Montana State University in Bozeman will host a grand opening of its new American Indian Hall on Saturday.
The 31,000-square-foot building will house the university’s Native American studies program, an auditorium and rooms dedicated to cultural practices, including a drum room.
Georgeline Morsette is an MSU student and a member of the Chippewa Cree Nation. She says the building’s open design and art installations will welcome Indigenous students and the wider campus community.
“The art is a great conversation piece for students coming in," Morsette says. "They see this big fire, water, column and they’re like ‘What’s this about?’ I think it creates a good open space for those kinds of conversations.”
The opening ceremony will begin shortly before 10 a.m. on Saturday at the American Indian Resource Center in Wilson Hall and proceed to the new building.
Classes in MSU’s American Indian Hall will begin in January.
