Okinawa Students Visit the Oneida Homelands

Shuri High School in Okinawa, Japan, has been sending students to Oneida since 1976 to experience firsthand the culture and traditions of their host schools and surrounding community. The only year since that they did not visit was 2002, the year after the Sept. 11 disaster in New York City. The group has been learning about Oneida Indian Nation culture and history for five of those 33 years. The seven students visited the Shako:wi Cultural Center on Monday, March 16 where they learned how to make corn husk dolls and sang some Oneida songs along with Birdie Burdick and Kandice Watson. The students also learned a few words in the Oneida language. On the following Wednesday, they participated in an Oneida social dance, sharing one of their traditional Okinawa dances.