NATIVE AMERICAN OPENING CEREMONY
NATIVE AMERICAN OPENING CEREMONY
WHEN? Tuesday, September 4
WHERE? Frank Hall/Sontag Greek Theatre, 7-9 p.m.
A sunset gathering of local Native tribes will mark the beginning of the College’s 125th Anniversary year, offering an opportunity to connect with individuals whose ancestors inhabited this site long before Pomona College was founded. Beginning with a procession from Frank Hall, the program will include drumming, singing, chanting, and ritual dances around a bonfire.
Participants include Jimmi Castillo, Pipe Keeper and Sun Dancer, and spiritual leader for the Tongva and Acjachemen People; Bill Neal, master flutist, storyteller, activist; White Rose Singers, the first all female hand drum club, Sherman Indian High School, directed by Josie Montes; The Humaya (Hummingbird) Singers and Dancers, a forty-person traditional group of the Ohlone tribe; Chief Tony Cerda, chairman of the Ohlone Costanoan Rumsen Carmel Tribe since 1992.
Today’s 125th Anniversary events are sponsored in part by the Mellon Foundation Elemental Arts Initiative. Special thanks to Professor Joyce Lu (Chart of Landing); Professor Betty Bernhard and Scott Scoggins (Native American Ceremony); and the participants and technical assistants who have made these special events possible.
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