Purdue Native American Educational, Cultural Center fall series to focus on Hawaii, Native American Heritage Month

September 21, 2015  


WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue University Native American Educational and Cultural Center's Fall Cultural Arts series will focus on Hawaii and Native American Heritage Month in November.

"We are excited to feature Native Hawaiian cultures as our focus for this year's NAECC cultural programming," said Felica Ahasteen-Bryant, NAECC director. "Native Hawaiians and Native Americans are indigenous to their respective homelands and they share the same respect for the land, language and cultural preservation. We are fortunate to have an active group of Purdue students from Hawaii who have been instrumental in shaping the programs and take pride in showcasing their homeland. I extend a personal invitation for the campus community to attend our events throughout this semester."

The series will feature lectures, music, dance, art and films. Events, which are open to the public and free unless otherwise noted, include:

* Sept. 24. 6-7 p.m. Krannert Auditorium. LGBTQA Film Festival, featuring "Two Spirits." The film "interweaves the tragic story of a mother's loss of her son with a revealing look at a time when the world wasn't divided into male and female and many Native American cultures held places of honor for people of integrated genders." Sponsored by NOGLSTP@Purdue, in collaboration with the Purdue LGBTQ Center and the NAECC.

* Oct. 3. 2-3 p.m. France A. Córdova Recreational Sports Center, Multipurpose Room 7. Introduction to Tahitian Dance Workshop. Participants will learn the fundamentals of Tahitian dance, which include footwork, hip motions, hand movements and a dance. Lori Murphy, of the Hula School of Chicago, will lead the workshop. Registration is required at http://bit.ly/TahitianDanceWorkshop

* Oct. 3. 6-7:30 p.m. France A. Córdova Recreational Sports Center, Feature Gym. "The Art of Hawaiian Dance, featuring the Hula School of Chicago." The event will showcase the indigenous Hawaiian culture and stories illustrated through dancing. Registration is required at http://bit.ly/HulaHawaiianDance

* Oct. 7. 4-5:30 p.m. Stewart Center, Room 279. NAECC Visiting Artist: DG House. House is a contemporary painter and focuses on Native people and wildlife of the Rocky Mountains. Her presentation will feature ledger art, historic Plains Indian narrative hide paintings that have evolved into paper paintings. House is the featured artist for the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Art in Indianapolis.

* Oct. 20 6-8 p.m. Stewart Center, Room 279. Green Week screening and discussion featuring "Ola i ka Wai: Water is Life." Water, one of Hawaii's most precious resources, is the subject of two film documentaries, "Ola i ka Wai: Water is Life" and Ola i ka Wai: East Maui." Purdue students representing Native Hawaiian communities and Purdue faculty will discuss the films after the screening.

* Oct. 24. Noon-4 p.m. Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Art in Indianapolis. Eiteljorg Museum Frybread Film and Cook-Off. The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Art will host the inaugural Indiana Collegiate Frybread Competition. The event includes frybread demonstrations, competition and a screening of the film, "More Than Frybread."

* Nov. 4. Windsor Court. Lunch, 11:30 a.m. until noon. Presentation, noon to 1 p.m. "Ono Kine Grinds: Food of Hawaii. Cultural Lunch Panel Presentation." The event, which will feature a panel discussion on the significance of food in Hawaii, is part of Native American Heritage Month.

* Nov. 5. 6-7:30 p.m. Stewart Center, Room 310. NAECC Indigenous Alumni Speaker Series presents Marie Kainoa Fialkowski. Fialkowski, a Native Hawaiian from Oahu, Hawaii, received her master's degree in food and nutrition from Purdue in 2007 and her doctorate in health promotion and disease prevention from Purdue. She is an assistant professor in human nutrition in the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences and the assistant program director with the Children's Healthy Living program for remote underserved minority populations in the Pacific region at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa.

* Nov.10, 1-3 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. Stewart Center, Room 279. "NAECC Craft Circle: Drum Making Workshop with Tony Showa." Tony Showa (Navajo), a Native American artist, will lead the intercultural workshop. Participants will learn how to make a Native American drum with natural products, hear stories and songs and understand why the drum is known as the "heartbeat of Mother Earth." Reservations are required. Cost is $10 for Purdue faculty and staff and $20 for the general public. There is no cost for Purdue students. For more information, contact the NAECC.

* Nov. 13. 6-7:30 p.m. Stewart Center, Room 310. "NAECC Movie Night: "The Haumāna." An independent film produced in Hawaii, "The Haumāna" centers on a Native Hawaiian who is "charismatic host of a struggling Waikīkī Polynesian lū'au show. To everyone's surprise, including his own, he is appointed as the successor to a high school boy's hula class when his former Kumu Hula (master hula teacher) passes away. He becomes as much a student as a teacher through demands of leading the boys to a significant cultural event and rediscovers the sanctity of the culture he had previously abandoned."

* Nov. 17. 5-7:30 p.m. Hilenbrand Dining Court and Hillenbrand Main Lounge. Dinner and Movie Screening: "Ua Mau Ke Ea: Sovereignty Endures: A Historical Documentary of Hawaii." Learn about the political struggles of Hawaii. A discussion will follow the screening of the documentary film.    

Writer: Greg McClure, 765-496-9711, gmcclure@purdue.edu 

Source: Felica Ahasteen-Bryant, director of the Native American Educational and Cultural Center, 765-494-4540, fahastee@purdue.edu 

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