Students created tobacco ties and a banner Monday as part of the Sand Creek Massacre Commemoration: Making Activity event that honors Native American Lives lost in the tragedy.
The event was the second in a three-part series hosted by the Native American and Indigenous Student Alliance to commemorate the healing efforts of the Cheyenne and Arapaho communities. It was held with support from Multicultural Students Affairs, Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, One Book One Northwestern and Center for Native American and Indigenous Research.
The goal of the series is to learn about the Sand Creek Massacre and to reflect on Northwestern’s role in its history.
On Nov. 29, 1864, US soldiers attacked a Cheyenne and Arapaho village along Sand Creek in the Colorado Territory. The attack was planned by the Colorado Governor and Territorial Superintendent of Indian Affairs John Evans — Evanston’s namesake and one of NU’s founders.
“This is the history that has led us to where we are now,” Weinberg sophomore and ASG senator for NAISA Meadow Neubauer-Keyes said. “There are people that suffered as a result of that history, and we can’t just ignore that and carry on.”
At the event, students created a banner reading “Remember our Pasts, Protect the Present, Fight for our Futures.” They also created tobacco ties in preparation for the Procession, the third part of the commemoration series.
Neubauer-Keyes, who is enrolled in the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, has made tobacco ties for NAISA during past events. When creating them, she said one is supposed to grab the tobacco with their left hand — symbolic of closeness to the heart — and then think about their “intentions” before placing it into a square piece of cloth.
“You put your intentions into the tobacco … what you want to accomplish, what you want to see changed, what you want to acknowledge, what you want to be grateful for,” Neubauer-Keyes said.
Next Monday, students will hold the tobacco ties as they march from the John Evans Alumni Center to the CNAIR house. Along the way, they will gather around a rock to voice their “dreams and asks” of the University. At the CNAIR house, the event will end with a symbolic fire and song.
Weinberg senior Mia Vigil returned to the NAISA event after participating in the commemoration activity last year. Vigil, who is not Native American, stressed the importance of allyship.
“I think this community is very misunderstood sometimes, and I think they don’t always get the attention that they deserve,” Vigil said. “I think it’s really important to learn from them and then learn how you can further educate yourself.”
Jasmine Gurneau, the director of Native American and Indigenous Affairs, said she believes “we need community now more than ever.”
“For folks that are a part of this community and a part of any community… it’s a good practice to want to know and understand the institution that you’re a part of,” Gurneau said. “That way we can make sure these things don’t happen again.”
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Twitter: @gabrielbernick
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