With the University in the midst of commemorating Native American Heritage Month (NAHM), the new director of the office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs (MESA) says the November remembrance offers an opportunity to learn about the contribution of Native Americans past and present.

“Native people are a vital part of our reality, both historically and presently, here at the University of Michigan,” says Nelson Acosta, who came to U-M in August from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. “The events comprising Heritage Month are powerful tools that people can use to sweep away shadows of ignorance and raise their awareness of Native issues and struggles.”

Upcoming NAHM events include a Nov. 15 screening of the film “Edge of the World” and a Nov. 17 Palmer Commons performance by local singer Joe Riley. The month concludes with a Nov. 29 Ojibwe language group meeting, followed by a screening of the U-M visit by noted Native poet, musician and activist John Trudell, who presented the closing lecture for the 2004 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Symposium.

Events began this month with a traditional fall feast at the Trotter Multicultural Center and continued with an address by Robert Miller of Lewis & Clark Law School and chief justice of the Court of Appeals for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in Oregon. Native American high school students visited campus Nov. 10-11 for a precollege fair.

NAHM is sponsored this year by the Native American Student Association, MESA, the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, the Trotter Center, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, the Native American Law Student Association and the Native American Public Health Association.

For more information contact the Native American Student Association e-board at nasa.exec@umich.edu.