In an effort to expose ISU students to a rich culture, the 29th annual Symposium on the American Indian will be held on campus Wednesday through Saturday.

Irma Wilson-White, program assistant for Minority Student Affairs and symposium co-chair, said the theme for this year’s event is “Dynamic, Electric Conversions and Transformations into ‘Indianness.'”

“Historically, natives have always been taking introduced things and making it their own,” Wilson-White said.

Wilson-White offered beads as an example of one such transformation.

“We turned that very European object into works of art that express spiritual … coded messages and tell stories,” she said. “There have been many things, in our global society, that we have converted and transformed into ‘Indianness.'”

The planning for the event began shortly after last year’s symposium ended, and committee members said it will be a tough act to follow.

“Last year’s symposium will be hard to top,” said Michael Olujic, president of the American Indian Rights Organization (AIRO).

The 1999 event featured American Indian poet and writer Sherman Alexie, who wrote the screenplay for and co-produced “Smoke Signals.”

“I don’t know if we will ever be able to beat that,” said Olujic, junior in accounting. “We had record-breaking attendance.”

Alicia Thomas, president of the American Indians in Science and Engineering Society, said this year’s symposium will be up to the challenge.

“There will be several presentations, lots of indigenous crafts, overall things that you don’t see in Iowa much,” said Thomas, junior in chemistry.

One of the featured events of the symposium will be a pow-wow, a gathering featuring American Indian dancers and drum groups, which will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.

Thomas said another highlight will be the Wednesday performance at 8 p.m. at the Maintenance Shop in the Memorial Union by Red Feather Woman, an American Indian singer and storyteller.

Financing for the event is being provided by the Government of the Student Body, the Committee on Lectures and several other campus groups and organizations.