A Forgotten Tale of American Conquest and Native Survival
Lost Nation: The Ioway, a three-part film series will kick off Winter Stories at Effigy Mounds National Monument with two showings of the films followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers, Kelly and Tammy Rundle. All three films will be shown Saturday, February 22, 2020, 1:00pm -5:00pm, and again on Sunday, February 23, 2020, 1:00pm – 5:00pm.
This will be the first time all three films will be screened together, and after each showing, filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle will host a panel discussion with the audience. Winter Stories is funded by BeWildReWild, a project of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation.
“We are thrilled to have Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films come to Effigy Mounds to present their three-part film series on the dramatic story of the Ioway people”, stated Jim Nepstad, Superintendent of Effigy Mounds National Monument. He continued, “the mounds at Effigy Mounds National Monument are not only the resting place of their ancestors but represent a physical manifestation of the resiliency of the Ioway and all the indigenous people whose ancestors rest here.”
Lost Nation: The Ioway 1, 2 and 3 explores in three films the history of the Ioway people from 1700 to the 1970s. Filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films began shooting "Lost Nation: The Ioway 1" in July 2005 and completed the project in the summer of 2007. Lost Nation: The Ioway premiered at the State Historical Building in Des Moines October 2007 and has screened throughout the country.
Ioway 1 was an Official Selection at numerous film festivals, including the Landlocked Film Festival. It won BEST DOCUMENTARY at the Cherokee International Film Festival, the Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival, and the Iowa Independent Film Festival; Second Place (out of 40 documentaries) in the "Best Documentary" category at the Beloit Independent Film Festival; HONORABLE MENTION at the Archaeology Channel's International Film Festival; and a Bronze Telly Award for "Excellence in a Television Documentary".
Lost Nation: The Ioway 2 & 3 premiered at the Natural History Museum in Iowa City in 2013. The films have won numerous film festival awards, including the Archaeology Channel's International Film Festival. “Ioway 2 & 3” were released nationally on DVD in 2013 and they have aired on PBS stations throughout the Midwest.
Synopses of the films:
Lost Nation: The Ioway 1 (1700-1836)
In 1824, during the twilight of Native American dominion, two conflicted Ioway leaders met with William Clark (of Lewis and 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. (56 min)
Lost Nation: The Ioway 2 (1837-1878)
When the Ioway were forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands to a reservation bordering Kansas and Nebraska, Ioway leader White Cloud (the Younger) believed the move would ensure survival for his people. But broken treaties, land loss, the end of communal living, and attempts to diminish their unique language and culture led to the establishment of a second Ioway Tribe and their own "trail of tears". (56 min)
Lost Nation: Ioway 3 (1879-1970s)
As two separate Nations, the Ioway entered the 20th century amid American Indian policies aimed at Native American assimilation. From the Ghost Dance to the American Indian Movement, the Ioway experienced cultural disintegration and rebirth. Successful land claims in the 1970s propelled both tribes toward greater self-determination and a revival of time-honored Native traditions. (56 min)
Effigy Mounds National Monument, Harpers Ferry, Iowa.
Winter Stories at Effigy Mounds National Monument is an exploration of American Indian storytelling rooted in the tradition that stories are told after the first frost and before the first thunder. Winter is a quiet time for reflection and remembering; storytelling opens the door.
BeWildReWild is a loosely-knit group of volunteers with a passion for wild things. It is also a special fund within Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation for the purpose of exploring three questions: What do you/we mean by wild? What lifestyle changes are needed for us to live within the bounds of sustainability? How can we create a wilder, more beautiful, more biologically diverse, and a more enduring Mississippi River Watershed? And at bewildrewild.org it is a place for visioning, debating, storytelling, teaching, and learning.
Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films are the producers of multiple award-winning historical documentaries and the Mid-America Emmy® nominated documentaries Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, Country School: One Room – One Nation, River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6 and Letters Home to Hero Street (with WQPT-PBS).
All events will take place in the Effigy Mounds National Monument Visitor Center auditorium, 151 Highway 76, Harpers Ferry Iowa. For more information contact the park at 563-873-3491.