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OGDEN — Weber State University will host a performance featuring Native American singers and dancers, spurred in part by the college's "land acknowledgement" statement recognizing Native Americans' traditional stewardship role of the land.
Indigenous Soundscapes in Motion will be performed Friday at the Val A. Browning Center's Allred Theater on the university's Ogden campus. The event starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets cost $10 for adults.
Deborah Uman, dean of the Lindquist College of Arts and Humanities at Weber State, said the invitation to the performers stemmed in part from the university's "land acknowledgement" statement. Such statements are meant to recognize the historic role of Indigenous people in caring for the land and the "enduring relationship" between them and their traditional territories, according to Northwestern University's Native American inclusion initiative.
Uman also cited Udi Bar-David's ARTolerance initiative, meant to use art to "transcend communication boundaries" and bridge cultural divides. Bar-David, a cellist, will take part in Friday's show.
The performance "will weave together world-renowned musicians, dancers and poets," reads a Weber State press release. Among the performers will be Grammy-nominated Navajo singer Radmilla Cody, Shoshone-Navajo-Okanogan flutist Hovia Edwards and Wayne Silas Jr., a Menominee and Oneida singer. Also on hand will be powwow dancers from the Indigenous Enterprise dance company.
Ahead of Friday's show, some of the performers will hold a workshop on Thursday from 4-5 p.m. at the Allred Theater. "Workshop attendees will have the chance to ask performers questions, hear about their experiences and participate in group dancing," reads a press release from Weber State.
Uman noted the Native American student body at Weber State in the decision to host the Native American performers. "We have a very active student group of Native American students," she said, and the university wants to make sure "they are represented."
Weber State's "land acknowledgement" statement recognizes the roots in the area of the Fremont, Goshute, Paiute, Ute and Shoshone peoples. "Weber State University recognizes, validates, respects and honors these sovereign nations and their traditions, cultures and histories. In our work, we will continue to pay our respects to the elders who lived here before us, and to the generations to come," it reads, in part.
