(Indigenous Peoples’ Day events include an instructor-led discussion and a bead-making workshop. Photo of dancers at COCC Madras campus event in 2022 by Pat Kruis/Madras Pioneer)
Central Oregon Community College (COCC) will celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day — Monday, October 9 — with two free events on the Bend campus: an instructor-led discussion about historical events and current issues within Native American communities and a bead-making workshop set within historical context. Visit cocc.edu/multicultural for details.
Join Gabriann Hall, COCC anthropology instructor, for “Celebrating the Strength & Resilience of Native People,” 11am-12pm in Wille Hall. No registration is required. Through history and storytelling, the discussion will take a look at the past but with a forward-focused lens, examining how Native Americans are working to address past traumas in healthy and productive ways. Hall is an enrolled member of the Klamath Tribes.
Then, from 2:30-4:30pm, Amy Cullen will lead a bead-making workshop in Wille Hall. Space is limited; RSVP by October 6 to Jeremiah Rector at jrector@cocc.edu. The workshop will include education on the history of Native beading, Cullen’s history with beading, and an opportunity to create a beaded rope or carabiner. Cullen’s heritage is Métis (Ojibwe, Cree and western European).
In 2020, COCC formally adopted a land acknowledgement to recognize and pay respect to the original stewards of the land on which its campuses reside. To further this recognition, COCC in 2021 formally designated the second Monday of each October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
In advance of college events, persons needing accommodation or transportation because of a physical or mobility disability should contact Caitlyn Gardner at 541-383-7237. For accommodation because of other disability, such as hearing impairment, contact disability services at 541-383-7583.
