The Black Hawk Performance Company will perform at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 1, in the Prairie Room of the Bone Student Center at Illinois State University.
The family-friendly event, which will include dance, music, and narration, is free and open to the public. The event is sponsored by TRIBE@ISU, the Multicultural Center, and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
Named in honor of the great Sac tribal leader Black Hawk and black hawks across the state, the Black Hawk Performance Company was founded in 1984 by the late award-winning Zuni/Isleta artist Carlos Peynetsa and is the oldest American Indian dance company in Chicago.
The artistic director of the Black Hawk Performance Company is Dr. Dorene Wiese (Chippewa), who is also the Chief Executive Officer at American Indian Association of Illinois. The company seeks to honor the ground they dance on, Mother Earth, and the ancestral tribes of Illinois and other tribes who made Illinois their home. The performers in the company will share multiple native cultures with those in attendance. Members present oral history, storytelling, flute playing, and traditional Native American dance in their presentations. The company, along with the Drum Group Been Nah Un Den Nah, have a home at the American Indian Association of Illinois.
Those with questions can contact TRIBE co-advisor Dr. Shannon Epplett.
See a performance here: Pow Wow at the NVAM:
