San José sits on the ancestral lands of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, whose roots in the Bay Area go back thousands of years.
Over the weekend, the Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley (IHC) hosted an American Indian heritage celebration event at San José State bringing together community members, students and vendors on campus.
Daniel Gomez, a community attendee, thought that the event was more than just celebrating the culture, but something powerful and meaningful through its performances.
“The performances that they brought up front are something I’ve never really seen before. It definitely gave me goosebumps, which I think creates a strong and powerful significance within the community around us,” Gomez said.
The event featured cultural performances, activities, workshops, traditional crafts and more to showcase Indigenous culture.
The celebration was held at the Provident Credit Union Event Center on campus, highlighting the resilience and traditions of indigenous communities in the Bay Area.
Antoinette Plurad, a third-year business student at SJSU, said she attended to deepen her knowledge about the culture and support the community events.
“I didn’t really have much to do during this weekend except go work out since I’m here on campus, but the booth outside the event center stood out a lot, so I ended up checking it out and actually learned a little bit more from what I know about what was being celebrated,” Plurad said.
Vendors and artisans also brought their contributions to the celebration by sharing their work with the community.
SunFlower Designs by Mia Burrell was one of the vendors who showcased handmade clothing such as ribbons, skirts, shirts and more creations, tying it back to the Native culture with the specific patterns and designs on each product.
“The inspiration for my work is mostly from my tradition and culture, which I think is important for this event,” Burrell said.
Alongside unique clothes and art, other vendors had also provided a few food items outside the booth, jewelry related to the culture, musical instruments used for performances and educational activities for everyone to participate in.
A few attendees thought that participating in events like this allows them to share their stories that are often overlooked in conversations today.
Among the tables set up inside was the Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley, which shared information about its services while collecting the community’s signatures for its newsletter.
Desiree Vigil, a member of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and a Native American Indigenous studies speaker, was invited by the SJSU Native American Indigenous Student Success Center to answer student questions and share her perspective as a member of the tribe that is rooted in the city.
She said that Native Americans today continue to seek stronger involvement in the community and campus, and that full support is still needed from everyone around.
“The best way to help is (to) start saying, ‘Hey are we involving Indians in this? What Indians are being involved in this? Where are they at?’, ” Vigil said.
