OUR FATHERS, OUR GRANDFATHERS, OUR HEROES… The Navajo Code Talkers of World War II

The largest, most comprehensive exhibition on the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II will be on display at the Labriola National American Indian Data Center, from October 19th to November 13th, 2009.

The Labriola Center will host a reception featuring two former Navajo Code Talkers and “Our Fathers, Our Grandfathers, Our Heroes…” book signing on Thursday November 5th from 4PM-6PM.

This exhibit traces the story of the famed United States Marine Corps Navajo Code Talkers. It begins with the original pilot group of first twenty-nine volunteers, who in 1942, developed and tested the original Navajo code. Proven fast and accurate, the Marine Corps recruited nearly 400 more Navajos who utilized the code sending and receiving encrypted messages throughout the Pacific island hopping campaign. The ingenuity of the Navajo Code Talkers baffled Japanese cryptographers and greatly helped in the effort to win the war in the Pacific.

This exhibit is a tribute to these men. Originally done as an oral history project by Wingate High School students, this exhibit speaks volumes of the pride young Navajos have for their heroes.

This traveling exhibit displays more than 33 historic photographs with text; facsimiles of original, military WW II documents; a c.1940 map of the Navajo Reservation; and the (now de-classified) Navajo Code itself.

In addition, the full-length documentary, “Navajo Code Talkers” produced by the Arts & Entertainment/History Channel will be running throughout open gallery hours for additional enrichment to the exhibition.

The Southwest Inaugural Tour 2007- 2010 of “Our Fathers, Our Grandfathers, Our Heroes…The Navajo Code Talker of World War II” has been made possible with grants from the New Mexico Humanities Council; PNM, and APS corporations; Arizona Humanities Council, and the Navajo Generating Station/Salt River Project, AZ.

This traveling exhibition is produced and circulated by the Circle of Light Navajo Educational Project, Gallup, New Mexico (505) 726-8030 or travelexhibits@yahoo.com.

Exhibit: Native Sounds: Selections from the Canyon Records Collection

Location:  Music Library, Tempe campus

Available: October 1 through November 30, 2009, during normal library hours

Description: In celebration of this year’s Native American Heritage Month (November, 2009) the ASU Music Library will be displaying sound recordings and cover art from the Canyon Records Collection. The exhibit also features poster art and other artifacts on loan from Canyon Records. Turned over to the Music Library by the Arizona Historical Foundation in 2004, the Canyon Records Collection contains over 450 sound recordings in a variety of formats – from 78 RPM records to compact discs.

Founded in 1951, by Ray and Mary Boley, Phoenix-based Canyon Records was the first company to market Native American music to the Indian people. The exhibit features their first commercial recording, Natay, Navajo Singer, which was released at the 1951 Arizona State Fair. The exhibit also showcases recordings by Native American flute virtuoso N. Carlos Nakai as well as recordings of the work of ASU professor and composer James DeMars, including his 2008 opera-oratorio Guadalupe: Our Lady of Roses.

The Music Library would like to thank Robert Doyle, President of Canyon Records, and Kathy Norris, Director of Promotions, for their assistance in the realization of the exhibit through their generous loan of Canyon Records artifacts. The library would also like to thank Dr. Richard Haefer of the School of Music for his loan of Native American musical instruments. The exhibit, created by Rodale Cooley, will be on display in the Music Library from October 1 through November 30, 2009.

Internationally acclaimed author Leslie Marmon Silko, Laguna Pueblo, will deliver the fall Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community, on Thursday, October 8 at 7 p.m. at Phoenix’s Heard Museum. This semi-annual lecture series is held through a partnership between the Heard Museum and Arizona State University.

The evening will begin with a reading by Silko from her forthcoming memoir, Turquoise Ledge, followed by an informal discussion with the audience.

Silko is best known for her universally-praised novel Ceremony, which was first published in 1977 to rave reviews. It continues to be the American Indian novel most often set on college and university syllabi, and is one of the few individual works by any Native author to have received book-length critical assessments. Ceremony’s message of healing and reconciliation between races and people resonates with both Native and non-Native readers to this day.

