Native American Symposium at UA

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas Native American Symposium functions as a special forum for addressing current issues affecting Native Americans, along with recognizing their history and appreciating their culture. The events this year include the premiere of the documentary film Charles Banks Wilson: Portrait of an American Artist, a special presentation by Jo Carson, and the screening of The Vanishing American (1925) with special guest Rodney Sauer.

The premiere of Charles Banks Wilson: Portrait of an American Artist is at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 25, in Giffels Auditorium in Old Main. Wilson is a painter best known for his paintings of Native Americans, particularly his portraits of “Indian Purebloods” from some 150 tribes. Larry Foley, a broadcast journalism professor at the University of Arkansas, met Wilson while searching for Indian paintings to use in a previous documentary and was so impressed by Wilson’s  talent and story that he decided to do a film on the artist’s life. Both Wilson and Foley will be special guests at the film’s screening.

Jo Carson, a member of the Apache tribe of Oklahoma, will be speaking about her father’s experiences in “Using Native American Skills in WWII.”  Her father, Richard Orville Miles is a member of the Creek Tribe, and he served in the U.S. Army for 10 years, spanning World War II and the Korean conflict as a noncommissioned officer and Ranger. Her talk will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26, in Kimpel Hall Room 103.

The Vanishing American, a silent film made in 1925, will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27, in the Student Union Theatre. The Vanishing American is an early Hollywood effort to portray the mistreatment of Native Americans and offers examples of the conscious and unconscious prejudices of the period. The film will have a live piano accompaniment from Rodney Sauer of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.

The art of piano accompaniment to a film is more of an improvisation. He usually does not have a set musical score before a performance; instead he pulls various pieces from his repertoire as he goes. The benefit of live music as opposed to an integrated musical score is the inspirational quality transmitted to the audience.

The 13^th annual Native American Symposium is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Honors Film Association, the Associated Student Government, the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology, the UA department of communication, and the Native American Symposium Committee. For more information contact Frank Scheide, fscheide@uark.edu, (479) 575-5961, or visit the Honors Film Association Web site at http://cavern.uark.edu/~hfa .