All are welcome to join us for a poetry reading as we celebrate Native American Heritage month!

On Thursday November 21 from 12pm-1pm in the Administration/Education Center room 018, we will be joined by Tonya Holy Elk as she reminds our campus community of the importance of preserving Native American culture and identity through oral history traditions.

Tonya Holy Elk grew up in southeastern North Carolina and is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Nation of Pine Ridge, South Dakota. She has family ties to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Tonya’s poetry is themed around land, kinship, and food while reminding listeners about the importance of preserving Native American culture and identity. 

She received her Master’s of Fine Art in Creative Writing from Oklahoma City University, and is an Adjunct Professor teaching Native American and Environmental Literature. Tonya travels and shares her work locally, regionally and nationally at conferences, universities, and public/private schools. Select literary presentations include Spearfish, South Dakota; Redlands, California; Los Angeles, California, and many other venues. Her creative work can be found in the NC Literary Review Magazine, NC poetry anthologies and the Indigenous journal, Yellow Medicine Review.