Celebrate Native American Heritage Month with Pacific University

November marks Native American Heritage Month, also known as American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month.

Pacific is proud to join in celebrating the history, traditions and contributions of Indigenous people and recognizing their fight to reclaim lands and rights in order to sustain their culture.

Pacific’s Student Multicultural Center, Indigenous Student Alliance, and Indigenous Engagement Committee will host several special events throughout the month.

Join Archivst Eva Guggemos for a guided walk in memory of the Native students who attended the Forest Grove Indian School. The boarding school was operated by the federal government with support from Pacific University from 1880 to 1885 and later moved to Salem, where it still operates as Chemewa Indian School. The solemn walk will visit the former site of the school and the cemetery where several students who died during attendance were buried. Stories about the school, the students who attended, and Pacific’s role in its operation will be shared. The walk will take place for Pacific students only from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4. Two other walks, open to the public, will take place at 10 a.m. and at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16. Registration is required.

On Wednesday, Nov. 9, join the Indigenous Student Alliance for a keynote address by Kansas State Representative Ponka-We Victors Cozad. She is a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation of Arizona and Ponca tribe of Oklahoma and serves as the first Native American woman in the Kansas legislature, where she is a long-time advocate for undocumented students and families, domestic violence victims, tribal sovereignty, education, safety and the environment. She speaks at 6 p.m. Nov. 9 in Taylor Auditorium, Marsh Hall 216.

View full details for Native American Heritage Month in November and register to participate!