1. American Indian Reunion Weekend
2. Commencement 2009
3. Elder in Residence
4. Three Generations of Carolina Alumni
5. 22nd Annual CIC Powwow
6. 34th Annual CIC Awards Banquet
7. Tribute to Dr. Michael Green
8. New Faculty
9. Building an Endowment
10. Wall of Donors
11. Upcoming Events
12. Announcements

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americanindiancenter.unc.edu
113A Abernethy Hall
Campus Box 3457
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3457
(919) 843-4189 / aic@unc.edu

Message from the Director

Another academic year has come and gone in Chapel Hill. The students that we welcomed to campus at our Extravaganza last August have scattered to various summer activities. One group of students is participating in a “study abroad” program at the Cherokee Nation headquarters in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, where they are learning Cherokee language, history and culture in an intensive, three week session. The students are based at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah.

Because the Center serves the Indian communities in the state, our activities aren’t bound solely by the rhythm of the academic year. We will be hosting a workshop on cultural tourism in late June, and we will be planning a workshop for August that will allow selected teachers to work on implementing a new k-12 curriculum guide on North Carolina Indians.

Despite the budget cuts that have plagued the University this past year and that threaten to get worse for the next fiscal year, our creative juices have continued to flow, and we have been able to implement programs and respond to requests for our expertise. One important thing that we did this spring was host an American Indian Alumni reunion. About fifty people were willing to pay to attend the event, and we held a silent auction fund raiser in conjunction with it that helped cover expenses. Although this event was not the first Alumni reunion, we plan to make this an annual event in the future.

Spring is a busy time, with our Elder in Residence program, the student pow-wow, the Alumni reunion, and the annual Unity conference where we sponsored two workshops this year. Campus meetings, presentations to classes from college level to k-12, and attendance at various off-campus conferences occupy our attention, but we, and the advisory committee members who have been so supportive can now reflect on two years of highly visible activities both on campus and in the communities of the state.

Now, more than ever, the Center needs your continued interest and support. As the financial condition of the Nation affects us all, and the University is forced to pull back from many of the activities that have served citizens of the state, we need to find creative ways to continue our work with American Indian communities and to keep issues affecting American Indian students, staff, and faculty on campus visible to the University administration.

Clara Sue Kidwell
Director

American Indian Reunion Weekend

First Annual American Indian Alumni Banquet

The American Indian Center welcomed American Indian alumni back to campus for the first annual American Indian Center Alumni Reunion banquet on March 20, 2009 at the Carolina Inn. Approximately 65 alumni mixed and mingled and enjoyed the music of Dark Water Rising featuring three alumni, Charly Lowry ’06, A. Corey Locklear ’05, and Aaron Locklear ’04, and danced after dinner to the sounds of DJ Otara Mills.

Mr. Kevin Maynor ’79 served as Master of Ceremonies for the evening. He introduced three generations of UNC American Indian Alumni—Ms. Genevieve Lowery Cole ’54 (’76 MPH) The Honorable Gregory Bell ’83 (JD), and Ms. Karla Martin ’08 (MEd)—who spoke briefly about their experiences at Carolina. Center Director Clara Sue Kidwell recognized Dr. Michael Green for his contributions to the development of the American Indian Center, and Ms. LaDonna Harris for her role as our Elder in Residence. Leaders of the current student organizations spoke about their activities.

A highlight of the evening was a silent auction. Items included a basketball signed by the UNC basketball team, a football signed by coach Butch Davis, a beaded pendant donated by Alumna Tonia Jacobs, signed copies of LaDonna Harris’s autobiography and of The Columbia Guide to Indians of the Southeast, co-authored by Drs. Michael Green and Theda Perdue, a Lumbee patchwork medallion donated by James Malcolm, and figures of Henry Berry Lowery and Rhoda Lowery donated by Malinda Maynor. Mr. Kerry Bird was the successful bidder on the signed basketball, which, in light of the Tar Heels’ national championship this year, will certainly be priceless in the future.

The Center was also proud to offer guests the chance to purchase prints of a painting by Lumbee artist Chris Kennedy. “The Old Well,” an evocative piece based on Kennedy’s concept of the original old well mirroring the current structure in a reflecting pool of water, was commissioned by Dr. Cheryl Locklear, a member of the University’s Board of Governors. She presented the original to President Erskine Bowles and donated the rights to reproduce the painting to the American Indian Center.

