WEBINAR SERIES–The Mojave Project

THE MOJAVE PROJECT WEBINAR SERIES–Engage in four scheduled webinars coinciding with The Mojave Project exhibition at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), on view from February 25 – July 23, 2022. This online series brings together a variety of voices and perspectives, including Indigenous culture bearers, scholars, researchers, artists and activists from the Mojave Desert bioregion spanning California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. This free-to-the-public webinar series educates our audience by generating impactful conversation. Each program runs from 7 to 8:30 pm. Webinars are scheduled for Thursday evenings once per month during the run of the exhibition. 1. The Legacy of the Nevada Test Site, April 7 from 7-8:30 pm The first panel discussion of the series will explore the history of atomic weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site (NTS), its long-term environmental impacts on the desert ecosystem including the legacy atomic testing has had on the Downwinder population. The discussion will place particular emphasis on the Western Shoshone’s continued struggle to protect ancestral lands illegally seized by the federal government for the siting of the NTS during the mid-twentieth century. Panel speakers include: Dr. Valerie Kuletz, author of “The Tainted Desert: Environment and Social Ruin in the American West,” Routledge, 1998, Dr. Andy Kirk Professor and Chair @UNLV Department of History and project lead of the Nevada Test Site Oral History Project, and Kim Stringfellow, Mojave Project Director, panel moderator. Register here. 2. Big Desert Solar & Wind—But at What Cost? May 19 from 7-8:30 pm The second Sacrifice and Exploitation panel discussion features an artist and a writer, both activists, responding to the onslaught of industrial-scale renewable energy projects currently active or slated for construction in previously undeveloped desert habitats of eastern California and southern Nevada’s Mojave Desert bioregion. Panel speakers include: Kim Garrison Means, artist, educator and director of the Mystery Ranch artist residency, Searchlight, NV, Shannon Salter, UNLV Graduate Assistant, English Department, Basin and Range Watch board member, and Kim Stringfellow, Mojave Project Director, panel moderator. Register here. 3. Indigenous Perspectives of the Mojave Desert, June 23 from 7-8:45 pm The highlight of our programming series is the Indigenous Perspectives of the Mojave Desert panel discussion which includes representatives from four Native American tribal groups whose current and traditional homelands are located within the Mojave Desert. This conversation will dispel and dismantle the outdated but persistent mindset that the desert is a wasteland by sharing cultural traditions, philosophies, and personal stories that convey their deep regard and sacred connection to the lands they inhabit. Our goal is to amplify the contemporary experience of the Mojave Desert’s Indigenous people within their shared cultural landscape. Programming co-sponsors include the Native American Land Conservancy, Mojave Desert Land Trust and The Cultural Conservancy. Panel speakers include: Matthew Leivas, Sr., Salt Song singer, Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, CA, Ashley Hemmers, Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, CA/AZ/NV, Barbara Durham, Tribal Elder, Timbisha Shoshone, CA, Melissa Nelson, President Emerita, The Cultural Conservancy, Phillip Klasky, Lecturer at the Department of American Indian Studies, San Francisco State and Mojave Project contributor, Michael Madrigal, Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians, CA, Board President of the NALC will act as panel moderator. Register here. 4. African American Homesteading in Lanfair Valley, July 21 from 7-8:30 pm During the early twentieth century, twenty-three African American families filed for homesteads in the eastern Mojave at Lanfair Valley near Goffs, California. Palm Springs-based artist Barbara Gothard has been conducting extensive research on these homesteaders which has led to a body of artwork on display at the San Bernardino County Museum from February 8 – April 20, 2022. For this Transformation and Reinvention panel discussion, Gothard will be in conversation with David Nichols, who has led archaeological research at the historic homesteading site as the Cultural Resource Program Manager at the Mojave National Preserve. Claytee White, who directs the Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries, will act as panel moderator. As one of the five founders of the Las Vegas Black Historical Society Inc., White chronicles the history of the Las Vegas black community established in 1905. Register here. Click here for more information about the Mojave Project Webinar Series. This project is supported by a Humanities for All Quick Grant.