DULUTH, MN – The College of St. Scholastica’s American Indian Student Organization will host an American Indian Art and Music Festival on Friday, April 28, in the Mitchell Auditorium on the St. Scholastica campus.

 

There is no charge for any of the events and the public is invited to attend.

 

Fine art and crafts in traditional and contemporary styles will be on exhibit and for sale starting at 3 p.m. in the Mitchell foyer. Also at 3 p.m. there will be a screening of the documentary “Trudell” in the Mitchell Auditorium. The documentary tells the story of poet/musician and activist John Trudell, who has been called one of the country’s most effective Native American activists.

 

The film, produced by actress Angelina Jolie, also airs this month on public television as part of PBS’ “Independent Lens” series.

 

At 5 p.m. in Storm’s Den (lower level of Tower Hall) there will be a pipe ceremony followed by a free American Indian feast.

 

Entertainment begins at 6 p.m. in the Mitchell Auditorium. The headliner is A. Paul Ortega, a Mescalero Apache musician and medicine man from New Mexico. In 1962 Ortega recorded a seminal Native American album called “Two Worlds,” which was re-released on CD in December as “Two Worlds & Three Worlds” (Canyon Records). He also released a duet album, “Loving Ways,” with Joanne Shenandoah (Oneida Six Nations Iroquois) in 1994. Selections from “Loving Ways” were featured on the television series "Northern Exposure."

Canyon Records says of Ortega: “A. Paul Ortega created a sound that forever revolutionized the landscape of Native American music. With blues-tinged vocals and storytelling that draw upon Native culture, ‘Two Worlds’ and ‘Three Worlds’ have gone on to become modern classics of contemporary Native American musical expression.”

The opening performers will be the Cedar Creek Drum Group and traditional dancers, followed by a musical collaboration called Complexion. Performers include Lyz Jaakola, a singer/songwriter from Fond du Lac, MN; Joe Reilly, a singer/songwriter/guitarist from Ann Arbor, MI; Mel Hunt, a singer/guitarist from the Onigum Village on the Leech Lake Reservation; Frederick McDougall, singer/violinist and vice president of the St. Scholastica American Indian student group; Drew Warne-Jacobsen, percussionist from Puposky, MN; and Andrea Munson, bass player and St. Scholastica student.

 

The event is sponsored by the American Indian Student Organization at St. Scholastica and by the College’s Ojibwe Language and Culture Education Program. For more information contact Valerie Tanner, project director of the Ojibwe program, at (218) 723-6014 or vtanner@css.edu.