Photos: (top to bottom, left to right) Iris Locklear ’97, Jamie Goins ’95, Genevieve Cole ’54/’76 (MPH), Kristy Locklear ’99, Shannon Brayboy ’96; Brandi Brooks ’07, LaDonna Harris, William Harris ‘02/’06 (MD), June Brooks, Clara Sue Kidwell; (front row) Charlotte Johnson ’05, Cheryl Locklear ’79 (DDS)/’84 (MPH), Shannon Brayboy ‘96, Iris Locklear ’97, Kristy Locklear ’99, and LeeChelle Brooks ’03 (back row) Jamie Goins ‘95, Rebekah Lowry, Danielle McLean ‘07, Larissa Johnson ‘06, Sarah Locklear ’06 (MD), Symphony Oxendine, Chese’Qua Evans ‘01, Tawnda Gillette ‘02, and Tonia Jacobs ‘03/’08 (MA); (left to right) Sarah Locklear ’06 (MD), LeeChelle Brooks ‘03, Rebekah Lowry, and Oryan Lowry; Malinda Lowry ’02 (MA)/’05 (PHD) and Willie Lowery.

Alumni Brunch and Roundtable Discussion

A very small but interested group of people met on Saturday, March 21, 2009 in the Student Union to discuss the possibility of forming an American Indian alumni organization. Kevin Maynor and Kerry Bird, UNC alumni, shared thoughts with Tanea Pettis of the General Alumni Association (GAA) and Jackie Pierce and Ronda Manuel, Development Office staff members. Brandi Brooks and Clara Sue Kidwell also joined the discussion.

The discussion centered on how American Indian Alumni could create an organization with its own identity and what that group could accomplish. Pettis explained that the GAA had affinity groups whose primary purpose was to host alumni gatherings and events. An American Indian reunion could be hosted on a yearly basis with GAA assistance.

An American Indian Alumni Association could exist separate from the GAA and the University, but if that were the case, it couldn’t take advantage of University services. The GAA is willing to support the creation of American Indian Alumni Clubs in the areas throughout the United States.

Although the group that met did not decide on any action, we would welcome input from other alumni about ways to become more involved at Carolina. The American Indian Center intends to make the Alumni Reunion Banquet an annual event, with the help of the GAA. All alumni are encouraged to join the GAA and to take advantages of its programs.

If you are interested in serving on the 2010 American Indian Reunion Planning Committee, please contact Brandi Brooks (brandi@unc.edu) at 919-843-4189.

Commencement 2009

The Annual Commencement Brunch

The Center brought the 2008-09 academic year to a close with its second annual Commencement Brunch and pinning ceremony for American Indian graduates and their friends and families. Dr. Helen Maynor Schierbeck joined the Center in sponsoring the brunch. The event was held in the Pleasants Family room of Wilson Library on Saturday morning, May 9, 2009. Dr. Clara Sue Kidwell acknowledged the presence of special guests Dr. Schierbeck, and Drs. Michael Green and Theda Perdue. Mr. Danny Bell spoke about the contributions that Drs. Green and Perdue had made to the establishment of the American Indian Studies academic programs and the American Indian Center.

We honored seven graduates:

Following a song sung in the Tutelo language by Ms. Meredith McCoy and Ms. Sera Haith, Dr. Schierbeck encouraged the graduates that they could continue to be Indian wherever they were, whether going back to serve their own communities or in careers outside the Indian community. Dr. Kidwell closed the ceremony by congratulating the graduates and urging them to go forth and do good.

We are very proud of the accomplishments of this year’s graduates and wish them well in their future careers.

The Commencement Ceremony

This year’s University Commencement ceremony on Sunday morning, May 10, was special because Dr. Helen Maynor Schierbeck was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws degree for her achievements in the field of American Indian education and her advocacy of American Indian self-determination. Dr. Michael Green presented Dr. Schierbeck for the award and Provost Bernadette Gray-Little placed the doctoral hood on her shoulders as Chancellor Holden Thorp made the official conferral of the degree.

