Climate Conversations – Food Sovereignty in the Desert: Reclaiming Traditional O’odham Foodways

Virtual AZ, United States

Traditional foodways of the Tohono O’odham are inextricably linked to their ancestral lands in the Sonoran Desert. O’odham knowledge of hunting, farming, and harvesting wild foods has evolved over generations and continues to adapt to the land. How are communities sharing contemporary cultivation methods? How is climate change affecting traditional foodways? What can we learn […]

Jocks and Nerds: Stereotypes in Our Everyday Lives with Derek Keith

Phoenix Public Library - Ocotillo Branch 102 W Southern Ave, Phoenix, United States

What we imagine a “jock” or a “nerd” to be is shaped by media representations and popular culture. What people experience in their everyday lives, however, often differs from these representations, yet stereotypes are powerful. Stereotypes often lead to biases, or behavior in favor or against a group of people. Sometimes it is a conscious […]

Maria Urquides: Mother of Bilingual Education with Jan Cleere

Virtual AZ, United States

Maria Urquides’ Hispanic background made her the ideal teacher for Arizona’s bilingual schools, although she readily admitted she might go to hell for being ordered to punish students for speaking Spanish in the classroom. She stepped on more than a few administrative toes to attain her goal of promoting bilingual/bicultural education to children of all […]

Rivers of Dreams: Songs and Stories of Arizona’s Waterways with Jay Cravath

Fountain Hills Library 12901 North La Montana Drive, Fountain Hills, United States

The Colorado, the Gila, the Salt, the Verde, the Hassayampa, the Santa Cruz: Arizona’s rivers were lush green ribbons of life flowing through a desert landscape. They became sustaining paths for indigenous traders and immigrants leaving wagon tracks and settlements. The Hohokam built vast canals from the Salt to direct irrigation water for crops. European […]

Cochise, Geronimo, and the Apache Wars with Gregory McNamee

Mohave Community College - Bullhead City Hargrove Library 3400 HWY 95 - 700 Building, Bullhead City, AZ, United States

Their names resound in Arizona history and pepper the of the state map, but few people know well the tangled history that surrounds the so-called “Apache Wars”, when fully half of the active U.S. Army descended on the territory to combat a relative handful of Indigenous warriors. Ironically, the Apache peoples of the Southwest had […]

Seeing the Desert with Gregory McNamee

Mohave County Library District - Lake Havasu City Branch Community Rooms A/B 1770 McCulloch Blvd, Lake Havasu City, AZ, United States

Most Arizonans are not originally from Arizona, and most come from places that are far greener and milder of climate than our desert. For many of us, it takes a shift of eye and of attitude to appreciate this hot, dry place—but once it gets into one’s soul, there’s nowhere like it. This talk explains […]

FREE

Beyond the Kitsch: The Pervasive Spirit of Our Indigenous Creative Community with Nanibaa Beck

Foothills Library 19055 N 57th Ave, Glendale, AZ, United States

Throughout the Southwest, tourists and locals encounter a range of Indigenous art, from manufactured and imported cultural appropriations to fine art in galleries and museums. The state’s creative Indigenous communities are sometimes lost in what is popularly featured as Native American Art. In this presentation, Diné jeweler Nanibaa Beck will highlight contemporary Native American Art, […]

Seeing the Desert with Gregory McNamee

Maricopa County Library - Ed Robson Branch 9330 East Riggs Road, Sun Lakes, United States

Most Arizonans are not originally from Arizona, and most come from places that are far greener and milder of climate than our desert. For many of us, it takes a shift of eye and of attitude to appreciate this hot, dry place—but once it gets into one’s soul, there’s nowhere like it. This talk explains […]

Arizona Snake Oil Salesmen, Scams, and Hoaxes with Christine Reid

Buckeye Valley Museum - 116 E. MC85, Buckeye, AZ 85326 116 East MC85, Buckeye

Entrepreneurs offering assorted “get rich quick” schemes and “cure-alls” have visited Arizona since the early days. Benefitting from tales of abundant resources in the territory, limited law enforcement and communication, a scoundrel could create enticing promises of wealth and health without much external oversight. Newspapers often fanned the hysteria only to later denounce and expose […]

Rivers of Dreams: Songs and Stories of Arizona’s Waterways with Jay Cravath

Maricopa County Library - El Mirage Branch 13513 N El Mirage Rd, El Mirage, United States

The Colorado, the Gila, the Salt, the Verde, the Hassayampa, the Santa Cruz: Arizona’s rivers were lush green ribbons of life flowing through a desert landscape. They became sustaining paths for indigenous traders and immigrants leaving wagon tracks and settlements. The Hohokam built vast canals from the Salt to direct irrigation water for crops. European […]

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