News Release

Ioway Images Then and Now

Woodland Union II

Reuben Ironhorse-Kent

News Release Date: March 5, 2020

Contact: Jessica Pope, 563-873-3491 ext. 121

Effigy Mounds National Monument is honored to present artist, activist and musician Reuben Ironhorse-Kent, speaking on Ioway Images Then and Now, a discussion of the stories embedded in images and art. Mr. Ironhorse-Kent’s presentation will take place at 1:00pm, both Saturday and Sunday, March 14^th and 15^th, 2020 at Effigy Mounds National Monument Visitor Center located at 151 Highway 76, Harpers Ferry Iowa. These presentations are the third event in the park’s Winter Stories festival.

Reuben Ironhorse-Kent is an enrolled member of the Iowa tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. Reuben honed his artistic skills at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he received a Three-Dimensional Fine Arts degree in 1988. As a sculptor, Reuben is known for making hand-built pots and sculptures using the Raku firing method. Reuben has received many awards for his pottery sculptures at events such as the Tulsa Indian Art Festival, Red Cloud Art Show, Eight Northern Indian Arts and Crafts Show, the Lawrence Indian Art Show, The Native American Indian Cultural Foundation, and Southern Plains Indian Museum and Crafts Center. His work appears in several American Indian books and publications. In addition to his pottery skills, Reuben is a painter and carves, plays and decorates flutes.

Storytelling is a critical component of American Indian culture.  It is through story that community history and values are passed on forging vital connections between the past and present as well as charting a course for the future. Storytelling is a fundamental human activity grounding people to place and culture. It reminds us of those inextricable ties to the land, our own wild nature and of who we are as individuals and communities.

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. Winter Stories examines multiple avenues for storytelling: traditional oral storytelling; modern day cinematography, as well as images and art.

Winter Stories is funded by BeWildReWild, a project of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. 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?

All events will take place in the visitor center auditorium. For more information contact the park at 563-873-3491.


Winter Stories Schedule of Events:

February 22, 2020
1:00pm – 5:00pm
Fourth Wall Films, Tammy and Kelly Rundle
Lost Nation: The Ioway Parts 1 -3

February 23, 2020
1:00pm – 5:00pm
Lost Nation: The Ioway Parts 1 -3

February 29, 2020
1:00pm – 3:00pm
Bill Quackenbush, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin
“Ho-Chunk Oral Stories: Are They Still Relevant Today?”

March 14, 2020
1:00pm – 3:00pm
Reuben Ironhorse-Kent, Artist, Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
Ioway Images Then and Now

March 15, 2020
1:00pm – 3:00pm
Reuben Ironhorse-Kent, Artist, Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
Ioway Images Then and Now

March 21, 2020
1:00pm – 3:00pm
Thunder Revolution Studios, Justin Deegan
Honoring Tribal Legacies

March 22, 2020
2:00pm – 3:00pm (Note change in start time)
Lance Foster, Vice-Chairman Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
Ioway Storytelling

March 28, 2020
1:00pm
Jack Meggars
The Burial

March 29, 2020
1:00pm
Jack Meggars
The Burial