Celebrating Vine Deloria, Jr. Native Writers Series

Native writers, historians, philosophers, journalists, poets and playwrights have been featured throughout the past four seasons. “The National Museum of the American Indian is honored to garner awareness about the Native presence in today’s literary world,” said Museum Director Kevin Gover (Pawnee/Comanche). Each program features a Native writer and engages visitors in a lively, moderated discussion. Programs are held in the Rasmuson Theater and are free and open to the public. Season five offers a diverse array of literary programs and continues through May 2009.

• On Jan. 17, author William Iggiagruk Hensley (Inupiaq) will share his autobiography, “Fifty Miles from Tomorrow” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, January 2009), which discusses growing up in a fishing and hunting village, and his experiences working for Native Alaskan rights as president of the Alaska Federation of Natives.

• Novelist, journalist, playwright and filmmaker Drew Hayden Taylor (Ojibway, Curve Lake First Nations) will discuss his most recent novel, “A Night Wanderer” (Annick Press, 2007) and present a ticketed Valentine’s Day-themed program for adults, with available dessert menu from the museum’s Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe, Feb. 12 that will explore “Me Sexy,” a book about Native sexuality.

• The final program May 13 features playwright Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl (Native Hawaiian/Samoan). Kneubuhl is a recipient of the Hawai’i Award for Literature and producer of 12 plays. She will read from her recent publications, including “Hawai’i Nei,” an anthology of three plays, and “Murder Casts a Shadow,” a murder mystery set in 1930s Honolulu. -- www.nmai.si.edu