NDSU has selected a new location for the Grandmother Earth’s Gift of Life Garden on campus. The garden, which honors and connects campus to Indigenous cultures and lifeways, will be located near the Memorial Wall on the southwest side of campus just before the 12th Avenue bridge.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the garden will take place Monday, Oct. 12, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. The ceremony is part of the annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day opening ceremony. Because of current event attendance limitations, viewers are asked to watch a live stream of the ceremony on the NDSU Facebook page.

The ceremony will include a welcome, opening prayer, blessing, drum performance, resolution reading, mayor presentations, Gladys Ray Award presentation, words of support, garden groundbreaking and overview of the day’s events.

Speakers for the Indigenous Peoples’ Day opening ceremony include:

• Lenore King, Native American Commission chair

• Dean L. Bresciani, NDSU President

• Willard Yellow Bird, spiritual leader

• Buffalo River Singers

• Sharon White Bear, Native American commissioner

• Mayors of Fargo, West Fargo, Moorhead and Dilworth

• Amber Mattson, Gladys Ray granddaughter

• Heather Keeler, NDSU assistant director for multicultural recruitment

• Isnala Roan Eagle, NDSU student

• Ruth Buffalo, state representative

Plans are in progress for the development of the new Grandmother Earth’s Gift of Life Garden. An official dedication ceremony will take place once the garden is complete.

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