Film & Speaker
February 1 @ 6:30 pm
| $8Special Film & Speaker
Thursday, FEB 1, 6:30-9:30 p.m. | Tickets: $8
The Film: We are pleased to bring Bones of Crows to the Hastings Museum. It powerfully tells the story of Cree code talker Aline Spears and how she survived a traumatic past in Canada’s residential school system. It also communicates the broader story of her family’s generational fight against systemic starvation, racism, and sexual abuse. Trailer and all film showtimes.
Special Guest Speaker: Judi M. gaiashkibos (gosh-key-bosh) is the Executive Director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs. As an enrolled member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, gaiashkibos’s family has first-hand experience with Indian boarding schools, including the one at Genoa.
More about the Speaker: Judi gaiashkibos has spent most of her career working for the betterment of American Indian people. In 1995, she was appointed the executive director of Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs, a job that has furthered her work beyond the private sector to the state and national levels. Her efforts in fostering diversity and cultural sensitivity in the Nebraska State Legislature, promoting state and federal legislation, and advancing sovereignty issues creates opportunities and ensures the wellbeing of Nebraska’s tribal people.
She has addressed issues such as American Indian gaming, Native child welfare, and improving reporting and investigations of missing and murdered Native women. She also promotes education and the arts and was part of a team to develop a curriculum on Native women’s studies that highlights their contributions to history. Her commitment to recognizing Native historic figures launched renovation of the Dr. Susan La Flesche Hospital on the Omaha Tribe Reservation, and installation of a sculpture of Ponca Chief Standing Bear at the National Statuary Hall in Washington, DC. In addition to this work, gaiashkibos serves on numerous boards and committees, receiving recognition and awards including Humanities Nebraska Sower Award and the Excellence in Government Achievement Aware, and the Laurie Smith Camp Integrity in Service Award.
One of gaiaskkibos’ recent projects is locating burial sites of children who attended the Genoa Indian School here in Nebraska. Spurred by the Federal Indian Boarding School Truth Initiative the Genoa Indian School Reconciliation Project began. To date, nearly 90 names of deceased children have been found but the whereabouts of their remains has yet to be determined.
The film also will be shown FEB 2-4.