Source: Elizabeth Schrum, evschrum@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Sheila Ellis, 785-532-6415, media@k-state.edu
Monday, Dec. 17, 2007
K-STATE STUDENT SHARES NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURE THROUGH DANCE
MANHATTAN -- Art is a venue that can cross racial barriers and educate others about unfamiliar cultures, according to Elizabeth Schrum, senior in horticulture, Lenexa, and president of the Kansas State University Native American Student Association.
One of the ways members of the Native American Student Association share their culture with others is through dance, Schrum said. Members perform traditional Native American dances in various diversity programming at K-State and throughout Kansas.
"The dances are a way to reach people because they are something everyone can relate to," said Schrum, who showcases her Cherokee culture through a traditional dance called jingle dancing, which is a healing dance.
According to Schrum, jingle dancing was started hundreds of years ago by a medicine man with an ailing granddaughter. The medicine man had a dream one night of dancers with bells on their clothes. In the dream, the dancers taught him the songs, dances and clothing for the dance that would cure his granddaughter. When the man awoke he found four women, taught them the dance and asked them to perform it for his granddaughter, who was then cured.
The jingle dance has been a tradition ever since and many people request it for their loved ones to be cured of illness, said Schrum, who recently performed a jingle dance with other members of the Native American Student Association at Fort Riley.
Another way members of the Native American Student Association at K-State share their culture is through the annual Native American Heritage Month observance at K-State each April. Part of the observance usually includes a spring powwow.
Schrum said the Native American Student Association serves as an educational outlet to K-State for those who have questions about Native American culture.
"When people ask questions, that is a good sign," she said. "The most popular misconception about American Indian culture is all tribes act alike. Most people identify American Indian culture with the Plains Indian culture. This is not true. There are some similarities across the board, but there are also dramatic differences among the tribes."
The Native American Student Association also serves as a support group for Native American students at K-State who may be experiencing culture shock after coming from a reservation or for Native American students who were raised as "urban Indians" and want to know more about their heritage, Schrum said.
"I encourage everyone no matter what race to come out and learn, ask questions and participate. The Native American Student Association is here to serve the K-State community," she said.
After earning her bachelor's degree from K-State, Schrum, a graduate of Shawnee Mission West High School, plans to attend graduate school to study ethnobotany, the study of how cultures use plants.
Members of K-State's Native American Student Association will participate in various powwows across Kansas. More information is available at the association's Web site, http://www.k-state.edu/nasa
The association has been on campus for more than 25 years. As of fall 2007, K-State had more than 140 students who identified themselves as Native Americans.