During the week of the Indigenous Peoples’ Day, The DePauw had a conversation with Alyvia Hogan, the co-president of NAIPA, DePauw’s Native American and Indigenous Peoples Association, to learn about the organization and how DePauw students can come together to acknowledge and empower Indigenous cultures.

NAIPA aims to acknowledge the vast Native American populations across the country, including in Indiana, and “shine light” on their history on this land and on DePauw’s grounds. Reflecting on her experience about support resources for Native American students, Hogan expresses her great appreciation to Anthropology Professor Clark Sage and CDI Assistant Director Joseph Harris for their support in event design, location reservation, resources, and coverage. 

Reflecting on the general support resources, Hogan highlights the open community at both DePauw and Putnam County. At the same time, Hogan commented on the relatively thin Native American-specific support system at DePauw compared to her personal past experiences as a Native American. An example that she pointed out was the change of name from “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” as a recognition of Native American histories and heritages, which she felt did not receive more coverage from DePauw, considering that it was a fairly new holiday. 

On Nov. 3, NAIPA will host their previously postponed Native Food Showcase, featuring handmade dishes such as Jicarilla Apache lamb stew, Lakota style frybread, and Maya jok’in säqwach. Participants will also have a chance to meet executive members and learn more about the organization. When asked about NAIPA’s potential future events, Hogan expressed her desire to host bead-working workshops, movie/TV show screenings about indigenous cultures, Frybread Fridays, and de-stressing events with traditional games and atol drinks.

Lastly, Hogan emphasized that NAIPA is an open and welcoming space for any students, faculty, and staff members who genuinely want to learn about the Native American communities. This includes, but is not limited to, the NAIPA exec board membership, event attendance, and social media promotion. Furthermore, Hogan suggested that the advocacy for indigenous peoples can start from self-education, such as demonstrations of land acknowledgement.

NAIPA’s Native Food Showcase is coming on Nov. 3! To keep up with NAIPA’s events and programming, follow NAIPA @naipa_depauw on Instagram.