News Releases

October 16, 2014
For Immediate Release
For additional information:
Chato Hazelbaker
Chief Communications Officer
Telephone: 360-992-2921
E-mail: chazelbaker@clark.edu

 

"Educating for the Seventh Generation"

On Friday, Nov. 7, Clark College will host a community-wide
celebration of indigenous cultures

 
VANCOUVER, Wash. – On Friday, Nov. 7, Clark College will welcome the community as it hosts “Educating for the Seventh Generation,” a celebration of indigenous cultures.

The event will begin at 5 p.m. with free food and refreshments served. A performance by Native American flutist and flute-maker Isaac Trimble will begin at 5:45 p.m. Vendors and informational booths will be present 5:00 – 10:00 p.m.

The Welcome Address and opening ceremonies for a powwow will begin at 6 p.m. Closing ceremonies will take place at 10 p.m.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Gaiser Student Center on Clark College’s main campus. Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver. Driving directions and parking maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps.  Anyone needing accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at (360) 992-2314 or (360) 991-0901 (VP), prior to the event. 

This is the sixth year that Clark College has coordinated and hosted an event in honor of Native American Heritage Month. It is one of four signature events hosted by the college annually to celebrate diverse cultures.  

This year, the celebration will include the announcement of an effort to create a new scholarship. Entitled the Dream Catcher Scholarship, this fund would go toward the tuition of a Native American student studying at Clark. 

“Studies show that Native Americans experience some of the highest poverty rates of all racial groups in the U.S.,” said Anna Schmasow (Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota Oyate Tribal Member), an office assistant at Clark College who has been integral to the organization of Educating for the Seventh Generation. “I believe that education is the most effective tool in escaping poverty. A scholarship fund can help students who are in need attain a successful career.” 

Longtime community organizer and celebration committee member Becky Archibald (Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Member) said she hoped the Dream Catcher Scholarship would make college more accessible to Native American youth, many of whom have historical and cultural reasons to distrust educational institutions. “It helps to soften that step, to create that sense of inclusion,” she said. “The scholarship fund would promote the idea that college is possible for the Native American youth in today’s world. It would assist students in bringing their dreams and goals together through higher education.” 

According to organizers, “Educating for the Seventh Generation” references “our responsibility to teach the future Seventh Generation to maintain our resources, traditions and customs. It is the way of caring and preserving for the Seventh Generation, which is a true sustainable practice.” 

Information about Native American Heritage Month is available at http://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/about/index.html. Images from last year’s celebration are available via Clark’s Flickr album at https://www.flickr.com/photos/clark_college/sets/72157637359681165/ (photo credit: Clark College/Jenny Shadley).

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