The line from the A Tribe Called Red song, “We are not a conquered people” sounded out in my head as the drum beat began to bang out across the lobby of the S Building on campus. Three dancers, dressed in ceremonial garb of gold, feathers and colorful textiles, writhed barefoot across the tiled floor to an ancient heartbeat of a people celebrating their heritage.
The Intercultural and Global Student Engagement Office (IGASE) in collaboration with the Society for the Advancement of Chicano/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) held an event on the Brookhaven campus to honor the indigenous people’s month of November.
The gathered crowd of students, faculty and staff nodded along silently with the rhythm as the air was filled with the sound of seashells jingling with the movements of the dancers. The feathered head dresses flapped wildly in response to how each dancer played their part in this pageant of Aztec pride.
