FA HOSTING ‘INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ CELEBRATION’ NEXT WEDNESDAY

Initiative between school and secretary of Office of Tribal Relations will include multi-cultural experiences; other schools invited to event

JEREMY WALTNER 

– EDITOR & PUBLISHER

The public is invited to join students from Freeman Academy and surrounding schools to an Indigenous People’s Celebration Wednesday morning, Oct. 16 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. inside the Sterling Hall gymnasium. This will be a celebration of Native culture through song and dance performances by the Dakota Dance Club, as well as a cross-cultural message from David Flute, who is secretary of the South Dakota Office of Tribal Relations.

Students from Freeman Public, Marion, Parker, Bridgewater, Menno and Scotland have been invited to attend the celebration.

The Oct. 16 event will also include a Project Based Learning Crossover that will include grade-specific classroom activities like cooking experiences, beadwork and music traditions.

Also, for Freeman Academy students in grades 1-6, Secretary Flute will read the story, “The Medicine Quilt,” by Margaret Doom, a story that draws upon the connection between the Freeman Network for Justice and Peace and the Wagner Horizons, a non-profit organization whose mission is to facilitate multi-cultural relationships where individuals experience reconciliation, develop leadership skills and create strategies that result in action for change. That reading will take place at the American Indian display located inside Heritage Hall Museum & Archives.

The Indigenous Peoples’ Celebration is a collaborative effort between Flute, the Office of Tribal Relations, and FA staff and students.