CWU To Host Indian Country Week Celebration

May 7, 2004

Contact: Leslie J. Webb (509-963-1685/fax 509-963-3561/e-mail: webble@cwu.edu)

ELLENSBURG, Wash.-- The Central Washington University chapter of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), Diversity Education Center and Office of Admissions will sponsor the annual "Indian Country" celebration May 10-14 on the Ellensburg campus.

This year's theme is "Through Our Eyes" and will feature a series of films examining images of American Indians. The selected films, which will be shown at 6 p.m., include documentaries and feature films by and about American Indians.

They are:

• Monday, May 10, in Black 151, "On and Off the Rez with Charlie Hill," the story of how one Native American single-handedly confronts Indian stereotypes through the use of humor, and "The Return of Navajo Boy," a 2000 Sundance Film Festival selection, which chronicles an extraordinary chain of events, beginning with the appearance of a 1950s film reel, which leads to the return of a long lost brother to his Navajo family;
• Tuesday, May 11, in the Samuelson Union Building (SUB) Yakama Room, "Natives," which documents the fears and jingoism of residents of San Diego county in their attempts to exclude illegal Mexican immigrants, and "Grandfather Sky," the "Best Dramatic Short" at the First Native American Film Festival in 1996, which follows a Navajo/Lakota youth whose journey to the home of his sheepherder uncle on the Navajo reservation launches him on a voyage of discovery;
• Wednesday, May 12, in Black 151, "Seeking the Spirit: Plains Indians in Russia." In conjunction with the film, Dr. Bea Medicine will lead an in-depth discussion of her work. A noted Native American anthropologist, Medicine will provide insight about the Russians who initially became interested in Native American culture through Hollywood films and the careful attention to detail they now invest in recreating the look and the feel of Native American ritual and life; and,
• Thursday, May 13, in the SUB Cesar Chavez Theatre, "American Cowboys," which tells the stories of Jackson Sundown and George Fletcher, the first Native American and African American to compete for the World Title at the Pendleton Round-Up, and "Faithful to Continuance," which details the history, culture and future of the Columbia River Plateau People (members of the Nez Perce, Colville, Umatilla, Yakama, and Warm Springs nations) through historical information and insights from contemporary artists into the ancient tradition that has had such a profound effect on their lives and work.

Along with the films, on Friday, May 14, at 5 p.m. at Mt. View Park, a salmon feed is planned. Donations to defray the cost of the meal will be accepted.

That will be followed at 7 p.m. in the Cesar Chavez Theatre, by a presentation by the University of Washington's Native Voices as they show and discuss several of their recent documentary films, including a short by Yakama Nation member Shane Hannigan, which was an American Film Festival Award recipient.

For more information on any of these free, public events, or for persons of disability to arrange for reasonable accommodation, call (509) 963-1685, or (for the hearing impaired) TDD (509) 963-2143.