THE INDEPENDENT

CULTURE

Fashion Thrift Market at Fort Lewis College Fashion Thrift Market at Fort Lewis College

Wednesday, October 21, 2026 | Scott Logan

Fashion Thrift Market at Fort Lewis College

Fashion at Fort Lewis, a Registered Student Organization, hosted a Fashion Thrift at 9 a.m. on Oct. 2, at the Student Union Plaza.  
The Indigenous Garden is Open! The Indigenous Garden is Open!

Wednesday, October 21, 2026 | Izzy Mora

The Indigenous Garden is Open!

Fort Lewis College hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for the long awaited Indigenous Garden opening to the south of the Art & Design Hall on...
Bears on Campus Bears on Campus

Wednesday, September 30, 2026 | Story by Zara Tucker, Photo by Melvin Scott Jr.

Bears on Campus

Black bear encounters have increased in Durango as bears search for food after a warm winter and a late freeze, leading to much higher human and...

Reclaiming the Written Word

Tiana Padilla

How Indigenous authors are finding their voice

Rejection letters, geoscience, the editing process and the basics of comic writing. These were some of the topics of discussion at a panel with Lipan Apache author Dr. Darcie Little Badger on Sept. 19. Little Badger was the most recent guest speaker for Fort Lewis College’s SkyWords Visiting Writers Series. SkyWords is a series that brings writers, especially Native American...

Vibrant Voices

Kiiyahno Edgewater

The past, present and future of representing diversity on campus.

Nearly half of Fort Lewis Colleges’s student population is Native American and Alaska Native, and students of color make up 59%. With such a large percentage of students with diverse voices from all corners of the world, how does FLC manage to represent every unique voice while maintaining all else?  Vice president of Diversity Affairs, Heather Shotton, came to FLC because of the...

Fly Fishing and Fond Farewells

Scout Edmondson

I have found over the past four years at Fort Lewis College that it’s easy to forget to take a step back, a deep breath and a look around. After all, when you’re caught up in the fray of classes, part-time jobs, internships and social outings, remembering to reflect on where you are in your present moment isn’t always possible. But with graduation edging closer with each...

Screaming Rubber Band Chickens

AJ Repinski

Contestants test their pain limit for Snowdown glory.

  Contestants and spectators pack into 11th Street Station’s “Screaming Rubber Band Chickens” Snowdown event at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 2.    11th Street Owner Marcos Wisner prepares a tournament-style bracket for the event. Randomly drawn for the bracket after entering, contestants prepared themselves for several rounds of rubber band slaps all...

Long Hair, Don’t Care, Guitars: Air

Rusty Frank

With Durango’s winter festival in full swing, musicians and mimes converged for a night of lighthearted competition, with bonus points for ‘longest hair.'

  Tuesday night at Durango's Starlight Lounge was a kaleidoscope of locals and visitors alike dressed up in free-flowing tops and high-waisted apple bottom pants, tightly packed into a space buzzing with anticipation. As a newcomer to Durango, I was about to experience my first-ever Snowdown event: a 21+ ‘Long Hair Air Guitar Contest.’ What I walked into was a...

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