The IU First Nations Educational and Cultural Center is hosting a series of three events, titled “Embodying Contemporary Native Identity: Mind, Body, and Spirit,” which will be held at 6:30 p.m. next Monday, Wednesday and Friday on Zoom and streamed through Facebook Live on the FNECC’s Facebook page.
The scheduled speakers are Thosh Collins on Nov. 9, Patrick Makuakane, Nov. 11 and Sean Snyder and Adrian Stevens on Nov. 13.
The presenters will share their stories, discussing the interactions of their traditional native identities in contemporary native and American contexts, and the ways these identities are expressed in mind, body and spirit.
Collins, the first speaker, is a co-founder of Well For Culture, an Indigenous wellness initiative. He will be followed by Makuakane, a master hula teacher and spiritual advisor at San Quentin State Prison in California. Makuakane is also known for his unique hula style, hula mua. Snyder and Stevens, a two-spirit couple known for their Native and LGBTQ+ advocacy work, will present last.
November is National American Indian Heritage Month, a month intended to recognize the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the U.S. While various states have had official American Indian Days since the first one was declared in 1916 in New York, the national month was only approved in 1990, by U.S. President George H. W. Bush.
