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RAPID CITY, S.D. (Sept. 14, 2012) – The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Office of Multicultural Affairs will offer a Lakota bow-making workshop for students and a public show-and-tell presentation featuring Joseph M. Marshall III, widely known writer, Sicangu Lakota author, speaker, lecturer, actor and traditional bow-maker.
On Tuesday, Oct. 9, Marshall will lead a group of Mines students from the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), as well as students from Red Cloud School, Black Hills State University and other schools, through a six-hour bow-making workshop. This session will be closed to the public.
At 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 10, Marshall will present a show-and-tell, “Life Lesson of the Bow,” which is free and open to the public, in the School of Mines Surbeck Center Ballroom.
The project is made possible in part with a grant from the South Dakota Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Project director Abena Songbird, program assistant in the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA), wrote the grant proposal to help further the OMA’s mission, “which is to highlight programming and support for underrepresented students on campus. At Mines, with close to 100 Native students, we strive to represent indigenous aspects of engineering and science, and reflect back to our students that they bring a special knowledge to the table from their heritage, their families and ancestors,” Songbird said.
Born and raised on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation, Marshall’s first language is Lakota. He is a charter board member and founder of Sinte Gleska University (1971) on the Rosebud Reservation. In past years, Joseph has worked for his tribe, taught at both the high school and college levels and developed a Native American studies curriculum. Having published nine nonfiction works, three novels, an assortment of short stories and essays, along with writing several screenplays, he has become a full-time writer. Many of his publications are known worldwide in more than 10 countries and have received several awards. In addition to his writing Marshall has appeared in several documentaries and served as technical advisor and narrator for the TNT and Dreamworks television six-part mini-series “Into the West,” as well as playing the role of a Lakota medicine man in “Loved by the Buffalo.”
He practices primitive Lakota archery, having learned from his maternal grandfather the art of handcrafting bows and arrows.
“Lakota bows and arrows are as much a part of Lakota culture and heritage as songs and dances and the language. Not only examples of primitive technology, the crafting and use of bows and arrows involve philosophies directly connected to life, such as respect. One cannot learn to make and use Lakota bows and arrows without learning something about life,” said Marshall, who is also a specialist in wilderness survival.
For additional information and eligibility requirements, visit http://multicultural.sdsmt.edu/ or contact Songbird at (605) 394-1828 or at s.songbird@sdsmt.edu.