Exhibit in Aurora examines African-Native American lives

An opening reception for “IndiVisible: African-Native American Lives in the Americas,” a Smithsonian Institution traveling display at Aurora University's Schingoethe Gallery, will be from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 13, at the gallery in Dunham Hall, 1400 Marseillaise Place in Aurora.

The reception and exhibit on display to Feb. 27 are free.

The 20-panel exhibit was produced by the National Museum of the American Indian in collaboration with the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, with generous support from Akaloa Resource Foundation and the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.

Through the themes of policy, community, creative resistance and lifestyles, the display includes stories of cultural integration and the struggle to define and preserve identity.

The daily cultural practices that define the African-Native American experience through food, language, writing, music, dance and the visual arts are also highlighted.

The exhibition was curated by leading scholars, educators and community leaders. The display addresses the racially motivated laws that have been forced upon Native, African American and mixed-heritage peoples since the time of Christopher Columbus.

Since pre-colonial times, Native and African American peoples have built strong communities through intermarriage, unified efforts to preserve their land and by taking part in creative resistance. These communities developed constructive survival strategies over time, and several have regained economic sustainability through gaming in the 1980s. A 10-minute media piece is featured with interviews obtained during research and work on the exhibition with tribal communities across North America.

Schingoethe Center events continue at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 8 with author Art Burton's lecture, “Black, Red and Deadly: The Cherokee Frontier Police of the Indian Territory Cherokee Slave Revolt of 1842.”

Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday; and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Free parking is available adjacent to Dunham Hall.

For details, call (630) 844-7843, e-mail museum@aurora.edu or visit aurora.edu/museum.