October 11th marks Southern Oregon University and the City of Ashland’s 5th annually recognized Indigenous People’s Day celebration. SOU’s Native American Student Union (NASU) has a weekend full of activities planned to engage the community in observance of Native American and Indigenous cultures.
In a recent interview with Jasi Swick, current NASU Secretary, she discussed the organization’s schedule of events leading up to the celebratory Indigenous People’s Day with The Siskiyou. Swick says the NASU is working with the Indigenous People’s Day Planning Committee and Native American Programs at SOU, led by Dr. Brook Colley, to start off the weekend’s activities with a Boarding School Healing Community Event this Friday, October 8th. The webinar will host Boarding School survivors, descendants, and current educators. Facilitating a shared space that takes place virtually via Zoom from 11:00 AM until 2:00 PM, everyone is invited to share their stories and encourage healing.
A clickable link to the live event this Friday can be found here.
Alternatively, if you are interested but unable to attend, a video of the event in its entirety will be posted on the Oregon Shakespeare Festival website following the webinar.
The rest of the weekend also features an Indigenous People’s Day Film Festival put on by the NASU in collaboration with the Southern Oregon Education Service District (SOESD) Indian Education on both Saturday, October 9th, hosted at North Medford High School, and Sunday, October 10th, which will be hosted at Grants Pass High School. Both of these events will take place from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM.
The NASU is Southern Oregon University’s oldest student union on campus and hosts the school’s longest standing annual event, the Spring Powwow, which is open to all students. Those interested in sharing their Indigenous culture with the campus and the Ashland community, or those interested in learning more about the cultures of Indigenous People, are encouraged to join through SOU Presence. The NASU currently meets via Zoom on Fridays at 3:30 PM, and plans to return to in-person meetings in Taylor Hall, Room 20, as SOU’s campus reopens on October 11th.
