Audience members got up out of their seats Thursday to join with Native American performers in a tribal dance expressing friendship and unity at the Native American Indian Heritage Month luncheon. Others tried their hand at a game of stickball, a Muscogee Indian tradition originally used as training for war.
"It's going to be different," said Kenith Duncan, one of the Native American dancers, before the performance.
"We want to teach our culture to everyone else because we're proud of it," he said. "It's just going to be a little sneak peak of what the performance (usually) is - it can go a full 24 hours."
"I liked the audience participation," said Lt. Col. Marty Barr, deputy commander for the Ranger Training Brigade, one of the first to join the stomp dance. "It brought us into their culture, which gives you a better appreciation for what they've done and where they've come. I appreciate them sharing that with us."
Acee Buckner, guest speaker for the luncheon, stressed the theme of unity despite differences throughout the presentation, which included historical Native American anecdotes, songs and stomp dances.
"We want to be as one today," said Buckner, a Muscogee Native American who served in the 82nd Airborne Division. "With the military, it seems like we volunteered so much because we had the same values - a devotion to protect our families, to better protect our way of life and protect our own land. We volunteered in every war that the United States had ... when we weren't even citizens. The Indian feeling is, 'if I give my life for it, that is the best thing I can do.' But the honor was that we fought side by side as one country, as one person."
Barr said he enjoyed hearing about the history of the Muscogee Creek Nation and its parallels with the Army values.
"We're a diverse nation, a true melting pot, and because of that we have no one common heritage," he said. "We get a chance to celebrate everyone, and that's what makes us strong."
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