Arcata, California — UC Humboldt is celebrating Indigenous Peoples Week with a variety of events and discussions for staff and students to participate.
One of those events was a Native Indian Card Game Demonstration, where students were able to view and participate in a traditional Native American game called cards.
“This is a game based on luck, so we, as Indians, have the ability to build luck in many ways. “It’s a way to build,” said Two Feathers Youth mentor Donnell Moore.
But more than just winning or losing, cards are also a way to connect with Native peoples, ancestors, and the Earth.
“It’s a way to connect with our ancestors and a way to send prayers. So while we’re singing outside, we’re not just singing a song. It’s a song with meaning. “That’s it,” Two Feathers youth ambassador Anthony Bennett said.
Bennett said she was glad to have the opportunity to share her culture with students this week.
“Some people don’t know anything about Native Americans, but I think it’s really nice to be acknowledged because this land we’re standing on belongs to Native Americans,” Bennett said.
Also leading one of the Indigenous Peoples Week events is Caitlin Reed, UC Humboldt assistant professor of Native American studies and graduate student. Reed’s research also focuses on what has happened to Native landscapes since settlers arrived centuries ago.
“Just as settler states enact violence to exclude Indigenous peoples, they simultaneously enact violence against our landscapes,” Reid said.
Reed said these issues are tied to intergenerational trauma that Indigenous people still face today, including mental health issues, the drug crisis on reservations, and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) crisis.
Events are scheduled on Cal Poly Humboldt’s campus Monday through Friday. The complete schedule for the week can be found here.
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