October 3-9, 2010 “Native Ioway History Week”
“Lost Nation: The Ioway” Documentary Set for October 3rd Broadcast Premiere
DES MOINES, IA—Iowa Governor Chet Culver has proclaimed October 3-9, 2010 the fourth annual Native Ioway History Week (full text attached below), honoring the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, and the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma. The IPTV-PBS broadcast premiere of Lost Nation: The Ioway, the award-winning documentary by Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, will launch the historic tribute.
“The special week reminds state residents and Iowa educators to remember the American Indian people whose name the state bears,” said “Ioway” producer Kelly Rundle.
The film takes viewers on an unforgettable and vivid journey into America's Native past and present. In 1824, during the twilight of Native American dominion, two conflicted Ioway leaders met with William Clark to sign a momentous treaty. White Cloud (Mahaska) saw cooperation as survival for his people, while Great Walker (Moanahonga) regretted the loss of their ancestral homeland. This pivotal moment led both men to different tragic destinies in their battle with epic change.
Ioway Elders join historians and archaeologists to tell the dramatic and true story of the small tribe that once claimed the territory between the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers from Pipestone, Minnesota to St. Louis. What was a quest for survival in the past, has become a struggle to retain a unique Native American culture and language in the present.
The documentary has drawn national attention to the tribes’ little-known history and a sequel project, currently in production, will be released in 2012. The two additional one-hour films will complete the Ioways’ epic story.
In addition to the broadcast premiere on IPTV October 3rd, at 6:00 p.m., Lost Nation: The Ioway will show on IPTV World on October 4th and 26th at 8pm and is slated for broadcasts in Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin in November 2010.
Ioway was funded in part by Humanities Iowa, the Kansas Humanities Council, the Nebraska Humanities Council, the Oklahoma Humanities Council, and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and Smokestacks National Heritage Area.
Fourth Wall Films is a film and video production company based in Moline, Illinois. The Rundles, who focus primarily on Midwestern history subjects, previously produced the critically-acclaimed Villisca: Living with a Mystery and will release their documentary Country School: One Room – One Nation in November 2010. They are currently co-producing the documentary Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg with Emmy-nominated filmmaker Garry McGee.
Visit: FourthWallFilms.com or IowayMovie.com for more information.
Proclamation text:
STATE OF IOWA
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
In the Name and By the Authority of the State of Iowa
PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS members of the Ioway Tribe and their ancestors were the stewards of more than 60,000 square miles, including all of what is now known as the State of Iowa, for nearly 1,000 years; and
WHEREAS the Ioway Tribe has made significant cultural and historical contributions to Iowa and the United States of America; and
WHEREAS the Ioway and all other Native American tribes were removed from the territory before Iowa became a State; and
WHEREAS the State of Iowa is named for the Ioway Tribe; and
WHEREAS Iowans are generally unaware of the historical and present-day contributions of the Ioway; and
WHEREAS there is no formal instruction in Iowa public schools regarding the role of the Ioway people in American history; and
WHEREAS The Ioway people presented gifts to the people of the State of Iowa on October 12, 2007 at the State Capitol; and
WHEREAS the broadcast premiere of "Lost Nation: The Ioway" will be October 3, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. on Iowa Public Television with November broadcasts to follow on IPTV and stations throughout the Midwest; and
WHEREAS Fourth Wall Films has begun production on two one-hour sequel documentary films that will complete the story of the Ioway nations; and
AND WHEREAS October 7, 2010 is the 173rd anniversary of the No Heart Map, a hand drawn map presented to officials in Washington, D.C. by the Ioway to support land claims showing Ioway migration from the Great Lakes area to their ancestral home in the State of Iowa;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Chester J. Culver, Governor of the state of Iowa, do hereby proclaim October 3-9, 2010, as Native Ioway History Week.