Two large speakers, a podium and seats spread out around the South Oval Unity Garden became the setting for a sequence of Native American hymns and prayers Wednesday morning.
Native American students and faculty hosted a Wednesday morning dedication of the newly named Five Moons Lounge, an area for Native American students in Copeland Hall.
The Five Moons moniker references five renowned Native American ballet dancers — Yvonne Chouteau, Rosella Hightower, Moscelyne Larkin, and sisters Maria and Marjorie Tallchief. Chouteau and her husband Miguel Terekhov taught at the OU School of Dance. According to a Tuesday press release from American Indian Programs and Services, “their performances brought indigenous expression to the forefront and honored their tribal peoples across the world through dance.”
Among the speakers was Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students David Surratt, who spoke about the importance of remembering the ballerinas.
“These women, known as The Five Moons, honor not only their art form, but they (also) honor us through their strength, their bravery of presenting the world their full selves and their generosity in sharing their wisdom with others,” Surratt said, “as all of them not only had successful careers as ballerinas, (but) they also went on to teach, direct or found their own dance companies. They were committed to something at the highest level that also brought them and others so much joy.”
Antonia Belindo, coordinator of American Indian Programs and Services, said the lounge was finished in August 2020. She said they surveyed Native American OU students for possible lounge names, and they decided on The Five Moons Lounge in February.
Belindo said the goal of having the lounge is to provide a safe space for Native American students.
“With around 2,400 students enrolled that affiliate with a tribe, it's important just because, one, (it serves to increase) retention rates for Indigenous students, and also to ensure that future Native scholars are supported in their academic journey, moving forward,” Belindo said. “One of the biggest investments in this is to bring a place for healing and orienting, especially at an institution where historically a lot of spaces were not exclusively given to them.”
Adarius Begay, a computer science senior who won Mr. Indian OU 2020-21, was among the six speakers Wednesday morning and gave tours of the lounge after the ceremony was over, where food and refreshments were given to all attendees.
“I believe it's very important just to have a space that we can feel like we're at home,” Begay said. “There's plenty of us who are either out of state, lived on reservations, but went to school with primarily Native American students being the dominant group there. Just coming into this lounge and being able to interact with other Native American students … (is) very important, I believe. (It’s) definitely helpful to get you through this and understand that there's a community out here for you, and we'll help you any way they can.”
