The Cultural Diversity Taskforce, one of six that make up The Associated Students of Rio Hondo College (ASRHC), spearheaded and hosted a Native American Heritage Celebration on the Mid-Quad on Nov. 25, to not only honor Native American Heritage Month, but to also shed light on Native American culture through informational means.

The taskforce had three tables set up for all of Rio Hondo to see. One table had Native American wristbands and artifacts for students and faculty to take home (only after filling out a Student Learning Outcome Survey), another table had Native American inspired food for survey takers as well, and a third table was sprinkled with informational pamphlets and handouts regarding Native American culture.

Marilyn Fregoso, the chair of the Cultural Diversity Taskforce, said the event’s intention was to be more inclusive of everyone on campus. She said the main theme of this year’s celebration was cultural appropriation.

We wanted to focus on cultural appropriation, which we have handouts on at one of our tables. For example, we use Pharrell wearing a headdress and how it was pretty offensive. Was he just trying to just make a fashion statement? Or was he really trying to bring attention to that culture? That’s the point we kind of make in our handouts to talk about.

The Cultural Diversity Taskforce holds the event every year during November, also providing a Native American dancer for everyone to watch and enjoy. This year, the dancer was a Native American hoop dancer/story teller from the Yakama, Tulalip, and Lumbee tribes.

The dancer, a 22 year old student from Brigham Young University in Utah, passionately told stories through hoop dance, captivating the whole crowd with his graceful moves and intriguing stories. The dancer was following in his father’s footsteps, who performed at Rio Hondo for the Native American Heritage Celebration last year.

The dancer started hoop dancing at a mere age of 10, and has been blossoming into a better and better dancer ever since. He’s traveled both in and out of the country to perform hoop dances, and just recently got hired by Cirque du Soleil to be a part of their “Totem” show.