The Perfect Holiday Gift!

Have you been wondering what to get a friend or business associate for New Year's? What about a Nationalities Council of Indiana calendar for 2011!

It's filled with photos of the ethnic organizations that make up the council (and stage the annual International Festival in the Indiana State Fairgrounds).

If one of them represents your ethnic heritage, great! If not, it's a reminder of the world in Indiana!

Groups featured are:
January: Barangay Club of Indiana (Filipino)
February: ATA-IN (Turkish)
March: Italian Heritage Society of Indiana
April: Indiana Partners of the Americas (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
May: Estonian Society of Indianapolis
June: American Indian Center of Indiana (Native American)
July: Society for the Promotion of Persian Culture (Iranian)
August: Indiana State Association of Middle Eastern Teachers and Dancers
September: Indianapolis Latvian Community Center
October: Circle City Lodge of Sons of Norway
November: Czech and Slovak Society of Indiana
December: Taiwanese American Association of Indianapolis

(Yes, there are more than 30 other groups -- those selected for the 2011 calendar were drawn in a lottery!)

There are a few calendars left for holiday giving! Just send a check for $12 (payable to the Nationalities Council of Indiana) to NCI, PO Box 1623, Indianapolis, IN 46206, and we'll wing one out to you -- or to whomever you'd prefer it be delivered! If you enclose a gift card, we'll send that on as well.

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Festival Award Winners Announced

Here are the award winners for this year's International Festival, hosted by the Nationalities Council of Indiana.

Cultural Booths of NCI Group Members are judged in the following four categories:

1. THEME: Include in cultural booth historical, geographical, culinary, social or educational aspects of the particular culture. 2010 theme: Food for Thought - Tradition, Culture and Cuisine.
2. EDUCATIONAL VALUE: Provide relevant information about the culture.
3. CREATIVITY: Demonstrate an effective and enjoyable method to attract visitors.
4. QUALITY: Overall excellence. Examples would be people in native costumes and friendly approach to visitors.

First and second place winners for theme:
Society for Promotion of Persian Culture and Swedish American Order of VASA

First and second place winners for educational value:
Sons of Norway and German Heritage Society

First and second place winners for creativity:
Korean American Women’s Association and Hungarian Club of Indianapolis

First and second place winners for quality:
Camp Mabuhay (Filipino) and Swiss Club of Central Indiana

In addition, the Best Overall Cultural Booth, recipient of “The Betty” trophy for 2010:
Taiwanese American Association of Indianapolis

Food Booths of NCI Group Members are evaluated for quality and authenticity of ethnic food, appearance and sanitary conditions and overall assessment.
First Place: Indonesian Association of Indianapolis
Second Place: German American Klub

Finally (but not insignificantly), the NCI's Volunteer Service award (also known as “The Steve” trophy) is presented to the individual(s) who have demonstrated commitment to the goals of NCI and have actively worked toward their achievement. This year, for the first time, three volunteers were honored:
Josef Laposa and Frances Russell (pictured), and Charles Lindgren (deceased).

Mark your calendars for next year's festival, to be held 17-20 November.

(Photo courtesy of Ming Russell)

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17th Annual Indian Market and Festival

The 17th Annual Indian Market and Festival is set for 27 and 28 June at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Southwestern Art in White River State Park, downtown Indianapolis.

Nearly 130 Native American artists from across the country will be in Indianapolis to sell their art. The market and festival includes performances from Native American performers including storytellers, dancers and singers. There'll be traditional food and activities for children ranging from mask-making to corncob dart toss.

Entertainers include The Blue Stone Project,Michael Jacobs, Gene Tagaban (who's Cherokee/Tlingit/Filipino), David A. and David R. Boxley.

Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the gate; children 17 and under are admitted at no charge. For information, call 800:622-2024.

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International Festival 2008 is History

It's all over for 2008 -- and the award winners have been announced for Indy's International Festival.

First and second place awards are given to cultural booths of Nationalities Council of Indiana Group members. In addition, the best overall culture booth wins "The Betty" trophy for 2008.

