The Center of Southwest Studies and the Native American & Indigenous Studies Department at Fort Lewis College will host a free virtual book discussion with authors Edison Eskeets and Jim Kristofic on Wednesday, March 24th at 4:00 pm via Zoom. Pre-registration is required, please visit swcenter.fortlewis.edu/events/upcoming-events

Eskeets and Kristofic will discuss their book, "Send A Runner: A Navajo Honors the Long Walk." In 2018, to acknowledge the 150th anniversary of the Long Walk, the forced removal of the Diné people to a military-controlled reservation, Edison Eskeets and his family organized a ceremonial run from Canyon de Chelly, AZ to Santa Fe, NM in order to deliver a message and to honor the survivors of the Long Walk. The book tells the story of a Navajo family using the power of running to honor their ancestors, and the power of history to explain why the Long Walk happened. Hardcover pre-orders can be made at Maria’s Bookshop in downtown Durango.

Edison Eskeets is a former All-American runner, coach, artist, and teacher who has been running in the Southwest for over fifty years. He is the first Navajo trader to manage the Hubbell Trading Post, the oldest continuously operating trading post in Navajo country. Jim Kristofic grew up on the Navajo Reservation in northeastern Arizona. He is the author of "Navajos Wear Nikes: A Reservation Life" and "Medicine Women: The Story of the First Native American Nursing School," among other titles, all published by UNM Press.

The Center of Southwest Studies, now in its fifty-seventh year, provides an active program of free public lectures and events within its museum, research library, and archives facility on the campus of Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. For more information, please contact the Center’s business office at 970-247-7456 or visit http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu