The argument has been made that this is a matter of free speech or free press, that the article represents Noah's opinions only and I take issue with that. Had Noah published this article on his own personal website or an independent paper that was not affiliated with the college there would be some controversy but it would not be to this magnitude. There are several things to take into account when reviewing this "article".
First, it is presented as a serious piece of journalism, which requires responsibility on the part of the reporter. I am an English major at CSULB and have dabbled in journalism. When reporting a journalist is supposed to provide a fair, balanced, accurate and responsible product, this article was not fair, balanced, responsible or even appropriately researched.
Second, the facts of the article are either subjective or incorrect. The only objective fact in the article is inaccurate, Noah states the Powwow is an all day event, the CSULB Powwow is a two day event, and generally has fallen on the second weekend of March for at least the past 20 years, if not since its inception I will not claim to know if all 41 years have been the second weekend of March. I have only been on this planet for 27 years and really cognoscente of Powwow in any intelligent way since I was seven, although I have been to Powwow virtually every year of my life, my first experience in my mother’s womb.
Third, the placement of the article, had this been published under the opinion section or even in the Grunion the controversy would be lessened because it is not purported to be a piece of news.
Fourth, the last line of the article immediately preceding also written by Noah, "Words can be powerful, and the more open and upfront we can be with each other without judgment and bias, the closer we can get to not participating in unacceptable behavior". It is obvious that Noah is capable of writing a thoughtful article on a sensitive subject, that the same care or consideration is not extended to racially charged material is disconcerting, although reducing rape and sexual assault to "unacceptable behavior" seems to diminish the power of those acts and is a little off the mark as well.
Fifth, the dietary issue, if Noah wrote an equally scathing article about the donuts sold on campus or french fries or burgers and the promotion of unhealthy dietary choices by allowing fast food chains on campus then perhaps there would be more substance to his complaint about frybread, to be fair he may have written a piece like this in the past that I am unaware of, but as this is my first semester at CSULB I have not seen any such article written by him. Additionally, I would like to know what video he watched about frybread, because I am sure they would have discussed that frybread is res. food, the result of government rations sent to reservations, and when all you have is flour, sugar and oil to feed your children the result is some kind of fried dough. Also, the naming of Indian tacos/hamburgers/dogs, is for ease of clarification that it comes on a piece of frybread. Most of these meals were the result of need not want, most traditional native food is very healthy consisting of wild rice, berries and local game, the so called “unhealthy native diet” is a constraint of the US government forcing native people onto reservations, I personally believe that this government sanctioned diet has a direct correlation to the rise in type two diabetes in the Native community.
Sixth, the blanket dance analogy. The dance in which people were throwing money on the ground without a context is inflammatory enough but becomes appalling when taken into context. I have always called it a blanket dance, or an offering dance other people may have other names for his type of dance but generally the dance is to benefit a member of the community who is going through a hardship or has had a tragedy befall them. According to my mother who is on the Powwow committee there were two blanket dances, one of which was for a man whose two sons were murdered. It is Noah's duty as a reporter to get all of his facts straight before reporting rather than passing judgment. Additionally, the ground was blessed on Saturday morning, so in addition to CSULB being built on Puvugna the ground was rededicated as sacred land. There is nothing "crass or borderline obscene" about giving an offering on sacred land to a fellow member of your community who lost his sons.
Responsibility in reporting should be a primary focus of any paper, particularly a university publication because this is where the journalists of tomorrow are being reared. The irresponsible actions of the Union require proportionate consequences, and I hope the university, AIS and President Alexander take that into consideration when next year’s budgetary negotiations arrive.
