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\r\n<\/p>\r\nLINCOLN, Nebraska \u2013 As the sun slowly burned away the night sky Monday morning, a group of Native people and others burned sage, sang songs and shared their stories outside an indigenous culture center here.\r\n
<\/p>\r\nThe sunrise ceremony featured songs by Salvador Hernandez, a Mexica singer and dancer, songs from a Native singer and drummer and speeches by the more than dozen people who took part in the event, which was held on Nebraska\u2019s first statewide Indigenous People\u2019s Day.\r\n
<\/p>\r\nHernandez described the ritual he was about to perform, saying he would play his drum while facing each of the four directions and blowing a conch in between directional turns.\r\n
<\/p>\r\n\u201cWhen I use the shell, I\u2019m calling the ancestors to be with us \u2026 so it can be a good day,\u201d he said.\r\n
<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nFollowing his song, he joined an Omaha singer for a prayer song on a Native drum.\r\n <\/p>\r\nRenee Sans Souci, an Omaha poet and activist who organized the ceremony, then passed around a red handkerchief and invited everyone to speak.\r\n <\/p>\r\nJared Norwood, a Native Hawaiian, thanked Sans Souci for inviting him to the event.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cI believe that all Native people are still fighting, and unfortunately we\u2019ll be fighting for a long time for our rights, for our freedoms, for our sovereignty,\u201d he said. \u201cI know that the Hawaiian people are still fighting alongside our brothers and sisters here for the same things.\u201d\r\n <\/p>\r\nMitchell Harry, an Omaha singer, talked about attending a sunrise ceremony on Alcatraz Island that made him realize that such events were important. Before that, he always thought events celebrating Indigenous People\u2019s Day were a distraction from social justice efforts that seemed to have a greater impact.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cThis is really important I think that we do get together like this and we come together and we share our stories of who we are,\u201d he said. \u201cWe pray together and we stand together because to us living these traditional ways it\u2019s Indigenous People\u2019s Day every day.\u201d\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nFelecia Welke, a Ponca woman, talked about having been adopted at a young age and not learning about her Native ancestry until her mid-20s.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cI really dived into my culture once I knew who I was,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m just so grateful to be in this circle this morning.\u201d\r\n <\/p>\r\nJeff Mohr, a social work professor from Nebraska Wesleyan University, talked about the importance of celebrating indigenous history and culture instead of Christopher Columbus.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cColumbus was many things but mainly he was lost,\u201d he said.\r\n <\/p>![\"salvadorhernandez\"](\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/salvadorhernandez-scaled.jpg\")
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