The Student Assembly Constitution preamble directs the representative organization "to foster trust, understanding and communication between and among the members of the Dartmouth community, to provide for the support and development of all aspects of the educational process, to improve the quality of life at the College." The majority of the students in the Assembly, including myself, chair of the Diversity and Community Committee, believe that supporting the Native American Pow-Wow through participation and funding clearly fits these goals.
This year's 35th annual Dartmouth Pow-Wow serves as an opportunity for members of both the Dartmouth and Upper Valley communities to observe, participate and learn from a broad representation of Native American dances, music and arts and crafts. Pow-Wow attracts upwards of 2,500 students, community members and participants from all over the country.
This resolution is in keeping with the Assembly's mission of bridging communities on campus and advocating for students. At the last Assembly meeting, there was lengthy discussion about how funding and participation would increase awareness among the student body, and how it is educational to be able to participate in one of the largest Native American cultural events in the region. On our campus, actions, ranging from non-Native Americans breaking a traditional drumming circle to students questioning the "educational value" of a Pow-Wow, display a clear lack of knowledge about Native Americans.
How does a group remedy this lack of knowledge? Obviously, it can't be fixed overnight. What can be reasonably accomplished, however, is taking steps to involve more of the community with activities that increase and enhance an individual's knowledge of Native American culture. The Native Americans at Dartmouth and the Assembly hopes that the Pow-Wow will act as an introduction for students to Native American culture.
The Assembly is not funding the Pow-Wow in order to make the Assembly a co-sponsoring body. My committee decided that because of the nature of the incidents that were insensitive to the Native American community last term, and the overwhelming opinion that many students neither understand nor have been exposed to Native American culture, the Assembly should support and participate in this event. Participation does not come solely from funding, but from the Communications Committee marketing the event, Community Service Committee organizing volunteers from the Assembly and the student body and my committee working on inviting Greeks, athletics and other organizations to participate. The Assembly successfully supported a Native history event last term.
President Tim Andreadis '07 created strict guidelines for co-sponsorship, which can be found on our website. We strictly adhered to these guidelines. The members are all aware that our budget comes from student activities funds and our membership chose to use our funds in this manner. After discussions with the treasurer, our committee will make sure to spend Assembly funds on a part of the Pow-Wow that benefits the education of students on this campus.
We understand that the Committee on Student Organizations and Programming Board can fund the Pow-Wow, but they do not have any component that raises student participation and awareness of the event. NAD followed the typical protocol for setting up an event, applying to the student financial organizations on campus as well as appealing to any number of funds established on campus that aim to better the understanding of different groups on campus. All of the organizations can work together to support NAD's organizing of a successful Pow-Wow.