November 4, 2014

 

Contacts:

Reno Charette, American Indian Outreach, 657-2144
University Communications and Marketing, 657-2269

 

 

NOTE: Due to cold weather, the Veterans’ Medicine Wheel event will begin in Library 148 and move outside for the construction of the Medicine Wheel. The event will commence at Noon.

 

Free and open to the public, the Veterans’ Medicine Wheel gathering will take place Wednesday, Nov. 12, at Noon, on the lawn between the Liberal Arts Building and the College of Education

 

MSU BILLINGS NEWS SERVICES — Montana State University Billings students, faculty, staff and Billings community members are invited to gather for Veteran’s Day to help build a medicine wheel in honor of veterans and Native American college students.

 

medicine wheel on the MSUB university campus

The sixth annual Medicine Wheel gathering is set for Wednesday, Nov. 12, at Noon, on the lawn between the Liberal Arts Building and the College of Education. The event is free and open to the public.

 

“The ceremony is both patriotic and cultural,” said Reno Charette, the director of American Indian Outreach at MSU Billings. The MSU Billings Veterans Medicine Wheel ceremony is in its sixth year serving as a reminder to all the importance of service and sacrifice.

 

Representing both the honoring of American Indian students as well as Montana veterans, those who participate reflect on the sacrifices other make. Participants are asked to place a rock in the medicine wheel circle to signify someone they know who has served in the military or a student who made a sacrifice to attend college.

 

a volunteer gathers stones to make the medicine wheelSpecial guest Fred Charette, a Korean War veteran, will speak on Native American veterans this year.

 

Other guests include members of the American Legion Post 117, who will be there to honor Montana veterans.

 

“We hope all veterans and their family members to join us,” Charette said.

 

Charette says the wheel — which typically stays in place through December — is a symbol of the American Indian presence at the university while also providing an opportunity to recognize the cultural strength that supports the success of our students. 

 

For more information, contact Charette at 657-2144 or by email at rcharette@msubillings.edu.