AIT Presents a DVC Program in Celebration of National American Indian Heritage Month

PR0557E | Date: 2005-11-15

In celebration of National American Indian Heritage Month, AIT's American Cultural Center will host a Digital Video Conference (DVC) November 22nd featuring a presentation by the American specialist Suzan Shown Harjo from Washington D.C. on Native American art and culture.

The program will be held at the American Cultural Center in Taipei, connected via digital video conference technology to the Department of State in Washington D.C., Chung Hsing University in Taichung, and AIT's Kaohsiung Branch Office.

The oral traditions of Native Americans - in stories, songs, chants, prayers and poems - have been a powerful means of communicating and promoting greater awareness of the Native American experience. AIT invites the public to take part in the program to learn more about these unique traditions and culture which have been passed down through the generations.

Program details are as follows:

• Topic: Carriers of the Dream: The Art and Culture of Native American Indians
• Language: English with simultaneous Chinese interpretation
• Date: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
• Time: 7:30 - 8:30 p.m.
• Place: American Cultural Center Room 2101, 21F, No. 333, Keelung Road, Section 1, Taipei

Ms. Harjo is a poet, writer, lecturer, curator, policy advocate, and the President and Executive Director of the Morning Star Institute, a national Native American rights organization founded in 1984 for Native Peoples' traditional and cultural advocacy, arts promotion and research. Ms. Harjo was the first Native American selected for an honor by Stanford's Haas Center for Public Policy and the first Native American woman chosen for the prestigious Montgomery Fellowship Award. A Founding Trustee of the National Museum of the American Indian, Ms. Harjo now serves on NMAI's Advisory Committee on Seminars & Symposiums. She was the Principal Author of the NMAI Policies on Exhibits, Indian Identity and Repatriation, and curator to various exhibits on Native Americans.

Ms. Harjo will give remarks for about 40 minutes then engage in a question and answer session with Taiwan participants. The total length of the DVC program will be about one hour. Before the DVC begins, there will be a poster presentation and other visual materials at the ACC. Participants are encouraged to arrive at 7:00 p.m. to browse through this additional exhibit.

AIT welcomes the public to sign up for participation in the program. For more information, please contact Ms. Teresa Huang at 2723-3959 ext. 214; fax: 2725-2644; e-mail: Taipei@mail.ait.org.tw.