To speak and act on behalf of ourselves as a human, social and cultural world, we are required to speak and act on behalf of land, culture, and community. No matter who we are, no matter what our livelihood is, and no matter what our inclinations are, we are bound by a relationship to the land upon which we live, the cultural knowledge by which we are guided, and the community we share with one another.

The Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community at Arizona State University addresses topics and issues across disciplines in the arts, humanities, sciences, and politics. Underscoring Indigenous American experiences and perspectives, this series seeks to create and celebrate knowledge that evolves from an Indigenous worldview that is inclusive and that is applicable to all walks of life.

The Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community seeks to speak, act, offer, and share in order to assume responsibility for land, culture, community that is our world.

Sponsors: ASU American Indian Policy Institute | ASU American Indian Studies | ASU Department of English | ASU Women and Gender Studies Program | Heard Museum | Labriola National American Indian Data Center | ASU Department of History

Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009 :: An Evening with Leslie Marmon Silko

A Reading by Leslie Marmon Silko, acclaimed novelist and poet, from her forthcoming memoir, Turquoise Ledge. Informal audience discussion to follow.

7:00 p.m.: Reading & Audience Discussion
8:00 p.m.: Book Signing
Heard Museum Downtown
2301 N. Central Avenue (Central & Encanto)
Phoenix, AZ 85004 
602.252.8848
On the Encanto & Central Light Rail stop!

Heard Museum Press Release [MS Word]

Printable Flyer: [PDF]

Leslie Marmon Silko: I was born in Albuquerque in 1948 and grew up at Laguna Pueblo where my father and family still reside. For the past thirty years I’ve lived in the Tucson Mountains with a number of parrots and dogs. Lately, when I’m not writing, I paint star maps or grasshopper beings in acrylics to aid me in the completion of the novel I call Blue Sevens.

My novels include Ceremony, Almanac of the Dead, and Gardens in the Dunes. My other books include Storyteller, Sacred Water, Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit, and Laguna Woman. My letters were published with those of James A. Wright in A Delicacy and Strength of Lace.

In 1980 with a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, I made the film, Arrowboy and the Witches. In 1981 I received a five year fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation.

My memoir of walks in the hills, rattlesnakes, and rain clouds, titled Turquoise Ledge will be published by Penguin in the Fall of 2010.

The novella, Ocean Story, and the novel, Blue Sevens will follow.

All events are free of charge and open to the public.

Future Events

March 25, 2010
Dr. Peterson Zah, former President of Navajo Nation

October 7, 2010
Dr. Kathryn Shanley, PhD, Assiniboine scholar, Professor of Indigenous Literature, University of Montana

Past Events

Gerald Taiaiake Alfred: "Resurgence of Traditional Ways of Being: Indigenous Paths of Action and Freedom." Mar. 23, 2009
Podcast: http://lib.asu.edu/librarychannel/2009/04/20/ep96_taiaikealfred

Wilma Mankiller : "Challenges Facing 21st Century Indigenous People." Oct. 2, 2008
Podcast: http://lib.asu.edu/librarychannel/2008/10/20/ep84_wilmamankiller

Ned Blackhawk: "Violence over the Land: Lessons from the Early American West." Jan. 28, 2008
Podcast: http://lib.asu.edu/librarychannel/2008/02/21/ep89_nedblackhawk