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MEDIA CONTACT: Dave Lieberth, 234.738.0003, david.lieberth@gmail.com

(Akron, Ohio. September 27, 2021) Contemporary Issues of the Native American Community will be addressed by speakers commemorating Akron and Summit County’s North American First People’s Day, Monday, October 4, 7:00pm, at the Main Branch of the Akron-Summit County Public Library, 60 S. High Street.

The preservation of American Indian History and Culture through art, music, and dance will be discussed by artist Peter Jones (Seneca/Onondaga) and ethnobotanist Linwood Tall Bull (Northern Cheyenne). Participating in the panel is Dr. Jodi Kearns, Director of the Institute for Human Science & Culture at the University of Akron, which currently features an art exhibit by Claire Heldman (Lakota, Cheyenne River Sioux). The Institute, located at the National Museum of Psychology in Akron hosts the Oak Gallery, an extensive exhibit of Native American art and artifacts.

A second panel will address the urgent issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Dr. LaDonna Blue Eye (Choctaw), a member of the Portage Path Collaborative who has served as Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Sciences at Indiana University School of Public Health will be joined by Shanae Leone Seminole (Northern Cheyenne), who works in the Healing Hearts Program for victims of domestic violence on the Northern Cheyenne reservation in Montana.

The program will be moderated by Akron historian Dave Lieberth and will be held in the library’s auditorium. For program details and online viewing, go to https://services.akronlibrary.org/event/5580696.

The panel is sponsored by the Portage Path Collaborative, an assembly of educators, organizations and individuals committed to preserving and sharing the history of the area’s First People. 

North American First People’s Day Programs for 2021
Sunday, October 3, 1:30p.m – 3:00 p.m.
The fifth annual Portage Path Walk, a one kilometer trek, begins at 1:30 p.m. at Portage Path CLC, 55 S. Portage Path and will be led by members of the Northern Cheyenne Nation. The walk will end at the Simon Perkins Stone Mansion, 550 Copley Road where a food trailer operated by the Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio will offer authentic Native American Cuisine to the public,

Sunday, October 3, 11: 30a.m – 1 p.m.
Summit Metro Parks will present a guided walk from the Big Bend area to the northernmost point of the Portage Path. Participants will enjoy a talk at the northern terminus by artist Peter Jones (Onondaga/Seneca) who created the statues of the portaging American Indian which can be seen at both the northern and southern termini of the Portage Path. Big Bend Metro Park, 1337 Merriman Rd.

Friday, October 1, 4pm – 7:30pm and Saturday, October 2, 10am – 2pm
A new exhibit, Lakota Wiá, the Institute for Human Science and Culture at the University of Akron Cummings Center for the History of Psychology, 73 S College Street featuring Cuyahoga Falls artist Claire Heldman (Lakota, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe). Admission is free and open to the public until January 29, 2022. https://tinyurl.com/wyw6yvju

Monday, October 4
The Collaborative will sponsor in-school activities around Summit County including a “teach-in” with appearances by Indian nation representatives.