The annual awareness week and powwow allow the University's American Indian students to share their unique cultures with the rest of the campus and the St. Louis community.

All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.

The movie Powwow Highway will be featured from 6:30-8:30 p.m. April 3 in Goldfarb Hall, Room 359. The film follows two friends from a Cheyenne reservation as they take a road trip to bail a relative out of jail.

Rita Ledesma, Ph.D., associate professor of social work at California State University, Los Angeles, will present "Attachment and Culture: Challenges and Opportunities" from 12:30-2:30 p.m. April 4 in Brown Hall Lounge.

Ledesma has extensive direct practice and consultation experience working within the Latino and American Indian communities of Los Angeles and regularly provides training and consulting services to community-based organizations.

Students from the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work will present traditional stories representing various tribes at 3:30 p.m. April 4 at the University City Children's Center.

Michael Jacobs, winner in the 2003 Native American Music Awards' "best independent music" category, will present his blend of traditional and contemporary music from 7-9 p.m. April 4 in Lopata Courtyard. Jacobs' songs, filled with powerful imagery, tell stories of life, love, hope and heartache. Admission for this event is $3.

As part of the social work students' fund-raising efforts, a silent auction will take place during the concert. Various donated items, gift certificates and services will be on display for silent bidding. Winners will be announced after the concert.

On April 5, Buder Center students and staff will offer a sampling of American Indian/Alaskan Native foods from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. in the Goldfarb Hall Student Commons. Native arts and crafts will be on sale.

Duane Champagne, Ph.D., professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, will discuss "Community, Justice, Power and Indigenous States" at 4 p.m. April 6 in the Brown Hall Lounge. Champagne is a faculty advisory committee member for the Native Nations Law and Policy Center.

From 1-2:30 p.m. April 7, Arlene Stiffman, Ph.D., the Barbara A. Bailey Professor of Social Work, will discuss the American Indian Multi-sector Help Investigations (AIM-HI) program. AIM-HI will provide a comprehensive picture of American Indian youths' needs for help, their help-seeking pathways in multiple service sectors, and the consequences of help on their later development of drug and other mental-health problems.

Michael Yellowbird, Ph.D., citizen of the Sahnish and Hidatsa First Nations, will present "War Talk: Why Indigenous Peoples (American Indians) Should Not Support or Participate in the Iraqi War" at 2:30 p.m. April 7 in Brown Hall Lounge. Yellowbird is the director of the Center for Indigenous Nations Studies and associate professor of American studies at the University of Kansas.

American Indian Awareness Week will culminate April 8 with the 16th annual powwow, a festival of American Indian dancing, singing, drumming, arts, crafts and food.

"Powwows are a place where everybody brings something to the circle," said Cortney Yarholar, co-chair of the powwow committee and second-year social work student. "You bring your joy, your sadness, your dance and your song. Most importantly, you bring family and friends, celebrating life."

The powwow, from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. in the Athletic Complex, frequently attracts more than 1,500 people from 10 states.

The intertribal and contest dancing will begin at 1 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. Traditional arts and crafts booths will open at 10 a.m.

The American Indian Awareness Week and powwow are sponsored by the Buder Center, the American Indian Student Association, various University departments as well as businesses and organizations from the St. Louis area.

For more information, call the Buder Center at 935-4510 or go online to gwbweb.wustl.edu/buder.