Press Releases

US Embassy Brings Native American Culture To Turkey

Ankara, April 10, 2006

The US Embassy Ankara is pleased to announce two events in Turkey celebrating Native American culture: "Sacred Legacy:  Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian," a photograph exhibition; and performances by singer Joanne Shenandoah and The Kevin Locke Native American Dance Ensemble.

 

"Sacred Legacy," a collection of 60 prints drawn from thousands of photographs taken by famed photographer Edward S. Curtis, illustrates the broad diversity of North American Indian tribes. The photographs show Native American life on the Great Plains, in the Southwest, and on the Northwest Coast, the Plateau and Alaska.   Taken from the last years of the 19th century until 1930, the images continue to have an immense impact on the way we see Native American life and culture.

 

"Sacred Legacy: Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian" is on view at the Turkish-American Council in Ankara until April 20, in Konya at the Selcuk University Suleyman Demirel Culture Center  April 25 – May 8, and in Istanbul at the IMOGA Gallery in Uskudar May 10 -26.

 

Joanne Shenandoah, a Wolf Clan member of the Iroquois Confederacy – Oneida Nation, is the premiere diva of Native American song. Her music, ranging from traditional chants to contemporary ballads about Native American life, has been described as a “Native American Trance.”   Ms. Shenandoah will be performing with Diane Schenandoah and Tom Wasinger. Kevin Locke, a Lakota dancer and musician, is the world's most celebrated master of the "hoop dance," an ancient Lakota spiritual tradition involving 28 hoops in a complex and acrobatic dance. Mr. Locke has also been a major force in the revival of the indigenous flute tradition. He will perform with Edmond Nevaquaya, Thirza Defoe, Amber Windy Bay and Douglas Foote.

 

Joanne Shenandoah and The Kevin Locke Dance Ensemble will be performing in Istanbul at the Cemal Resit Rey Concert Hall on April 18. In Ankara they are featured performers in the 23^rd International Ankara Music Festival, April 20 and 21, at the MEB Sura Concert Hall. Tickets are available through Biletix.