“Native Voices” Exhibit Comes to NDSU Campus

"Native Voices" explores illnesses and cultural life for Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Alaska natives

FARGO, N.D. — A traveling art exhibit has made its way to NDSU’s campus.

It’s called “Native Voices” and explores illnesses and cultural life for Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Alaskan Natives.

Oral storytelling was one of the most prominent ways these Indigenous Americans preserved and continued their history.

What better way to further that tradition than through an exhibit that allows viewers to hear those stories being told?

“The exhibit is broken down into kind of the main themes from a lot of the stories they collected regarding Native American healing traditions, like the importance of nature, of community, of spirituality that sort of thing,” said Merete Christianson, the Health Sciences Librarian at NDSU. “There’s a panel for each of those and they all come with iPads as well to hear the actual stories from Native American healers, some students, some doctors.”

Those working closely with the exhibit say it’s an honor having “Native Voices” on campus, especially given the state’s ties to Native American tribes.

“We have four reservations in the state of North Dakota and we bring a lot of diversity to the state and to a lot of research and the workforce,” said Pearl Walker, the Project Manager. “There are a lot of contributions that our people have. It’s really significant that this is a part of the university.”

Those checking out the exhibit say no matter what your passions or interests are, “Native Voices” has something everyone can enjoy.

“There’s a lot of stuff I think that anybody would be interested in,” said Shane Thielges, one of the exhibit attendees. “There’s the medical aspect, there is a lot about health care and services like that. They’ve got spirituality if that’s something you’re into or curious about. They’re talking a lot about sports and how that fits in. There’s some information about surfing in Native Hawaiian cultures, so no matter what there’s probably something that you’ll be interested in.”

This exhibit will be available for viewing at NDSU through November 21st.