MUSIC, STORYTELLING, AND HISTORY!
Once again, our Community Stage will feature fantastic music and local and regional history.
WOUNDED KNEE & IMPACT OF NORTHWEST NEBRASKA
Broc Anderson is originally from Alliance, Nebraska, and found a niche for history early on through many of Mari Sandoz’s writings. Like Sandoz, Broc shares the same passion for northwest Nebraska with his own family ties, his parents lived in Gordon for years. Broc graduated from Chadron State College with a bachelors degree in Social Science Education and has since explored more of his Lakota heritage through his years of research. While a Sandoz Scholar in 2020-21, Broc built on Sandoz’s research through his master’s thesis at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, where he studied the relationships between the Lakota from Pine Ridge and non-natives in northwest Nebraska during the late nineteenth century. Broc has worked at the Trails & Rails Museum of the Buffalo County Historical Society in Kearney, and as the Director of Historic Sites for the Nebraska State Historical Society. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Mari Sandoz Society where he supports both Chadron State College and the University of Nebraska-Kearney partnerships with the society.
In his presentation, “Wounded Knee & Impact of Northwest Nebraska,” Broc describes how the northwest panhandle region, from the 1870s to the early twentieth century, had a complex economic and social relationship with the Pine Ridge Reservation. As the United States continued promoting settlement westward, the US military became the main proponents in displacing the Lakota from their land in Nebraska. Along with the droves of miners and merchants to the Black Hills, the additional free land opportunities in northwest Nebraska forcibly relocated the Lakota who continued to struggle to control their way of life. Businessmen from around the country and within the border town communities of Gordon, Rushville, Hay Springs, and Chadron sought the advantages of new economic opportunities being so close to a Native reservation. At the same time, the aggressive assimilation policies and practices of the progressive era were largely taken advantage of by individuals who sought to gain politically and economically in their dealings with the Lakota. Broc is an entertaining presenter and loves to engage with his audience.
David Boye
INSTRUMENTAL AND CLASSICAL MUSIC INSPIRED BY NATURE
David Boye is a musician, composer and National Park Artist In Residence who creates instrumental guitar music inspired by the infinite vistas and wonders of the natural world. He performs solo instrumental acoustic guitar music that evokes the moods of the wide open prairie and wilderness of Nebraska and the west. His original compositions were inspired by nature’s grandeur during residencies he participated in with the National Park Service in past years, including at Rocky Mountain National Park and Homestead National Monument. With the use of guitar “looping” (live multi-tracking) Boye creates a variety of textures and sonic palettes during performances. It is suited perfectly for concerts in natural settings, such as the Willow Tree Festival. His music incorporates recordings of found sounds from National Parks sampled on his travels throughout the United States. He tours annually in National Parklands presenting this music in a unique and uplifting program that evokes the mystery, magnificence and infinite allure of the wild beauty of the wilderness of the west.
AWARD-WINNING SINGER & SONGWRITER
Carol Markstrom is a singer-songwriter who loves performing and traveling. She lives in Tucson, Arizona and is a former professor at West Virginia University. She sings of noteworthy people, places, and events of the West, including Native American cultures. Her music has been recognized by the Academy of Western Artists, the Native American Music Association, the Red Carpet Awards in Europe, and many other awards. Carol entertains audiences across the U.S., including Alaska, as well as Europe.
Willow Tree Festival 