Rose Alloway is a member of the Oneida tribe and a student at MATC. She is also a member of NASM (Native American Student Movement) at the Downtown campus.  Recently, Alloway and her daughter helped at a special planting season ceremony at the Tippecanoe Community Gardens 121 W. Saveland Street in Milwaukee. The gardens are part of the Tippecanoe Presbyterian Church. 

The event featured planting, songs by three women elders belonging to the Onieda tribe and a smudging ceremony that cleanses the mind and body. Many of the participants commented on the special feeling of how they can relate to nature and ‘mother earth,’ through planting and smudging. Some smudging participants were moved to tears afterwards. 

Alloway said she is proud of her Onieda heritage and wants to pass on her cultural values to her daughter Carmelita. The planting ceremony was organized by the Gerald Ignace Indian Health Center, 1711 S. 11th St., which serves about a third of the area’s 12,000 Native American residents, according to Jennifer Casey, who runs its diabetes program. Casey who spoke at the event was recently at the Downtown campus with a display table on Native gardens and planting information. MATC also offers courses in Native American literature and history.