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History comes alive in January and February

HISTORY COMES ALIVE IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY

The North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame has again joined forces with the Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation and the North Dakota Humanities Council and the KX Television Network to produce a series of winter history and entertainment gatherings.

This year's tour will feature nationally noted Mandan/Hidatsa flutist Keith Bear of New Town. There will also be the premiere of a new video on the Mandan Chief Sheheke and a discussion on a new book about the famed chief who accompanied Lewis and Clark back to Washington, D.C. in 1806. The video was written and produced by Darrell Dorgan; the book, by historian/author Tracy Potter.

This year's symposiums continue Wednesday, January 22, at Dickinson State University's Beck Auditorium; Thursday, January 23, at the New Town Civic Center; February 12 in Grand Forks at the UND Student Union Lecture Bowl; and end with an appearance on Thursday, February 13, at Fargo's Plains Art Museum. All programs begin at 7:00 p.m. and are free.

North Dakota Humanities Council Executive Director Ev Albers says the council has sponsored the symposiums for the past five years, He says, "It’s a chance for people to get out, meet friends and neighbors and learn a bit about the past and the state's rich cultural heritage."

Tracy Potter, who recently finished a book about Sheheke, says the Mandan Chief was one of the significant figures on the Upper Missouri who greeted Lewis and Clark when they arrived in 1804. "He told the famed explorers who camped for the winter at Fort Mandan near present day Washburn, 'If we eat, you will eat'. It was because of the hospitality of the Mandan and their leaders like Sheheke that the Corps of Discovery survived the winter of 1804-05 in what is now North Dakota," said Potter.

Darrell Dorgan did the video on Sheheke using research by Potter for the new book. Dorgan says, "It took a year to shoot and edit, and I think it tells the story of this great leader who returned to Washington and celebrated New Year's Eve at the White House in 1806 with President Thomas Jefferson.

Using re-enactors, we shot at the On-A-Slant- Village where Sheheke was born and at Fort Mandan where he spent a lot of time with Lewis and Clark."

Albers says the addition of Keith Bear to the program adds a unique aspect to the story. "Keith has traveled the world playing the songs of the Mandan/Hidatsa on his handmade flutes. He will play songs that were heard 200 years ago by Lewis and Clark. Keith is one of the most unique artists in North Dakota and is keeping a heritage alive."

All programs begin at 7:00 p.m. and are free.

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