The 16th Annual Consider the Century “Native American Perspectives on the Past 100 Years” was held in the Performing Arts Center on Oct.1.

Four Native Americans spoke at event at, which started at 9 a.m., for about fifty minutes per speaker.

One of the speakers was Tex Hall, the chairman of three affiliated tribes in Fort Berthold, North Dakota which include: Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. He was elected President of the National Congress of American Indians in 2001. He led the fight for the protection of tribal sovereignty and has been the most out spoken and active voice for tribal rights in Washington D.C., where he has testified a record of 60 times in front of Congress.

He addressed issues concerning the significant growth of Native Americans since the 1800s such as cultural contributions, military service, self- determination, tribal severity, and the Homeland security act, which does not include tribes during his speech.

“To think about your own self and where you are going. Always think about the next generation.” Hall told the audience.

When Hall was elected chairman of his tribe’s council, he immediately put to work the lessons of hard work and education he learned growing up.

He has delivered an economic turnaround for his tribe, cut the unemployment rate from 50 percent to just under 15 percent. He has also helped create more than 300 new jobs on the reservation.

In 1999, he chaired a historic meeting with former President Bill Clinton and the Great Plains Tribe at the White House. He has created a new head start initiative to increase positions at tribal schools.

The other speakers included Lenora Hudson from the Oglala Sioux Tribe. She is an instructor of American Indian Studies and an SDSU Rural Sociology Department doctoral candidate.

Kim TallBear is from the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate. She is a doctoral candidate from the University of California-Santa Cruz in the history of consciousness program.

David Larsen is from the Lower Sioux Mdewakanton, and is a historian and a Dakota educator.

The program sponsors for the event were the South Dakota Humanities Council, South Dakota State University, SDSU Native American Club, SDSU English Department, SDSU Journalism Department and the Brookings Area Reconciliation Council.

Doner Auditorium was filled with students Tuesday, Nov. 16, watching a play that dealt with how people judge one another based on appearances.

Off to the Races, a social comedy/drama sponsored by the Multicultural Affairs office and performed by 7 AM Productions, has been running since 1994 and has four actors.

Depending on the story that the actors are performing, the play has different actors that perform each part.

The performers were Valerie Reeves and Sonya McKray from Nebraska, and Aundre MinKins and Burny Durant from North Carolina.

MinKins, who wrote the play, bases the script on situations of discrimination in his life and the lives of others.

When 7 AM goes on tour, the actors adjust their script based on the area. The actors said the reason that they choose to go on tour is to open the eyes of people from all backgrounds, experiences and upbringing.

Rozyher Aware, who is in charge of the Multicultural Affairs office, was pleased with the turnout of the students.

“It was a diverse crowd, and Mr. MinKins is very easy to work with,” she said.

Lindsey Dumire a sophomore, communications and theater major from Lead/Deadwood said she didn’t think the play had a great effect.

“They were using the same stereotypes in the play, and throughout the play people were leaving,” she said.

Ryan Brunner started doing science experiments in first grade and he hasn’t stopped.

“It was something that he was always motivated to do,” said his mother Eileen Brunner. “He just enjoys doing them, he didn’t get extra credit in high school for doing them it was something that just interested him.”

Brunner’s dedication has paid off. Brunner, a junior computer science major, received awards for three directed laboratory science experiments in environmental science when he was a freshman, sophomore and junior in high school. He placed first each year at science fairs at state FFA conventions in Brookings. He went on to national conventions in Louisville, Ky., and placed second in his division each year.

His three experiments focused on how fertilizer moves through the soil; what fertilizer results in the best corn growth; and reversing the green house effect by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.

“I came up with my experiments just by using my knowledge from my previous experiments and building from them,” Brunner said.

As a high school senior he had two separate projects. He worked with three other classmates to put together a marketing plan for a milk vending machine. Through the course of their research they were offered a $20,000 grant from the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and purchased six machines, which were installed at the school.

Brunner is a Briggs Scholar and an honor society member; he was chosen to compete for the American Star award from a pool of about 2,800 American FFA Degree winners. To qualify, FFA members must have accumulated at least $9,000 in paid labor through their supervised agricultural experience.

Once a degree is earned, FFA achievers can apply for four different national star awards. For being a finalist, the National FFA Foundation awarded Brunner with $1,000. As part of the American Star award they made a video of him, which was sent out to every FFA chapter.

He has the opportunity to go to Costa Rica where for one week he would stay with a host family and the other half of the trip he would tour universities and examine the country’s crops like coffee and bananas.

“The timing didn’t work out last summer to go,” Brunner said. “I am still offered to go this summer if it works out.”

The 16th Annual Consider the Century, “Native American Perspectives on the Past 100 Years” was held in the Performing Arts Center on Friday.

Four Native American speakers addressed current topics for about an hour apiece.

One of the speakers was Tex Hall, the chairman of three affiliated tribes in Fort Berthold, North Dakota which include: Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. He was elected President of the National Congress of American Indians in 2001.

He led the fight for the protection of tribal sovereignty and has been the most out- spoken and active voice for tribal rights in Washington D.C., where he has testified before Congress a record 60 times.

He addressed issues concerning the significant growth of Native Americans since the 1800s such as cultural contributions, military service, self-determination, tribal sovereignty, and the Homeland Security Act, which does not include tribes, during his speech.

“To think about your own self and where you are going. Always think about the next generation,” Hall told the audience.

When Hall was elected chairman of his tribe’s council, he immediately put to work the lessons of hard work and education he learned while growing up.

He has delivered an economic turnaround for his tribe, and cut the unemployment rate from 50 percent to just under 15 percent. He has also helped create more than 300 new jobs on the reservation.

In 1999, he chaired a historic meeting with former President Bill Clinton and the Great Plains Tribe at the White House. He has created a new Head Start initiative to increase positions at tribal schools.

The other speakers included Lenora Hudson from the Oglala Sioux Tribe. She is an instructor of American Indian Studies and an SDSU Rural Sociology Department doctoral candidate.

Kim TallBear is from the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate. She is a doctoral candidate from the University of California-Santa Cruz in the history of consciousness program.

David Larsen is from the Lower Sioux Mdewakanton, and is a historian and a Dakota educator.

The program sponsors for the event were the South Dakota Humanities Council, SDSU Native American Club, SDSU English Department, the SDSU Journalism Department and the Brookings Area Reconciliation Council.