Silko has won prizes, fellowships, and grants from such sources as the National Endowment for the Arts and The Boston Globe. She was the youngest writer to be included in The Norton Anthology of Women’s Literature for her short story “Lullaby.” In 1981 she won a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant. Silko has continued to be a force in American Indian literature in both the fiction and non-fiction genres.

The lecture series is sponsored by the Heard Museum and Arizona State University’s American Indian Studies Program, Department of English, Department of History, Labriola Center and Women and Gender Studies Program.

Fred McIlvain, Mimmo Bonnani, Curator Karrie Porter Brace and Professor Emily Umberger of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts discuss the summer exhibit of Mexican Codex Manuscripts on display at the Hayden Library’s Luhrs Gallery.

This engaging conversation tackles the background of the collections, and how the codices depict life of historic and Pre-Hispanic Mesoamericans. Karrie and Emily describe what these codices look like and how they were used by priests for consultation on state events, family decisions, and war.  We’ll learn about a an interesting Mexico City map produced in the 1550’s for Charles V (Holy Roman Emperor of Spain), Montezuma, and the beliefs and practices represented in the manuscripts.  Well also learn about the calendar stone, Mesoamerican hieroglyphs, Diego de Landa’s alphabet, the destruction of manuscripts, and the status of the actual texts today.

The exhibit is on display in the Hayden Library’s Luhrs Gallery through Summer 2009.

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Additional exhibit information

The Dresden codex

Search for Mesoamerican codices (ASU Library Catalog) (Open Worldcat) (Google Scholar – Requires Authentication)

Hosts:
Fred McIlvain
Mimmo Bonanni

Guests:
Karrie Porter Brace
Emily Umberger

Episode 98
Running Time: 35:50

The Library Channel is proud to present the third installment of the Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community, sponsored by ASU American Indian Studies Program, ASU Department of English, ASU American Indian Policy Institute, ASU Labriola Center, and the Heard Museum.

Recorded March 23, 2009 at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, University of Victoria Professor of Indigenous Governance Gerald Taiaiake Alfred talks about the “Resurgence of Traditional Ways of Being: Indigenous Paths of Action and Freedom”

Taiaiake Alfred is known for his leadership and groundbreaking research in the fields of Indigenous governance, philosophy and history, and also for his incisive social and political criticism. He has been awarded a Canada Research Chair, a National Aboriginal Achievement Award in the field of education, and the Native American Journalists Association award for best column writing.

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For more information please visit:

About Gerald Taiaiake Alfred
The Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community
Library Channel event information

NEW! The full event video is now available and will be coming soon to ASUtv.

Episode 96
Running Time: 1:15:04

Speaker:

Gerald Taiaiake Alfred

Professor Simon Ortiz opens the presentation.

The third installment of the ASU Indigenous speaker series, the Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community will take place Monday March 23rd, 2009.

Professor of Indigenous Governance at the University of Victoria, Gerald Taiaiake Alfred, will deliver a lecture entitled “Resurgence of Traditional Ways of Being: Indigenous Paths of Action and Freedom” at the Heard Museum Steele Auditorium at 7PM with a reception and book signing to follow at 8PM.

The Labriola National American Indian Data Center will host a reception on the ASU Tempe Campus from 3:00-4:00PM in the Labriola Center, Hayden Library room 209 .

All events are free and open to the public.

About Gerald Taiaiake Alfred

Professor of Indigenous Governance at the University of Victoria (Canada), Gerald Taiaiake Alfred is known for his leadership and groundbreaking research in the fields of Indigenous governance, philosophy and history, and also for his incisive social and political criticism. He has been awarded a Canada Research Chair, a National Aboriginal Achievement Award in the field of education, and the Native American Journalists Association award for best column writing.

Educated at Concordia and Cornell, Taiaiake lectures at universities and colleges in Canada, the United States, England and Australia, and serves as an advisor on land and governance issues for his own and many other Indigenous governments and organizations. His writing includes numerous scholarly articles and contributed essays in newspapers and journals, as well as three books: the influential and best-selling Peace, Power, Righteousness (2008), now in its second edition; Wasáse (2005), a runner-up for the McNally Robinson Aboriginal Book of the Year in 2005; and Heeding the Voices of Our Ancestors (1995).

