ISU students celebrated Kwanzaa on Saturday, a celebration of black culture and society, although the holiday is not typically observed until later in the month.

“[Kwanzaa] is a cultural celebration, not a religious one. It is generally held from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, but since students are going to be away, they wanted a ceremony with each other before,” said Carlie Tartakov, assistant professor emerita and guest lecturer in curriculum and instruction. “It’s usually done within a family atmosphere, with seven days of lighting candles, each day representing a different principle of Kwanzaa. It usually ends in a feast and the giving of homemade gifts.”

The event, sponsored by the Black Student Alliance, took place at 2 p.m. Saturday in Howe Hall.

Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Maulana Karanga to celebrate the achievements of blacks, both in the past and the present.

The event was marked by the recognition of the seven distinct principles of Kwanzaa: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

A section of the celebration was dedicated to each of these principles, with poems, songs and proverbs highlighting each.

The event began with the singing of the Black National Anthem and was followed by paying respects to black leaders from the past with the ceremonial “pouring of libations,” an African tradition to remind people of their ancestors as well as their responsibility to the community at large.

With every libation poured, people such as Thurgood Marshall, Sojourner Truth, Marcus Garvey and Martin Luther King Jr., all important black leaders from the past, were remembered with shouts of “ashe,” a Swahili word meaning, “so be it.”

When each of the seven principles of Kwanzaa was touched upon, a candle was lit to begin the section of the celebration.

Quotations from Maya Angelou and Nelson Mandela were read to celebrate the principle of self-determination. Leonard Perry, an associate dean of students and director of Minority Student Affairs, spoke about the importance of the same principle.

“Self-determination is so important in the African-American community, because we need to fix the pain our people have felt from slavery,” Perry said. “The intent of Kwanzaa was created not just as a celebration, but to reach back into our African past and bring it forward, to remind ourselves that we are the descendants of kings.”

Purpose was touched upon when it was announced that on Friday night, a ceremony for black college graduates took place.

The audience was told purpose is the essence of life in which each person fulfills a role.

Another student read an original poem of her own to fittingly highlight creativity, saying creativity is the soul of the mind and is the spiritual manifestation of the people.

To highlight faith, 13 volunteers from the audience formed a “circle of faith,” with each member of the circle reciting a portion of a poem in order to emphasize the importance of Kwanzaa.

To end the event, a feast was held. In addition to food being served, music was played and the people in attendance mingled, mirroring the importance of community emphasized by Kwanzaa.

Sarai Arnold, president of the Black Student Alliance, played a large role in the organization of the celebration. This year was the first the event was run by the Black Student Alliance.