To celebrate Native American Heritage month, Native American Higher Education Resources hosted a three-day event on campus from Nov. 5-7 to honor California tribal cultures, traditions and language revitalization.

The celebration taught Cosumnes River College students and staff about California’s Native American background. On Nov. 5 and 6, guest speakers taught different lessons and brought artifacts related to the Native community.

“It’s really a celebration of Native peoples, Native culture and it’s on that, like, larger scale,” said Shaina Philpot, director of the Native American Student Support and Success Center. “So, for me, Native Heritage day is everyday. Getting to live as a Native person, but it’s on that larger scale, so folks are aware that we are still here.”

Al Striplen, a Native American counselor and spiritual guide, presented a Native American medicine wheel in Winn-150, which included four different categories: physical, mental, spirit and source/creator. He went on to explain how there is an invisible veil between the physical and mental categories on one side, with the spirit and source/creator categories on the other side.

“There’s a separation, but it’s just a conscious thing, not a brick wall, so when I teach meditation, I teach that we are going across the veil,” Striplen said.

Jennifer King was a featured presenter and artist from the Montreal Lake Cree Nation in Canada, showcasing her exhibit in CRC’s Art Gallery titled, “Home on Native Land.” King creates pieces focusing on her First Nations heritage and the exhibition closes on Thursday.

King’s exhibit tells the story of loss and restoration, unbounded sorrow and defiant hope, according to the CRC Art Gallery’s website. After the presentation they walked over to the art gallery to view some of her pieces that were on display.

There was a resource fair on Nov. 7 with dancers and vendors in the quad at CRC.

The next Native American Heritage Month event on campus will be a panel discussion about intersectionality of the arts and mentoring on Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Winn-150, according to the CRC website. The event requires online registration with links available on the website.

“I felt like it was very touching,” said 19-year-old psychology major Anaiah Rodriguez. “I’m definitely going to share this with my family and go to the museum he was talking about because I think it can apply to so many different cultures and it is very powerful.”