About the Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture Series

The Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community at Arizona State University brings notable scholars and speakers to Arizona for public lectures twice a year. These speakers address topics and issues across disciplines in the arts, humanities, sciences, and politics. Underscoring Indigenous American experiences and perspectives, this series seeks to create and celebrate knowledge that evolves from an Indigenous worldview that is inclusive and that is applicable to all walks of life.

Fred McIlvain presents the News from the ASU Libraries.

 
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Stories:

Reduced Spring Break hours: Hours and closures for March 8 – 14

LibGuides! A handy tool for the resources you need.

Gerald Taiaiake Alfred lecture at the Heard Museum: The third Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture and Community on March 23rd.

Interlibrary Loan: Possibly the best library service you may never have tried!

Featured Exhibit: Shelter in the Storm: Agnes Smedley at Yaddo (related Podcast)

Host: Fred McIlvain

Episode 91
Running time:4:42

Helping to close out this eventful year for ASU Libraries, The Library Channel presents a glimpse into the ASU Labriola National American Indian Data Center highlighting the center’s collections, services and partnerships.

This video highlights the Labriola Center’s outstanding services and collections and includes information for how to become a Friend of the Labriola Center. You’ll hear from notable faculty, members of the ASU community, and librarians about how the center is expanding its community involvement and partnerships through such activities as the Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture and Community and important new programs such as collecting contemporary film and video critical to meeting ASU’s instructional needs and the Labriola Center’s commitment to the American Indian community.

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Closed Caption Version available via Google Video

Episode 88
Running Time: 17:30

The Library Channel is proud to present the second installment of the Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community, sponsored by ASU American Indian Studies Program, ASU Department of English, ASU American Indian Policy Institute, ASU Labriola Center, and the Heard Museum.

Recorded on October 2, 2008 at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Wilma Mankiller, former principal chief of the Cherokee Nation and internationally known Native rights activist talks about “Challenges Facing 21st Century Indigenous People.”

Mankiller talks of the diversity and uniqueness of the over 300 million Indigenous Peoples of the world. She also talks of indigenous duty and sense of responsibility to conserve and protect the natural world and how cultures with no memories of their origins have little understanding of their place in the world.

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Wilma Mankiller’s work as principal chief, consultant and speaker on Native issues has been acknowledged by numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the two highest civilian awards in the United States. She has also been recognized as American Indian Woman of the Year, received the Indian Health Service Award and entered into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

She co-edited A Reader’s Companion to the History of Women in the U.S., published by Houghton-Mifflin, co-authored, Mankiller: A Chief and Her People, published by St. Martin’s Press, and her newest book, Every Day is a Good Day was published by Fulcrum Press in the fall of 2004.

A video of the full event including opening remarks by Frank Goodyear and Wayne Mitchell will be coming soon on the Library Channel and ASUtv.

Episode 84

Running Time: 46:00

Speaker:
Wilma Mankiller

Professor Simon Ortiz opens the presentation.

The Library Channel is proud to present a lecture from the first installment of a new ASU Indigenous speaker series, the Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community, featuring Dr. Ned Blackhawk talking about his new book Violence over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American West published by Harvard University Press.

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Winner of the 2007 Frederick Jackson Turner Award and the 2006 William P. Clements Prize for the Best Non-Fiction Book on Southwestern America, Violence Over the Land “begins with the premise that too many histories written about the United States downplay the violence perpetrated by its citizens on native peoples.” (Harvard University Press) Dr. Blackhawk teaches in the History and American Indian Studies Departments at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His areas of specialization and teaching interest include North American Indian history, culture, and identity from U.S. colonial to the 21st century; race and multiculturalism; comparative colonialisms; borderlands studies; and race and violence. The series is sponsored by the ASU American Indian Studies Program, ASU Department of English, ASU American Indian Policy Institute, ASU Labriola Center, and the Heard Museum. Recorded on January 28, 2008 at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. A video of the presentation, including Dr. Simon Ortiz’s introduction, is available from The Library Channel at ASU on iTunes U, Google Video and the Internet Archive. Speaker: Dr. Ned Blackhawk Episode 68 Running Time: 55:31