Index of University Press Releases

Mar. 12, 2008

White Face to speak about Bear Butte preservation efforts

Charmaine White Face (Zumila Wobaga)

MITCHELL – Charmaine White Face, Zumila Wobaga, will speak at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19 in the Sherman Center about the sacred nature of Bear Butte and the ongoing efforts to protect it.

She founded and coordinates Defenders of the Black Hills, an all-volunteer, nonprofit corporation. Defenders was awarded the International Nuclear Free Future Award in Salzburg, Austria.

White Face is active in the recognition of the legality of treaties made between Native American nations and the United States, and the protection and restoration of the environment, particularly in the Upper Great Plains area. She serves as the spokesperson of the Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council.

She is a freelance writer, published author and essayist. Her columns appear in many local newspapers and Native American newspapers including Indian Country Today and The Lakota Journal. She has also been published in magazines such as Native Peoples Magazine and Winds of Change. She has taught science and math at the college level, including classes in environmental science.

White Face’s presentation is underwritten by the Native American Lecture Fund at DWU, and Oyate Ho Waste, the American Indian club at Dakota Wesleyan University, is hosting the event. Oyate Ho Waste is also holding an Indian taco sale from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. that day, and proceeds from the sale will go to the Bear Butte Land Trust Fund that is maintained by Defenders of the Black Hills.

White Face may be contacted at bhdefenders@msn.com. The Oyate Ho Waste club is advised by John Husman, assistant professor of history at DWU.