Main Library

Neil Mathison Reads From “Volcano: an A to Z”

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Neil Mathison reads from his new book Volcano: an A to Z and Other Essays about Geology, Geography, and Geo-Travel in the American West.

Neil Mathison’s writing explores the many ways in which the physical world influences our lives. He muses on heritage, boats, and the sea; ponders how living in the shadow of a volcano shapes a person; and ties the physical world to deeper themes of human life, such as relationships and personal tragedies.

A Screening of “The Big Burn”

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This film screening coincides with the Firelines exhibit, on display at The Sun Valley Museum of History in the Forest Service Park in Ketchum.

In partnership with the Environmental Resource Center.

In the spring of 1905, the first group of fresh-faced graduates of Yale’s Forestry School began to arrive in the bawdy frontier towns of the West. These first employees of the Forest Service were given the monumental task of managing the newly created national forests in the Northern Rockies. Nothing could have prepared them for the severity of the drought there in 1910. Fires broke out continually and were fought by the rookie rangers as best they could. In mid-August, the particularly destructive fire season hit its peak: in just 36 hours, a firestorm burned more than three million acres and killed at least 78 firefighters, confronting the fledgling U.S. Forest Service with a catastrophe that would define the agency and the nation’s fire policy for much of the twentieth century.

Inspired by Timothy Egan’s best-selling book, The Big Burn provides a cautionary tale of heroism and sacrifice, arrogance and greed, hubris and, ultimately, humility, in the face of nature’s frightening power.

Indigenous Sovereignty: from Standing Rock to the Wood River Valley

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June 13, 2017

 
The Community Library hosts a conversation with Molly Larkey, Sarah Manning, and LaNada War Jack, moderated by Tony Evans. This event is in conjunction with the recent exhibition at the Sun Valley Museum of History: “Portraits from Standing Rock,” which featured photographs by Jen Rosenstein and text by Molly Larkey. They visited Oceti Sakowin Camp at Standing Rock last November, where Molly interviewed organizers and allies who came to stand with the Standing Rock Sioux. Oceti Sakowin Camp was a historical gathering of First Nations and their allies that centered indigenous sovereignty within the larger fight for the environment, decolonization, and social and economic justice. By creating a native-centered community based in ethical and spiritual principals, the camp modeled a platform for organizing against the root causes of white supremacy, extractive and exploitative industry, and other forms of injustice. 
 
Molly Larkey is a Los Angeles based artist, writer, and activist. She received an MFA from Rutgers University, New Jersey and a BA from Columbia College, New York. Her work has been featured in exhibitions at PS1 MoMA, New York; The Saatchi Gallery, London; LACMA, Los Angeles; The Drawing Center, New York; Dutton Gallery, New York; Ochi Gallery, Ketchum and Los Angeles, among others. Her writing has been featured in Los Angeles Review of Books, CARLA and Haunt Journal of Art. For this event, she will share her experience, and discuss ways that allies can support ongoing indigenous movements on this continent.
 
Dr. LaNada War Jack is a tribal member of the Shoshone Bannock Tribes. She resides on the Fort Hall Reservation, Idaho. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1971. In 1969, together with Indian students throughout California, she was a leader of the Alcatraz Island Takeover in protest of the federal government’s ill treatment of Native people and broken treaties. Dr. War Jack was on the founding board and executive board of the Native American Rights Fund. She served as an elected councilwoman for her tribes and served on many local and national boards. Dr. War Jack completed her graduate work at Idaho State University with a Masters in Public Administration and a Doctorate of Arts Degree in Political Science. She has recently completed her book Colonization Battleground: Personal and Historical Story of Resistance, Struggle and Survival; Special Edition Alcatraz to Standing Rock.
 
Sarah Sunshine Manning is Native American of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes, a sovereign nation located on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation of northern Nevada and southern Idaho. Sarah is also a proud descendent of the Chippewa-Cree tribes of Rocky Boy, Montana. Sarah is a social science educator, an avid social justice advocate, and has spent much of her professional career advocating for Native American rights, and especially for the rights of Native American youth, who suffer the highest rates of suicide in the nation. Sarah’s advocacy for Native American communities also involves cultural revitalization, environmental protection, healing from historical and generational trauma, and advocacy for accurate representations of Native American people in the media, education, popular culture, and society. In addition, Sarah is a writer, serving as a regular columnist for Indian Country Today Media Network, and as a staff writer for Embrace Race.
 
