They don't live in teepees. They don't carry bows and arrows or wear feathered headdresses. And more than likely, most Duke students probably couldn't name a single Native American student who attends the University.
"Many students don't even know that we exist," said Trinity sophomore Anna Denson, member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and co-president of the Native American Student Coalition. "The biggest thing facing NASC and the Native Americans on this campus is the minuscule population."
The NASC, which was founded in 1992, has between 10 and 12 current members, though only three are active.
Kelly Fayard, a Trinity sophomore and the other co-president of NASC, said that although about 30 current students identified themselves as Native American on their applications, many have no connection to the community or desire to recognize their native history.
Fayard, who belongs to the Poarch Creek or Muscogee tribe in Alabama, discovered this trend when NASC members attempted to recruit students who identified themselves as Native Americans. "There are people trying to exploit [being Native American]... there are people who only use it when they need it," she said.
Christoph Guttentag, director of undergraduate admissions, said Duke's entering classes average between four and six Native American students. While Guttentag said he hopes to increase the number in the future, he said that Native American students pose certain challenges for the University's recruitment efforts. "Part of the challenge in recruiting Native American students is that they are relatively spread out geographically," he said. "This is particularly challenging in the cost of recruiting."
Denson said the organization's goals for the future include working with the University to attract more Native American students through more targeted recruitment and events like recruitment weekends similar to those held for Latino and Black students.
The NASC's main goals are to not only bring more students to the University but to attract faculty members as well. There are currently no Native American faculty members at the University. Fayard said, "It is important to have a network of Native American students [and teachers] on campus. People who are like you, people who understand what you are going through and why you react a certain way to some things."
"And right now," she said, "I have Anna."
The organization relies heavily on outside support from Native Americans in the Triangle area, though it does receive help from the Office of Intercultural Affairs. Their advisor, Linda Capers, who is also the program coordinator for OIA, has been instrumental in helping the group to coordinate events, Fayard said. This year, the group co-sponsored the Silver Feather Festival with the Institute of the Arts and will also be bringing nationally renowned flautist and hoop dancer Kevin Locke to campus today.
Locke, a member of the Standing Rock Lakota Nation, will perform in Page Auditorium at 8 p.m. He said his performances are meant as an "affirmation of the nobility of the human spirit," and continued that he hopes to "get people to celebrate their world citizenship."
Fayard and Denson said that because people usually have no real contact with Native Americans, they often have misconceptions. "I've noticed that when many people think Native American they automatically think of a person with a headdress, buckskin outfit, and saying 'how' to greet someone. That may be true for some tribes but not for mine," said Denson.
Denson grew up and still lives with her family on a reservation in Philadelphia, Mississippi. She said her family keeps their culture alive in their everyday lifestyle. "We still speak our native tongue which we believe is the heart of our culture... We also have our traditional songs and dances that are practiced on occasions," she said.
Fayard said tribal distinctions are often overlooked in regard to Native Americans, which comprise more than 500 federally recognized tribes in North America. "People put all Native Americans in one group," she said.
Fayard said that while her immediate family does not live on a reservation, she spends much of her time during breaks on the Poarch Creek reservation with her grandparents, where she has participated in stomp dances and pow-wows.
Denson said educating fellow students is vital. "I want [Duke students] to know that we are real and we still exist," she said. "I want them to know as much as they can about my people, as well as other natives, and about our history. We are not a people who were completely wiped out of this country but we are alive and well."
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