A number of Dr. Schierbeck’s friends and family were on hand to witness the ceremony. American Indian communities throughout the United States have benefitted from Dr. Schierbeck’s efforts, particularly those that have American Indian controlled community colleges, and we can be proud that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has recognized her accomplishments.

Elder in Residence

The Center was honored to host Ms. LaDonna Harris as this spring’s Elder in Residence during the week of March 17-20. Harris, a member of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma, is director of Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. During her stay she attended the meeting of the Carolina Indian Circle on the evening of the 17th, where she facilitated a discussion of American Indian identity. Inviting students to “call me Auntie LaDonna,” she opened a dialogue about the importance of family as a source of identity. Students felt comfortable enough in her presence to bring up issues, and, as Shane Locklear said, “that was a discussion we needed to have.”

Harris gave a public lecture on the evening of March 18, co-hosted by the Stone Center. Her topic was International Indigenous Rights, and she spoke about her activities in Washington, D.C. in the 1960’s as the wife of Fred Harris, Senator from Oklahoma and her efforts organizing Indian grass roots groups in Oklahoma under the auspices of the federal Office of Economic Opportunity. Her leadership was crucial in getting Indian issues and programs spread throughout federal agencies rather than being concentrated solely in the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

She also spoke about the Ambassadors program that is part of AIO. It selects a cohort of young Indian professionals each year for leadership training. The group comes together for periodic seminars and for travel to Indian communities. In the past few years, Ambassadors groups have visited New Zealand to interact with Maori people and to Bolivia, where the group was invited to the home of the country’s president, an Aymara Indian, for lunch. Last year, Harris visited Japan to acknowledge the Japanese Government’s recognition of the Ainu as the indigenous population as a result of the passage of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People.

We had a chance to recognize LaDonna at the Alumni Reunion banquet on the evening of March 20. She was generous and gracious during her stay on campus, and students appreciated her warmth and her wisdom.

Three Generations of Carolina Alumni

This month we feature three people who represent three generations of Carolina alumni. You may recognize them from our spring fund-raising letter, but there is so much more that we’d like to share about their Carolina experience and lives today. Let us introduce you to Genevieve Lowry Cole, Greg Bell, and Karla Martin.

Ms. Genevieve Lowry Cole represents the generation of the 1950’s. She is a Lumbee Indian from Robeson County, N.C. She was the first female American Indian student to graduate from Carolina in 1954. When she transferred from Pfeiffer College in 1952 to study microbiology, American Indians technically weren’t even allowed to attend public universities in North Carolina. But Armstrong, a UNC admissions officer at the time told her, “Well, don’t let that stop you,” and so it didn’t. She landed on UNC’s campus with only two or three fellow American Indians, one of them being her distant cousin Cecil B. Lowry, the first male American Indian student to graduate from Carolina in 1953. Another was her younger brother, Lowry, who entered Carolina in the 1950s.

For Genevieve, her background as an American Indian didn’t play much of a role in her education. While she didn’t shy away from her Indian heritage, it also wasn’t something she embraced. “It just wasn’t something you brought up at the time,” she said. But, Genevieve was grateful to be at Carolina, and like students before and after her, she enjoyed her time on campus, one of her fondest memories being sitting on the steps of South Building and drinking a Coke from the Campus Y.

After graduating from Carolina with a degree in medical technology, Genevieve worked in the clinical labs at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco for a stint, then took a hiatus to rear three sons. When her family moved back to the area in 1974, she went back to Carolina to earn her master’s of public health. Since graduating in 1976, she has led a successful career as a microbiologist working at both Duke University and North Carolina State University. She’s retired twice, but, at age 77, continues to work part time at Duke.

The Honorable James Gregory Bell, a judge for the North Carolina Superior Court, was a student during the 1980’s. Judge Bell is also a Lumbee Indian from Robeson County, N.C. He graduated from Carolina Law School in 1983. For him, coming to Carolina was a major culture shock, especially after having attended UNC-Pembroke in which 90 percent of the students were American Indians. He knew a handful of other native students on campus. Three of them were in his law class. He also enjoyed meeting people from the many different backgrounds that were represented on campus. He was active in intramural sports and enjoyed living in Craig Dorm—the graduate dorm at the time.

