Maris Jacobs knew coming to Syracuse University would be different than the small indigenous communities she was accustomed to. She was going to an institution, a predominantly white one. But by attending the Native student pre-orientation program and living in the indigenous learning community, she felt she wasn’t being thrown in but rather building a community.    

Now, Jacobs is a leader of Indigenous Students at Syracuse. She not only continues to build her community but also seeks it wherever she goes.  

“Anywhere I go, now I’m going to be looking for this, this kind of thing, this kind of community, and it’s not that I need to have some kind of security someplace, that’s not a bad thing,” Jacobs said.  

Jacobs and senior Nathan Abrams are the co-presidents of the organization. ISAS hosts events for members and the Syracuse University community throughout the year, including several events during Native American Heritage Month.  

During the month, the organization hosts speakers and events like the Indigenous Runway Fashion Show. Jacobs and Abrams said that the fall semester is aimed to educate students on campus about indigenous culture and what the club is about. The spring semester is more focused on activities geared toward the club’s members, they said. 

The spring activities are part of its “identity series,” which can involve members traveling to the University at Buffalo for a conference on Native storytelling and visiting Washington, D.C. to visit certain places such as the National Museum of the American Indian, Jacobs said. 

While the U.S. celebrates Columbus Day, Jacobs said that her freshman year the university decided to not recognize the holiday, but rather Indigenous Peoples Day.  

On the last Indigenous Peoples Day, the club had a table on the quad with brochures and information on indigenous culture. Jacobs said a non-indigenous student asked to help but wanted to perform low-profile tasks like cutting and taping paper on the table. She wanted indigenous students to focus on those visiting the booth. 

Abrams said that those conversations would be about educating people and making ISAS’s presence known. He said that a lot of people at SU are unaware of a lot of the topics surrounding Native people. 

“I think as a group, we feel this responsibility to continue that conversation, it doesn’t just stop with changing the name,” Jacobs said.

Encouraging these conversations is what Jacobs said is important for the club. They also welcome non-indigenous students to come to meetings and learn more about their culture. The organization currently has over 100 people on its Listserv, and around 20 to 30 people attend meetings.  

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All club meetings and many activities are run out of the Native Student Program’s office which is located on 113 Euclid Ave. Abrams said that indigenous students often come to the office to relax and spend time together. There is a lounge where students hang out and the program’s assistant director, Regina Jones, often brings food for the students to eat — her specialty is peanut butter and jelly.  

Jones is also the faculty advisor for ISAS and helps facilitate club meetings and activities. But Abrams said that a lot of the e-board positions are more of a formality, as they all work together to put on events, which he said is less common in other clubs. 

Abrams said that the difference between ISAS and the Native Student Program is that one is funded through the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the other is funded as a registered student organization. But he said there is much overlap between the two programs and there aren’t many people that are involved in one group but not the other. 

For Jacobs, the best part about the programs is that they’ve been able to make incoming students have a better experience on campus. She emphasized the need for a community for indigenous students.  

“Indigenous students, we don’t quite have the same experience in higher-ed, socially, academically, economically,” Jacobs said. These different aspects play into their experience, she added. 

She said that historically there have been fewer options for indigenous people to branch out in a higher education programs and that over time their stories aren’t told in classrooms. Jacobs said it’s frustrating because in classrooms students don’t know the stories of their culture when the history of this country started with their stories. 

There’s a lot of added pressure for students because they often come from communities that are far away, she said. Even for those who live near SU, Jacobs said that it’s different living in a place where they’re not always around somebody they know.  

Jones echoed this sentiment. Students who live on territories around SU’s campus have different experiences than other students. She emphasized the need for those students on campus.  

“Indigenous students need a place to call home. They need their people around them,” she said. “We’re more, more than just a community but a family. Often I think that is the most important thing that they need.” 

Jacobs said that after joining the organization and program, she felt more comfortable at SU. While she wasn’t unhappy at home, she said that being at SU has taught her more about herself. 

She added that being surrounded by those who she has a lot in common with helped her become more open to sharing her ideas and being involved.  

“I didn’t think I’d be president of anything,” Jacobs said. “It gave me a lot of confidence being here with people that I share things in common with.” 

Published on November 13, 2019 at 10:52 pm

Contact Sarah: srslavin@syr.edu