By Saki Kambe
“My goal is to support them (student club officers) in all they want to bring to the college to help them find the funding for the events,” said Dr. Helen Lovejoy. Lovejoy, along with Dr. Kate Reavey are the advisors of the club although they both are not from any of the tribes.
The club was revived when Jaylin Jimmicun-Garcia, a member of the Makah Tribe and now First Nations Club President, reached out to Lovejoy and asked to be the adviser for the club. “Jaylin and other student club officers have such cool ideas for the club, so I’m excited as an adviser to help them get those ideas out there,” Lovejoy said.
The purpose of the club is both external and internal. The club functions internally as to create a sense of community, belonging, and strength among Native American student and also as a place for them to have a voice and share concerns. In opposition, it works externally as to educate people in the community and on campus the history and culture of the Native Peoples on the Olympic Peninsula.
Lovejoy says, “Anyone is welcome to come and join the club and learn about the native peoples here and to get experiences,.” Lovejoy hopes that the club will also help to develop some indigenous programs in here so that the college can host more speakers, and have more classes that have a focus on the indigenous curriculum or indigenous ways of learning.
As for the future events, it is a point worthy of note that the college has Yolanda Machado as a new Longhouse Director. The club seeks to work with her to have more exciting programs for everyone at the campus.
Because the last meeting where the club served the fried bread had a great turnout, they are trying to host more events like that so that people will be more aware of the club, come to the meetings, and participate in events.
While they plan for more future events that engage the campus and the community, the club is also looking for extended communities.
The First Nations Club will be attending the 4th Annual Native Student Success Summit held at Highline College on May 2. The club will also be speaking at Compassion Town Hall in the Pirate Union Building on May 4. during the morning session, which starts at 10 a.m.