Spokane _ A panel discussion on American Indian tribal sovereignty today will be the first of three events organized by Community Colleges of Spokane for Native American History Month.

•"Tribal Sovereignty and the Importance of Political Participation," a panel discussion, at 11:30 a.m. today in the Lair-Student Center at Spokane Community College.

Panel members include Russ Lehman, managing director of First Americans Education Project; Ernie Stensgar, chairman of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe and of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians; and Margo Hill, tribal attorney for the Spokane Tribe.

The SCC Native American Student Organization will have an Indian taco/fry bread fund-raiser.

•"Christopher Columbus, Then and Now," a talk, at 11:30 a.m. Friday at the Institute for Extended Learning, 3305 W. Fort George Wright Drive (near Spokane Falls Community College).

The talk will be given by Don Barlow, a counselor at the Institute for Extended Learning and board president of Spokane School District 81.

RSVPs are requested at (509) 533-3034.

•"As Long as the Grass Shall Grow: Treaty Rights and Contemporary Indian Life," by a singer and storyteller, 11:30 a.m. Nov. 15, Spokane Falls Community College in SUB lounges A and B.

Jack Gladstone is a Blackfeet Indian and descendant of Chief Red Crow who blends legend, history and metaphor into song.

For more information, call Pam Austin, SFCC multicultural student services counselor, at (509) 533-3546.