The University Libraries will screen “Bridge the Gap to Pine Ridge,” at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 13, in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library on the University Park campus of Penn State. The film, hosted by Chris Bashinelli, explores the life of Oglala Lakota Native Americans on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, and will be followed by commentary presented by Jerry (Dean) Red Wing, a registered Oglala Sioux tribal member and male elder of the Red Wing family. The film and commentary will be followed by refreshments and discussion in Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library. The event is free and open to the public.
Red Wing was born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1941, to an Irish mother and Native American father. As a child, his family was forced to uproot and move across the country in search of stable employment, essentially living as migrants. As a result, Red Wing attended a multitude of schools, including many boarding schools for Indians. Red Wing later pursued a successful 40-year career as an ironworker, settling in Missouri with his wife. Now retired, he travels over 10,000 miles every year to visit family and attend powwows. In accordance with Oglala Lakota tradition, his family has honored him though a naming ceremony and bestowed upon him the name “Oyemaza,” which means “Iron Path.”
This event is co-sponsored by the Interinstitutional Consortium for Indigenous Knowledge (ICIK), Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity (CORED), the American Indian Leadership Program (AILP) and the University Libraries. This program is part of a larger seminar series on indigenous knowledge organized by ICIK. Information on past presentations in this series and links for online viewing can be found here: http://icik.psu.edu/psul/icik/seminars.html.
For more information or questions about the physical access provided, contact Helen Sheehy, 814-863-1347 / hms2@psu.edu in advance of your visit.