As faculty students returned to campus — many for the first time since the Dec. 6 shooting — tribal members from around the Southwest gathered to help the campus acknowledge, heal, and move forward from the tragedy.
To help the semester begin, they conduced a private cleansing and blessing ceremony in Beam Hall before holding a healing ceremony for all in the Alumni Amphitheater.
“Spring is the season of hope,” said UNLV President Keith Whitfield as he welcomed the delegation. He reminded the hundreds gathered that UNLV sits on the traditional lands of the Nuwu Southern Paiute people. “We offer gratitude for the land itself, for those who have stewarded it for generations, and for the opportunity to study, learn, work, and be in community with this land.”
Before the various performances, tribal members explained how the history and meaning of their traditions. Bird Songs and Jingle Dance bring comfort while the smudging rite blesses and purifies.
“This isn’t a native thing; this is a human being thing," noted Chris Spotted Eagle, a Southern Paiute spiritual leader who led the ceremonies. "We’re in this together. We’re a community, and we’ve all been touched by this tragic incident but we’re not going to let it define us or carry it on to this year. …It’s a new time to continue what you students, who are here, are doing — striving to be productive citizens of this community and this world.”
The event culminated with a communal circle dance in which more than a hundred faculty and students joined hands with the tribal members to underscore the importance of community.
The UNLV community thanks the following for leading the Healing Ceremony:
- Emcee: Kyle Ethelbah, director of UNLV's Center of Academic Enrichment and Outreach (White Mountain Apache)
- Welcome, Opening, and Land Acknowledgment: UNLV President Keith E. Whitfield
- Tribal Leader Speakers: Chairwoman Deryn Pete (Las Vegas Paiute Tribe); Chairwoman Janet Myers (Moapa Band of Paiutes and a UNLV alumna); and Councilman Ivan Reel (Moapa Band of Paiutes, current UNLV student)
- Opening and Closing Prayers: Chris Spotted Eagle, Southern Paiute spiritual leader
- Songs: Nuwu, Mojave, Nuwuvi Bird Singers from across the region
- Las Vegas Native Youth Dance Group: Shye Wisespirit (Moapa), Paloma Marcos (Oglala Lakota), Toonizhnoi Bedonie (Dine/Navajo), and Keanu Kai Bedonie (Dine/Navajo)
Organized by:
- Tammi Tiger, director of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and UNLV Tribal Education Initiative (Choctaw, Muscogee, Seminole)
- Danielle Finn, director of the UNLV Indian Nations Gaming and Governance and assistant professor-in-residence (Standing Rock Lakota)
