Native American Storyteller joins Highway 2 Reception

Native American storyteller Kat High of the Hupa will share the oral tradition of California Indians on Saturday, September 27 at the opening reception for the art show Highway 2 - the journey and the destination.

Highway 2 celebrates the Angeles National Forest and the highway that takes us to its many destinations, the Angeles Crest Highway, a fifty-odd mile stretch of road that runs form La Canada to Wrightwood, reaching elevations of nearly 8,000 feet, traversing scrub and chaparral, mixed hardwood and conifer forests and climbing to sub-alpine and alpine environs at its peak.

Five tribes - the Chumash, Kitanamuk, Gabrielino/Tongva, Tatavium and Serrano Indians lived in and utilized the San Gabriels, and many of the paved roads that now cross the forest follow the original foot trails of the first Californians.

Kat High has spent a lifetime steeped in cultural preservation efforts. Her achievements include documenting and archiving but more importantly, keeping alive the cultural heritage of California Indians. Culture cannot exist in a video or document alone. A living culture is spoken, sung, danced, practiced. It has a language, roots, meaning. It is an identity.

Lacking written language, the oral tradition of Native American people demands the ability to listen, understand, absorb and repeat information accurately, and in the case of the storyteller, to dose in a way that is engaging.

Highway 2 - the journey and the destination runs from September 27 to October 18 at The Modest Fly Art Studio and Gallery, 7578 Foothill Boulevard, Tujunga 91042. It is hosted by the Native American and environmental non profit group Redbird and the Modest Fly. The opening reception takes place on Saturday, September 27 from 6 PM to 9 PM. Everyone is welcome. To preview some of the artwork that will be on display visit the Facebook group created for the show - https://www.facebook.com/groups/892278474121064/; for event details including map, https://www.facebook.com/events/968798113147190/