For more than a decade, Clark College has honored the cultures and traditions of indigenous peoples with an annual celebration and powwow held in early November. This year, as in 2020, that celebration needed to be held virtually due to COVID-19. A video including interviews with community leaders and images from past celebrations has been posted on the college’s web page devoted to the event. It is also posted below.
On Friday, Nov. 1, Clark College welcomes
the community as it hosts “Educating for the Seventh Generation,” a celebration
of Indigenous cultures.
The event will begin at 5:00 p.m. with free food and
refreshments. At 5:15 p.m., dancers from the Ke Kukui Foundation will perform. At
5:45 p.m., there will be a welcoming address and the presentation of the
Dreamcatcher Scholarship, which supports a Clark College student of Indigenous
ancestry. Grand Entry for a powwow will begin at 6:00 p.m., followed by an
Aztec performance at 6:15 p.m. The colors will retire at 10:00 p.m. Informational
tables and vendors selling Native arts and crafts will also be at the event.
The event, which
is free and open to the public, will be held in the Gaiser Student Center on
Clark College’s main campus. Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver
Way, Vancouver. Driving directions and parking maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps. Anyone
needing accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this
event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at
(360) 992-2314 or (360) 991-0901 (VP), prior to the event.
This
is the 10th year
that Clark College has coordinated and hosted an event in honor of Native
American Heritage Month. It is one of four signature events hosted by the
college annually to celebrate diverse cultures. According to organizers, “Educating
for the Seventh Generation” references “our responsibility to teach the future
Seventh Generation to maintain our resources, traditions and customs. It is the
way of caring and preserving for the Seventh Generation, which is a true
sustainable practice.”
Information about this event is online at www.clark.edu/cc/native-american. Information about Native American Heritage Month is available at http://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/about/index.html. Images from the 2018 celebration are available via Clark’s Flickr album at https://www.flickr.com/photos/clark_college/albums/72157699995239382.
“Educating for the Seventh Generation” is a night of sharing music, dance, and traditions.
On Friday, Nov. 4, Clark College welcomes the community as it hosts “Educating for the Seventh Generation,” a celebration of indigenous cultures.
The event will begin at 5 p.m. with free food and refreshments. The Native American Culture Club will provide an Opening Prayer and a presentation to stand in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux, who are protesting the Dakota Access oil pipeline. A performance by the Kaleinani o Ke Kukui dance troupe will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by a welcome address and presentation of the Dreamcatcher Scholarship, benefiting a Clark student of indigenous ancestry. Vendors and informational booths will be present.
Grand Entry for a powwow will begin at 6 p.m, with the colors retiring at 10 p.m.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Gaiser Student Center on Clark College’s main campus. Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver. Driving directions and parking maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps. Anyone needing accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at (360) 992-2314 or (360) 991-0901 (VP), prior to the event.
This is the eighth year that Clark College has coordinated and hosted an event in honor of Native American Heritage Month. It is one of four signature events hosted by the college annually to celebrate diverse cultures. According to organizers, “Educating for the Seventh Generation” references “our responsibility to teach the future Seventh Generation to maintain our resources, traditions and customs. It is the way of caring and preserving for the Seventh Generation, which is a true sustainable practice.”
Images from the 2014 celebration are available on Clark’s Flickr account.
Brent Learned talks about George Curtis Levi’s traditional “ledger art” with attendees of the 2016 Student of Color Luncheon.
The winter 2016 Student of Color Luncheon was filled with history–some of it long in the past, and some of it being made right then. The event featured artists Brent Learned and George Curtis Levi, whose work is currently being featured at the Clark County Historical Museum, speaking about atrocities committed against their ancestors in the 19th century. It also marked the bestowal of Clark’s first scholarship designated specifically for a Native American student.
Dream Catcher Scholarship recipient Channa Smith
The Clark College Dream Catcher Scholarship was first announced at the college’s annual Native American celebration in 2014. Clark student Channa Smith said she was honored to be its inaugural recipient. “When I first applied for the scholarship, I didn’t think much about it beyond, ‘Oh, it would be nice to have some money,'” she said at the reception. “But it’s been really transformative. I didn’t think how much it would mean to me to be recognized for my hard work.”
Smith has been very active in the community, both at the college and in Southwest Washington. A Coast Salish tribe member, she helped start Clark’s new Native American Cultural Club and has participated in local Chinook tribal activities since moving to the area.
Channa Smith was named the inaugural recipient of the Dream Catcher Scholarship at the 2016 Student of Color Luncheon. Multicultural Retention Manager Felisciana Peralta, right, presented the scholarship.
After the scholarship was presented to Smith, Learned and Levi spoke about creating the art that makes up “One November Morning.” This exhibit depicts the Sand Creek Massacre of November 29, 1864, when more than 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho people were killed in Sand Creek, Colorado, by U.S. Army soldiers.
“You have to know where you come from to know where you’re going, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” said Levi during the presentation. He urged students at the luncheon to remember their own history and communities as they progressed in life. “Go back to your communities after you graduate and give back,” he said.
“One November Morning” will be on display at the Clark County Historical Museum through May 28. As part of its “Native Voices” exhibit, the Clark College Libraries is hosting a free art walk on Friday, March 4, that begins at Cannell Library with a reception, then visits the Native American basketry currently on display at Archer Gallery, and ends at the Clark County Historical Museum.
The spring 2016 Student of Color Luncheon will be held in May. It will feature the announcement of the recipient of Clark’s 2016 Constance Baker Motley Scholarship, which is given each year to a Clark College student of color.
Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley
Chinook tribal elder Sam Robinson and Clark student Channa Smith perform a blessing song to welcome the Native Voices exhibition to Clark College.
