August 26, 2008

American folk artists to share native customs, traditions at Purdue

Kevin Locke
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The program, titled "National Living Treasures," is presented by Purdue Convocations as part of its World Stage series.

The National Heritage Awards, established in 1982 by the National Endowment for the Arts, honor American folk artists whose diverse cultural traditions have transcended their beginnings to become part of the national character. In the past two and half decades, more than 300 folk and traditional artists - including Kevin Locke and Mary Louise Defender Wilson - have received the Heritage Award and are considered National Living Treasures.

"A visionary hoop dancer and preeminent player of the indigenous Northern Plains flute, storyteller Kevin Locke mesmerizes audiences with his fluid dancing and inspirational stories from the Lakota Sioux," said Abby Eddy, director of marketing for Purdue Convocations. "Growing up on the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota, Locke was trained in all forms of Lakota musical, oral and dance traditions. As a young man, he lived with an elderly uncle who spoke only Lakota and taught his nephew both the language and traditions of his culture. Locke learned many courting and love songs by hearing them sung. From elders in the tribe, he learned to make and play traditional wooden flutes."

Locke has devoted much of his life to preserving the traditions of his people and has traveled the world doing so. He was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship in 1990 due in part to his role in the revival of the indigenous flute tradition, which had teetered on the brink of extinction, Eddy said. 

"As a folk artist, he is often characterized as being oriented from a tribal-specific background only, but Locke shares a profound sense of the universality of the human spirit and its inclination toward harmony, balance, beauty and peace," she said. "It is this universal spirit that Locke strives to convey through his stories, music, humor, dances and workshops."

Locke has performed and lectured in nearly 80 countries. His concerts and presentations at performing arts centers, festivals, schools, universities, conferences, state and national parks, monuments and historic sites, powwows and reservations number in the hundreds annually. For this performance, Native American drummer Doug Goodfeather will join Locke.

A native of rural North Dakota, Mary Louise Defender Wilson was born into a family of storytellers. Today, she relates traditional stories from her Dakotah-Hidatsa heritage.

She has taught Dakotah storytelling through the North Dakota Council on the Arts Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, gives lecture demonstrations throughout the region and educates teachers in Dakotah-Hidatsa storytelling and culture. She has produced a radio program to teach the Siouan language and to promote the intellectual value of traditional knowledge.

Defender Wilson has been widely recognized for her accomplishments, serving as a board member for Arts Midwest, the North Dakota Council on the Arts and the North Dakota Centennial Commission.

For the past 25 years, the National Endowment for the Arts has honored master artists and tradition bearers with National Heritage Fellowships, the federal government's highest form of recognition of folk and traditional artists. This program is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts presented with support from the Darden Restaurants Foundation and the Darden family of restaurants, including Red Lobster and Olive Garden.

Tickets for the event are $26 for adults and $19 for children 18 years and younger, Purdue students and Ivy Tech Lafayette students. Tickets are available at the Elliott Hall and Stewart Center box offices at (765) 494-3933 or (800) 914-SHOW. Tickets are also available through Ticketmaster outlets. Discounted tickets for groups of 10 or more can be ordered at (765) 496-1977.

Writer: Christy Jones, (765) 494-1089, christyjones@purdue.edu

Source: Abby Eddy, (765) 494-5045, aeeddy@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: Photo of Mary Louise Defender Wilson is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2008/defender-wilson08LO.jpg

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