U of A Audiences Have Chance to See Long-Lost Native American Film Classic

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A newly restored copy of a long-lost Native American docudrama, “The Daughter of Dawn”, will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 27 in the Faulkner Performing Arts Center. The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra will perform the premiere of Rodney Sauer's musical arrangement for the screening.

Admission is free and the public is invited, but seating is limited and tickets are required. Tickets are available online. Click Buy Now for the free event listed as “Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.”

The Daughter of Dawn is an 80 minute silent film, with a cast of 300 Kiowa and Comanche tribe members reenacting their 19th century culture. The cast members the cast provided their own clothing, teepees and personal items for the film.

The film was shot in the Wichita Mountains outside of Lawton, Oklahoma in 1920, by the Texas Film Company. It features White Parker and Wanada Parker, the son and daughter of legendary Comanche chief Quanah Parker.

The film was rarely seen, and eventually disappeared and was thought to be lost forever. In 2005 a print of The Daughter of Dawn was discovered, restored by the Oklahoma Historical Society, and added to the Library of Congress registry in 2013 as one of America's most important motion pictures.

It has only been shown publicly a few times in Oklahoma since its restoration, and this screening will be one of the first outside the state.

The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra will be performing the premiere of Rodney Sauer's musical arrangement for the screening and a panel of tribal members will discuss this film's importance to the heritage of the Kiowa people.

This event is sponsored by the Native American Symposium Committee; Center for Multicultural and Diversity Education; The Division of Student Affairs; Department of Communication’s Film Appreciation Society; Center for Arkansas and Regional Studies; Native American Student Association; Indigenous Studies Program.

About Native American Symposium: The University of Arkansas Native American Symposium was established in 1995 as a forum to celebrate the history and culture of Native Americans and to recognize issues that are of current concern to these indigenous people.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.