Kent School District hosts Native American Back-to-School Powwow
Published 5:16 pm Wednesday, September 9, 2015
For the Reporter
The community is invited to a Native American Back-to-School Powwow from 1–9 p.m. on Saturday in the cafeteria at Kent-Meridian High School, 10020 SE 256th St.
The free event is intended to educate, promote, and inform students and community about Native American people living in the area.
“It is essential to perpetuate the Native American culture and celebrate the usual and accustomed practices that are and have been, since time immemorial,” said Theresa Lockrem, Kent School District’s Native American academic and cultural liaison.
Native American vendors will sell food and handmade items and there will be entertainment during the dinner break. The event provides the opportunity to learn about Native American art, culture, and traditions. Notable individuals within the Native American community, such as Alaskan Chilkat blanket weaver Anna Brown Ehlers, artist and educator Louie Gong and Seattle flutist Paul Che oke ten Wagner, will showcase their art and music and share the importance of Native American culture.
Ehlers is one of the most accomplished Chilkat blanket weavers of modern times. Her world renowned crafts are exhibited at museums around the world and on cruise ships around Alaska. She has received various accolades and international recognition for her lifelong passion of weaving from the First Peoples Fund and United States Artists Rasmussen Fellowship.
Gong is an artist, educator and public speaker who was raised in the Nooksack tribal community. As a former child and family therapist, he has received international recognition for his work that defies categorization and addresses racial and cultural identity. Gong is a board member for MAVIN, a national non-profit that raises awareness about mixed race individuals and families.
Other guests include Polynesian dancers from Ke Liko A’e O Lei Lehua Halau with Aunty Claire Cortez and Andrew Morrison, mural artist of The Seattle Indian Heritage School, now known as Robert Eaglestaff Middle School.
The Back-to-School Powwow is organized and sponsored by the KSD Native American Program and United Way of King County with support from the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and Tulalip Tribes.
KSD supports the Native American/Alaska Native American Education Program funded by Federal Title VII grants based on Native American student counts and administered through student services. The program is designed to assist Native American students to meet district and state academic standards and offers resources for native students and families to create a strong sense of community.
For more information about the Powwow, visit the KSD Native American Program homepage, kent.k12.wa.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=356.
