Creek Indian Artist Todd Harder Coming to Spokane

There is something of a cultural florescence happening in Native America these days, and some of the cultural mixing is surprising and even playful. Take for example the Creek artist Todd Harder and his amazing native-themed skateboard decks:

Harder is quite prolific--you can see more of his work here. A nationally-prominent figure, the New York Times ran a piece on Harder and the annual All Nations Skate Jam that he organized--an alcohol and drug-free gathering of Indian skateboarders that takes place in Albuquerque. Harder is also a central figure in the Smithsonian exhibit "Ramp it Up: Native Skateboard Culture in America."

Harder will speaking at Gonzaga on Thursday, September 18, at 5:00 p.m.  in the Globe Room of Cataldo Hall. A map of Gonzaga campus is here.The event is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by Gonzaga’s Native American Studies program and by the College of Arts and Sciences. For more information on this event, please contact Laurie Arnold, Director of Native American Studies, arnoldL@gonzaga.edu.

Regional History Presentation at Gonzaga this Sunday

Here is an interesting upcoming event! Professors Bob Carson and Tom Edwards of Whitman College will be appearing in Spokane this Sunday afternoon, Nov 15, to talk about their book Where the Great River Bends: A Natural and Human History of the Columbia at Wallula. From the publisher's website:

A significant location from time immemorial, Wallula Gap is that narrowing of the mighty Columbia River halfway between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Loaded with color illustrations, this book covers the geography, geology, biology and history of an area symbolized by a unique geologic feature, the Twin Sisters. Here the Ice Age floods rushed through, Native Americans lived, fur trappers traded and railroads thrived, making it an important historical and cultural landmark in the West’s awesome landscape.

My understanding is the Edwards will talk about the history Wallula and Carson will show some of his stunning photos from the book. The event is free and open to the public, but it is requested that guest register online at the first link in this post.

Robert Owens in Town for Two Lectures this Week

Teaching American History Lecture Presentations

Thanks to a Teaching American History grant administered by Educational Service District 101 and Eastern Washington University, Dr. Robert Owens will be in town this week to give two important lectures about Indians and the Early Republic.

Dr. Owens, assistant professor of history at Wichita State University presents Pan-Indianism and Panic: How Great Indian Confederacies Shaped Anglo-America at 11 a.m., Wednesday, March 11, in Tawanka 215 A-B [map]. Admission is free.
Owens will present, William Henry Harrison and the Continuing American Revolution at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, March 12 at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture [map], 2316 W. First, Spokane. The lecture is free to MAC members, students and teachers. Regular museum admission to the general public.

Owens is the author of Mr. Jefferson's Hammer: William Henry Harrison and the Origins of American Indian Policy (review here) and scholarly articles on Native Americans and the Old Northwest. He received a PhD in history from the University of Illinois.

(The painting is of Harrison, not Owens.)

History Talk: Quintard Taylor at Gonzaga

(I just received this interesting announcement. Dr. Taylor is a major historian of the American West so this should be good!)

"The Other Black Northwest: Beyond Portland and Seattle"

Presented by Dr. Quintard Taylor, University of Washington, professor of American history

Gonzaga University Wolfe Auditorium, Spokane, November 6, 3:45 p.m.

This FREE public program, presented by the Center for Columbia River History (CCRH), provides a broader understanding of African American history in the region. Dr. Taylor will explore rural communities such as Walla Walla and Roslyn, Washington in the 19th and early 20th centuries. He will also examine the growth of black communities during World War II in places such as Vancouver, Bremerton, and Pasco, as well as the unique civil rights experience of Spokane. This illustrated lecture will remind all that African American history in the Pacific Northwest is not confined to its largest cities.

Sponsored by the Center for Columbia River History through the James B. Castles Endowment. For more information about this and other CCRH programs, visit www.ccrh.org