In partnership with area organizations, Winona State University will celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Monday, Oct. 10, in East Hall of Kryzsko Commons.
The celebration will begin at 1 p.m. with a half-hour opening ceremony that will include an opening prayer with Virgil Mountain, Lower Sioux, followed by a welcome by Provost Patricia Rogers and Denise McDowell, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Life; Nate Emerson, Vice President of Academic Affairs at Minnesota State College – Southeast Technical; and Winona Mayor Mark Peterson or a representative from the City of Winona.
Rogers, McDowell, Emerson and Mayor Peterson will read official Indigenous People’s Day Proclamationsas as part of the opening portion of the day’s events.
The Prairie Island Singing and Dance Troupe, featuring Alan Childs, will perform from 1:45 to 2:45 p.m. There will also be a symbolic planting ceremony for the WSU Indigenous Learning Garden, led by a WSU administrator and the Turtle Island Student Organization. The End of the Trail statue in the middle of campus is the site for the plantings.
The Red Circle Society will conduct a workshop from 3 to 4:15 p.m., titled “Historical Context and Framing the Importance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Current Day Issues Facing Native People.” The Standing Bull Singers, led by Virgil Mountain, will be featured during the workshop.
At 4:20 p.m., a tour of WSU’s Somsen Hall mural, End of the Trail Statue and Krueger Library will be conducted with elders and family members. Assisting in the tour is Collette Hyman, Kendall Larson, Roger Boulay, Cindy Killion and Mary Jo Klinker.
Assistant professor in the WSU English Department, Elizabeth Zold will host a workshop titled “Re-framing Columbus” from 5 to 6 p.m.
The evening will conclude at 7:20 p.m. with the proclamations being read by WSU President Scott Olson, Minnesota State Southeast President Dorothy Duran, Emerson and Peterson. Then the Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicu Aztec Storytellers and Dancers will present Cultural Interpretations, followed by closing remarks from Olson and Peterson.
This celebration is sponsored by WSU’s Offices of the President, Academic Affairs,Inclusion and Diversity, Student Life and Development, the KEAP Diversity Resource Center, Minnesota State College – Southeast Technical and the City of Winona.
For more information, contact Alex Hines.
