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Nizhoni Kennedy, a Seneca and Navajo freshman at SU, said the Indigenous Peoples Day event on the Quad Monday was her first Indigenous peoples celebration on a college campus.

“I honestly feel honored that we’re able to have a safe place to celebrate,” Kennedy said. “My previous college St. Bonaventure didn’t have anything. I was the only Indigenous student there,” she said.

The Native Student Program in the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Indigenous Students at Syracuse hosted an Indigenous Peoples’ Day event to honor the holiday that celebrates Indigenous history as well as the people and advocates against Columbus Day. Students on the Quad welcomed all to their ceremony and promoted greater discussions on Indigenous issues and lifestyles.

“This day means a lot to us,” sophomore and Oneida resident Curtiss Summers said. “It’s a very emotional day because it’s a day where we get the spotlight for once, where we have the opportunity to have our voices heard.”

Summers explained the significance of the day, saying that the day is a great opportunity to educate the event’s attendees.

During the gathering, Indigenous students held signs to protest generational issues such as colonialism and racism. The event spotlighted the Every Child Matters movement, which Indigenous people across the continent have initiated to bring awareness to the discovery of child remains at residential schools, which colonizers brought Indigenous children to after removing them from their families and forcefully assimilating and converting them to Christianity.

“This day is meant to empower our people (to take) action,” said Kateleen Ellis, an SU senior and Mohawk from Akwesasne.

The Indigenous students scattered dozens of posters across the Quad. Some of the posters addressed environmental issues and referenced Christopher Columbus, while others focused on the Missing Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit People protests — a movement that focuses on bringing awareness on Indigenous women, girls and two spirit people who have gone missing within the past few decades.

Kennedy also said she was very moved by SU’s attempts at making Indigenous Peoples’ Day known on campus.

“It means a lot to me personally because it helps connect all of us,” Kennedy said. “We’re in a large area and we are a small percent of the school’s population.”

The freshman wore a T-shirt that read, “No person is illegal on stolen land,” which references the politicized immigration issues within the U.S. Other Indigenous students wore traditional Indigenous clothing, such as moccasins and ribbon skirts.

“People don’t think we’re here. I’ve had people at SU give biased remarks and question the Indigenous population on campus,” Ellis said. “It’s time for them to understand that we are very much alive and have survived centuries of genocide.”

One of the movements students discussed was the Every Child Matters movement, which brings awareness to the over 6,000 children killed at Indigenous residential schools.
Wendy Wang | Assistant Photo Editor

The students discussed with bystanders and passersby on what it’s like being Indigenous and what others can do to learn their history, and they followed the event by attending a dinner at the Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Ellis encourages non-Indigenous people to diversify their cultural knowledge by taking Native American and Indigenous Studies courses. She applauded the NAT 105: Introduction to Native American Studies and NAT 301: Iroquois Verb Morphology course provided by the university. She explained that the courses are well taught and help explore Indigenous stories and the real history of Columbus.

“Though this is celebrated once a year, we want people to come to us and ask questions and get to know us and our culture,” Ellis said. “Our stories need to be told.”

Published on October 13, 2021 at 12:37 am