Contact: Miranda Fredrick 573-751-9392 miranda.fredrick@dnr.mo.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Arrow Rock State Historic Site hosts first Saturday Lecture Kiowa Oral History: Approaching the Santa Fe Trail March 7
JEFFERSON CITY, MO, MAR. 3, 2020 – Arrow Rock State Historic Site invites the public to attend the First Saturday Lecture titled "Kiowa Oral History: Approaching the Santa Fe Trail" at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 7.
Leon Hawzipta Jr., is a retired educator from Holdenville, Okla. Hawzipta is 4/4 Kiowa-Comanche and a traditional Native American storyteller. He learned from his grandmother traditional stories that had been passed down for generations. Storytelling presentations focus on old stories about creation, trickster heroes, life, death, animals, insects, disease, survival, hunting, courtship, moral lessons, cultural changes and history.
From 1822 through the 1860s, traders from central Missouri’s "Boonslick County" traveled the Santa Fe Trail to New Mexico seeking wealth. The trail passed directly through the territory of the Kiowa and Comanche. Some interactions between the traders and the American Indians were amicable, but others were not.
Hawzipta’s presentation will highlight how the Kiowa viewed the natural world and the historical events that impacted their culture.
The lecture is part of the First Saturday Lecture series and will be held at the visitor center. The event is free to the public.
Arrow Rock State Historic Site is located north of Interstate 70 and west of Columbia at 39521 Visitor Center Drive, in Arrow Rock. For more information about the event, call the site office at 660-837-3330.
For more information on state parks and historic sites, visit www.mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.