Native People’s Alliance to host first social

Twitter
Facebook

 Email This Post
Reddit
Digg

Tell us what you think!
Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.

The Native People’s Alliance will host its first annual University of Maine Native Social in front of the Maine Bound Adventure Center from 1 to 3 p.m. on May 1.

“It’s something that we do in the native community,” said Minquansis Sapiel, an administrative assistant at the Office of Multicultural Programs. “We have a lot of socials because that’s what brings us together.”

Sapiel helped organize the social with NPA to celebrate native culture. Attendees will celebrate native traditions with music, singing and dancing. This year’s event is co-sponsored by the Student Heritage Alliance Council.  The event is open to all and although there is no attendance fee, proceeds from donations and purchases will go to NPA.

This year’s vendors, such as Chayak Crafts from the Bangor Mall, plan to sell Native American merchandise and art. Some of the vendors are NPA members. Food will also be sold by NPA.

“Part of our group’s goal is to spread the word about native culture.  We’re really hoping that people come,” said Brianna Finnegan, UMaine SHAC representative.

NPA was started this year by a group of individuals who wanted to bring back a native student organization, Sapiel said. The group’s focus is on community activism, community involvement and celebrating native heritage, said Justin Umel, a graduate intern who works at the Office of Multicultural Programs.

In an unexpected twist, an all-women’s drum group has been hired to perform for the occasion.

“In the native tradition it’s usually just men.  So to have an all-women’s drum group is a big deal because there aren’t a lot of them out there,” Sapiel said.

NPA hopes to make the native culture more prominent on campus.

UMaine has hosted native socials in the past, according to Sapiel.

“They used to have them a long time ago, in the ’90s,” she said.  “There hasn’t been a social on campus in 10 years or longer.”

This will be the first student-run social at the university since the 1990s, according to Umel. He hopes this event will be the first of many and said NPA plans to host future gatherings.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 26th, 2010, 1:51 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.