GVSU events to celebrate Native American heritage

Grand Valley's annual Native American Heritage Celebration will include activities, lectures and presentations in partnership with the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

All events are free, open to the public and LIB 100/201 approved. Events will take place on both the Allendale and Pew Grand Rapids campuses. 

The Mounds Service Project: October 12, 9 a.m.- 3 p.m., Kirkhof Center, room 2201

Sponsored by the Native American Student Association (NASA), clean-up efforts will be made in The Mounds, one of the few surviving burial mound groups that were once present in the lower Grand River Valley. Transportation is provided, and RSVP is required. To RSVP, visit gvsu.edu/s/1aR. 

Indigenous People’s Day; Monday, October 14, 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. in the Haas Center for Performing Arts lobby

Local artists will share their works and discuss how they create their pieces in relation to survival, cultural continuance and their communities.

Professionals of Color Lecture Series: Conversation with Two Alcatraz Warriors 50 Years Later: November 4, 4-7 p.m., Kirkhof Center, room 2250

Author and activist LaNada War Jack and photographer Lenny Foster will discuss Alcatraz in 1969-70, the 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties Caravan and the Bureau of Indian Affairs take over in Washington, D.C. There will also be a local American Indian drum group, live interview and short video by War Jack.

Weaving the World into Existence: The Power of Women, Water and Canebrakes: November 18, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Mary Idema Pew Library Multipurpose Room

The presentation will focus on the intimate, ancient relationship between women, water and canebrakes. 

"Finding Dawn" film showing: November 22, 2-5 p.m., Kirkhof Center, room 1201

The Center for Women and Gender Equity will team up with Feminist Film Friday to show “Finding Dawn,” with NASA facilitating the conversation. 

-- written by Liv Conaty, student writer