Tomorrow (June 4th), Alessandro Martire at Villa Vittoria Cultura with his book “The Thought of Native Americans”
Florence, June 3rd, 2025. The second event of the 2025 season of VILLA VITTORIA CULTURA will be held tomorrow at 6:15 PM. Once again this year, the season brings together notable figures from the world of culture and current affairs, continuing to attract an ever-growing and passionate audience. Tomorrow the spotlight will be on Alessandro Martire and his book “The Thought of Native Americans” (Giunti).
The evening will be introduced by Lorenzo Becattini, President of Firenze Fiera, following an opening speech by Giovanni Fittante, founder of Villa Vittoria Cultura. The author himself will then speak. Since 1994, Martire has led the Wambli Gleska Cultural Association, the only organization authorized in Italy and at United Nations to represent the Native American Lakota Sioux Nation, advocating for the defense and recognition of the inalienable rights of Native American people and the Lakota, in accordance with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples signed in Geneva in 2007.
Local institutions have long supported Native Peoples, signing 25 ‘friendship protocols’ through the Municipality of Florence, the Region of Tuscany and the Metropolitan City in support of the Lakota Sioux. These protocols defend the profound cultural, ethnic, environmental and ethical values of these communities, which have always honored the role and figure of women, emphasizing their sacredness.
The book traces the intense and “adventurous” life of Alessandro Martire, beginning when, as a young student in the late 1970s, he first encountered the Lakota people. Welcomed by the Elders, he embraced Native spirituality, becoming a “sun dancer and keeper of the sacred pipe”, and was entrusted with the mission of sharing their culture across the ocean. More recently, Martire served as Technical Advisor for Native Americans and played a supporting role in the film “Heads or Tails” (Testa o Croce) by Matteo Zoppis and Alessio Rigo de Righi, featuring actor Alessio Borghi and American actor John Christopher Reilly. The film was screened in the “Un Certain Regard” section at the 78th Cannes Film Festival and will have its Italian premiere in Tuscany this fall.
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