Karla Martin represents the current generation of alumni. She completed her master’s in education at Carolina in 2008, and she is currently in a Ph.D. program in Culture, Curriculum and Change in the School of Education. She has found the University to have a very supportive American Indian community. When she first visited the campus it reminded her of her community, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, back home in the small town of Atmore, Ala., She met so many amazing people—graduate students, American Indian scholars, faculty members—that she knew Carolina would be the best environment for her to study and feel supported. Her Ph.D. program allows her to embrace her heritage, as she is studying Native American education broadly and within the Poarch Creek tribe.

Karla says, “I am fortunate to have so many American Indian resources available to me on campus. The American Indian Center (AIC) which opened in 2007 for example, has been much like a second home. It is a place where I can go and get any help and support I need. “ Judge Bell commented, “It would have been great to have had a central location where all Native Americans could have met.”

Genevieve Cole, Greg Bell, and Karla Martin spoke at the Alumni Reunion Banquet on March 20, 2009. They are representative of the achievements of Carolina’s American Indian alumni of the past and present and role models for the present and future students who will become alumni.

Karla Matin said, “Genevieve is definitely an inspiration to me. If it weren’t for those American Indians who forged ahead and sought higher education, I might not have the same opportunities afforded me today as one of more than 240 American Indian students on UNC’s campus.”

22nd Annual CIC Powwow

The Carolina Indian Circle (CIC) had its 22nd Annual Powwow on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Fetzer Gym on Saturday, March 21, 2009. With Grand Entry at 11:30 AM, the Fetzer gym opened its doors throughout the day to an estimated 2,500 people including students, faculty and staff of UNC, Powwow dancers & drummers, and people from surrounding communities. Circle members showed up with their powwow T-shirts on, eager to volunteer and direct dancers, drummers and spectators to the proper facilities. The powwow shirts, available in pink, black, and Carolina blue, displayed a design donated by Charde Romero depicting a prairie scene with a cityscape in the background, supporting the “Two Worlds, One People” Powwow theme. Amelia Muse, Secretary of the Carolina Indian Circle, and Powwow Volunteer Coordinator said “The powwow exceeded our greatest expectations. A large, diverse group of people came to participate in the cultural and educational experience, and their support is greatly appreciated. The powwow really showed the level of local involvement because many of our volunteers came from outside the UNC and Native communities.”. The powwow hosted 5 drum groups and featured around 50 dancers from several tribes including Haliwa-Saponi, Lumbee, Coharie, Waccamaw-Siouan, Tuscarora, Lakota Sioux, Meherrin, and many others. Dancers competed in the categories of Adult Men’s Grass, Adult Men’s Traditional, Adult Men’s Fancy, Teen Men’s Grass, Teen Men’s Traditional, Teen Men’s Fancy, Adult Women’s Traditional, Adult Women’s Fancy, Adult Women’s Jingle, Teen Women’s Traditional, Teen Women’s Fancy, and Teen Woman’s Jingle. Head Drum was Red Earth from Hollister, NC, Head Male Vee Oxendine, Head Female Tonia Jacobs, MC Sandon Jacobs, Arena Director Dalton Lynch, Head Judge Marty Richardson, and Tabulator Gwen Richardson. Various campus organizations set up informational booths along the walls of the gyms, alongside the Powwow’s 10 vendors. Everyone in attendance seemed extremely satisfied with the turnout, and several vendors even proclaimed that UNC’s powwow was one of the few school powwows worth driving a long distance to set up for, because it lasts for 9 hours and has a large turnout every year. Having planned the powwow beginning in the summer of 2008, the Powwow Committee and the Circle as a whole were glad to see the event turn into such a successful educational and cultural event for the UNC family and surrounding community members.

