The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, also known as OLLI at UNL, in conjunction with the Center for Great Plains Studies, will host the documentary film “Return of the Pawnees” at 19 hours on Monday, October 24. at the Center for Great Plains Studies, 1155 Q St.
The story of Roger Welsch’s reconciliation and the re-emergence of Pawnee culture in Nebraska is told in the short film “Return of the Pawnees”. In 2007, Roger and his wife, Linda Welsch, did what few descendants of European immigrants have done in America’s 500-year history. They returned their land on the River Loup near Dannebrog to its original owners, the Pawnees. It belonged to the Pawnee people before the US government forcibly removed and relocated them to Oklahoma in 1875.
Roger Welsch, author, humorist, folklorist and master storyteller, died at the age of 85 on September 30. Welsch was a correspondent for the CBS show New Sunday Morning from 1987 to 1996, with segments of “Postcards from Nebraska”. Welsch was an honorary member of the Pawnee Nation and served as a Pawnee representative on the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs.
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The film is co-produced by Margaret Jacobs, director of the Center for Great Plains Studies, and Keven Abourezk, Lincoln journalist, activist and member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Charles “Boots” Kennedye, an Oklahoma-based filmmaker and member of the Kiowa tribe, is the director of the film. Jacobs and Abourezk will be the speakers at the event.
The moderator will be Georgiana “George” Lee, a member of the Diné (Navajo) tribe. Lee is the Director of Programs and Projects for Vision Maker Media, a leading source for financing, developing, producing, and distributing Native American and Alaska Native public broadcast programming.
The event is free and open to the public. Registration is mandatory and can be done at https://cehs25.unl.edu/wconnect/ace/quickpick.awp or by calling the OLLI office at 402-472-6265.
OLLI at UNL is a member-driven organization committed to providing and promoting quality learning experiences, events and travel opportunities for adults 50+ who believe that “curiosity doesn’t take never retire. For more information about OLLI at UNL, visit https://olli.unl.edu.