Local Native American tale featured at fundraising premiere Thursday
Icicle Creek Center for the Arts will be giving the community its first look at A Winter’s Tale, a short documentary that captures a powerful story as told by Randy Lewis, a Native American elder and master storyteller.
The film will be shown at the Liberty Cinema in downtown Wenatchee at 7 p.m., Thursday and will feature comments and reflections by Lewis, Arnold Cleveland and geologist Nick Zentner. Tickets are $10 at the door. It will be a fundraiser to help support the ongoing effort of telling the stories of the Native Americans who populated these lands 10,000-plus years before Europeans arrived.
Lewis collaborated with historian Bill Layman on a book, Red Star and Blue Star Defeats Spexman. The story takes place before humans inhabited the land. The twins, Red Star and Blue Star, born at the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers, are whisked away to a cave in Moses Coulee where they receive their spirit power. Upon emerging from the cave, Coyote charges the twins with the daunting task of confronting and slaying Spexman, a dreaded water monster who devoured all who would come downriver.
A number of well-known geologic features in North Central Washington are part of this tale, so it connects us with a rich history of our region.
The film was filmed and edited by a group of volunteer students from the valley who were working out of the Wenatchee Valley Technical Skills Center with the school’s video guru, Eric Link and several video professionals who volunteered their time.
This 23-minute documentary is a tribute to a wonderful collaboration of students, professionals and local Native American storytellers.
This effort is worthy of our financial support. It’s the first of several stories that will connect us with a past that brings to life the rich geology and history of this region.
