EARTH DAY STORIES

First Nations, All Nations

April 17, 2011 - 2:00pm

featuring

JOHNNY MOSES

ROGER FERNANDES

EVA ABRAM

JOURDAN KEITH

sponsored by

Rock the Regions 2011 grant from National Storytelling Network

Small Sparks Fund grant from Seattle Department of Neighborhoods 

Duwamish Longhouse Cultural Center
4705 W Marginal Way SW
Seattle WA 98106
http://www.duwamishtribe.org/longhouse.html

The Guild is looking forward to an exciting and unique opportunity for our annual Earth Day concert. On April 17, we will bring together Native and non-Native storytellers at the recently constructed Duwamish Longhouse in West Seattle for an inspiring afternoon concert open to the public for whatever donation they can offer. No one will be refused for lack of funds. All will share an experience together that honors Native people not only as the original storytellers of our art, but also as the oldest and most significant stewards of our environment. An audience of Native and non-Native communities will come together in a cross-cultural celebration of the natural world: its wonders, its secrets, and its meaning in our lives.

The concert will feature four celebrated local storytellers:

JOHNNY MOSES was raised in the Tulalip community, and has become fluent in a total of eight local Native languages. He is a celebrated master storyteller and medicine healer who shares the knowledge and richness of his spiritual and cultural traditions across the U.S. and Canada.

ROGER FERNANDES is a member of Lower Elwha Band of the Klallam Indians from the Port Angeles area of Washington. Raised and residing in Seattle, Roger came to storytelling through the stories of Native visual art, which he continues to practice alongside his work in storytelling.

EVA ABRAM is a professional member of the Seattle Storytellers Guild. She tells multicultural folktales and historical stories throughout the region, and has been a featured Humanities Washington presenter for her engaging programs on the Civil Rights Movement and African folktales.

JOURDAN KEITH is the Founder and Director of the Urban Wilderness Project, blending her multiple identities as poet, naturalist, educator, and storyteller together perfectly. Jourdan has received numerous honors for her poetry and stories, which blend the textures of political, personal and natural landscapes to offer voices from the margins of American lives.

There is a long story leading up to this day. For the generosity the Duwamish showed to early settlers, a new settlement was named Seattle, after Duwamish leader Chief Seattle. The Duwamish ultimately had their lands taken in exchange for a reservation that was promised, but never provided. In 1894, the settlers, along with the Army, burned the long-standing Duwamish Longhouse in an effort to drive the Duwamish off of their land.

Now, for the first time in over 100 years, the Duwamish Tribal Council owns land in West Seattle, on which they have built the new and beautiful Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center (DLCC). According to their website (see address above): “The Longhouse - as in ancient times - is the site where tribal business is conducted and cultural and educational events are held. In addition, the Duwamish Tribe wants to share its Longhouse with the public to reinforce its cultural and social traditions.”

We are so pleased to bring together local Native and non-Native storytellers and story listeners in this very special place, to honor each other and our planet with the power of stories. It is an opportunity for listeners to be touched by great storytellers, to learn of our local histories and cultures, and to be reminded of important truths that resonate across cultures and across the many years of our history. We enthusiastically invite you to join us for this very special event.