RIT Offers Events to Honor Native American Ancestry and Tradition

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Artwork, including pieces like the one shown here from RIT graduate and Seneca Indian Nation member Lauren Jimerson, will be on display during the kickoff celebration of Native American Heritage Month Oct. 29. Other activities include storytelling, a drum performance and singing.

Rochester Institute of Technology is celebrating the rich history and tradition of Native Americans throughout November—Native American Heritage Month.

Beginning with a kickoff celebration from noon to 2 p.m. Oct. 29, RIT’s Native American Future Stewards Program will host performances by storyteller Perry Ground (Onondaga), drummers featuring RIT student Ben Parker (Squaxin, Turtle Mountain, Ojibwe) and singer Leah Shenandoah (Oneida). The event also features artwork created by RIT alumni Lauren Jimerson (Seneca), Awenheeyoh Powless (Onondaga) and Shenandoah. Native foods will also be available for tasting. The event wraps up with Iroquois social dancing. Performances will be held in RIT’s Fireside Lounge, Student Alumni Union.

“Truthfully, every month should celebrate Native American heritage,” says Nizhoni Chow-Garcia, co-director of the Future Stewards program. “We are happy to provide this programming for the RIT and Rochester communities, which gives a sense of the activities engaged in and the culture of our regional tribal nations, the Haudenosaunee.”

Other events associated with RIT’s commemoration of Native American Heritage Month include a quillwork demonstration, 5:30–6:30 p.m. Oct. 30, Bamboo Room, Campus Center; film screening of Crooked Arrow, 5:30–7:30 p.m. Nov. 27, Bamboo Room; and a presentation by activist, model and singer Radmilla Cody on Nov. 29. Details are forthcoming.

For more information, contact Chow-Garcia at 585-475-6446.