34th Annual CIC Awards Banquet

The Carolina Indian Circle (CIC) held its annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, April 4, 2009 in the George Hill Watts Alumni Center on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. The Banquet served as an opportunity to honor outstanding members of CIC, as well as pay tribute to the supporting academic departments, Office of Student Academic Counseling, the American Indian Center, American Studies, and Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs. A full course meal was served to Circle Members and their family as they enjoyed entertainment from Brooke Odom, who read two poems, and Southern Sun drum group. Circle Member of the Year was given to Tyler Wellington Thomas, CIC President and graduating senior. He was honored for his dedication to the Circle and the campus as a whole as well as for his dynamic leadership skills. Tyler was also recognized along with the rest of the graduating seniors, who received a gift and a certificate and were thanked for their contributions to the Circle throughout their undergraduate career. The freshman class of 2012 were also honored with certificates. The Circle inducted executive council members for next year, including President Meredith McCoy, Vice President April Hammonds, Secretary Wendy Oxendine, Treasurer Christy Oxendine, Treasurer-Elect Francesca Locklear, Parliamentarian Kasey Oxendine, Outreach Chairperson Colton Foster, and Co-Historians Morgan Locklear and Chiara Oxendine. The Circle Award was given to Dr. Michael Green and Dr. Theda Perdue, American Indian Studies Professors at UNC.

Photos: (top to bottom) The 2009 Carolina Indian Circle freshman award recipients included (left to right) Chiara Oxendine, Brooke Odom, Rachel Norman, Morgan Locklear, Francesca Locklear, and Colton Foster; The banquet also featured a special recognition for the 2009 graduating seniors, (left to right) Ashley Hammonds, Sera Haith, Trevor Locklear, and Tyler Thomas.

Tribute to Dr. Michael Green

Michael D. Green, Professor of History and American Studies and enthusiastic supporter of the American Indian Center, will be retiring at the end of the Spring, 2009 semester. He and his wife, Theda Perdue, professor of History, originally came to Chapel Hill as visiting faculty in spring semester 1995 and were then appointed as regular faculty members beginning in the 1998-99 academic year.

Drs. Green and Perdue became part of a core group of faculty, staff, and students who worked toward the development of an American Indian center on campus. Their courses became the basis for an American Indian Studies academic minor, and an American Indian Studies degree program began in the fall of 2008. The core group became a formal Provost’s Advisory Committee on American Indian Issues, which Dr. Green chaired in 2000-02. The group wrote a proposal for a Center and submitted it to the Provost in 2005. After some revision, the proposal was finally approved by Provost Robert Shelton in the spring of 2006. The Provost’s Advisory Committee became the Advisory Committee for the American Indian Center when it began operations in July of 2007, and Dr. Green has served on the Advisory Committee since that time.

Dr. Green’s classes on American Indian history have been very popular with American Indian and other students. Rachel Ensing commented, “Mike Green is very knowledgableabout Native American issues and has an incredible passion for the things he teaches. His enthusiasm can’t help but rub off on you and cause you to be passionate as well and want to change the way history will be written for us right now.”

Dr. Green is nationally recognized as a ground-breaking scholar in the field of American Indian History. His book, The Politics of Indian Removal: Creek Government and Society in Crisis (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1982), was the first in-depth study of Creek political and social history in the period leading to the tribe’s removal from the southeast in the 1830’s, and the first to view those events from a tribal perspective. His other books are The Creeks, (New York : Chelsea House, 1990), The Creeks: A Critical Bibliography (Bloomington : Published for the Newberry Library [by] Indiana University Press, 1979), and with Theda Perdue, The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears (New York, N.Y. : Viking, 2007); The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents (Boston : Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005) and The Columbia guide to American Indians of the Southeast (New York : Columbia University Press, 2001). He and Perdue edit Indians of the Southeast, a book series from the University of Nebraska Press, which has published twenty-five titles and expanded our understanding of the region’s Native peoples.

Dr. Green has taught at Dartmouth College, where he chaired the Native American Studies program for eight years. Prior to coming to North Carolina, Dr. Green was professor of history at the University of Kentucky, and he was a founding member of that state’s Indian commission. He and Dr. Perdue are well known not only for their scholarship but for the graduate students they have mentored throughout their careers. Dr. Rose Stremlau is currently an assistant professor of history at UNC—Pembroke. Dr. Malinda Maynor Lowery will be an assistant professor of history at UNC—Chapel Hill in the fall. Dr. Greg O’Brien is Associate Professor of History at UNC—Greensboro, Dr. James Taylor Carson is associate professor of history at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, Dr. Tim Garrison is professor of history and chair of the American Indian Studies Program at Portland State University, Dr. Rowena McClinton is associate professor of history at University of Southern Illinois, Dr. Meg O’Sullivan is senior research associate at the Institute for Children and Poverty, Dr. Karl Davis is assistant professor of history at State University of New York at Oswego, Dr. Cary Miller is assistant professor of history at University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, and Dr. Christina Snyder is assistant professor of history at Indiana University. Dr. Green also played a major role in the direction of David Nichols at Indiana State and John Hall at the University of Wisconsin.

