Matthew "Sitting Bear" Jones

Matthew "Sitting Bear" Jones

To help celebrate Native American Heritage Month, Native Historian and Storyteller Matthew "Sitting Bear" Jones spent Tuesday, November 17, at Peru State College.

The program commemorating national Native American Heritage month was brought to campus courtesy of the Education Department of the Durham Museum in Omaha, NE.

The Durham Museum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the American heritage and to the enrichment of area citizens through sharing world-class exhibits and speakers.

The Durham enjoys reciprocal relationships with the Chicago Field Museum, The Smithsonian Institute, the National Archives and the Library of Congress. You should visit the museum's web site.

While on campus, Matthew visited two classes and talked with members of the college community in the College Theater.

You can view and download images from Matthew's discussions and stories from the collection I posted.

I was thrilled to see Matthew "Sitting Bear" Jones back on campus, for Matthew is an entertaining and seasoned teller of Kiowa tales.

I recorded a couple of Matthew's tales, including this one, "How the Bobcat Got its Tail," a fitting story about the mascot of the Campus of a Thousand Oaks.



In addition, I filmed Matthew's performance of a story about "How Death Entered The World," the telling of which he began in his native language, Kiowa.

I filmed this story from the balcony, but since Matthew performed on the floor and not on the state, his hat hides his eyes.