Olivia Fendrich / The Mossy Log
On Monday, Oct. 14, the Lewis & Clark Native Student Union (NSU), Native Alumni Association, Inclusion & Multicultural Engagement and the Office of Equity & Inclusion (OEI) hosted a panel discussion and dinner to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day.
The event began with a brief introduction by Dean of Equity and Inclusion Danielle Torres.
“Much of this history is often untold and unrecognized due to colonization and other factors, which makes it critical to intentionally learn from our past and to do better for our collective future. Thus, it is important for us to all take moments of reflection, dedicate time to learn and to be in community with each other,” she said.
Torres then recited LC’s official land acknowledgment.
“We call attention to the importance of recognizing and reflecting on the relationship we have with the land on which we learn, work and live, by acknowledging the original caretakers who have stewarded it for generations,” she said. “In that spirit, I recognize that our campus occupies the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Tumwater and Watalala bands of the Chinook; the Tualatin Kalapuya; and many other Indigenous nations of the Columbia River. We honor these communities and their legacy, their lives and their descendants.”
Torres then introduced the NSU Co-Presidents Isa Simon ’26 and Deenie Bulyalert ’27.
The co-presidents introduced each of the panelists, beginning with Terry Supahan ’81. Supahan graduated from LC with a degree in American Studies, a major he designed. He is the executive director of True North Organizing network, which supports people from a variety of religious, ethnic, cultural and economic backgrounds to challenge injustice in the North Coast region.
Then, the NSU leaders introduced Jaime Cale, an Ojibwe and Cree program manager for the OEI. Cale also spoke at the Indigenous Peoples’ Day panel hosted by the NSU last year.
The final panelist was Azucena Morales Santos ’24. Morales Santos is the daughter of Indigenous Oaxaceños and currently works for Familias en Acción, a nonprofit organization focused on supporting health equity for Latino families in Oregon.
The panel specifically focused on the panelists’ experiences with activism in their communities. The panelists’ responses drew from both their personal and professional lives, discussing the various roles and ramifications of engaging with social justice.
Morales Santos touched on her experience growing up in Oregon as someone whose parents immigrated from southern Mexico. Though she grew up speaking Mixteco, she was pushed to learn English in school.
Mixteco is the language spoken by the Mixtecs, an Indigenous group from the region of La Mixteca, located in the modern states of Oaxaca, Puebla and Guerrero in Mexico.
“I kind of grew up with this notion that having indigenous heritage or just being Mexican was something inferior, not something to be proud of,” she said. “I used to call myself Susie instead of calling myself Azucena, because I felt like a lot of my teachers, a lot of my peers, would mispronounce my name and I just didn’t want to have them struggle, so I would assimilate.”
Morales Santos noted that in college, she grew a greater appreciation for her Indigenous heritage and began to engage in activism by telling her story and showing others one way Indigeneity can be expressed.
Cale recounted a story from her youth where she petitioned her elementary school to not distinguish between students who received free lunch and students who did not. Her appeals were successful and she was able to achieve that change — even though she was only in second grade.
Supahan said that he views much of social activism as rooted in relationships with other people and entities.
“Activism, and the work that I do, is part of relationship-based organizing. When you’re in a relationship with someone, even if they don’t look like you, think like you, (or) vote like you, you can push them in ways that you can’t when you’re not in a relationship,” he said.
Supahan shared his involvement in an effort to allow an annual village dance ceremony to occur on U.S. Forest Service land. He was successful, which he attributed to how his team worked to establish a personal relationship with the Forest Service.
Morales Santos said that she also draws from her personal life in her work with Familias en Acción to account for equitable practices that embrace cultural traditions and support individuals from diverse backgrounds. She said she has used her Indigenous identity to ensure that her organization’s work addresses the needs of Latino families with Indigenous heritage. She discussed some of the questions she wanted addressed within the conversation around Latino equity.
“Yes, our our community that we’re looking at are Latinas or Latinos, but are we focusing on the Latinos or Latinas who have Indigenous heritage, who have Spanish as their second language? How can we engage with community members who don’t necessarily know how to use Zoom or know how to read or write, because growing up, they lived in a village where that wasn’t really an option?” Morales Santos said.
Cale emphasized the importance of taking care of oneself before and while getting involved in activism.
“Make sure your oxygen is on before you put it on somebody else. And then once you’re active, actively out in the world, doing that hard work, just remember self-care is just as important as the hard work you’re doing,” she said.
Supahan agreed with Cale’s sentiment of self-care.
“It’s a long life. Lead it, but take care of yourself. Get involved when you can, but you have to maintain your mental health because it’s a long fight,” Supahan said.
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