Local groups will hold a special observance of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas Day beginning at 11:00 am today in Room AU 503 in the Arkansas Union.
The Honors Film Association at the University of Arkansas, the Native American Student Association, the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology; the Honors College, the Multicultural Center, and the U of A Department of Communication are in charge of the observance which begins with a showing of the 74-minute documentary “Trail of Tears.” The documentary is from the 2009 PBS series We Shall Remain, and the screening is free and open to the public.
This afternoon, from 1:00 to 1:45 p.m., members of the Honors Film Association, Native American Student Association, and OMNI will read passages from journals kept by those who walked the Trail of Tears. Members of the public are encouraged to share their feelings and do readings relating to the Trail of Tears during this open forum. This observance will be held in the Connections Lounge in the Arkansas Student Union.
At 1:45 pm, there will be a procession from the Connections Lounge to the marker in the park on Highway 62, which commemorates the location where a thousand Cherokees camped during their journey to Indian Territory in 1839, over the Trail of Tears.
A ceremony will be held at 2:00 pm in which officers of the Arkansas Chapter of the National Trail of Tears Association will speak about the Cherokees who actually came through Northwest Arkansas and camped here. State Representative Lindsley Smith will be presenting a Proclamation commemorating this event on behalf of Mayor Lioneld Jordan.
More info about today’s observance can be found at the Honors Film Association website.
