By Victor Mays, Entertainment Editor
The American Indian Heritage Center celebrates the rich history and legacy of the local indigenous culture here at the UC Annex on October 9th. On Indigenous People’s Day the university likes to celebrate with an event. This year’s event was an Artist Market that hosted local vendors who sell jewelry, clothing and food.
One such vendor is the owner of StarLake Designs, 52 year old J.D. Moore. He graduated from Pembroke State University in 1993. Moore was a Native American Fancy Dancer till the age of 39 and currently is an MC at Pow Wows.
Moore is descended from one of the 8 state-recognized Native American tribes in North Carolina, the Waccamaw Siouan. Moore’s goal with his company is to be able to let his customers show their indigenous culture through their everyday dress.
“My business, ‘StarLake Designs’ comes from the lake that was created by a fallen meteor. The people that once lived there thought what was falling was a star and that it created a lake, and that is why I called it StarLake Designs, Moore said.”
Moore’s mother, Brenda Moore worked for 35 years at the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs. She made sure to really instill in her son, his heritage. His mothers love gave him the ability and the knowledge to open up his successful business and continue to keep their culture alive through his work.
Another vendor was a teacher, Tamara Locklear. Locklear always wanted to do something to flex her creativity skills, and after wondering what she could do to make extra money, she settled on jewelry making. Youtube helped her tremendously in figuring out this next stage in her life.
She watched videos on how to make jewelry and when she was confident enough she went right to the store to pick up the supplies she needed to get started.
“It has been 2 years since I started making plated earrings and other pieces of jewelry. Most of what I make is handmade and made out of clay. I buy everything mostly from small businesses off of Amazon. I use Etsy for materials and it takes a lot of my money. Support small businesses, Tamara Locklear said.
Her business, Vana-Bai Clay is named after her two daughters Savannah and Bailey. Vana-Bai Clay is very active on Facebook. For more information regarding her business check her social media. Her store is always open.
There was an educational display that was created by our students. Specifically a long row of Ipads on a table with students created infographics. The other half of the display was done by a professor who was doing oral history of the elders in the local area. The goal was to show not just what indigenous people are doing today but to bring awareness to the many sacrifices and successes that shaped our community.
One of the elders on display was Bobby “Chicken” Williamson. He worked 32 years at General Motors. Another elder was Jeannette Freeman. She was one of the four women in her family to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Home Economics. Her great great grandfather, William Luther Moore gave two hundred dollars to start Croatan Normal School which is known today as UNC Pembroke.
Indigenous Culture has formed and shaped our community in many unparalleled ways. The people have cultivated a community filled with love and care for generations of Native American families. It is shown time and time again that heritage and a sense of one’s culture uplifts the core values and principles in which our community and school was founded on.