For the past three years, the Women*s Center and Native American Programs have held the Honoring Indigenous Womxn event as a way to celebrate native women and focus on indigenous voices. This year, they are doing the same by collecting creative submissions and making an online anthology.

The event started as a way to honor the challenges Indigenous womxn have faced and highlight the intersectionality between sexism and racism. Native American Retention Specialist Joelle Berg said each year they try to incorporate a different theme, and this year they wanted to focus on art and the ongoing activism efforts from Indigenous people and allies.

“WSU is a land-grant university … it is on lands that belong to the Nez Perce tribe and we wanted to go beyond that,” said Acacia Patterson, Women*s Center community, equity and social justice student coordinator. “To say that we have these cultures that are still thriving … highlight what they do … and to just really stress that these people, their values, their cultures are still relevant.”

The event is accepting submissions in any form, from written works to art and music, and even less popular forms of art like beadworking.

“There are so many different forms of art out there that folks could be working on,” Berg said. “I want them to feel open enough to share it.”

Submissions need to be accompanied with a short message explaining what their work is, why they chose this format and why it’s important to them, along with a visual representation of their submission like a photo, video or recording.

Along with the submissions, the Women*s Center and Native American Programs are planning a film discussion. Participants will independently watch the documentary Mankiller, which is available on Kanopy. It is about Wilma Mankiller, the first female chief of Cherokee Nation, and the racism and sexism she faced while holding that position.

On Oct. 13, the day after Indigenous People’s Day, there will be a virtual discussion held where participants can talk about their thoughts on the film, what they related to and its relevance to the modern day.

Berg said Indigenous peoples and issues are often forgotten about or misrepresented in the media, and rarely get chances for their own voices to be heard. Events like Honoring Indigenous Womxn provide a chance for Natives to be the focus every year, and for Native voices to speak out about their own experiences.

“It’s important that we don’t pass this over, and we highlight what’s happening because oftentimes they’re not highlighted,” Berg said. “This is one opportunity we can focus on that in a creative way and still do that in an online format.” 

Submissions are open until Oct. 5 and can be emailed to [email protected]. Further questions can be directed to the same email.