Native
Peoples Celebrate the Human Nation
University of Dayton
October 14 - October 16, 2010
Thursday, October 14
5:00 - 7:30 pm, Sears Recital Hall (Humanities) - Music and Literature of the Americas: Forms of Cultural Identity and Self-Determinism
This session will bring together performers and participants to discuss the role of music and literature among Peoples of the Americas as forms of cultural identity, resistance, and self-determinism. Laura Ortman (Apache), Leon Briggs (Seneca), Raymond Two Crows Wallen (Cherokee), Alicia Pagan (Taino, Latina, African-American), and Deni Wilson (Irish American) will showcase a diversity of voices through music, storytelling, and poetry followed by interactive discussion with the audience. Guest panelists will include Dr. Norman Cary (Professor Emeritus of English at Wright State University, where he taught courses in religion and literature, postcolonial English-language literature, and literature from the nonwestern world).
Friday, October 15
10:00 am - noon, Torch Lounge - Women's Perspectives on Feminism from the Abrahamic Faiths Moderated by Angela Griffin Jones
This two-part session will bring together three women to discuss the role feminism
plays with their religion past and present. In Part I, presenters will
discuss feminists and their religion from a historical perspective and how they
may or may not have planted that seed in women today. In Part II, Angela
will moderate a "talking circle" to allow deeper discussion of the challenges
faced by feminists who are also deeply committed to their faith and want to support
the voice of women of various faiths and cultures. Angela Griffin Jones
has 23 years of experience in education, management, marketing, and diversity
and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Women, Spirituality and Community
Change. She has established a transformational coaching and wellness
practice called New Growth for Women in Yellow Springs and co-founded an natural
body products line called Sweetgrass.
Noon - 1:00 pm, Torch Lounge - A Gathering of Clouds: Luncheon and Performance by Gali: Alicia Pagan and Raymond Two Crows Wallen (RSVP required by September 29 - Mary.Angel@notes.udayton.edu)
This session will explore the importance of women in creating and nurturing life from a Native perspective. The metaphor "A Gathering of Clouds" will be explored through storytelling and music. Alicia Pagan is a Singer, Storyteller and Spanish Teacher at Trotwood Madison High School and Middle School. She and Raymond Two Crows Wallen are co-founders of a grassroots organization known as Ga-Li. The Cherokee term means "I am, you are, we are doing" and symbolizes their mission of promoting cultural competency and collaborative relationships among people of all ages, cultures, races, and faiths. Ga-Li was nominated for a Native American Music Award in 2005 and received the Brother Raymond Fitz Award in Montgomery County in 2007. Gali is also the recipient of the 2007 Foreign Language Community Service Award
1:00 - 2:00 pm, Torch Lounge - Finding Our Voices - Healing Ourselves Moderated by Pamela Ferris-Olson
When Dayton-based freelance writer Pamela Ferris-Olson undertook a literary project to examine the importance of heritage and traditions among contemporary minority women, she met Nancy Scott, an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians. These women will share their stories of finding voice and healing and invite others to do the same. Pamela Ferris-Olson is an award-winning freelance writer and photographer and the author of Living in the Heartland: Three Extraordinary Women's Stories and Nancy is executive assistant and EAP professional for One Feather Consulting, a nationwide Native American-owned Employee Assistance Program company. Nancy is also founder of the support group Healing Trauma & Post Traumatic Syndrome Disorder.
2:00 - 4:00 pm, Torch Lounge - When We Cannot Find the Words: Expressing Our Voice Through the Arts Moderated by Nancy L. Scott
Telling
our stories is a powerful way to process pain and heal, but what if we cannot
find the words? In this two-part session, participants will explore how verbal
and written language is often deficient in people who have suffered trauma and
look at ways to use creative avenues to process pain. In Part I, Nancy will explore
the questions: what is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the connection between
our right brain and symbols. In Part 2, she will use segments from Phantom
of the Opera and Midnight Sun to generate discussion followed by an
interactive application of Art Therapy. Nancy L. Scott is an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians from the
Cattaraugus Indian Reservation. She is executive assistant and EAP professional
for One Feather Consulting, a nationwide Native American-owned Employee Assistance
Program company and founder of the support group Healing Trauma & Post Traumatic
Syndrome Disorder. She is featured in Living in the Heartland: Three
Extraordinary Women's Lives, a book by Pamela Ferris-Olson.
4:00 - 5:00 pm, Sears Recital Hall (Humanities) - By Whose Definition Did We Become Indians? Moderated by Guy W. Jones
As more and more people involve themselves with each other, cultural and ethical
identities are being lost. When we as a people lose sight of those
who have defined us, then do we just become one of them? And who are "they"?
