Sixteenth Annual Native American Symposium to Focus on Ecology and Sustainability

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Winona LaDuke

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The 16^th annual Native American Symposium at the University of Arkansas is scheduled for the first week of November. The event will feature keynote speaker Winona LaDuke and a screening of the documentary The Silent Enemy. This year’s symposium will focus on ecology and sustainability.

LaDuke is an Anishinaabekwe (Ojibwe) enrolled member of the Mississippi Band Anishinaabeg who lives and works on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. She is an environmentalist, activist and author, and has twice run for vice president of the United States as the nominee of the Green Party. She will give a presentation at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2, in Giffels Auditorium. LaDuke is a graduate of Harvard University and holds an Master of Arts in community economic development from Antioch University. She is the author of several books and has appeared in documentary films. She has been a recipient of the Ann Bancroft Award for Women’s Leadership Fellowship and the 1988 Reebok Human Rights Award. In 2007, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

One of the last feature-length docudramas of the silent period, The Silent Enemy (1930) will be screened at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3, in Giffels Auditorium. This historic film will be shown with live musical accompaniment provided by Rodney Sauer and the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. Highly acclaimed for live performances and the musical accompaniment in numerous DVD releases of silent films, the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra is a quintet of classically trained musicians from Boulder, Colo. 

The Silent Enemy (1930) will be screened at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3

Mark Jensen, construction program director of the Red Feather Development Group’s straw bale housing project, will discuss the ecological and economic advantages of straw bale housing at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 5, in Giffels Auditorium. Located in Bozeman, Mont., the Red Feather Development Group describes itself as an independent, non-religious, nonprofit organization that employs volunteer humanitarian action to empower American Indian communities, foster cultural sensitivity and understanding, and contribute grassroots solutions to the enormous challenge of improving the dire housing conditions facing many of the nation's reservations.

The University of Arkansas Native American Symposium is sponsored by the Honors Film Association; the Native American Student Association; the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology; the Honors College; the Multicultural Center; the Walton College of Business; College of Education and Health Professions; and the Department of Communication.