There’s a simple message the Indigenous Students at Syracuse organization hopes is conveyed through the first Indigenous Peoples Day at Syracuse University: “We’re still here.”

As part of SU’s university-wide celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday, the Indigenous Students at Syracuse organization, Indigenous Graduate Students and Office of Multicultural Affairs set up a table in front of the Schine Student Center where they handed out flyers with quotes from various indigenous leaders.

“We have no reason to celebrate an invasion that caused the demise of so many of our people and is still causing destruction today,” a quote by Susan Shown Harjo read on the flyers.

Daniel Bissell, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, was among the students handing out flyers. He said he hopes the day’s recognition will lead to more respect for indigenous students.

“Hopefully they learn that we’re still here and we are a part of this campus and a part of life out here,” he said.

Events were planned throughout the day at SU and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Remarks were made in the Schine Atrium at 11:30 a.m. Beside the podium stood a group of about 10 students from Indigenous Students at Syracuse, holding posters with phrases such as “Celebrating Indigenous Survival.”

Bea González, dean of University College, formally acknowledged the Onondaga Nation and the inaugural Indigenous Peoples Day at SU.

Hugh Burnam, a Ph.D. student in the School of Education and an academic consultant for the Native Student Program, thanked Gonzalez for her work in making the day possible.

“For so long, we’ve been trying to be recognized as indigenous peoples and it’s with great honor that we, together, welcome this day to campus,” he said. “We are still here, honored as indigenous peoples.”

The Indigenous Graduate Students crafted the proposal to suggest ways indigenous people can be more included on the SU campus, Burnam said. One of those ways is through Indigenous Peoples Day.

Regina Jones, assistant director within the Office of Multicultural Affairs and director of the Native Student program, admitted she wrote a speech but forgot it, resulting in chuckles from the audience. She acknowledged the commitment SU is making to indigenous populations.

“I just wanted to share that we are still here,” she said. “Through efforts of genocide, through war, disease, starvation, colonization, we are still here.”

Jones said she stands in solidarity with those in Standing Rock who are fighting for their water against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

“It is our duty as a people to make sure that (the environment) is taken care of for future generations and those yet unborn,” she said.

Jones and Burnam also said a few words in the language of their Native American heritage.

Adiba Alam, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, went to the event because she wanted to learn more about the indigenous people of Syracuse.

“I lived in Syracuse and I knew about the Onondaga people before, but I never learned about them as much as I thought I should have in school,” she said.

Alam has been a Syracuse resident for 10 years and enrolled in a Native American Studies course to learn more about its history.

“It’s interesting because you learn about it in class and then you see it in real life,” Alam said.

González said she hopes the day encourages students to learn the history they otherwise may never have learned and to understand the values of indigenous peoples.

She said the recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day is a conversation that is happening all over the country, one about creating an opportunity for our children to learn a more balanced history of the contributions of all of the peoples that make up our country.

“It is really all about creating an opportunity for education and sharing,” she said.

Published on October 10, 2016 at 10:32 pm

Contact Taylor: tnwatson@syr.edu