ONEONTA _ Hartwick College is presenting a series of events starting Thursday.
"Native Balance: Indigenous Ways in a Modern World" will combine scholarly presentations, storytelling, music, sports, demonstrations and exhibits by prominent members of the Iroquois, Lakota and Abenaki nations.
Events will begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Anderson Theatre at Hartwick with a prelude of traditional music by Jesse Bruchac (Abenake). At 8 p.m., Hartwick President Margaret L. Drugovich will provide introductory comments, followed by keynote speaker Chief Oren Lyons, Turtle Clan Faith Keeper of the Onondaga Nation.
On Friday, children from Oneonta elementary and middle schools will hear traditional Native American music and storytelling by Joseph and Jesse Bruchac at the Pine Lake Environmental Campus beginning at 9:30 a.m.
At 12:30 p.m. in Bresee Hall at Hartwick, a viewing of "Land of our Ancestors," a documentary produced by the Seneca Nation on Kinzua Dam's impact on Seneca culture and land, will precede a panel discussion on native issues. From 3 to 5 p.m. in the Stevens-German Library and Yager Museum, presentations will focus on Native American collections.
In the evening, "Indigenous Knowledge through Stories and Music," a concert and conversation with Paul Ghost Horse (Lakota) and Vicki Ghost Horse (Cherokee), will begin at 7 in the Vaudevillian at Pine Lake.
From noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, all events will be at Pine Lake. They will include native storytelling and music by the Bruchacs, bowmaking with Vernon Chrisjohn (Oneida) and "Native Survival through Sacred Language: Harmonizing the Earth and Humanity" a video and talk by Cliff Eaglefeathers and Karyl Eaglefeathers (Cheyenne).
Also, there will be a lacrosse demonstration and instruction, craft and jewelry-making demonstrations with Lou Gilson (Innu) and Cathy Gilson (Unkechaug), beadworking with Barclay Houle (Anishnaabe), a "Tools of the Hunt" exhibit and talk on hunting and weaponry with Mike Tarbell (Mohawk) and an art exhibit and reading with Hartwick Professor of Art Phil Young (Cherokee).
The events correspond with Hartwick's 2008-09 academic theme, "Balance."
For information and a list of events, as well as participant biographies, visit www.hartwick.edu/nativebalance.xml.
