To commemorate November’s American Indian Heritage Month, Town Creek Indian Mound will present the “Movies at the Mound Series” on four Sunday afternoons throughout the month. On November 1, 8, 15, and 22, visitors will have the opportunity to watch films that give insight into the culture of American Indians. The films are produced by Rich-Heape Films, Inc., which was founded in 1994 to “inform, educate and encourage awareness of Native Peoples, and to preserve the history and culture of the American Indian.”
“Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy” will be shown on Nov. 1 from 4 to 6 p.m. The movie recounts the dark period of President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act and the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation to the Indian Territory in 1838, known as the “Trail of Tears.”
On Nov. 8 from 4 to 5:30 p.m., “Our Spirits Don’t Speak English: Indian Boarding School,” will provide an American Indian perspective on Indian Boarding Schools and the U.S. Government policy which took Indian children from their homes, forced them into boarding schools and enacted a policy of educating them in the ways of western society.
The series continues on Nov. 15 with the showing of “The Romance of a Vanishing Race” from 4 to 5:30 p.m. The film includes three historic motion pictures of American Indians and their lifestyle in the early 1900s, as well as footage of Tribal chiefs who participated in the last great Indian council and several who fought at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
The final two films in the series will be shown on Nov. 22. From 2 to 3 p.m. “How to Trace Your Native American Heritage” will share with viewers how to search out Native American ancestors, obtain tribal citizenship, and how to research the Dawes Rolls. From 4 to 5 p.m., children will enjoy the movie “Tales of Wonder” (as seen on PBS) which showcases American Indian stories for children, as told in the American Indian tradition by acclaimed storyteller and linguist Gregg Howard.
The “Movies at the Mound Series” is free and open to the public but donations are accepted. For more information, call (910) 439-6802 or email towncreek@ncdcr.gov.
Administered by the Division of State Historic Sites, Town Creek Indian Mound is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, the state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history, and culture. For more information, visit www.ncculture.com or call 919/807-7385.