The North American Indigenous Student Organization (NAISO) hosted their first annual Indige-Prom Saturday, April 20. While the event marks a new chapter for the organization, it builds on a similar type of event NAISO hosted decades before, according to current NAISO Historian Chair and fifth-year arts and humanities student, Andrew Bracken.

“We’ve actually been talking about doing an event like this for many years because we had heard that there used to be a similar event in NAISO a while ago,” Bracken says.

Bracken says the discussions to host such an event stretches back about three years. Fast forward to March 2024 and the group ultimately decided this was the time to turn their discussions into reality. Meant to celebrate Indigenous culture and the community’s accomplishments from the past year, NAISO worked hard to put it together in time. 

Attendees, which included members from other Council of Racial Ethnic Student (CORES) groups, enjoyed a Hollywood-themed event, red carpet and all. Music, a three-course meal and fun awards in the ballroom of the Marriott East Lansing at University Place helped visitors feel treated to the movie star-experience. 

“I feel like there are a lot of things and events that older NAISO members and alumni had that I would want to continue. It felt of importance to me to get this done this year,” says Bracken. 

In his final year at MSU, he wanted to ensure the event got off the ground and hopes it will continue, leaving a legacy for future Native/Indigenous students. By night’s end, Bracken was just happy it served as a space to celebrate the group and connect with others. 

“It’s a good space to dress up, have fun, be with community – especially toward the end of the year when things get hectic. Students are stressing about finals. It’s a good time to wind down and just be with community.”

Third-year comparative culture politics student, Amalia Suarez, attended Indige-Prom precisely because of that community. Suarez is the president for Timetzalimet, another indigenous student organization at MSU that focuses on creating space for the diversity of global Indigenous communities. Their membership, though not limited, shows special attention to indigenous roots in Latin America. Suarez says Timetzalimet and NAISO have met more this year to build that connection. Upon being invited to the event, Suarez and a few other e-board members wanted to support their NAISO counterparts. 

“I think events like this help students be around people that look like them. We go to a PWI [Predominantly White Institution], and many of us can feel invisible – as if they don’t belong here,” explains Suarez. “It’s also like that for me because I am Latina. But as someone with an Indigenous background, I often don’t feel included in the Latino community.” 

Indige-Prom helped Suarez and Timetzalimet not only connect with NAISO, but also feel included in the celebration of all Indigenous backgrounds. Suarez mentioned that she was attending with fellow board members who represented other native/indigenous groups. The fact they were all able to celebrate, united together in their experiences was not lost on her. It was special.

“Just to be around other Indigenous peoples is very empowering. It makes me feel visible. I think it’s really important, especially for people that come from native diasporas,” Suarez says.

Suarez was also excited to see the awards and recognitions, happy that the hard work of fellow students would be recognized. Being around other leaders with similar goals and celebrating their year was more than rewarding for her, and it’s that sentiment that Bracken says was one of the goals NAISO hoped for in producing the event. 

“I just wanted different people from different communities having a good time. We have a lot of different groups that showed up. It’s really awesome to see people mingling and building relationships.”