Ithaca College has slated several events in November to commemorate Native Heritage/1st Peoples Month. The campus-wide series of presentations, performances and film screenings honors the rich history and cultures of the indigenous and first peoples of what is now the United States.
All of the events are free and open to the public.
“Reel Injun”
Tuesday, Nov. 8
6 p.m., Emerson Suites, Phillips Hall
Showing of a documentary exploring portrayals of Native Americans in film. “Reel Injun” is illustrated with excerpts from classic and contemporary portrayals of Native people in Hollywood movies and interviews with filmmakers, actors and film historians. Following the screening, a group of student leaders will facilitate a dialogue about the portrayal of people of color in media, “culture vultures,” co-opting and cultural appropriation as it is seen and experienced in modern day.
“‘Indian’ Season: Cultural Appropriation, Popular Culture and Racializing Native Peoples”
Thursday, Nov. 10
12:10 p.m., Taughannock Falls Room, Egbert Hall
This presentation takes a look at the seasonal time of year — from Columbus Day to Halloween to Thanksgiving — when America brings the idea of the Indian out from its closet of history and puts “things Indian” on display. Michael Taylor, assistant professor in the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, will lead the discussion and examine the other contexts which are part of this “season.”
“Re-thinking Thanksgiving – A Native American Perspective”
Monday, Nov. 14
7 p.m., Emerson Suites, Phillips Hall
In this lively and engaging presentation, Perry Ground will give an overview of the history of this very misunderstood holiday. He will discuss the actual events of 1621 in Plymouth, the relationship between the English settlers and the Wampanoag who lived in the area, and how this story became American Thanksgiving. Although they were not present in Plymouth in 1621, connections to the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) concepts of thanksgiving will be discussed. A cultural educator and Native American storyteller, Perry is a Turtle Clan member of the Onondaga Nation.
“Of Land and Bodies: Gendering Colonization, Decolonizing the Indigenous Imagination”
Wednesday, Nov. 16
7 p.m., Room 222, Williams Hall
An exploration of the transformative potential of recovering story by Hayley Marama Cavino, adjunct instructor in the Syracuse University Native American Studies Program and a former Pre-Doctoral Diversity Fellow at Ithaca College. She will present extracts from her doctoral dissertation, which explores the transformative potential of recovering story — particularly how writing ancestors is performative with regard to its capacity to shape/shift belongings across time. Cavino affiliates tribally to Ngati Pukenga and Ngati Whiti (Aotearoa/New Zealand).
The Native Heritage/1st Peoples Month events are sponsored by the Ithaca College Office of Student Engagement and Multicultural Affairs.