Department of Philosophy and Religion

  2001-2002

Colloquium Series     

Wednesday, March. 13, 2002

2:30 p.m. - ASH 101

Messenger Snakes Bring Prophecies:
The Environmental Writings of Leslie M. Silko

Presented by

Dr. Barbara Robins

 Professor of English UNOmaha

Crossing literary and visual genres, Leslie M. Silko (Laguna Pueblo) uses themes of contemporary environmental degradation in a context of traditional tribal images and stories. Even when exploring the pending doom of exploitative societies, Silko imagines opportunities for healing relationships that focus on an individual’s ability to connect intimately with the earth.
 

Barbara K. Robins teaches courses in Native American literature and contemporary visual arts. A native of Eastern Montana, she studied visual art at the University of Montana-Missoula, earning her B.F.A. in 1982. She earned a masters in Native American Literature from New Mexico State University in 1992 and an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in 2001 from the University of Oklahoma.

Robins has Cherokee ancestry and is actively involved in cultural recovery both personally and as part of UNOmaha’s Native American Studies program.