Guy W. Jones, (Wakuwa la) Hunkpapa Lakota, is a full-blood member of the Standing
Rock Sioux Nation. He is one of the founders of the Miami Valley Council
for Native Americans in Dayton, Ohio, and has served as an advisor to the Cincinnati
Museum of Natural History, the Minority Arts Task Force of the Ohio Arts Council,
the Greater Dayton Christian Race Relations Task Force, and the Bias Review Council
of the Ohio Department of Education.
Saturday, October 16
Performances Virginia W. Kettering, rooms G-11 - G-13
11:00 am - noon - Raymond Roach and Many Voice Singers
Native
American traditional artist Raymond Anthony Roach grew up on the Cheyenne River
Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, where he learned the traditional ways and ceremonies
of the Lakota people. Ray began performing old style singing and drumming in 1980.
After drumming with many groups in South Dakota, Ray is now drum keeper and song
leader for the Many Voice Singers, a nationally renowned drum group formed in
1995. The Many Voice Singers will provide traditional American Indian songs from
the Lakota, Ojibway and the Plains nations
Noon - 1:00 pm - Elba Alicia Pagan, Raymond Two Crows Wallen, and Leon Briggs
Alicia
Pagan and Raymond Two Crows Wallen are co-founders of a grassroots organization
known as Ga-Li. The Cherokee term means "I am, you are, we are
doing" and symbolizes their mission of promoting cultural competency and collaborative
relationships among people of all ages, cultures, races, and faiths. Ray and Alicia
will include poetry, song, storytelling and a wealth of life experience to weave
a garment big enough to clothe our whole human family.
Leon
Briggs, whose native name is Medicine Bow, is Seneca/Metis from the Tonowanda
Reserve in Basom, New York. In 2004, he was ordained as a spiritual
leader of the American Metis Aboriginal Association. He works in traditional
Arts and Crafts and teaches traditional herbology.
1:00 - 2:00 pm Memories of Africa
Memories of Africa was formed in 2005 in Dayton, Ohio as a cooperative endeavor from a grass roots perspective.Their repertoire consists of praise songs, music, and poetry that honor both the voices of the living and the voices of ancestors who have given us great music and songs.Their performance for the Native Peoples Celebration is titled "Tumi Nyina Wo Asase So" and has 4 movements: First Movement: Africa The Source; Second Movement:The Isles Of The Caribbean; Third Movement: Africa's Gift To America; Fourth Movement:Return To The Source.Group performers include: Tatenda Calhoun-Vocalist; Ras Calhoun-Poet And Commentator; Larry Crowe-Drummer And Vocalist; Mike Johnson-Drummer; Habeebah Shafeek-Drummer; Gary Pritchett-Guitarist And Vocalist; Maiya Calhoun-Vocalist
2:00 - 3:00 pm - John DeBoer
John De Boer (Spirit of Thunder) has been a professional musician for over 20 years. In addition to playing the Native American flute, John has played keyboard with many well-known artists. A multi-talented composer, storyteller, author, and entertainer, John has been performing on stage and national television since he was four years old. He holds a degree in fine arts and is a certified music teacher.
3:00 - 4:00 pm - Laura Ortman
Laura
Ortman, White Mountain Apache, has played the violin since 3rd grade and performed
in both the St. Louis Youth Symphony and Alton Symphony. Studying visual art in
college, she branched out into both performance and installation art where she
began composing her own music for violin. Upon moving to New York, Laura played
with the Brooklyn College and Hunter College Symphony Orchestras and performed
original music accompaniment for choreographers and modern dancers. In 2000, she
founded a band in Brooklyn with Ken Switzer and Bryan Zimmerman called The Dust
Dive. Their unique concerts are often as much performance and installation arts
as indie-folk gig. In The Dust Dive, Laura contributes the violin, piano, electric
guitar, and vocals. She is also the lead actress and composed the score for the
film Kawdan's Song.
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm - Deni Wilson
Deni
Wilson, who has Irish-American heritage, learned music from many legendary artists
including blues greats Willie Dixon, Taj Mahal, Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy. He
is an indie musician who has recorded with many bands over the years and also
starred in off-Broadway theater. Wilson won an mp3 Grammy for best male
vocalist, and has scored six films. The influence of both Celtic and Native American
music is evident in Deni's repertoire.
Saturday, October 16
Curtain Call Performances in the Kennedy Union Ballroom
7:00 pm - 7:30 pm - Raymond Roach and Many Voice Singers
7:30 pm - 8:00 pm - Elba Alicia Pagan, Raymond Two Crows Wallen, and Leon Briggs
8:00 pm - 8:30 pm - Memories of Africa
8:30 pm - 9:00 pm - Laura Ortman
9:00 pm - 9::30 pm - Deni Wilson