WINGED POST
THE HARKER SCHOOL
Nonprofit Org. US Postage PAID San Jose, CA Permit No. 2296
500 SARATOGA AVE.
SAN JOSE, CA 95129
THE UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE HARKER SCHOOL VOL. 27 NO. 3
500 SARATOGA AVENUE, SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA 95129
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2025
“Our songs were asleep for 150 years” Native American Heritage Month assembly urges for advocacy claire tian, leah krupnik & saria lum
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I want our students to be open to hearing the story and why this matters.
PATRICIA BURROWS
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DEI DIRECTOR
inside the
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news ................ 02
opinions ........ 9
features ........... 05
stem ............. 14
a&e/lifestyle .... 07
sports .......... 17
TIFFANY ZHU AND EMMA LI
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uwekma Ohlone tribe member and Community Education Co-Chair Corina Arellano addressed upper school students and faculty on Nov. 12 in the Zhang Gymnasium. She shared her work revitalizing Muwekma Ohlone culture and advocating for the tribe’s federal recognition by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. “Recognition is important to us,” Arellano said. “It’s important to repatriate our relatives. We don’t have that right now as a non federally recognized tribe. I don’t think that’s right. I don’t want 200 years from now for the same thing to happen again and nobody to care about my remains, so I show my ancestors that same respect. That’s why I’m fighting so hard for us to get our federal recognition.” November marks Native American Heritage Month, which was federally recognized in 1990. As Harker stands on Muwekma Ohlone land, the assembly provided an opportunity for students to learn about the Muwekma culture and their fight for federal recognition.
SHAKEHEAD HERITAGE (LEFT) Muwekma Ohlone tribe member and Community
Education Co-Chair Corina Arellano shows the necklace her tribe members wear when performing their shakehead dance. INVITING PERSPECTIVES (TOP) Student Diversity Coalition representative Dhanya Ramanan (11) shakes hands with Arellano. MAP OF HOME (ABOVE) The upper school campus resides on Muwekma Ohlone land.
“We had this assembly as part of our November celebration and recognition and awareness of Indigenous Peoples’ Month,” Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Director Patricia Burrows said. “I want our students to be open to hearing the story and why this matters and why it connects to you and connects to all of us as Americans.” During the assembly Arellano shared photos and videos from events like shakehead dances in which both Arellano and her two sons participate and the recent Trail of Truth.
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The 90-day journey on horseback from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. brought awareness to the tribe’s fight for federal recognition. Joining members of the Muwekma Ohlone tribute including Arellano and Chairwoman Charlene Nijmeh in the cause, senior Sahil Jain and junior Siddartha Daswani founded the Indigenous Justice Coalition with Burrows. “The goal is to work with and help amplify Muwekma Ohlone voices, and to make sure that we’re paying homage and giving
04 features
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back to the community whose land we sit on,” Sahil said. “And to make sure that students understand the background of what happened, to understand their history.” Arellano also emphasized the Muwekma culture and the importance of preserving and reviving it. Respect for and connection with family members is extremely valued. Traditional shakehead dances are performed as a community. Additionally, all the attire is handcrafted by the dancers or their fellow
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tribe family members. Older members of the families pass their knowledge down to the younger children. “All the kids are super disciplined,” Arellano said. “When they get in that line, they’re not talking or laughing. That just shows how much respect they have for their culture and heritage. It’s special to be able to be a part of something that has been asleep. I don’t want to say it was dead. It was asleep. Our dance was asleep, our songs were asleep for 150 years.”
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