The 16th Annual U of A Native American Symposium:
Native Americans, Ecology, and Sustainability

Monday, November 2 - 7:00 pm - Giffels Auditorium
U of A Sneak Preview of the film The Trail of Tears
The 16th Annual University of Arkansas Native American Symposium will begin Monday, November 2, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. in Giffels Auditorium with a sneak preview of The Trail of Tears, a presentation of the National Park Service about the National Historic Trail. This 25-minute film, to be shown in the future at all National Parks sites along the route of the 1838-1839 Cherokee forced removal from their eastern homeland to Indian Territory, will have its premiere showing in various locations throughout Northwest Arkansas later this year. The University of Arkansas sneak preview is sponsored by the Arkansas Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association.  The film will be followed by a brief talk about the portion of the Trail of Tears that crosses the southern part of the University of Arkansas campus and time for questions and answers.

Tuesday, November 3 - 7:00 pm - Giffels Auditorium
Kenote Speaker: Environmentalist Winona LaDuke
Keynote speaker Winona LaDuke is an Anishinaabekwe (Ojibwe) enrolled member of the Mississippi Band Anishinaabeg who lives and works on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. She is an environmentalist, activist and author, who has twice run for Vice-President of the United States as the nominee of the Green Party.
Ms. LaDuke is the Founding Director of the White Earth Land Recovery Project and the Executive Director of the non-profit organization Honor the Earth, where she works on a national level to advocate, raise public support, and create funding for frontline native environmental groups. Some of the notable priorities of Honor the Earth are energy and environmental justice, sacred site protection, renewable energy and the restoration of the buffalo. The mission of the White Earth Land Recovery Project is to facilitate recovery of the original land base of the White Earth Indian Reservation, while preserving and restoring original practices of sound land stewardship, language fluency, and community development as well as strengthening spiritual and cultural heritage.
Ms. LaDuke is a graduate of Harvard University and holds an M.A. in Community Economic Development from Antioch University. She is the author of several books and has appeared in documentary films. She has been a recipient of the Ann Bancroft Award for Women’s Leadership Fellowship and the 1988 Reebok Human Rights Award. In 2007, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
She is the mother of three children and is a grandmother.

Wednesday, November 4 - 8:00 pm - Giffels Auditorium
Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra to Accompany The Silent Enemy
One of the last feature length docudramas of the silent period, THE SILENT ENEMY (1930) will be screened at 8:00 PM on Wednesday, November 4th, in Giffels Auditorium. This historic film will be shown with live musical accompaniment provided by Rodney Sauer and the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. Highly acclaimed for live performances and the musical accompaniment in numerous DVD silent film releases, the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra is a quintet of classically trained musicians from Boulder, Colorado.
THE SILENT ENEMY is a re-enactment of the Ojibwe way of life prior to white contact. Long believed to be lost following its initial release, THE SILENT ENEMY was rediscovered in the 1970s, and immediately hailed as a motion picture classic. The musical score Mont Alto will be performing was personally arranged by Mr. Sauer for the University of Arkansas Native American Symposium.

Friday, November 6 - 10:00 am - Giffels Auditorium
Featured Speaker: Mark Jensen, Construction Program Director of the Red Feather Development Group
Mr. Mark Jensen, Construction Program Director of the Red Feather Development Group’s straw bale housing project, will discuss the ecological and economic advantages of straw bale housing in Giffels Auditorium on Friday, November 6, at 10:00 AM.
Located in Bozeman, Montana, the Red Feather Development Group describes itself as “. . . an independent, non-religious 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that employs volunteer humanitarian action to empower American Indian communities, foster cultural sensitivity and understanding, and contribute grassroots solutions to the enormous challenge of improving the dire housing conditions facing many of our nation's reservations. Established in 1995, Red Feather works in partnership with Indian families and communities to implement sustainable home construction methods that offer hope to the tens of thousands of tribal members that have no home of their own.”
Guided by “. . . the belief that healthy homes are the foundation for healthy families and communities. . ., the focus of Red Feather’s American Indian Sustainable Housing Initiative is to educate Indian nations on straw bale building methods that will enable tribes to establish frameworks for long-term self-sufficiency. It also provides a model for rebuilding reservation communities and facilitating positive change. Using workshops and seminars to demonstrate volunteer-friendly straw bale construction techniques, communities are empowered to build desperately needed homes and community facilities in a manner that also helps restore their social structure.”
http://www.redfeather.org/

Contact:
Frank Scheide
Professor, Department of Communication
J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences
479-575-5961
fscheide@uark.edu

Scott Flanagin
Director of Communications and Outreach
Division of Student Affairs
479-575-6785
sflanagi@uark.edu

The University of Arkansas Native American Symposium is sponsored by the Honors Film Association; Native American Student Association; OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology; the Honors College; Multicultural Center; Office of the Vice Provost for Student Affairs/Dean of Students; Walton College of Business; College of Education and Health Professions; Arkansas Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association; and Department of Communication.