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NOVEMBER 3, 2003 -- Michigan Tech's eighth annual Native American Speakers' Forum, set for Friday, Nov. 7, will feature singer and songwriter Bill Miller, World Hoop Dancing Champion Lisa Odjig, Steve Baranyai of the drum group Gathering Thunder and traditional native flute player Jessica Dakota. The Speakers' Forum will be followed on Saturday, Nov. 8, by the Spirit of the Harvest Powwow at the Gates Tennis Center. The forum will be held in the Memorial Union Ballroom and opens at 9 a.m. with traditional song and ceremony by Gathering Thunder. At 9:15 a.m., Baranyai, a representative from the National American Indian Science and Engineering Society, will talk about AISES and how Native Americans can succeed in college. Baranyai, an Ojibwe, is from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. His reserve is Serpent River First Nations on the north shore of Lake Huron. Odjig will perform from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. In 2000, she became the first woman ever to win the World Hoop Dancing Championship, and she reclaimed the title this year. In addition to competing in the championships, she has performed for Queen Elizabeth II, at the Calgary Stampede and with the American Indian Dance Theatre. She said that being the only woman to enter the adult category for the last two years has added a lot of pressure. "I feel I have to try harder," she said. "I have to dance harder because the men are stronger (physically)." She has nothing but praise for all the competitors. Watching others perform, Odjig said, she feels their excitement and disappointments. "My heart really goes out to them because I know how difficult it is." The forum adjourns for lunch until noon, when Jessica Dakota, a member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, opens for Miller. She will play the traditional native flute. "Dakota is very talented and her music is beautiful," said Lori Sherman, Native American outreach coordinator. She has opened for Buffy Sainte-Marie, Miller and various others. She is currently a student at Baraga High School and is also taking classes at Michigan Tech. At 12:10 p.m., Miller, a Nammy (Native American Music Award) winner will perform. A Mohican Indian from northern Wisconsin, he has long been one of the most admired figures in the Native American music arena and beyond. "As an award-winning recording artist, performer, songwriter, activist and painter, he's been a voice for the voiceless, a link between two great, and clashing, civilizations," Sherman said. The drum group Gathering Thunder will hold the closing ceremony at 1:15 p.m. All of the sessions are free and open to public. For more information, contact Sherman at 487-2920 or lasherma@mtu.edu. |