By Natalie Phetsamone/reporter
During the last week of American Indian Heritage Month this November, a member of the Comanche Nation will present Creating Understanding: From a Native Perspective 12:30-1:30 p.m. Nov. 25 in Center Corner (NSTU 1516) on NE Campus.
Academic advisor Marjeanna Burge will discuss key issues affecting Native American peoples.
Topics will include tribal nations’ sovereignty, the U.S. government’s cultural assimilation policy and boarding schools, cultural teachings and values, portrayals of Native Americans in pop culture and life on a reservation versus in the city.
“It’s like a crash course,” she said. “Each item I go into could become a presentation on its own. [I’m] attempting to help educate non-Natives in a very short time.”
Native Americans are commonly referred to as “the invisible minority.”
“It fits us in so many ways,” she said. “I don’t know that there are many people that are familiar with Native American/American Indian history. We are not taught that much in our schools.”
Burge said it was true for Native Americans as well.
“It is only recently that the stories are coming forth because many of the elders did not want to talk about it,” she said.
Burge said she would like those who attend the presentation to leave with a better understanding of Native American people “from one ‘urban Indian’s’ perspective” and to encourage them to learn more about their history and their present-day situation.
“Then to advocate for ‘us’ to be more a part of the history of this country and not remain the invisible minority,” she said.
The advising and counseling center is donating a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 to be given away in a drawing for NE Campus students who attend three or more Native American History Month events.
