The Native American Cultural Club hosted its First Nations Festival in Building 8 on Nov. 2, 9 and 10. Club member Michael McBride said this festival might be the club’s last due to low club membership and a retiring advisor.
“I’d like to keep the club going, I’d like to keep the festivals going, but (that’s) the future,” McBride said. “I just don’t know.”
There are 129 American Indian students registered for the fall quarter, which makes up 0.51 percent of the student population, according to Sinclair’s Office of Research and Analytics Reporting. However, not very many of them are involved in the club, according to McBride.
“I just can’t get any youth to carry on,” he said.
Sinclair Community College student Alesia Merris said she thought the festival was interesting, but some of the background noise of the student activity center was disruptive.
“I think they need a better place to have it (the festival)…It’d be nice if it was in the library,” Merris said.
Professor Jim Brooks, the club’s advisor, said he is retiring after the winter quarter. He said the continuation of the festival depends on who becomes the new advisor and what students in the club want to do. Brooks became the club’s advisor ten years ago when the previous advisor retired.
“The way (the club is) written, it’s really educational and increase(s) awareness about Native American issues (like) art, music (and) culture,” Brooks said.
One of the ways the club tries to increase awareness is to have information available about cultural issues such as the use of Native Americans as sports mascots and the focus of Columbus Day.
“When a student sees that (information), he may feel that it’s not an important thing, that it’s trivial, or ‘What’s the big deal?’” Brooks said. “What our handouts try point out is, ‘Well, look at it from the Native American’s point of view.’”
Both Brooks and McBride think that diversity is something that students should be more aware of.
“If you sit down and listen with another culture, you just made yourself a better person because now you know about that other culture so you have more understanding,” McBride said.
Brooks adds that Sinclair provides many chances for students to learn about diversity, and more people need to take advantage of them.
“There’s really a good opportunity to interact with lots of different kinds of people at Sinclair, if people take the time to do it,” Brooks said.
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