October 22: Big Medicine: York Outdoors with Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail and NEW Multimedia
📍PAM CUT's Tomorrow Theater, 3530 SE Division St., Portland, OR 97202
Big Medicine: York Outdoors is a 35 min. film which follows eight Black educators and environmental stewards as they retrace York’s steps on a four-day river trip along the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. On their journey to revive York’s story, they explore themes of recreation access for people of color, and the joy and healing that the outdoors can provide. After the film there will be a panel discussion with Oregon Black Pioneers’ Executive Director Zachary Stocks and other participants in the river excursion.
Big Medicine: York Outdoors explores the untold story of York, the only African American member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Enslaved by Captain William Clark, York did not choose to be part of this journey, yet his significant contributions as a hunter, guide, caretaker, and intermediary in interactions with Tribal Nations are chronicled in the journals of Expedition members as well as in accounts from the tribes they met along the way. The Arikara tribe referred to him as Big Medicine for his strength and the color of his skin.
The film is a collaborative effort between Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail and NEW Multimedia, as part of Big Medicine: The York Project, an initiative to bring York’s story to the foreground.
About York Fest
This event is part of York Fest, a Portland Monuments Project partner event being presented by the Oregon Black Pioneers.
220 years after an enslaved man named York reached present-day Portland as part of the Lewis and Clark expedition, people from Portland and beyond will gather to celebrate his legacy at York Fest. Nine days. Six events. One community.
Please note that York Fest events will be held in different venues throughout the greater Portland area. York Fest is presented by Oregon Black Pioneers, but each festival event is created and hosted by a different artist or organization.