39th Symposium of American Indian is April 11-16 at NSU

(Tahlequah, OK)--The Center for Tribal Studies and Northeastern State University extends an invitation throughout the region to attend the 39th Annual Symposium of the American Indian and NSU Powwow.

Preliminary symposium activities begin April 11, with the full schedule running April 13-16. This year's theme is "Hands Across Nations: Smart Legacies Strong Spirits."

Confirmed speakers for the symposium include Dr. Theda Perdue and Dr. Craig Womack.

Perdue is Atlanta Distinguished Professor of Southern Culture at the University of North Carolina. She is an author of books on Cherokee and women's history and was lead developer of the "Study Abroad in the Cherokee Nation" summer seminar at NSU in 2009 in collaboration with the CTS and the Cherokee Nation.

Womack is an associate professor of English at Emory University. He is an author and leading figure in Native American literary studies and argues that mainstream contemporary approaches to such studies need change.

Dr. Marcellino Berardo of the University of Kansas and Dr. Brad Montgomery-Anderson of NSU will lead the Indigenous Language Documentation and Revitalization Seminar co-sponsored by the Oklahoma Native Language Association.

Berardo and Montgomery-Anderson are linguists who studied under linguistics scholar Dr. Akira Yamamoto at the University of Kansas. They are highly skilled linguists who worked among Native language groups under Akira's leadership. The entire group has experience conducting portions of the Oklahoma Native Languages Conference and the Annual Symposium on the American Indian seminar.

April 15-16 is the always popular NSU Powwow which will include the Gourd Dance, Grand Entry, contests and vendors. Hours are 7-10 p.m. Friday and 3-11 p.m. Saturday.

For more information about the 39th Annual Symposium of the American Indian and NSU Powwow contact the Center for Tribal Studies at 918-444-4350 or visit the Symposium page.