by Crystal Florez, Senior American Indian Studies Major
A little bit about me: My name is Crystal Florez and I am a proud enrolled member of the White Earth Minnesota Ojibwe tribe.聽 I am majoring in American Indian Studies and will be graduating in the Spring of 2012.聽 When I originally heard of the Ghana trip I immediately fell in love.聽 The exploration seminar focuses around the Ghanaian symbol, Sankofa.聽 The term Sankofa literally means 鈥渢o go back and get it鈥�.聽 The key concept of this movement emphasizes the irreplaceable wisdom bestowed upon the future generation.聽 Ghanaian鈥檚 belief that the past illuminates the present and that knowledge is a life-long, continual process echoes the sentiments of a well known proverb, 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 know where you are going, unless you know where you come from.鈥�
A continual fascination with cultural identity and all of the various facets attached to the concept have led me to studying in Ghana this summer. I remember being so excited to read about a program examining the revitalization of tradition efforts within an indigenous community, aside from my own or the various efforts being headed by many Native tribes within the US and Canada. I feel that my study abroad experience in Ghana will prepare me for future graduate research I intend to pursue, allowing me to beneficially address the needs of Native peoples and more importantly, the needs of all cultures and societies within a global context.