PORT ANGELES — The Native Poets Group will read poetry inspired by the Elwha River at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Afterward, Darrell Charles will discuss his relationship with wood carving and demonstrate his art at 4 p.m.
The events, which celebrate the exhibit “Beauty and Resilience,” will be at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
The Native Poets Group, led by Brenda Francis-Thomas, has existed under several different names since before the Elwha River dams were removed.
Its anthology, “Where Thunderbird Rests His Head and Waits for the Songs of Return,” was produced to celebrate the dams’ removal.
They also published, under the leadership of Makah tribal member Tor Parker, the anthology, “Echo.”
Many of the poems at Saturday’s reading emerged from the Indian Voices Workshop led by Suz Bennett and facilitated by Alice Derry and Kate Reavey.
Copies of “Where Thunderbird Rests His Head and Waits for the Songs of Return” will be available for sale at the gallery, with all proceeds going to the Native Poets Group to support a new anthology.
Charles, a member of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, will share his story and relationship with traditional carving.
Charles, whose work is part of the “Beauty and Resilience” exhibit, also will demonstrate wood carving using his hand-forged tools.
“Beauty and Resilience — From Dismantling to Ecosystem Recovery” can be viewed from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays in the Esther Webster Gallery at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center through Sept. 8.
For more information, visit www.pafac.org.
