Diversity isn’t just about the differences.

“We are all different, but we are all so similar,” said Red Hawk, the guest speaker for Monday’s Native American Indian Heritage Month Command Program at Alexander Hall.

Red Hawk, who is of Cherokee descent and is a former clan chief for the American Cherokee Confederacy of Georgia, used his culture and his own family as examples of this contrast.

Red Hawk is the youngest of three sons. His oldest brother, Blackhawk, is the warrior of the family and is a four-time kickboxing world champion. The middle brother, Swamp Fox, is a hunter who likes to hunt the oldfashioned way with a bow-andarrow and black powder rifle.

He can camp anywhere, said Red Hawk, who added his idea of camping was spending the night at the Marriott.

“I don’t like bugs, and I don’t like being hot,” he said.

Although they are from the same family, they are still very different.

Likewise, not all Native American Indian tribes are the same; nor do they all have the same customs.

“There are 500 Native American tribes,” he said. “There are 300 different languages. Drumming and dancing on the East Coast is different than drumming and dancing on the West Coast.”

Red Hawk demonstrated some different drumming techniques.

Music with a steady single drum beat is used to signify war or honor.

“If you don’t know which one it is, you should run,” he said.

Two drumbeats are often found in music representing friendship or love.

In addition to play the handheld drum, Red Hawk played part of a Lakota courting song, The Way of the Hawk, on a flute.

“This is only played by men,” said Red Hawk.

Before he left, Red Hawk challenged everyone in the audience to live life to the fullest. He had been scheduled to leave Fort Gordon and head to Fort Hood, Texas; however, the trip was cancelled in light of last week’s shooting.

He said life is a banquet, but many people are starving because they aren’t living to the fullest. A tragedy such as the one at Fort Hood causes people to realize how fragile life is.