On February 9, Cannell Library was briefly filled with the sound of drumming and singing during the opening ceremony for “Native Voices,” a traveling exhibition examining Native American concepts of health and medicine that will be on display in the library through March 16.
“It’s an honor to be here today,” said Chinook tribal elder and Clark alumnus Sam Robinson before he began a blessing ceremony for the event. “There are a lot different kinds of healing among our people, and there’s a lot of healing needed in our community.”
Librarian Laura Nagel, Dean of Libraries and Academic Success Services Michelle Bagley, Enrollment Services Program Coordinator Anna Schmasow, Chinook tribal elder and Clark alumnus Sam Robinson, and Interim Director of the Office of Diversity and Equity Felis Peralta.
“Native Voices” is produced by the National Library of Medicine in conjunction with the American Library Association. Clark College Libraries were selected as one of about 100 sites to host the exhibition during 2016-2020, and is the first to do so in the Pacific Northwest.
The exhibition examines concepts of health and medicine among contemporary American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. It features interviews and works from Native people living on reservations, in tribal villages, and in cities. Topics include: Native views of land, food, community, earth/nature, and spirituality as they relate to Native health; the relationship between traditional healing and Western medicine in Native communities; economic and cultural issues that affect the health of Native communities; efforts by Native communities to improve health conditions; and the role of Native Americans in military service and healing support for returning Native veterans.
Host sites are encouraged to incorporate additional materials and events into the exhibition, and Clark College Libraries has connected with several other departments and organizations—including the Chinook Nation, Clark County Historical Museum, the Clark College Office of Diversity and Equity, Archer Gallery, and Clark College Student Life—to create an impressive roster of events supporting the exhibition. These include:
“We’ve mentioned over and over how well it fits together having all these events happening at the same time,” said librarian Laura Nagel, who helped to organize Clark’s hosting of Native Voices. “The stars really aligned for this.”
See more photos from the opening ceremony here.
Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley
“Educating for the Seventh Generation” is a night of sharing music, dance, and traditions.
On Friday, November 7, Clark College will welcome the community as it hosts “Educating for the Seventh Generation,” a celebration of indigenous cultures.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Gaiser Student Center on Clark College’s main campus. The event will begin at 5 p.m., with free food and refreshments served. A performance by Native American flutist and flute-maker Isaac Trimble will begin at 5:45 p.m. The Welcome Address and opening ceremonies for a powwow will begin at 6 p.m. Closing ceremonies will take place at 10 p.m. Vendors and informational booths will be present 5:00 – 10:00 p.m.
This is the sixth year that Clark College has coordinated and hosted an event in honor of Native American Heritage Month. It is one of four signature events hosted by the college annually to celebrate diverse cultures.
This year, the celebration will include the announcement of an effort to create a new scholarship. Entitled the Dream Catcher Scholarship, this fund would go toward the tuition of a Native American student studying at Clark.
“Studies show that Native Americans experience some of the highest poverty rates of all racial groups in the U.S.,” said Anna Schmasow (Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota Oyate Tribal Member), an office assistant at Clark College who has been integral to the organization of Educating for the Seventh Generation. “I believe that education is the most effective tool in escaping poverty. A scholarship fund can help students who are in need attain a successful career.”
Longtime community organizer and celebration committee member Becky Archibald (Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Member) said she hoped the Dream Catcher Scholarship would make college more accessible to Native American youth, many of whom have historical and cultural reasons to distrust educational institutions. “It helps to soften that step, to create that sense of inclusion,” she said. “The scholarship fund would promote the idea that college is possible for the Native American youth in today’s world. It would assist students in bringing their dreams and goals together through higher education.”
According to organizers, “Educating for the Seventh Generation” references “our responsibility to teach the future Seventh Generation to maintain our resources, traditions and customs. It is the way of caring and preserving for the Seventh Generation, which is a true sustainable practice.”
See images from last year’s celebration in Clark’s Flickr album or watch the following video to learn more about this annual event.
On Friday, November 1, the aroma of fry bread wafted through Gaiser Student Center as Clark College hosted its annual “Educating for the Seventh Generation,” a celebration of Native American cultures and mini-powwow. The event included food, music, dancing, and socializing among the estimated 275 guests.
Native American flautist Isaac Trimble provided music as guests arrived. Then emcee Sande Allman and arena director Ed Goodell got the event started. Clark College President Bob Knight and Clark College Trustee Jack Burkman welcomed the assembled guests on behalf of the college and its trustees; Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt also offered a welcome from the city. Native American military veterans led the grand entry, after which there was an invocation and then an honoring of the recently passed. Clark College Facilities Services fiscal specialist Lori Jimerson spoke in memory of longtime Clark employee and supporter Bob Moser, who died in December 2012. Moser was a strong supporter of Clark’s Native American student group when it was first receiving charter in the early 1990s.
Much of the rest of the evening was given to dancing, including a “Tiny Tots” dance hosted by Child and Family Services and a series of exhibitions of the powwow dance styles of all the tribes in attendance. Guests also enjoyed “Indian Tacos” served in the adjoining cafeteria, while drummers provided music for the occasion. The dancing continued late into the evening, with a diverse range of dancers–from grandchildren to grandparents, some dressed in full regalia and others in jeans and T-shirts.
This is the fifth year that Clark College has coordinated and hosted an event in honor of Native American Heritage Month. It is one of four signature events hosted by the college annually to celebrate diverse cultures. According to organizers, the title references “a responsibility to pass on and teach the future seven generations to protect our resources, culture and heritage.”
A selection of photos are below. Click here to view the full Flickr album.
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