Native American Heritage Week NIC brings together Coeur d’Alene tribe and neighboring tribes for round dance Rebecca Pratt Magazine Editor
NIC celebrated Native American Heritage Week from April 2-7. The celebration offered guest speakers many opportunities to speak on topics ranging from the function of sovereignty to environmental concerns. On April 7, Heritage Week was capped off with a round dance held in Christianson Gymnasium. The event saw guests from both the tribal community and the Coeur d’Alene community gathering to participate in the traditional dance, as well as native crafts, food, and resource tables. All proceeds from food sales went to support the Che’n shish Scholarship for Native American Students. "There's really no spiritual or sacred connection to it. It’s really an opportunity for people from lots of different tribes to see each other, reunite, friendship, that type of thing," said Victor Begay, Director of Native American Studies at North Idaho College. Begay emphasized the special importance of the round dance and festivities at NIC, as the campus was built on the “ancestral homelands of the Coeur d’Alene tribe.” He said the event was a celebratory event meant to encourage relationships between students and
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tribe members, tribe members with one another and to help build a strong foundation for cultural support with the local tribe. Caj Matheson, Coeur d’Alene tribe member and storyteller, said the event was less a solemn ceremony and more a way to get together and have fun. NIC’s American Indian Student adviser Evanlene Melting Tallow agreed that the event was an opportunity to grow a sense of community around campus for Native American students and faculty. Melting Tallow said that she organized the event with friendship in mind as a theme and goal. “It's telling the stories of past ancestors who have coyote stories and so on [that helps us build those relationships],” Melting Tallow said. All crafts and dances represented a portion of the tribe’s culture. Native American-style tacos were served, and dreamcatcher crafts were provided for children and families. Singers and musicians from Rose Creek and Otter Creek were featured in the middle of the gymnasium, sharing drum circles and oral tradition. Melting Tallow said
