Planners of this week’s Symposium of the American Indian have their way of marking Oklahoma’s Centennial.

They are drawing upon a phrase often spoken by Indian activists as Indian Territory became the state of Oklahoma in 1907: “still the waters run,” said Dedi Snell, staff assistant at Northeastern State University’s Center for Tribal Studies.

NSU presents its symposium today through Saturday as an officially recognized Centennial event, she said. Theme for this year’s symposium is “Oklahoma 1907-2007: And Still the Waters Run.”

Snell said Oklahoma historian Angie Debo used the phrase in her book detailing what she said was the theft from Indians of their lands in Indian territory. Debo wrote the book in 1936, but the University of Oklahoma Press would not publish it because it gave an unflattering view of Oklahoma history. The book was published in 1940 by Princeton University.

“Today, we want to talk about tribes’ ability to co-exist with society,” Snell said. “We want to keep up with our heritage, but still change with the times.”

Topics to be discussed at the symposium include preserving Native American languages and customs and current issues relating to Indian allotment.

Movie and television actor Wes Studi, an Oklahoma native, will speak at 10 a.m. Thursday on how Native Americans are beginning to have a voice in popular entertainment. Best known for his roles as the Pawnee warrior in “Dances With Wolves” and as Magua in “The Last of the Mohicans,” Studi most recently portrayed a character inspired by the Powhatan warrior Opechancanough in “The New World,” a movie about the settling of Jamestown in 1607. Studi attended Chilocco Indian School near Ponca City before it closed in 1980. He also attended NSU.

Indian law expert and historian Rennard Strickland will speak about the controversies Debo stirred with her writings at a luncheon address at 11:30 a.m. Thursday. The luncheon is sold out, but a video broadcast will be shown in the Herb Rozell Ballroom.

Additional events include traditional art demonstrations, a Cherokee language forum and the American Indian film series. A Native Language Revitalization seminar is set for April 19-20. The Symposium will conclude with the Annual NSU Powwow on April 20-21.

If you go

WHAT: 35th annual Symposium on the American Indian.