Not only were Drs. Green and Perdue key players in the effort to get the American Indian Center established, but they have been enthusiastic attendees at Center sponsored events since the beginning. In 2000, the Carolina Indian Circle awarded Dr. Green its Circle Award “for outstanding dedication and service to the Native American Community at UNC-Chapel Hill.” Drs. Green and Perdue were honored with the Circle Award at the 2009 Student Awards banquet on April 4, 2009. The two awards are a fitting tribute to Dr. Green’s contributions to the students and the campus.

The American Indian Center also acknowledged Dr. Green’s efforts at its Alumni Reunion Banquet on March 20. Clara Sue Kidwell, Center Director, presented him with a print of the painting “The Old Well.”

Although Dr. Green is retiring from teaching, true scholars never retire from their intellectual pursuits, and we are sure that Dr. Green will continue the reading and researching and writing that have built his reputation in the field of American Indian history. Since he will remain in the Chapel Hill area, we are also sure we will continue to see him at events and count on his support for Center activities. We wish him well as he enters the retirement phase of his career.

New Faculty

Dr. Malinda Maynor Lowery and Dr. Jean Dennison will join the faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill in the fall of 2009, adding to the strong group of scholars who teach courses that support the American Indian Studies major and minor program on campus. Dr. Lowery will become an assistant professor of History, and Dr. Dennison will be assistant professor of Anthropology. Dr. Lowery, (Lumbee) who received her Ph.D. in History at UNC—Chapel Hill under the direction of Drs. Michael Green (American Studies) and Dr. Theda Perdue (History), has done research on the history of the Lumbee tribe from the post-Civil War era until the 1970’s. Dr. Dennison, Osage, received a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Florida. Her research focuses on the process of establishing a constitutional government for the Osage Nation in Oklahoma.

During the 2008-09 academic year, Dr. Lowery held a post-doctoral fellowship in the Center for the Study of the American South. Dr. Dennison was a postdoctoral fellow in the Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity program. They have pursued their own research this year, but next year they will be involved in full-time teaching.

The Department of American Studies will host another Native scholar for the coming academic year under the Diversity Fellowship program. Dr. Jenny Tone-Pah-Hote, Kiowa, will be on campus conducting research and writing in the American Studies department.

Building an Endowment

The American Indian Center is launching a major fund-raising initiative that will help sustain its operations. In order to do so, we need your help! With generous gifts from Dr. Waltz Maynor and Mr. E. Kevin Maynor, the Center is creating an endowment fund that will generate steady income in the future. The endowment will supplement University funding so that the Center can continue to expand its programming efforts. It takes the generous support from each of you to continue.

We invite you to join us in several fundraising efforts this summer and fall. A reception for donors will be held in late July, and a southern tea for women alumni in the Robeson County area will be scheduled for early fall. There will be events associated with football games, and our second annual alumni reunion banquet and silent auction will be held in the third weekend in March. In order for these events to be a success, we need your help and support.

The Center will continue to seek grants and other sources from outside the University to support special programs. Currently, we are organizing a Tribal Leadership Workshop on Tribal Tourism with support from a $35,000 Z. Smith Reynolds grant. In addition, we have applied to the North Carolina Humanities Council for a grant to support workshops for Title VII Indian Education teachers to introduce them to the new curriculum guide on North Carolina American Indians that the Council has produced.

The creation of an endowment fund is the next step in building a secure funding base for the Center. The current national and state financial crisis makes the challenge of fund raising more difficult but also more necessary. Since the Center does not play a direct role in offering instructional services to students, it has to demonstrate its value to the University in other ways. It cannot generate the large federal research grants that faculty, particularly those in medical and scientific fields, bring to the campus. We must rely on smaller grants that indicate that our services are valuable to American Indian communities and to the public. We must also rely on the good will and generosity of individuals who are willing to donate because they believe in the value of the Center as part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Donations of any size to both the University’s annual fund and to an American Indian Center endowment fund will help the Center not only survive but grow in the future.

