Throughout November, Carolina’s American Indian Center is sponsoring a series of events to celebrate American Indian culture and to educate others about it. The lessons are particularly relevant in North Carolina, home to the largest American Indian population east of the Mississippi River.
The month-long celebration will include lectures, film viewings, art exhibits, concerts and special foods. Sherman Alexie’s film “The Business of Fancydancing,” to be screened Nov. 12 at the Carolina Union, will show this traditional style of dance while following the struggles of a man to balance his Native American heritage with his life as an urban gay man.
Also on campus, members of the Carolina Indian Circle will teach native beading lessons Nov. 19, while Rams Head dining hall will serve up native foods at the American Indian Heritage Month dinner Nov. 20.
The month’s festivities conclude Nov. 23 with the 18th annual American Indian Heritage Celebration at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh.
The mission of the American Indian Center is to bridge the richness of American Indian cultures with the strengths of Carolina’s research, education and service. National American Indian Heritage Month recognizes contemporary American Indian tribes and individuals as active participants in American society and honors their histories, cultures and achievements.
2013 American Indian Heritage Month Schedule of Events:
The Awakening: Parallel Worlds, Art Exhibit by Alyssa Hinton
Through Dec. 6
FedEx Global Education Center
Sappony Art Opening Reception
Friday, Nov. 1 at 6 p.m.
Kirby Cultural Arts Complex
213 North Main Street, Roxboro, NC 27573
Michael D. Green Lecture
Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 5 p.m.
Lecturer: Dr. Daniel Health Justice. “Downriver, Up-Mountain, Across the Border: Placing Critical Indigenous Studies at Home and Abroad”
Hill Alumni Center
Preserving our Culture through Land Stewardship: The Story of Triangle Native American Society & the Wake Co. Indian Education Community Garden by Jeff Currie
Saturday, Nov. 9, 10:30–11:30 a.m.
N.C. Botanical Garden
Musical Performance by Unheard Voices
Saturday, Nov. 9, noon-12:30 p.m.
N.C. Botanical Garden
Diversity Seminar: The American Indian Higher Education Experience: Best Practices for Success
Tuesday, Nov. 12, 3–4:30 p.m.
Featured Panelists: Dr. Bryan Brayboy, Dr. Susan Faircloth, and Dr. Malinda M. Lowery
Toy Lounge, Dey Hall
Film Screening: Sherman Alexie’s ‘The Business of Fancydancing’
Tuesday, Nov. 12
Film: 6:30–8:15 p.m., followed by Talking Circle Discussion
Carolina Union Room 3203
Evening Celebration of American Indian Culture
Thursday, Nov. 14, 6–6:30 p.m.
Smith Middle School, Chapel Hill
Star Families: Native American Skies
Saturday, Nov. 16, 3:30–4:15 p.m.
Morehead Planetarium and Science Center
$5 per person; $4 Morehead members.
Native Beading Lessons with the Carolina Indian Circle
Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 6:30 p.m.
Carolina Union Room 3411
American Indian Heritage Month Dinner
Wednesday, Nov. 20, 4:30–8 p.m.
Rams Head Dining Hall
18th Annual American Indian Heritage Celebration
Saturday, Nov. 23, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
N.C. Museum of History, Raleigh
Published Oct. 31, 2013.