University Newswire
Native American Speaker Series presents Philip Red Eagle, March 25
The Native American Speaker Series continues on Thursday, March 25 with an appearance by Philip H. Red Eagle at 7 p.m. in the Main Reading Room of the Mary Livermore Library.
He is a canoe carver, author, publisher, editor, arts critic, educator, storyteller, museum curator, art gallery curator and cultural activist. Red Eagle is of Salish and Dakota ancestry and was raised in the Pacific Northwest.
In addition, Red Eagle will visit Native American student groups at area high schools, including St. Pauls and Fairmont, and classes in American Indian Studies at UNCP. He will speak in Dr. Jane Haladay’s Native literature classes and Dr. Rose Stremlau’s history class.
Red Eagle will demonstrate hand carving of a traditional Salish cedar canoe paddle and screen the hour-long movie “Canoe Way.” The documentary will be shown in the Multicultural Center on Monday, March 22, at 6:30 p.m. The showing is free and open to the public.
Red Eagle is one of the founders of the “Canoe Movement,” which has grown from a few canoes and 50 people in the early 1990s to more than 100 canoes and more than 6,000 people.
“The success of this movement, which has come to be called ‘Tribal Journeys,’ is evident not just in its rapid growth, but also in its effectiveness as a method of cultural renewal among the native peoples of the Pacific Northwest,” said Dr. Haladay.
Red Eagle has performed the canoe journey’s Copper Ring Ceremony since 1995 and makes each ring by hand. He has made 4,500 rings given in this contract ceremony.
“The ring ceremony has proven to be one of the successful elements of teaching ‘The Canoe Way of Knowledge,’” Dr. Haladay said. “The ceremony inspires both the young and old to make changes in their lives and to commit to year-round sobriety and nonviolence.”
The second edition of Red Eagle’s novel, “Red Earth: A Vietnam Warrior’s Journey,” was published in 2007. “Red Earth” is written in an American style of writing called mythical realism. The book contains two novellas dealing primarily with the Vietnam War, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the difficulties of coming home from war.
Serving in the Navy from 1967-76, Red Eagle attained the rank of petty officer first class as a machinist’s mate (E-6). He served onboard two destroyers on two separate western Pacific deployments during the war. His service included 18 months on the Nha Be River as a riverboat mechanic (1970-71).
Red Eagle has two bachelor degrees from the University of Washington in Seattle; a Bachelor of Fine Arts in metal design from the School of Art (1983) and a Bachelor of Arts in editorial journalism from the School of Journalism (1987).
The Native American Speaker Series is sponsored by the Department of American Indian Studies and the Office of Academic Affairs. It is free and open to the public. Red Eagle’s book will be available for purchase and signing at the event. For more information, please contact Dr. Jane Haladay at haladayj@uncp.edu.
The series concludes with Malinda Maynor Lowery (Lumbee) on Tuesday, April 13, also in the Library.
© The University of North Carolina at Pembroke
PO Box 1510 Pembroke, NC 28372-1510 • 800.949.UNCP (8627) • 910.521.6000