Tony Tekaroniake (Two Skies) Evans is an award-winning journalist, columnist and freelance writer, and 30-year resident of the Wood River Valley. He is an enrolled member of the Mohawks of Kahnawa’:ke in Quebec. He is the author of “A History of Indians in the Sun Valley Area,” published in 2017 in collaboration with the Blaine County Historical Museum.  Tony earned a B.S. degree in cultural anthropology/biology from the University of Colorado in Boulder and studied as the Expatriate Scholar at the Prague Summer Writer’s Workshop in 1997. He has written for numerous publications, including the Idaho Mountain Express, Boise Weekly, Idaho Arts Quarterly, and the Environmental News Network. He has also helped produce and direct several documentary films about indigenous issues, contributed interviews to the BBC and National Public Radio and recently interviewed La Nada War Jack on our local KDPI radio station in Ketchum. He can be reached at Twoskies@hotmail.com or on Facebook.
 
The conversation will be preceded by a closing reception for “Portraits from Standing Rock”  at 4 p.m. at the Sun Valley Museum of History in the Forest Service Park in Ketchum. 

Hemingway Distinguished Lecture by Sherman Alexie: SOLD OUT

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Author, poet, and screenwriter Sherman Alexie connects readers around the world to the American Indian experience, making them laugh, cry, and think through his semi-autobiographical writings. One of The New Yorker’s 20 top writers for the 21st century, Alexie was described by Men’s Journal as “the world’s first fast-talking, wisecracking, mediagenic American-Indian superstar.” His National Book Award-winning The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a #1 New York Times bestseller, was named the best Young Adult Book of all time by TIME. 
 
Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington, but it wasn’t until a college professor recognized his “intensity of language, passion, and energy” that he fully committed to writing. Shortly after, his first books of poetry were published, and he began developing into a gifted orator, telling tales of contemporary American Indian life with razor-sharp humor, unsettling candor, and biting wit.
 
His novels, such as Reservation Blues, Indian Killer, and The Toughest Indian in the World, have won numerous awards and accolades, including Booklist’s Editor’s Choice Award, the PEN/Malamud Award, and Publishers Weekly’s Book of the Year. His anthology of new stories and beloved classics, Blasphemy, was included on Kirkus Reviews, The New York Times, and NPR’s lists of 2012’s best books. 

Forbes proclaimed Alexie’s latest New York Times Best Seller, Thunder Boy Jr, “a new classic.” In its starred review, Kirkus called it “an expertly crafted, soulful, and humorous work that tenderly explores identity, culture, and the bond between father and son.” Thunder Boy Jr. was also listed as one of the Best Picture Books of 2016 by Publishers Weekly.

In 1998, Alexie wrote and produced the film Smoke Signals, which won the Audience Award and Filmmakers Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival.  He made his directorial debut with 2002’s The Business of Fancydancing. Alexie is also a co-host on the popular podcast series A Tiny Sense of Accomplishment with best-selling author Jess Walter.

While working on sequels to both The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Alexie is also working with Temple Hill (The Fault in our Stars) and producers Donners’ Company (Deadpool) on the film adaption of True Diary of a Part-time Indian, with Hugh Jackman signing on to play in a supporting role.

Alexie received Washington State University’s Highest Alumni Award, recognizing the importance of his Native American voice to a broad audience, the Katherine Anne Porter Award in Literature, and Pushcart Prize. He was awarded a 2014 Literature Award by The American Academy of Arts and Letters.  

“Cuba: Queues and Cues” by Connie and Gary Hoffman

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Connie and Gary Hoffman spent a self-guided month traveling all over Cuba last January; covering a great portion of the island from East to West, from South to North by bicycle and private car.  9 different families hosted them in their “Casa Particulares”, the Cuban version of bed and breakfasts.  Much of their visit was taken up with medical consulting at hospitals and clinics, helping locals to start new businesses from a bicycle repair/rental shop to a fly-trap production company to starting 5 different farms for workers in the countryside.  They visited schools, shops, museums and even a vetinarian clinic.  Immersing themselves in Cuban art, music and dance were also high on our list of must-do’s.  The over 1,000 photos they took were pared down to the best 200, most representative of what they experienced and learned. They will be presenting their photos along with a far-ranging discussion of the trip.

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