With the theme “Built through Stories & Language,” the week’s activities include roundtable and panel discussions, speakers and games at the Williams Conference Center. The closing powwow is March 18 at the P1FCU Activity Center.
On March 16:
“Nez Perce Tribe 101,” a discussion on the Nez Perce Tribe’s cultural, environmental and economic projects, is set for 9 a.m., with Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee Chairman Samuel Penney and Vice Chairman Shannon Wheeler.
Educator Mandy Smoker Broaddus will discuss “Engaging Schools and Native American Communities through Culturally Responsive Education” at 10:30 a.m. Broaddus, an enrolled member of the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes in Montana, works with Education Northwest as a Native education expert.
At 1:30 p.m., writer, scholar and indigenous language activist Beth Piatote will discuss her book “The Beadworkers: Stories.” Piatote, an associate professor of comparative literature and Native American studies at the University of California-Berkeley, is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and works in her heritage language of Nez Perce.
Anthropologist/ethnographer Rodney Frey, a retired LCSC and University of Idaho professor, will talk about “Carry Forth the Stories: An Ethnographer’s Journey Into Native Oral Tradition” at 3 p.m.
All four discussions will be available on Zoom at bit.ly/NativeTalksLC.
Broaddus and Piatote will have a roundtable discussion from noon to 1 p.m. with LCSC faculty, staff and students and will take part in an evening of storytelling from 6-7:30 p.m.
On March 18:
Students and teams from area high schools and colleges will compete from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in a Language Bowl, organized in collaboration with LCSC Nez Perce language classes and teachers, along with Nez Perce elders. Games, including Sweep the Tipi, will be played during the Language Bowl lunch break.
The closing powwow and scholarship raffle is set for 6:30-11 p.m. at the Activity Center, during which the LC State Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented.
The college’s COVID-19 protocols can be found at lcsc.edu/coronavirus/guides-resources. More information about the week’s events is available at lcsc.edu/minority-programs/native-american-awareness-week.
