FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE:            03 September 2003

Copyright www.bogaboga.com 2002.
                 Graphic used with permission

Basque' in Knowledge: Read It, See It, Hear It, Know It
@ your library™

EXPERIENCE NEVADA ON FILM

Too tired to boogie?  Want to rest your feet after a day of conferencing and learn a little local history?  Stimulate your mind through video excursions Thursday and Friday night at the Hyatt from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. in Martis Peak Room B.  We will be showing selected videos from the popular “Nevada Experience” series, produced by Reno’s local PBS affiliate.  Thursday night’s offerings include videos on Nevada’s prehistoric past; Chinese immigrants; Wovoka and the Ghost Dance; Basque tree carvings; the history of slot machines; and information about the Vikingsholm, a local Tahoe attraction. Friday night’s offerings cover the V & T Railroad; the Pony Express; Burning Man; Reno’s divorce industry; and Paiute tribeswoman, Sarah Winnemucca.

THURSDAY NIGHT 7:00 – 9:00

"Desert Mirage" (15 min.) VC92-078 #15

"Desert Mirage" tells the story of the Indians who inhabited the shores of prehistoric Lake Lahontan, through an examination of the Graves Point petroglyphs and an exploration of Hidden Cave and other archeological evidence. 

"Yin-Shan: Silver Mountain" (Chinese immigrants) (24 min.) VC92-078 #15

"Yin-Shan: Silver Mountain" tells the story of the Chinese immigrants, who endured the hazards of the frontier and the challenges of racism while contributing to the development of Nevada.

"Wovoka" (25 min.) VC92-078 #26

"Wavoka" examines the life of Jack Wilson or Wovoka, a Paiute mystic whose visions led to the Ghost Dance Religion.  Beginning in Nevada, the religion spread to other tribes across America.  Among the most fervent disciples of this new religion were the Lakota or Sioux, whose devotion to the Ghost Dance was a contributing factor to the massacre at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

"Lertxeun Marrak" (Carvings of the Basque sheepherders) (12 min.) VC92-078 #1

The itinerant Basque sheepherders who roamed the mountains and valleys of Nevada left behind thousands of carvings on the trunks of aspen trees. "Lertxeun Marrak" examines these carvings, “both as an example of a folk art and as a documentary record of the Basque sheepherders' experiences.”

"Slots of Popularity" (13 min.) VC92-078 #1

"Slots of Popularity" presents the technological and sociological history of the “slot machine from its mechanical beginnings” to the microchip.

"Vikingsholm at Lake Tahoe" (16 min.) VC92-078 #32

Learn about this Scandinavian-style castle hidden on the shore of Lake Tahoe’s Emerald Bay, the owner Mrs. Lora Knight, and the lifestyle of the social elite of the 1920’s.

FRIDAY NIGHT 7:00 – 9:00

"The Virginia and Truckee Railroad" (29 min.) VC92-078 #4

"The Virginia and Truckee Railroad: Queen of the Short Lines" presents the fascinating eighty year history of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. Created to haul silver and gold from the Gold Hill and Virginia City areas to the mills along the Carson River near Carson City, the V & T is perhaps the most famous of all short lines in United States railroad history.

"The Pony" (20 min.) VC92-078 #8

The history and significance of the Pony Express is explored in “The Pony.” Along with old photos, scenes of Pony Express station ruins and riding reenactments, members of the National Pony Express Association tell the story of the Pony Express in Nevada.

"Burning Man" (26 min.) VC92-078 #16

Part art project and part primitive ritual, Burning Man, an event held annually in the Black Rock Desert, is documented.

"The Reno Cure"  (18 min.) VC92-078 #16

"The Reno Cure" is a look at the divorce industry in Reno, from its beginning at the turn of the century, through its heyday in the 1930's, to the present.

"It Can Be Done: Sarah Winnemucca" (29 min.) VC92-078 #13

"It Can Be Done: Sarah Winnemucca" tells the story of the spirited and controversial Paiute women, who during the 1800's fought to help her people adjust to the domination of the white settlers. Her activities brought her to national attention and helped to publicize the plight of American Indians in the West.