Robert Pirner, lecturer in Native American Studies at West
Virginia University, will present the interactive discussion "Native Wisdom:
Lessons from the Elders and the Land" at 7 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Grave Creek
Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville. The program, timed to coincide
with Native American Heritage Month, is free and open to the public.
Pirner's program will present the "Lakota Way of
Life," which he learned from the people of the Spring Creek Community on the
Rosebud Lakota Reservation in South Dakota. His talk will touch upon the art,
politics, history, religion, social problems and culture of the Lakota people.
A self-described family man, small-town guy,
nonprofit executive and mentor, Pirner grew up and lived for more than 30 years
in the Spring Creek Community, one of the last traditional Lakota communities.
He is one of approximately 6,000 speakers of the Lakota language. Members of
his community, including medicine men Leonard Crow Dog, Joe Eagle Elk and Chief
Eagle Feather, have been the subjects of several books.
Pirner has developed and taught numerous courses
for the Native American studies program at WVU.
The 2012 lecture and film series continues Dec. 27
with the showing of a documentary film, "Poverty
Point Earthworks: Evolutionary Milestones of the Americas." One of the
few archaeological and historic sites in North American that is a state
historic site and national monument, the Poverty Point site in northeast
Louisiana was home to one of the most important prehistoric cultures on the
continent.
For information about the lecture and film series,
which is held in conjunction with the Upper Ohio Valley Chapter of the West
Virginia Archaeological Society, contact David Rotenizer, site manager at Grave
Creek Mound, at 304-843-4128.
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