Hundreds of students got a taste of Indigenous North American cuisine Monday night for dinner at Clark Dining Hall. As part of Indigenous Peoples’ Month, Multicultural Student Affairs collaborated with NC State Dining to put together NC State’s Indigenous North America Dinner.
Taylor Wood, a support technician from Campus Enterprises, said this was the second time the event was held at Clark Dining Hall.
“The event was first held in the fall of 2015,” Wood said. “Multicultural Student Affairs’ Native American Student Association approached NC State Dining about a cultural themed special dining hall event.”
The dining hall was packed, and students seemed to be enjoying the food, including Diana Vallejo, a freshman majoring in art studies.
“The dinner was good,” Vallejo said. “I just ate a little bit too much though.”
Andrea Jacobs, a freshman studying engineering, said she and Vallejo came because they heard about the event from the Native American Student Association.
“I’m Native American, and NASA have been sending us emails,” Jacobs said. “And we knew it was Indigenous Peoples’ Month, so we wanted to come.”
Although Mackie Raymond, a junior studying communications media, did not know about the event before arriving, she too enjoyed the food, as well the reason behind it.
“I think NC State should do a lot more to honor indigenous people, especially on Columbus Day, so I’m glad that they’re taking the initiative,” Raymond said. “Indigenous people continue to be one of the most disrespected populations in the United States, and they continue to be disenfranchised.”
Areon Mobasher, a sophomore studying English, agreed with Raymond’s sentiment.
“There’s a push to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” Mobasher said. “I think just kind of across the board indigenous people should be recognized and represented just as much as any other group.”
As a group that had such an integral part in American history, Mobasher believed students should be taught more of indigenous peoples’ history.
“I know about some tribes, spiritual traditions and a general Native American history, but beyond what I was taught in school growing up, I don’t know much else about Native American history,” Mobasher said.
Raymond felt similarly about her knowledge about indigenous peoples, saying the event helped her learn more.
“I know about Native American literature, but that’s really it,” Raymond said. “Definitely not anything culinary though, so this is kind of cool.”
Overall, the event was found to have been a positive effort in the celebration of indigenous people. However, Mobasher believed that more has to be done if we truly want to be a welcoming and diverse community.
“Quite literally [indigenous people] have been marginalized in our American history,” he said. “They have literally been put on the margins of society geographically. I think if we are to be an inclusive and mindful society now, we should definitely make an effort to understand our indigenous people as much as possible.”
A chalkboard in Clark Dining Hall displays the menu options of the Indigenous North America Dinner on Monday as part of Indigenous Peoples' Day, a celebration of native cultures. The foods offered were from the Cherokee and Lumbee peoples, and choices ranged from barbeque pulled pork to fried hominy.
