Drumming up support: Native American students share culture at UI event

MOSCOW — The sound of a thumping drum rang out on the University of Idaho campus Monday as Native American students gathered to celebrate their culture.

The traditional Indigenous music came from the student-led Vandal Nation Drum Group, which kicked off an Indigenous Peoples Day celebration outside the UI Student Union Building.

“We use this day as a platform to educate, to share about who we are as Native people,” said Steven Martin, the UI Native American Student Center director.

Standing in front of a raised tepee, Martin reminded the audience of the Native American lands that make up the state of Idaho. He said 11 tribes are represented by students on the UI campus and praised the university for supporting its Indigenous student population.

Native American Student Association president Nathan Tinno said many college campuses “don’t get anything like this.”

He told the Moscow-Pullman Daily News that he hoped the people attending Monday’s event feel encouraged to learn more about Native Americans and their diverse backgrounds.

“I hope that they learn where they come from and the stories that come with it,” Tinno said.

Martin said Indigenous students still face challenges stemming from years of ignorance about indigenous people, but they remain resilient.

“We make do, we fight through,” Martin said.

The crowd was invited to dance around the tepee while the Vandal Nation Drum Group kept the rhythm.

“We call it the heartbeat of our mother,” Vandal Nation member Kayden Williamson said about the drum beat.

Williamson expressed his pride in seeing all the Indigenous students who attended Monday’s event.

“We’re all here,” he said. “We’re being strong.”

On Oct. 24, the first female Native American federal judge in Oklahoma will visit the UI campus to speak tribal law.

Judge Sara Hill, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, will speak during the annual Bellwood Lecture at 3:30 p.m. in the Bruce M. Pitman Center. Her lecture is called “Tribal Nations and the Law of the Homeland.”

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.