This page was last updated on: March 30, 2005

The California Indian Museum & Cultural center Presents:The Art of California Indian Basketry With Lucy Parker Saturday April 30, 2005 Time:  1:30 PM  - 3:30 PM  5250 Aero Drive Santa Rosa, CA 95403 Join us for a delightful afternoon demonstration of California Indian basketmaking traditions with Lucy Parker.  CIMCC is honored to have Ms. Parker present her knowledge and skills to you.  She comes from a family of well known basketmakers and follows in the tradition of her famous mother and great-grandmother. Today Lucy is passing her skills on to her daughter. She will provide a historical overview and discuss the materials used for basketmaking.  Lucy will explain the process of gathering, preparation, and the drying methods used by traditional basket -makers and those who make baskets today. For Additional Event Information or Directions please call The California Indian Museum at:  (707) 579-3004 or e-mail us at cimandcc@aol.com Donations sincerely appreciated. Announcing the 2003 Tillie Hardwick Lecture Series During the whirlwind era of termination many California Indian Rancherias became things of the past. In a landmark case, Tillie Hardwick v. United States, one Pomo woman restored the sovereign status of 16 tribes. CIM honors  Ms. Hardwick's dedication and contributions to all California Indians. April 30, 2005    The Art of California Indian Basketry with Lucy Parker May 22, 2005    Traveling Lecture Series:                                Chumash History and Culture with Ernestine Ygnacio De Soto                          Veterans Memorial Hall, 1745 Mission Dr., Solvang,  CA July 8, 2005       Traveling Lecture Series: Kumeyaay History and Culture                                Marriott Hotel and Marina, 333 West Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA                          at 1:00 p.m. All Lectures are held from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center unless otherwise noted 5250 Aero Drive, Santa Rosa, California  Call CIM for more information, lecture times and directions (707) 579-3004 or visit www.cimcc.org    All lectures are open to the public and are free of charge Lecture dates and times are subject to change based on availability VIEW LECTURES ONLINE! Visit WWW.CIMCC.ORG

The California Indian Museum and Cultural Center is hosting a benefit screening of "Trudell", a documentary on the life of Native American Poet and Activist, John Trudell.  The film will be screened April 18, 2005 at the Raven Theater, 415 Center Street, Healdsburg.  Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Screening of the 75-minute film will take place at 7:00 p.m. The film will be followed by a presentation and discussion with Joseph Myers, Executive Director of the National Indian Justice Center. Tickets are $10 general admission and $7 for Elders and Youth.  Tickets are limited.  To reserve seats, call the Raven Theater business office at 431-1214.  For additional information, please call Carol Oliva, 707-579-3004 TRUDELL follows the life work of Native American poet/activist John Trudell. Filmmaker Heather Rae has spent more than a decade chronicling his travels, spoken word and politics in a poetic and naturally stylized manner.  The film combines archival, concert and interview footage with abstract imagery mirroring the coyote nature of Trudell himself. Incorporating years of work, 16mm and Super 8 film, video, and archival footage, TRUDELL begins in the late sixties when John Trudell and a community group, Indians of All Tribes, occupied Alcatraz Island for 21 months creating international recognition of the American Indian cause and birthing the contemporary Indian people's movement. The film goes to Alcatraz, returning to what John refers to as his "birth."   From Alcatraz we follow John's political journey as the National Spokesman of the American Indian Movement (AIM)--this work making him one of the most highly volatile political 'subversives' of the1970's with one of  the longest FBI files in history (over 17,000 pages.) In 1979, while protesting the US government's policy on American Indians, John burned an American Flag on the the steps of the FBI headquarters in Washington DC.  Within a matter of hours his pregnant wife, three children and mother in law were killed in a suspicious arson fire on a Nevada reservation.  This ended John'sinvolvement in organizational politics.  He spent the next four years driving America in a car given to him by his friend and fellow activist, Jackson Browne.  It was during this period that John's voice as a poet began to surface.  His gift as an orator carried him through his pain and he found a new way to represent his manifesto and cause. In 1983 he began to put his words to music with the help of Kiowa guitar legend, the late Jesse Ed Davis, and Jackson Browne.  Even his early recordings reflect an articulate sensibility and eloquence about the state of the world, moving him into the realm of social theorist and philosopher.  John does not adhere to a dogma or school of thought but has created his own diatribe based in experience, having lived through and taken part in some of the most turbulent American political events of the past century.  In an interview with Native actor, Gary Farmer (Dead Man), he referred to Trudell as "the Native people's prophet of these times, our Socrates." Trudell's musical and film career have led him to work with the likes of Robert Redford (Incident at Oglala), Sam Shepard and Val Kilmer (Thunderheart), Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Amy Ray and more recently Angelina Jolie, who produced his current album, Bone Days.  The film combines interviews with his allies from the entertainment community, the 'movement' days, and his friends and family with archival footage, concert footage from all over the world and abstract imagery.  TRUDELL is intended to be a film  that steps outside of traditional forms, even for Native films, and explores a figure of our contemporary history in a way that fairly represents the evocative nature of his work and significance.