Native American Heritage Month
Opening Ceremony
Come Celebrate Opening Day in the Quad!
Tuesday, November 5th. 11am-1pm
11:30-1 PM TRADITIONAL BLESSING AND STORYTELLING: Alan Salazar is a traditional storyteller, native educator, and a tribal elder in both the Fernandeño Tataviam and Ventureño Chumash tribes. He is no stranger to Moorpark College. He has joined us for our Multicultural Day celebrations and other events representing the rich history and culture of the indigenous people of our area
GARIFUNA AMERICAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION
Thursday, Nov. 7th 1:15-2:45 PM EVENT IN THE FORUM
The Garifuna people are a people of mixed free African and Amerindian ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language, and Vincentian Creole. The Garifuna are the descendants of indigenous Arawak, Kalinago, and Afro-Caribbean people.
VICTOR VILLASENOR:
YAQUI/MEXICAN BEST-SELLING AUTHOR
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14th at 1:30-3:00pm
IN THE FORUM
Born in the barrio of Carlsbad, California in 1940, Victor Villaseñor was primarily raised by his Yaqui Native American grandmother alongside the alley behind his father’s poolhall until the age of four.
With burning passion Victor wrote for 10 years producing nine novels, 65 short stories, and receiving 265 rejections before selling his first novel, Macho! The Los Angeles Times compared it to the best of Steinbeck. This began a journey that would eventually lead to the publication of the bestseller, Rain of Gold.
The Thanksgiving Story, A Staged Play
November 19th from 10-11am Student Reading
in PA 100
Larissa FastHorse is a playwright and performing arts advocate illuminating Indigenous processes of artmaking and storytelling as well as Native American perspectives on contemporary life.
The Thanksgiving Play centers around the folly of “woke” White educators attempting to write and direct a socially and historically responsible Thanksgiving play without consulting with or including Native Americans. Interspersed among scenes involving the earnest but angst-ridden teachers and two hired actors are depictions of actual Thanksgiving activities in public schools, emphasizing the ways in which the colonial myth of the holiday is perpetuated. Steeped in satire, the play also exposes the complications and contradictions involved in redressing injustices of the past.
