Indian. “The South of today is not the same South that my great grandmother or my grandmother grew up in. It is a place where Southern Indian people have engaged and continue to do so in various forms of activism and community organizing and revitalizing efforts,” said Bates. The panel, which followed the presentation, included Bates, and Native Americans who have worked for the Intertribal Council of Louisiana. Ernest Sickey, who is also credited with bringing the Coushatta tribe of Louisiana out of obscurity, Clyde Jackson, and Jeanette Alcon were also a part of the panel.
Questions from the audience included a query about the political correctness of the terms ‘Indian’ and ‘Native American’ and help on how to find out more about personal Indian heritage.
For more information on Southern Native Americans in Louisiana, contact the Intertribal Council of Louisiana at (985) 851-5408.
David Sickey, member of the Coushatta tribe and son of panelist Ernest Sickey, gives an introduction to Dr. Denise Bates’ presentation. Taken by Aliyah Newell