The efforts we put forth today are critical, not only for the value of our degrees, but also for the students who follow in our footsteps at this great University. We need your help in becoming the leading public university in the country. 

For questions please contact Kevin Maynor at 919-962-4453 or Kevin_Maynor@unc.edu

Make a Gift to the American Indian Center.

Wall of Donors

We would like to recognize the following individuals for their gifts to the American Indian Center for the 2008-2009 academic year.

Don't see your name? Make a Gift!

Your generosity will help the Center make its presence known on campus and in the Indian communities. We hope you will keep us in your annual giving plans as we develop new programs and events.

Upcoming Events

Breaking the Cycle: Investigating the Intersection of Educational Inequities and Health Disparities

Tues., June 9, 2009 - 1:30 p.m.

Location: F.P.G. Student Union, Room 3102 - UNC Chapel Hill Campus

Sponsored by: - American Indian Center, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Diversity & Multicultural Affairs, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, Campus Health Services -Wellness

Time: 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

• Reginald Weaver (about), Vice President, Education International (webpage); Past President, National Education Association (webpage)
• Lillian A. Sparks, J.D. (webpage), Executive Director, National Indian Education Association (webpage)
• Dina Castro, M.P.H., Ph.D. (webpage), Scientist, UNC FPG Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (webpage)
• Nicholas Freudenberg, Dr.P.H. (bio), Distinguished Professor and DPH Director, Program in Urban Public Health, Hunter College School of Health Sciences/City University of New York (webpage)
• Howard Lee, M.S.W., Moderator (webpage), Executive Director, N.C. Education Cabinet; Past Chair, North Carolina Board of Education (Memoirs)

View Agenda

Registration and Parking Information

Live, interactive broadcast via Internet (webcast) and c-band satellite.

Welcome Extravaganza for Carolina American Indian Community & Friends

Thurs., August 27, 2009 - 5:00pm

Location: Side Lawn of Abernethy Hall (Corner of S. Columbia & Cameron Ave.)

Time: 5:00pm - 7:30pm

Music and information about American Indian student organizations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will be part of a welcome event on campus beginning at 5:00 p.m. Aug. 27.

The UNC American Indian Center will host the event, a Welcome Extravaganza for the Carolina American Indian Community and Friends, on the lawn of Abernethy Hall at South Columbia Street and Cameron Avenue. The public, including Indians from the surrounding area, are invited.

Renew acquaintances and make new friends at the American Indian Center. The event will feature intertribal dancing with dancers dressed in full regalia and native dress. The event is part of a Week of Welcome at Carolina to start fall semester.

Announcements

The "Gift of the Old Well" Painting

by Christoper H. Kennedy

This painting was created for the American Indian Center at UNC Chapel Hill and unveiled on March 20, 2009 at the American Indian Reunion Banquet.

The creator gave land to the people. The people created a university. The university builds an “Old Well” in 1795. The “Old Well” gave life and sustenance to the people and animals. The creator is pleased, the bear is the symbol of strength for the people, the cougar is the symbol of balance and grace, and the eagle is the symbol of leadership. The pale of knowledge spills into the pool of the dream catcher and through time, hard work, and perseverance the “Old Well” is transformed into the current structure and the circle of life continues.

Prints of the painting are available for purchase; please contact Brandi Brooks at 919-843-4189.

Save the Date: Coming in the Spring of 2010...

Friday, March 19, 2010 - 6:30 p.m.

Location: The Chacellors Ballroom, The Carolina Inn

Sponsored by: The American Indian Center, General Alumni Association, and AIR Planning Committee

Time: 7:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.

If you are intersested in serving on the 2010 American Indian Reunion Planning Committee, please contact Brandi Brooks at 919-843-4189.

23rd Annual Carolina Indian Circle Contest Pow Wow

Saturday, March 20, 2010 - 11:00 a.m.

Location: Fetzer Gymnasium, UNC Campus

The CIC Pow Wow is FREE and open to the Public!

POW WOW HOTLINE: 919-843-5928

For more Information please email Rachel Ensing, powwow co-chair at cicpowwow@live.com

Please visit the News and Events Section of our website for additional news...