Winter Tales Concert

• Event Date: Saturday, February 13, 2016
• Time: 2:00 pm–3:30 pm (CST)
• Location: Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
• Cost: $5

• Performance
• Family-Friendly tag

Join us for one of the Museum's most popular annual events, a concert of American Indian tales, told during the winter months, the traditional time of telling. This year's teller is Fred Shaw. Fred, also known as Neeake, is of Shawnee descent and is a keeper of stories and traditions as a Truth Teller (Olammapise). He has presented storytelling, historical enactments, and multi-cultural programs for public and private schools, universities, museums, churches and synagogues, conservation groups, the IRS, state departments of natural resources, and other venues nationally and internationally. Neeake was one of ten American Indian storytellers to share stories at the first-ever national American Indian storytelling festival at Corn Island. He has been a featured teller at the Eiteljorg Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of Western Expansion in the St. Louis Arch, Cahokia Mounds, and many other national venues.

Fred was born in 1950 and raised on the farm that had been in his family since his Shawnee ancestors changed their names to hide in plain sight. He is a graduate of Ohio University and completed his graduate work through the Methodist Theological School in Delaware, OH. Fred is a lifelong explorer of knowledge and a noted expert in storytelling, U.S. 18th & 19th Century history, first-person historical interpretation, conservation of endangered wildlife, and photography. He is a published author in the fields of history, animal conservation, photography, and Biblical studies.

Fred is a retired United Methodist pastor, having served the churches of the West Ohio Conference since 1969. He co-chairs a ten-state group of American Indian leaders who work with the spiritual and physical needs of American Indian people in their area. Fred is the Executive Director for a national licensing program accredited by the Methodist Theological School, Delaware, OH, for American Indian pastors who maintain their traditional cultures.

Winter Tales concerts are sponsored by an endowment from Reginald and Gladys Laubin.