UNC hosts American Indian conference

For the second year in a row, UNC played host this weekend to a celebration of the centuries of American Indian culture.

"New Directions in American Indian Research: A Gathering of Emerging Scholars," a national conference aimed at providing more visibility for native students, and those working in American Indian studies was on campus.

Last year, the conference attracted 100 people from across the country. This year, more than 150 people attended. After this year's conference, the event will occur every other year.

Presenters in the conference were either American Indian scholars or students who have conducted Native American research.

Friday night's cultural presenter, Tommy Wildcat used his flute to perform cultural stories. He discussed the uses of the flute to attract women and entertain audiences, stories of migration and honor and the history of stomp dancing while playing different flutes.

"I wanted to make a difference," Wildcat said. "I like to remind the public of how great Native American people were. - It just goes overlooked."

Wildcat ended every song with "wah toi," a phrase he explained meant "thank you." During the show, he taught Cherokee phrases, told stories of his family and took requests from the audience.

This program also allowed the graduate school to hold recruitment weekend for prospective American Indian students.

North Carolina has the largest American Indian population east of Mississippi, said Ronny Bell, one of the conference presenters. He also said there are four American Indian service centers in North Carolina to provide help to local American Indians.

At the University there are 164 undergraduate American Indians and 27 graduate students, said Deb Makemson, one of the facilitators of the event from the UNC graduate school. Many of the graduate students presented their research at the conference.

Jane Sinclair, a graduate student at the University of New Mexico, presented "The Visual Culture of Indian Gaming in New Mexico." She discussed the conflicting views from the Pueblo artists and casinos.

Other presenters in the same panel included Alison Fields, also a graduate student from the University of New Mexico and Paul Lai, a graduate student from the English Department at UNC.

Makemson said she is amazed by American Indian graduate students.

"The one thing we want people to leave with is the sense of community that American Indian graduate students have here and that Carolina is a welcoming place to American Indian students and support their success."

 

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.