The Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH) is pleased to announce This Valley Is Sacred: The Ancestors Are Speaking, a multi-faceted exhibition sharing both the harsh realities and the beauty of Native existence as experienced by the tribal groups that call the Antelope Valley their ancestral home. The exhibition will be on view from Saturday, May 11, 2024, through Sunday, August 11, 2024. In addition to the public reception held on Saturday, May 11, 2024 from 2 to 4 PM, a special public engagement event, Native Antelope Valley, hosted by our Native American Advisory Council will occur Sunday May 19, 2 to 4 PM.

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This Valley Is Sacred: The Ancestors Are Speaking, curated by Bruce Love, PhD, with Latipa, Director of the Memory and Resistance Laboratory at the University of California, Riverside, has been three years in preparation, spearheaded by the Lancaster Museum of Art and History’s Native American Advisory Council, representatives from the seven tribes that call the Antelope Valley home. Visitors will be transported through time in a series of curated experiences from the dawn of creation to the period of pre-invasion abundance, followed by the atrocities of forced labor in the missions, the almost extermination by soldiers and militias and land theft by settlers, followed by the resilience, recovery, and cultural revival of Native peoples today.

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This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities and is also supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Check back for an Eventbrite link to sign up for each event

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Native Antelope Valley
Sunday, May 19 | Museum of Art and History | 2 - 4 PM
A Native led panel discussion and walkthrough of This Valley Is Sacred: The Ancestors Are Speaking.

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Big Time Gathering - Opening Ceremony
Saturday, May 25 | Prime Desert Woodland Preserve | 10 AM - 4 PM
A celebration including craft vendors, storytellers, dancers, singers, drummers, and workshops.

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All Native Rock Concert
Saturday, May 25 | MOAH:CEDAR | 5 - 10 PM
A concert featuring performances by Jessa Calderon, Tracy Lee Nelson, and Supul Weh followed by headliner, Sage Against the Machine.

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Big Time Gathering - Closing Ceremony
Sunday, May 26 | Prime Desert Woodland Preserve | 7 - 10 AM