SHI TO SPONSOR VETERANS PANEL, FILM SCREENING ON THURSDAY
Event part of Native American Heritage Month
November 7, 2016
(Flyer) (Schedule) (About Native Veterans)
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) will sponsor a discussion by five Native veterans and U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan on Thursday in celebration of Native American Heritage Month, which this year is honoring Native veterans and traditional warriors.
The event will kick off with opening comments by U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, Bill Thomas and Ozzie Sheakley, followed by a screening of Hunting in Wartime, a documentary by Samantha Farinella that profiles the lives of Tlingit veterans from Hoonah who fought in the Vietnam War. In the film, the veterans talk about surviving trauma, relating to Vietnamese communities, readjusting to civilian life and serving a government that systematically oppresses Native people.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Native veterans Donald See, George Lindoff, Fred Bennett and Warren Sheakley and Sen. Sullivan, who has a long and distinguished record of military and national security service. He is currently an infantry officer and lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. The panel discussion will be moderated by Southeast Alaska Native Veterans Commander Ozzie Sheakley.
The free lecture is scheduled at noon on Thursday, Nov. 10, at the Walter Soboleff Building in Juneau. Everyone is welcome.
About Native Veterans
Alaska Natives and American Indians have served in the U.S. Armed Forces in every major conflict since the Revolutionary War and in greater numbers per capita than any other ethnic group. During the Vietnam War, more than 42,000 Native Americans and Alaska Natives served in the U.S. military. More than 44,000 served during World War II as well. Today, an estimated 24,000 Native American and Alaska Native men and women are on active duty, and more than 150,000 veterans self-identify as American Indian or Alaska Native.
Sealaska Heritage Institute is a private, nonprofit founded in 1980 to promote cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding through public services and events. SHI also conducts social scientific and public policy research and advocacy that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history and education statewide. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars and a Native Artists Committee. Its mission is to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska.
CONTACT: Rosita Worl, SHI President, 907.463-4844
