Native American Alumni Join in Celebration of 100 Years of Native Americans at Yale
by Alisa Masterson
On November 5th and 6th, Yale hosted a series of events to celebrate 100 years
of the Native American presence at Yale and the legacy of Henry Roe Cloud,
the first Native American graduate of Yale College. As the Association of Yale
Alumni expands the scope of its work with Shared Interest Groups, AYA staff
worked with the Native American Cultural Center Board to reach out to Native
alumni and invite them back to campus to participate in this milestone event.
Twenty-five alumni joined Native American students, faculty, staff, and community members,
as well as descendents of Henry Roe Cloud, to pay tribute to Cloud and his
legacy at Yale and beyond.
The events commemorating Henry Roe Cloud’s
enrollment at the University in 1906 and Yale’s growing relationship
with Native America included a behind-the-scenes tour of the Native American
Collection at Yale’s
Peabody Museum, a presentation by archivist Judith Schiff on the Henry Roe
Cloud Papers in Sterling Memorial Library, and a special performance of Native
American drumming with the Mystic River Singers on Yale’s central campus.
Also featured on Saturday afternoon was an open forum on the theme of Native Americans and higher education. This subject was integral to the life and interests of Henry Roe Cloud, who was the director of Haskell University (now Haskell Indian Nations University) in Lawrence, Kansas, and a tireless promoter of higher education as the key to advancement for his fellow Natives.
At the gala dinner on Saturday night, over 100 guests came together to celebrate Henry Roe Cloud and two new awards created to honor him. The first Henry Roe Cloud Medal, the Native Alumni Achievement Award for a Native alumnus or alumna of Yale who has achieved professional distinction and made outstanding contributions to the community, state or nation, was presented to Sam Deloria ’64. Deloria, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, has an impressive record as a champion of human rights for Native Americans. Among other distinctions, he is director of the American Indian Law Center, Inc., and the founder of the Commission on State-Tribal Relations. He is the first Secretary General of the World Council of Indigenous People at the United Nations.
A second Henry Roe Cloud Medal, awarded to a community member who has significantly improved or enriched the lives of Native American students at Yale, was given to Howard Lamar ’51 PhD As Sterling Professor of History Emeritus and former President of Yale University, Lamar has promoted understanding and appreciation of Native American culture and history generally, and he has been particularly welcoming and attentive to Native Americans students at Yale. One of the most respected scholars of the American West, Lamar is a strong advocate for the field of Native American studies.
The weekend celebration concluded on Sunday with a brunch and open house with Native students at Yale at the Native American Cultural Center.
“This is a celebration of 100 Years of Yale and Native America. With this landmark event, we hope to highlight and honor the University’s support of this increasingly visible group within the Yale family. We also hope to enhance the profile of the University throughout Native America. In short, we are taking this occasion to mark the permanency of this relationship,” commented Jay Gitlin ’71, ’74 MusM, ’02 PhD, Associate Director of the Howard R. Lamar Center for the Study of Frontiers & Borders, which also helped to host the Henry Roe Cloud celebration.
Program for "A Celebration of Henry Roe Cloud and Yale's Native American Community"