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For most students, Syracuse University’s annual fall break marks a time of relaxation amid the midterm season.

But for SU senior Nia Destiny Nephew, the break — which includes Indigenous Peoples’ Day — exemplifies the historic erasure of Indigenous traditions.

Nephew, president of Indigenous Students at Syracuse, said she and other members feel the timing of fall break overshadows the holiday and takes away the opportunity to share their cultural celebrations with other students. ISAS members have created a petition requesting that future fall breaks avoid Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and plan to write a letter to SU administration attached to the petition, Nephew said.

“Normally holidays are fun and celebratory, and we want to keep it that way. But our holiday is different than Christmas or the Fourth of July,” she said. “Our holiday is where we get the chance (to) be ourselves in the real world and share our culture, our traditions with everyone, including the SU community.”

Chancellor Kent Syverud announced fall break in 2022 after SU’s Student Association called on the university to add additional wellness days to the academic calendar. SU’s first fall break was Oct. 9 to 10, 2023. That year, Indigenous Peoples’ Day fell on Oct. 9. This year, fall break is Oct. 14 to 15, with Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Oct. 14.

Nearby colleges, including Le Moyne College and SUNY Oswego, also have their respective fall breaks on the same days.

SU’s initial announcement said the break could occur any time between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. Nephew and other ISAS members said they initially thought the break dates would rotate each year but, in its first two years, the breaks have encompassed Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

“There’s so many opportunities on campus for all these (cultural) groups to get recognized for everything they do, everything they’ve been through,” ISAS sophomore Ryan Bouchey said. “I feel like Indigenous Peoples’ Day is our day where we could really show that and it’s just hard when it’s blocked by a break.”

A university spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Daily Orange that SU scheduled the break to fall between the first day of classes and Thanksgiving Break. According to the statement, a “vast majority” of SU students also choose to remain on-campus due to the break’s two-day duration.

“It was also determined that this timing would provide students, faculty and staff the opportunity to freely participate in special programming around Indigenous Peoples’ Day and health and wellness since they would not have classroom instruction to compete with,” the SU spokesperson wrote.

Nephew said while the university is aware of the celebratory Indigenous events that take place on the holiday, SU never reached out to notify ISAS of the fall break dates. In the past, she said typical plans for the day would entail events to highlight Indigenous culture.

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When it was first announced, administrators said fall break could occur any time between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. It has landed on the same weekend as Indigenous Peoples’ Day in its first two years on the academic calendar.

In previous years, SU and the Onondaga Nation held Celebration on the Quad on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which included singing, dancing and speakers. With many students leaving campus for the break, ISAS has now scaled down its plans for the holiday, Nephew said.

“SU is a big university with people from all over the country and, especially across the world, the concept of Indigenous Peoples’ Day may not have made it to a lot of the states, and to them, this could still be Columbus Day,” Andre Clause, a sophomore ISAS member, said. “If they were on campus, they may have had the opportunity to see (our celebrations).”

Indigenous Peoples’ Day has long been celebrated across the United States but is not a federal holiday. Held on the second Monday of October, it’s officially celebrated in place of Columbus Day in several states, including Vermont and Maine. New York does not recognize the holiday. The day celebrates the resilience of Indigenous people instead of Columbus Day to correct a “whitewashed” version of American history, NPR reported.

Clause said the university is doing the “bare minimum” to support its Indigenous students and celebrate their culture. SU is on the ancestral land of the Onondaga Nation and recites a land acknowledgment at major university events. Clause said the statement could go into greater detail about the nation and what it means to reside on its land.

ISAS members tabled in Schine Tuesday afternoon with a spin-the-wheel game to educate participants on the day’s history. Members also asked students to sign their petition asking that the break dates be moved.

On Friday, ISAS will host a Strawberry Juice-making event at the Native Student Program house at 113 Euclid Ave., inviting all students to come and share a piece of Indigenous culture, ISAS Vice President Michael “Wishe” Benedict said. Strawberry juice is a traditional drink for ceremonies and day-to-day life.

“It’s just something that’s always been a part of our culture, and it’s something that we encourage other people to also learn about,” Benedict said. “It just shows you how beautiful our culture is and how there’s much more to us than just what we read about in a textbook.”

Benedict said ISAS considered hosting virtual events this year but decided not to because of anticipated low attendance. He said the celebrations they had hoped to run require face-to-face connections and engaging directly with conversations about Indigenous culture.

ISAS does not have any events scheduled for this year’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Oct. 14. The Onondaga Nation is hosting an Indigenous Peoples’ Day Festival with speakers, singers and dancers on Oct. 13.

Nephew said ISAS does not want the university to eliminate fall break altogether; it simply wants to adjust the dates to allow more students to engage with Indigenous celebrations and showcase the strength of SU’s Indigenous communities, Benedict said.

“What Indigenous Peoples’ Day allows us to do is to show that we’re still here as people, and our culture is still beautiful after so many years of genocide that was happening to us … we’re not just some people in (history) books,” Benedict said. “Everything about us isn’t just a depressing history, but it’s something beautiful that needs to be shared to everybody.”

Published on October 10, 2024 at 12:56 am

Contact Delia: dsrangel@syr.edu