Indigenous Peoples Day recognized at the UA
Taniah Tudor
Issue date: 10/15/08 Section: News
In celebration and tribute to indigenous people around the world, the UA has dedicated Oct. 12 and Oct. 13 to films, book forums and readings, and a walk on the Trail of Tears.
Several UA professors in conjunction with the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology collaborated on the events and offer the celebration as an alternative to Columbus Day, said Gerald Sloan, a UA music professor who is also the coordinator for the Video Underground film series which presented the first film for the celebration, "When the Mountains Tremble."
Indigenous Peoples Day is celebrated in order to recognize those who lived on this land before the arrival of Columbus and the discovery of America, said Dick Bennett, a UA English professor emeritus and OMNI founder. He said that Native American activists in the early 1990s thought it also was appropriate to celebrate the indigenous people who are surviving along with their cultures. Some Native American activist groups view the discovery of America by Columbus as the "Columbus Invasion," he said.
Though Indigenous Peoples Day is set by the United Nations as Aug. 9, many universities and colleges, including the UA, celebrate it on the day it originally was proposed to replace, Columbus Day.
The celebration of the day began 7 p.m. Sunday at the United Campus Ministry with the showing of the documentary film, "When the Mountains Tremble."
The film was directed by Pamela Yates and Newton Thomas in 1983 and covered the civil war in Guatemala, "especially as it involved the methodical extermination of hundreds of thousands of Mayan Indians, much of this through the assistance of the U.S. government," Sloan said, and it contains a firsthand account by Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu.
Nick Copeland, a UA anthropology professor who has done extensive fieldwork in Guatemala involving these same indigenous groups, was in attendance as a guest speaker.
Sloan said 25 people were at the movie.
Several UA professors in conjunction with the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology collaborated on the events and offer the celebration as an alternative to Columbus Day, said Gerald Sloan, a UA music professor who is also the coordinator for the Video Underground film series which presented the first film for the celebration, "When the Mountains Tremble."
Indigenous Peoples Day is celebrated in order to recognize those who lived on this land before the arrival of Columbus and the discovery of America, said Dick Bennett, a UA English professor emeritus and OMNI founder. He said that Native American activists in the early 1990s thought it also was appropriate to celebrate the indigenous people who are surviving along with their cultures. Some Native American activist groups view the discovery of America by Columbus as the "Columbus Invasion," he said.
Though Indigenous Peoples Day is set by the United Nations as Aug. 9, many universities and colleges, including the UA, celebrate it on the day it originally was proposed to replace, Columbus Day.
The celebration of the day began 7 p.m. Sunday at the United Campus Ministry with the showing of the documentary film, "When the Mountains Tremble."
The film was directed by Pamela Yates and Newton Thomas in 1983 and covered the civil war in Guatemala, "especially as it involved the methodical extermination of hundreds of thousands of Mayan Indians, much of this through the assistance of the U.S. government," Sloan said, and it contains a firsthand account by Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu.
Nick Copeland, a UA anthropology professor who has done extensive fieldwork in Guatemala involving these same indigenous groups, was in attendance as a guest speaker.
Sloan said 25 people were at the movie.
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