"TOPS" Workshop Events with Chief Joseph Chasing Horse

University of Hawaiʻi
Contact:
Dr. Karen Meech, (808) 956-6828
Institute for Astronomy
Karen Rehbock, (808) 956-8566
Institute for Astronomy
Posted: Jun 14, 2002

Chief Joseph Chasing Horse will present a two hour talk and workshop on "Lakota Astronomy" starting at 9:00 a.m., Wednesday June 19, 2002 at the Hawaii Preparatory Academy on the Big Island of Hawaii. From 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. there will be a Astronomy Culture Sharing session. From 1:00-4:00 p.m. Chief Chasing Horse, together with Mr. Richard Shope, will lead a workshop on Lakota "Learning Bundles".

These events are part of the TOPS (Toward Other Planetary Systems) Workshop presently being held on the islands of Oahu and Hawaii (June 10-28). TOPS is an astronomy program that explores worlds past and present. It is for teachers and high school students from Hawaii and the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands.

Members of the news media are welcome to attend these sessions. Please contact Mrs. Karen Rehbock at 808-956-8566 for further information.

Mr. Richard Shope is the Education and Public Outreach Coordinator of the Outer Planets/Solar Probe project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. He is the Education and Outreach coordinator for the Europa Orbiter Project as well as coordinator for the VOICES (Validating Outreach Innovations for Community and Educational Services) program. Mr. Shope has also joined forces with Lakota elder, Chief Joseph Chasing Horse, to develop materials to educate Lakota youth about NASA space science.

Joseph Chasing Horse is a Native American cross-cultural consultant from the Black Hills of South Dakota. He is an Ambassador to the United Nations for the Lakota Sioux Nations, an ordained Sundance Chief and a descendant of the great Spiritual Leader, Crazy Horse. He serves as an emissary to Mr. Arvol Looking Horse, the 19th caretaker of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe.

Mr. Chasing Horse is an internationally known Native American Cultural consultant and a gifted speaker. He has worked with NASA on educational and environmental issues. As a cross-cultural consultant he has assisted the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in developing Lakota star knowledge curriculum. He also serves as liaison between NASA and many traditional Indian communities, including the Navajo (Dine') Nation, and as far reaching at the Nahaut of Mexico and the Athabascan of Alaska.

With inspired vision, Mr. Chasing Horse is responsibly committed to the well-being of the next seven generations. For the last 14 years Mr. Chasing Horse has sponsored thousands of youth to attend the annual Spring Gathering Ceremony in the Black Hills of North Dakota, promoting cultural awareness through education. He remains instrumental concerning the cultural preservation and renaming of Native American sacred sites. In 1999, he led many nations on a 500 mile spiritual walk from the Black Hills to Yellowstone Park. With over 25 years of Sundance Ceremony experience, Joseph Chasing Horse has played an integral role in Native American cultural revival.

For more information, visit: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu