The Whitworthian

Issue date: 11/20/07 Last Updated: 11/19/07

The Seeking Shalom Theme House was warm and filled with the smells of cooking food last Wednesday, Nov. 14. In the kitchen, junior Jenny Johnston was busy putting together the final touches of her authentic Native American meal.

The menu included baked acorn squash with cinnamon, mashed potatoes, wild rice and a beef dish used as the filling in the traditional dish "sugar pumpkins."

Johnston is part Native American and is a member of Four Directions Native Club here on campus.

Last Wednesday the club put on an event called "Up in Smoke," which taught those who attended about some of the misconceptions about traditional Native American tobacco use.

"There are a lot of misconceptions about tobacco. It's very sacred and not always smoked: sometimes it is sprinkled on the ground as an offering to Mother Earth, or it can be used as a gift to honor someone," Johnston said.

The event consisted of the traditional meal, the viewing of a film called "The Pipemakers," which was produced by a relative of Johnston, and a craft time for making and decorating peace pipes made out of wooden beads.

Senior Cam Tu Nguyen described the food as more natural than a lot of other kinds of foods with spices and sauces.

"It seemed very healthy and it brought me back to the natural taste of the ingredients," Nguyen said.

The film featured several different pipe makers from Pipestone, Minn., who shared about their generations-old craft that builds patience and perseverance.

It explained how tobacco smoke was believed to carry prayers to the Creator and how pipe making was a part of the culture of several different tribes across the United States.

Junior Jeremiah Sataraka said the event was a good introduction to the culture and the club.

Johnston said there will be similar events like this in the future.

"We're trying to do things like this every month. Last month we made dream catchers in Duvall. We might do Native American storytelling in the future," Johnston said.

Contact Katie Dolan at katie.dolan@whitworthian.com.

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