November is Native American Heritage Month, and the UI campus is celebrating with several events throughout the month sponsored by the UI Native American Student Association. One such event was the Native American Heritage Month Keynote on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 5:30 in the Pitman Center International Ballroom. The keynote was delivered by Yonasda Lonewolf, a Oglala Lakota and Black activist and inspirational speaker who spoke on the power of uniting cultures and peoples across the U.S.
The keynote event, titled “The Power of Allyship: Strengthening Together,” began with a performance by the UI’s Native American Drum group Vandal Nation, who played and sung as attendees stood and listened. Lonewolf was then introduced by Dakota Kidder, the Program Coordinator for the Native American Student Association.
Lonewolf began the keynote by introducing the audience to her mother, Wauneta Lone Wolf, a prominent Oglala Lakota social activist who passed away in 2003. Lonewolf explained that her mother and her ancestors are who made her the person she is today, and she showed the audience a video that highlighted her mother’s work as an activist.
After honoring her mother, Lonewolf continued the keynote by discussing some of the major projects she has been working on in recent years. These include participating in the Standing Rock Dakota Access Pipeline Protests, and a project called Hip Hop for Flint which helped bring water filtration systems to Flint, Michigan. Lonewolf explained that many of these efforts were successful because of her willingness to reach out to other demographics and step out of her comfort zone to garner support from many different communities.
“Anytime you are feeling uncomfortable, that’s when a blessing is going to come into your life,” Lonewolf said. “It’s important to face that discomfort and push through your fear of going into a room of people that don’t look like you.”
Lonewolf explained that being able to see yourself represented in the media and in your community is so important for mental health and success.
“Representation matters. And I know that even here at this school representation matters, especially amongst your age group,” Lonewolf said. “Suicide is at such a high rate because of a lack of hope, and that has to do with a lack of representation. If people are coming into a space and not seeing or feeling themselves represented, then they’ll start to think ‘why am I even here?’”
Throughout the keynote, Lonewolf emphasized the importance of uniting the community together, especially since the world has become more divided in recent years.
“We have to be able to come together and see our similarities more than our differences,” Lonewolf said. “We are seeing so much division within our community and within our homes, but at the end of the day we all live on this beautiful place called mother earth together.”
Closing the event, Lonewolf played a video of her mother’s final words to friends and family. In the video, Wauneta Lone Wolf reminds viewers to make the most of the time they are given on this earth. After the video, Yonasda Lonewolf encouraged attendees to take advantage of the gift of the time they have and work to create a culture of respect and unity at UI.
For the last few minutes, Lonewolf led the room in a song called Hey Nicketi, where Lonewolf would sing a line while playing a drum and attendees stood and repeated the words back to her. It was a beautiful close to an inspirational night as the room was filled with the sound of everyone singing in unison, portraying the unity and allyship that Lonewolf wants to see practiced here at UI.
Grace Giger can be reached at [email protected]