The sounds of drums, voices and bells resonated against the walls of the Bruce Pitman Center Friday for the Tribal Flag Dedication Ceremony.
Members of 10 Native American tribes stood in silence with their eyes closed and heads down, surrounded by flags and paintings of vibrant colors. Each flag had its own story and each painting had its own hidden meaning. All of them came together to create a space commemorating the people who lived on the land where the University of Idaho now stands.
Seven of the 10 flags were presented during the ceremony, representing the Nez Perce, Coeur D’Alene, Spokane and Yakama Nation tribes. The flags will remain in the newly renovated Vandal Lounge in the Pitman Center, along with two paintings created by local Native American artists, Ellen Taylor and Sarah Penney.
“These Native American students are why we create these spaces,” said Yolanda Bisbee, executive director of tribal relations. “This was important for us to be able to have a place for our native students to feel a part of home and a part of their culture.”
UI President Chuck Staben said the idea of a tribal flag dedication happened during a meeting with the tribal advisory council. He said the International Ballroom celebrated the diversity international students bring to campus, but there wasn’t a place recognizing the sovereign Native American nations.
“It does seem contradictory that we would not recognize those people who were here before us, and certainly we felt that was important,” Staben said.
Each flag in Pitman Center has its own symbols and colors that hold meaning and significance for the people it represents. For Norma Peone, the tribal institute manager for the Coeur D’Alene tribe’s Department of Education, her flag represents her tribe’s commitment to education.
“There’s a quill pen on there, and an open book. Some people like to think of it as a Bible. I think of it as education,” Peone said.
For Dave BrownEagle, vice chair of the Spokane tribe of Indians, this event represents years of overcoming hardship, both for his tribe and in his own life. During his high school years in Blackfeet Nation, he said his counselor told him it would be a waste to go to college, but BrownEagle went on to get his bachelor of arts at Eastern Washington University and his master’s at Arizona State University, with both a teaching certification and a principal’s certification.
“(My high school counselor) looked at me and said, ‘Don’t waste your time. Don’t waste your parents’ money. You’re too dumb to go to college,’” BrownEagle said. “So here I am, well-educated.”
BrownEagle went on to become the executive director for his tribe in the early 2000s, and said he personally went to Washington D.C. to help get his tribe’s flag recognized. The Spokane tribe was finally adopted in 2015.
“There’s a lot of things that go behind that flag,” BrownEagle said.
In addition to commemorating the tribal flags, the dedication ceremony also celebrated two new pieces of Native American art hung in the lounge. Ellen Taylor’s painting, “Off to the Powwow,” captures memories of visiting powwows with her grandparents as a child, she said. Her painting was not only designed to celebrate an important part of her own culture, but was created to bring cultures together.
“One of the things is, with my art, I always like to bridge the cultures together. So that bridge, the cowboys and the natives, the natives and the cowboys, brought us together,” Taylor said.
The other piece, “Mother Earth,” illustrates a Nez Perce depiction of Mother Earth. Sarah Penney, the artist, said the piece takes place in a traditional Camas digging spot she visits every summer. She said the painting illustrates the importance of the land to her people and the need for people to come together as one.
“Only when we treat the great earth as part of our body will we be able to understand her as our mother,” Penney said. “And only then can we see all people as one.”
The dedication is part of a series of events organized by the Office of Tribal Relations for the National Native American Heritage Month in November. Staben said he hopes the newly dedicated Vandal Lounge will have impact on all the students who will come to the university.
“For our students and prospective students, (the Pitman Center) is their first stop,” Staben said. “It’s important that they see where they are and give them a sense of place.”
Taryn Hadfield can be reached at [email protected]