Upcoming Event: Truth-Tellers
February 22, 2009
“When the smoke clears, can we handle the truth?”
Full Spectrum and New York Theatre Workshop present THE TRUTH-TELLERS, a free panel discussion with five creators who dig beneath the official story to the complex, gritty underside. On February 26th, from 6:30-9:30, panelists Milagros de la Torre [artist/photographer], Alberto Ferreras [author/filmmaker/ performance artist], David Henderson [poet/author/activist], Meg McLagan [filmmaker/cultural anthropologist] and Liza Jessie Peterson [actress/poet/playwright] will discuss the ideas and experiences behind their work, and explore the larger question to us as a society, “When the smoke clears, can we handle the truth?”. The panel will be moderated by K. Neycha Herford [musician/transformational counselor/new media journalist].
This free event will begin with a screening of excerpts of The Peculiar Patriot by Liza Jessie Peterson; and Lioness by Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers.
NEW YORK THEATRE WORKSHOP - www.nytw.org
Moving Forward – Search for New TRC Commissioners
February 16, 2009
Since its establishment in June of 2008, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Canada has faced many setbacks. After the resignation of all three commissioners, a new selection committee has been formed with the hope of giving the process a fresh start. The committee is chaired by Honorable Frank Iacobucci and includes representation from various sectors involved in the TRC. The representatives include: Phil Fontaine, representative plaintiff and the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, on behalf of the AFN and the Métis National Council; Mary Simon, President of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, on behalf of the Inuit representatives; Michael Wernick, Deputy Minister of Indian Affairs, on behalf of the Government of Canada; James Scott, on behalf of The Anglican Church of Canada, The Presbyterian Church in Canada, and The United Church of Canada; Pierre Baribeau, on behalf of the Catholic entities; and Len Marchand, on behalf of claimants under the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement.
One of the committee’s key goals is to clarify the governance roles of the chair and the commissioners. The early obstacles faced by the Canadian TRC illustrate that a clear mandate as well as clarity in administrative processes is vital to the success of an already difficult and complicated process.
To read more, visit: www.trc-cvr.ca
Native Identity in the 21st Century – Conference
February 6, 2009
CONFERENCE
Native Identity in the 21st Century
Saturday, February 7, 2009
1–5:15 p.m.
Diker Pavilion, George Gustav Heye Center
National Museum of the American Indian, New York
Topics include New Definitions of Indianness and Urban Calling–Where Art and Native Identity Meet.
Keynote address by award-winning author David Treuer (Ojibwa), University of Minnesota. Participants include Cara Cowan Watts (Cherokee), Cherokee Tribal Council of Oklahoma; Randy Reinholz (Choctaw), San Diego State University and the Autry Museum; artist, Jeffrey Gibson (Mississippi Band Choctaw/Cherokee); Charlene Teters (Spokane), activist and professor at the Institute of American Indian Arts; and a dramatic monologue from Tales of an Urban Indian by author/actor Darrell Dennis (Shuswap Nation). Moderators: NYU Silver Professor Karen Kupperman and NYU Asst. Professor Noelle Stout (Cherokee).
Presented in collaboration with the Native People’s Forum at New York University and The Public Theater.
For more information, check out the National Museum of the American Indian.
Above image: Fritz Scholder
