'The Adventures of Coyote' features Native American readings Oct. 29

As part of a yearlong examination of Indian identity through the creative and performing arts on the Cornell campus, "The Adventures of Coyote," a readers theater presentation of Native American traditional stories and contemporary poetry, will be held Monday, Oct. 29, from 5 to 6 p.m. This event is free and open to the public and will be held in the Film Forum of Cornell's Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. "The Adventures of Coyote" is funded by the Cornell Council for the Arts.

Since the end of the 19th century, there have been recordings of Western U.S. Indians telling traditional stories about Coyote, a comic trickster who survives through his irreverence, intelligence, cunning and creative gifts. "The Adventures of Coyote" features stories from the earliest primary sources, where the storyteller is identified by name and tribal nationality. Also featured will be the works of talented Indian poets who paint word pictures of the wily animal.

"The Adventures of Coyote" is researched and directed by Cornell anthropology Professor Robert Ascher, who has written about the Seri Indians, the Inca and the earliest Indian inhabitants of the American West and Southwest. The readers are: Peter Civetta, a second-year doctoral candidate in theater, having previously worked for 10 years as a professional actor; Vilma Santiago-Irizarry, associate professor of anthropology and former professional dancer; and Kay WalkingStick, professor of art, who has had 30 solo exhibits nationwide and has participated in group exhibits throughout the world.

For more information about the yearlong "Indians' Indians: (Re)Presentation of Native American People in the Arts" program, visit http://www.arts.cornell.edu/cca/indiansindians.