By Rory Dulock | Staff Writer

While many events are held throughout the month of November to celebrate Thanksgiving, the Multicultural Affairs department is responsible for sponsoring a variety of events to honor Native American Heritage Month.

Tranquility Gordon, associate director of Multicultural Affairs, said the department celebrates Native American Heritage Month in different ways. One way is putting up banners in the Student Union Building that are changed out depending on the heritage month.

“We took the Hispanic Heritage Month one down, and now our Native American Heritage Month banner is up, and so that one really highlights the land acknowledgement that the university has created with indigenous tribes here in the central Texas area,” Gordon said.

Gordon said the land acknowledgement is something that not everybody is aware of and that the department wanted to make sure they created a banner that recognizes Native American Heritage Month in an accurate way.

“We wanted to put the focus back on what the university has already done, and that is to create such a beautiful rendition of what we want our indigenous brothers and sisters to know. We acknowledge that the land that we sit on here in Waco and in Independence was not ours and was stolen land,” Gordon said.

Another goal the department is reminding the institution that it is important to celebrate Native American Heritage Month and so an emphasis has been put on working with partners such as the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in STEM (SACNAS), a student organization on campus. The department is also celebrating by hosting a lunch and learn opportunity for the Baylor community to come and ask questions.

Gordon said the goal is to recognize that certain topics are not always discussed, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be encouraged, and that these conversations should remain at the forefront throughout the year, not just during Native American Heritage Month.

Tucson, Ariz., senior Conrad Barrozo is a co-treasurer of SACNAS. Barrozo said SACNAS is a big proponent for inclusivity and diversity in STEM and is one of the few organizations on campus that represents Native American students.

For Multicultural Affairs to host events is huge for Native American representation on campus because there are so many students on campus who have Native American ancestry, Barrozo said.

“The student demographics only takes account for students who come from a tribe and are affiliated with the government, but there’s so many individuals whose tribes have been … no longer recognized [by] the government,” Barrozo said. “Being Native American is more than just a tribal affiliation.”