1. THEME: Include in cultural booth historical, geographical, culinary, social or educational aspects of the particular culture.
First: Russian-Speaking Students at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis; second: Taiwanese American Association of Indianapolis.

2. EDUCATIONAL VALUE: Provide relevant information to visitors about the culture.
First: International Tibet Independence Movement; second: Barangay Club of Indiana.

3. CREATIVITY: Demonstrate an effective and enjoyable method to attract visitors.
First: Scottish Society of Indianapolis; second: Indonesian Community of Indianapolis

4. QUALITY: Overall excellence. Examples would be people in native costumes and friendly approach to visitors.
First: Indiana Okinawa Kenjinkai; second: Swiss Club Of Central Indiana.

The Betty was awarded to Society for Promotion of Persian Culture (see photo).

Food Booths of NCI Group Members are evaluated for 1) quality and authenticity of food and 2) appearance and sanitary conditions of the booth.
First: Taiwanese American Association of Indianapolis; second, German American Klub,

Volunteer Service award (“The Steve”) is presented to the individual who has demonstrated commitment to the goals of NCI and has actively worked toward their achievement. It was awarded to Susan McKee.

Ethnic Influences at Hoosier Storytelling Festival

America's immigrant heritage is a recurrent theme for the Hoosier Storytelling Festival, set for its 21st run 8-11 October in downtown Indianapolis' Military Park and across the street at the Indiana History Center.

Some of the featured storytellers at the event, sponsored by Storytelling Arts of Indiana, are Charlotte Blake Alston (African), Brenda Wong Aoki (Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and Scottish) and Gene Tagaban (pictured; Cherokee, Tlingit and Filipino).

To find out more (and, to buy tickets), click here.

"Faces of America" at IUPUI

"Faces of America" will be presented at 7 p.m. 27 August in the Madam Walker Theater, Indianapolis. Written entirely from interviews and workshops held across the country, it has been described as the first truly multicultural portrayal of Americans ever created.

It tells the stories of:

* a "Happa" (Japanese-Hungarian) who begins to understand her heritage through her grandfather's story of immigration and subsequent internment in the Japanese American war camps
* a young Latino seeks to challenge the stereotypes of coming from the barrio
* an East Indian American woman whose hope of living in a caste-free society is shattered by an on-campus hate crime
* an African-American man discusses the corollation of racism and socio-economics
* a young liberal white male fights against his father's bigotry and the notion of racism being a white disease
* a Filipina-American doctor learns the impact of patience and religious faith
* "Fuzzy", a mixed-blood, lesbian American whose revolutionary ideas will change the way you think and feel forever!

For more information contact Campus & Community Life, 317:274-3931. It's one of the "Weeks of Welcome" activities for students returning to classes at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis.

Indy's International Cuisine

As Terry Kirts reports in the 25 July issue of NUVO Newsweekly, the best reason to get out your world atlas: new international cuisines:

"A good number of the recently opened eateries both downtown and elsewhere have been offering food from countries not already represented in the pantheon of Indy’s international restaurants. No longer are we just a city of Italian, Mexican and Chinese places. Alongside risotto and taquitos, we now have bacalao, churrascaria and pupusas. Besides BARcelona Tapas, Brazilian Grill on West 86th Street has introduced an entirely new concept of dining with its succulent grilled meats served tableside from giant rodzios. Latin American eateries like Guatelinda have come out from under the Mexican shadow to offer authentic dishes such as plantains stuffed with black beans, pupusas and tamales wrapped in banana leaves. More common cuisines, such as Indian, are turning up in some unusual settings, such as Tadkaa, which offers plenty of Bollywood and Indian pop, as well as vodka cocktails and a full range of Indian beers. With a Somali coffeehouse just east of the airport, Filipino food available in Beech Grove and a new Cuban café called TaTa’s planned for West Market downtown, you’ll want to rush your application for a passport so you can get it stamped all around this increasingly diverse city. Need some help navigating your way? The best local Web site for checking up on restaurants, both ethnic and otherwise, is still Indy Ethnic Food."