Bergen Community College Celebrates Native American Culture, Sept. 20-25
By Mel Fabrikant Friday, September 03, 2010, 10:38 AM EDT
Two-Day Pow.wow Brings Tribes Together in Paramus
Bergen Community College will offer a week-long opportunity to explore Native American culture, including a two-day intertribal Pow.wow, when the College presents its Native American Celebration “In the Spirit of Crazy Horse” from September 20 through Sept 25.
The Native American Traditional Intertribal Powwow will be open to the public as well as the College community. Starting at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 24, the pow.wow will feature children’s story telling, the Spirit of the Mountain Drummers and Singers, flutist Frank Menuson, Native American Dancers of the Eagle and the Condor. Falconer Jennifer Pena also will be on campus Thursday and Friday with wildlife display of eagles and birds of prey, along with the presenting of tribal colors and Native American craftspeople and vendors.
“This will be a traditional pow.wow, and it will provide a chance for the public to gain insight into traditional Native American culture as well as contemporary Native American culture,” said Brian Cordell, of the English Department at Bergen as well as the chair of the College’s Native American Heritage Week Committee of faculty, staff and a student representative. Fifty-five Bergen students are Native Americans.
“This is a chance to educate students about one of the diverse cultures on campus and one that many students don’t know much about.” Prof. Cordell said, noting that Bergen Community College is a diverse environment with students representing more than 100 countries from every continent except Antarctica. “There is a Native American saying: ‘We are all related.’ The campus is surrounded by streets and towns with names that are Native American, yet most people don’t know the history.”
The pow.wow, to take place behind the Technology Education Center, will run Friday, Sept. 24 from 1:00-to-7:00 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 25 from noon to 7:00 p.m.
Bergen’s Native American Celebration will feature discussions throughout the week lead by prominent figures including two of the co-founders of the American Indian Movement, Clyde Bellecourt and Dennis Banks, both members of the Anishinabe-Ojibwe Tribe.
Events Span the Week
• Mr. Bellecourt will lead a discussion of domestic American Indian affairs on Monday, Sept. 20 from 1:40-to-3:00 p.m. in the Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre.
• Mr. Banks, the first Native American Chancellor, will discuss his experiences in the American Indian Movement on Monday, Sept. 20 from 6:20-to-7:35 p.m. in Room S-134 of the Pitkin Education Center. He organized the Longest Walk, a 3,800-mile trek across America in the name of eco-justice.
• Bill Means, a member of the Lakota Tribe and the International Indian Treaty Council, will discuss “Contemporary Native American Movements, World Perspectives” on Tuesday, Sept. 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Ciccone Theatre.
• Chief Dwaine Perry, a Ramapough Lenape tribe member currently involved in land disputes will provide a historical perspective of that topic in his talk, “Keepers of the Pass,” on Wednesday, Sept. 22 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in Pitkin, Room L-131 of the Pitkin Education Center.
• Also on Wednesday in Room L-131, a panel of Native Americans will discuss the issues of Native American Movements from 1:45-to-3:00 p.m.
• Bruce Ellison, attorney for Leonard Peltier, will discuss the case of his client’s conviction for killing two federal agents during the government crackdown on protestors at Wounded Knee in 1973, on Thursday, Sept. 23 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in Pitkin Room L-131.
• The Native American Celebration will include falconer Jennifer Pena, who will bring her birds of prey to the area around the gazebo on Thursday, Sept. 23 and Friday, Sept. 24 at noon. The College also will present Director Vincent BlackHawk Aamodt’s documentary, “The Ghost Riders,” at 11:30 a.m, Friday September 24th in Pitkin Room L-131. Mr. BlackHawk followed the annual Bigfoot Memorial Ride, a 300-mile journey on horseback to help the Lakota Nation. An open forum discussion will follow the film.
For additional information about the pow.wow or the events of the Native American Celebration at Bergen Community College, please contact Prof. Cordell, (201) 689-7612, bcordell@bergen.edu or Prof. Win Win Kyi at (201) 447-7198, wkyi@bergen.edu.
Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu) based in Paramus is a public two-year coeducational college, enrolling nearly 17,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip J. Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields.
Bergen Community College will offer a week-long opportunity to explore Native American culture, including a two-day intertribal Pow.wow, when the College presents its Native American Celebration “In the Spirit of Crazy Horse” from September 20 through Sept 25.
The Native American Traditional Intertribal Powwow will be open to the public as well as the College community. Starting at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 24, the pow.wow will feature children’s story telling, the Spirit of the Mountain Drummers and Singers, flutist Frank Menuson, Native American Dancers of the Eagle and the Condor. Falconer Jennifer Pena also will be on campus Thursday and Friday with wildlife display of eagles and birds of prey, along with the presenting of tribal colors and Native American craftspeople and vendors.
“This will be a traditional pow.wow, and it will provide a chance for the public to gain insight into traditional Native American culture as well as contemporary Native American culture,” said Brian Cordell, of the English Department at Bergen as well as the chair of the College’s Native American Heritage Week Committee of faculty, staff and a student representative. Fifty-five Bergen students are Native Americans.
“This is a chance to educate students about one of the diverse cultures on campus and one that many students don’t know much about.” Prof. Cordell said, noting that Bergen Community College is a diverse environment with students representing more than 100 countries from every continent except Antarctica. “There is a Native American saying: ‘We are all related.’ The campus is surrounded by streets and towns with names that are Native American, yet most people don’t know the history.”
The pow.wow, to take place behind the Technology Education Center, will run Friday, Sept. 24 from 1:00-to-7:00 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 25 from noon to 7:00 p.m.
Bergen’s Native American Celebration will feature discussions throughout the week lead by prominent figures including two of the co-founders of the American Indian Movement, Clyde Bellecourt and Dennis Banks, both members of the Anishinabe-Ojibwe Tribe.
Events Span the Week
• Mr. Bellecourt will lead a discussion of domestic American Indian affairs on Monday, Sept. 20 from 1:40-to-3:00 p.m. in the Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre.
• Mr. Banks, the first Native American Chancellor, will discuss his experiences in the American Indian Movement on Monday, Sept. 20 from 6:20-to-7:35 p.m. in Room S-134 of the Pitkin Education Center. He organized the Longest Walk, a 3,800-mile trek across America in the name of eco-justice.
• Bill Means, a member of the Lakota Tribe and the International Indian Treaty Council, will discuss “Contemporary Native American Movements, World Perspectives” on Tuesday, Sept. 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Ciccone Theatre.
• Chief Dwaine Perry, a Ramapough Lenape tribe member currently involved in land disputes will provide a historical perspective of that topic in his talk, “Keepers of the Pass,” on Wednesday, Sept. 22 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in Pitkin, Room L-131 of the Pitkin Education Center.
• Also on Wednesday in Room L-131, a panel of Native Americans will discuss the issues of Native American Movements from 1:45-to-3:00 p.m.
• Bruce Ellison, attorney for Leonard Peltier, will discuss the case of his client’s conviction for killing two federal agents during the government crackdown on protestors at Wounded Knee in 1973, on Thursday, Sept. 23 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in Pitkin Room L-131.
• The Native American Celebration will include falconer Jennifer Pena, who will bring her birds of prey to the area around the gazebo on Thursday, Sept. 23 and Friday, Sept. 24 at noon. The College also will present Director Vincent BlackHawk Aamodt’s documentary, “The Ghost Riders,” at 11:30 a.m, Friday September 24th in Pitkin Room L-131. Mr. BlackHawk followed the annual Bigfoot Memorial Ride, a 300-mile journey on horseback to help the Lakota Nation. An open forum discussion will follow the film.
For additional information about the pow.wow or the events of the Native American Celebration at Bergen Community College, please contact Prof. Cordell, (201) 689-7612, bcordell@bergen.edu or Prof. Win Win Kyi at (201) 447-7198, wkyi@bergen.edu.
Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu) based in Paramus is a public two-year coeducational college, enrolling nearly 17,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip J. Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields.
