On Oct. 13, the Native American Program kicked off Indigenous People’s Week with midnight drumming and a demonstration on the Green, part of a series of celebrations for Indigenous People’s Month held from Sept. 30 to Nov. 1. At the demonstration, Indigenous students went around the circle and shared speeches, poems and songs to showcase their heritage.
According to the NAP website, the first event celebrating Indigenous People’s Month was Orange Shirt Day on Sept. 30. Students had the opportunity to learn about the history of government-run boarding schools — which sought to erase Indigenous culture and languages, according to an email sent to campus by the student organization Native Americans at Dartmouth — and wore orange shirts in solidarity.
Other events held include a Powwow dance on Oct. 7, a field day on Oct. 14 and an Indigenous people’s fashion show on Oct. 15.
The Oct. 13 drumming circle is held at midnight so that Indigenous peoples’ voices are the first ones heard on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, according to participants. A demonstration to honor Indigenous students and their traditions was held at noon.
NAP director Adria Brown ’15, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, said participants in the demonstration sent a message: “We are still here as Indigenous peoples.”
“Indigenous People’s Day is really this kind of intertribal, very diverse celebration really across North America,” Brown added.
The month’s celebrations are hosted in collaboration with Native Americans at Dartmouth, according to NAD co-president Rhett Williams ’26, a member of the United Houma Nation in southern Louisiana.
“It’s important that, on this campus, Indigenous people are seen and are heard,” Williams said.
“Indigenous identities come with a lot of pain and a lot of struggle and a lot of history,” Williams added. “That’s something a lot of people don’t know how to interact with.”
“Through genocide and through colonialism and through a lot of erasure, we still stand strong and we still stand together at places where we weren’t always welcome,” Williams said.
The Oct. 13 celebrations coincided with the annual Indigenous Fly-In Program, hosted by the Dartmouth Admissions office in collaboration with NAP. The program ran from Oct. 12 to Oct. 15 and brought in 69 high school seniors to tour campus, according to Steven Abbott, Indigenous outreach coordinator and associate director of admissions for the College.
Sonja Talwani ’29, a descendant of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana and an NAD member who participated in the demonstration, shared that the Native American Program is one of her “favorite things” about Dartmouth.
“I never lived on my reservation or had any Native American peers other than my brother,” Talwani said. “So coming to Dartmouth and experiencing that community has just been an invaluable experience.”
“We’re just doing our best to make sure we keep fostering that type of environment and keep the progress moving forward,” he added.
