Daily Archives: November 11, 2010

An Evening with Native American Storyteller Gayle Ross

Sunday, November 14 · 5:00pm – 6:00pm An Evening with Native American Storyteller Gayle Ross on “Make No Bones About It.”

Join Raven and his guest Gayle Ross as she shares the tradition of storytelling with us all. Through her stories comes messages for the people about treating their environment and each other with respect, and love.


About Gayle Ross
Gayle is a descendent of John Ross, principal chief of the Cherokee Nation during and after the infamous “Trail of Tears,” the forced removal of many Southeastern Indians to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in the late 1830s. Her grandmother told stories and it is from this rich heritage that Gayle’s storytelling springs. During the past twenty years, she has become one of the most respected storytellers to emerge from the current surge of interest in this timeless art form.

Gayle has appeared at most major storytelling and folk festivals in the United States and Canada, and in concert halls and theaters throughout the US and Europe, often appearing with some of today’s finest Native American musicians and dancers. She is in demand as a lecturer and visiting artist at college campuses and she continues to mesmerize children at schools and libraries across the country. The National Council for the Traditional Arts has included Gayle in two of their touring shows, “Master Storytellers” and the all-Indian show, “From the Plains to the Pueblos.” She was invited by Vice President Al Gore to perform at a gala at his residence entitled “A Taste of Tennessee” and was the only Native American speaker chosen by the White House to appear in the “Millennium on the Mall” celebration in Washington, DC. Gayle, who has published several of her stories in illustrated books, has spoken at meetings of the American Library Association, the International Reading Association, and the International Board of Books for Young People. She was a commentator in the Discovery Channel’s award-winning documentary, “How the West Was Lost,” and her stories have been featured on the National Public Radio programs “Living on the Earth” and “Mountain Stage.”

Gerald Barnes was born in Pleasant Point, Perry, Maine and now lives in Virginia. As a child he learned traditional Passamaquoddy basket weaving from his mother and father. To make his work unique, he developed the turtle as his personal symbol. For Barnes the turtle represents longevity and sustenance but, more importantly, these slightly imperfect turtles represent the adverse effects of pollution on the environment.

RESOURCES
Books by Gayle Ross
How Rabbit Tricked Otter and other Cherokee Trickster Stories.
New York: HarperCollins, 1994.
How the Turtle’s Back Was Cracked: A Traditional Cherokee Tale.
New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1995.
The Legend of Windigo: A Tale from Native North America.
Dial Books for Young Readers, 1996.

Anthologies including stories by Gayle Ross
Bruchac, Joseph. The Girl Who Married the Moon.
Mahwah, N.J.: Troll Communications, 1994.
The Story of the Milky Way: A Cherokee Tale.
New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1995.

Established in 1989 through an Act of Congress, the National Museum of the American Indian is an institution of living cultures dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere. The museum includes the George Gustav Heye Center, a permanent exhibition and education facility in New York City, and the Cultural Resources Center, a research and collection facility in Suitland, Maryland. A new museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is now under construction and will open in September 2004.

For additional information on the National Museum of the American Indian visit the museum’s Website at www.AmericanIndian.si.edu.
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/opinion/34736534.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kynbb7ba1tA

“As Long As The Rivers Run” — Film and panel discussion

“As Long As The Rivers Run” — Film and panel discussion

By Steve Robinson

The South Sound Environmental Clearinghouse (SPEECH) will proudly conduct a special film and panel discussion event on Wednesday, December 1,at Traditions Café, 300 5th Ave SW, Olympia, beginning at 6:30 p.m. In honor of our Native American neighbors, the event will feature a showing of the historic movie, “As Long As The Rivers Run,” produced by filmmaker Carol Burns, and a panel of individuals, emceed by Steve Robinson, commenting about the significance of this film to the South Sound area and beyond.

“As Long As The Rivers Run” was filmed during the tumultuous 1960s and 70s, when Native Americans were fighting for their rights, as guaranteed in the treaties in which they relinquished millions of acres of land, enabling Washington to become a state. It is a part of the history of this region that brought national and international attention, and created changes that affected relationships forever.

About the Panel

Carol Burns was born in Olympia and graduated from Olympia High School in 1956; she studied documentary film at Stanford University, achieving her MA in Communications in 1969. She produced 16mm informational films for clients and began learning video in 1980. Burns was a founding member of Thurston Community Television and became one of its first employees as Production Manager, in 1986. Over the intervening years she has continued making informational videos, mostly in collaboration with non-profit organizations or government agencies. She will discuss the making of the film.

Charlene Krise is a Squaxin Island Council member, and the Director of the Squaxin Island Research Center and Museum. Robert Satiacum, Jr. is a Puyallup Tribal Member. He was a young man during the fish-in’s, and is the son of one of the most famous leaders of the activists of the time, and former Chair of the Tribe. He is a radio host at KLAY, 1180 AM, and leader of many causes himself, including the recent protest of the shooting of John Williams, a carver. Krise and Satiacum will discuss “The Boldt Era: Memories.”

Georgianna Kautz has been the Natural Resource Manager for the Nisqually Tribe since 1991. She is a graduate of The Evergreen State College in Native American Studies, and is a Commissioner to the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC), and is a former Tribal Chair and Council member. Jim Peters is with the NWIFC and the Squaxin Island Tribe, and both of them will discuss memories and Co-Management from the Tribal/NWIFC perspectives.

Brian Frisina is an archivist for the state Department of Labor & Industries. Also known as Raven Redbone, Frisina hosts a show called “Make No Bones About It” on KAOS radio 89.3 FM in Olympia. The show highlights Native issues and showcases elders who remind us to seek out the wisdom of indigenous cultures. Frisina says he is here to contribute and give another voice to the “The First Peoples” and serve all our ancestors. He lives by the ancestral ways: respecting each other, loving each other and our Mother Earth. He will address the issues around the question: “Why Remember?”

Steve Robinson is the owner/President of SR PRODUCTIONS and a SPEECH board member.