The Oxford Community Arts Center will be hosting "Giving Our Hearts Away," a Native American-Indian cultural diversity event, from noon to 5 p.m. Nov. 14 and from 1 to 6 p.m. Nov. 15.

The free event will feature more than 12 American Indian experts, traditional performers and artists. Some of the speakers include the award-winning author James Alexander Thom, cedar flutist Snow Owl Bunch and Shawnee potter Kosia Oshira.

The Rev. Fred Shaw, senior pastor at the Oxford United Methodist Church, organized the event and will be one of the speakers. Shaw is a member of the Shawnee tribe.

"This event is to help people know what has been handed down to them from previous generations and to know what is around them now, (all of) which is given freely to them," Shaw said.

The Oxford United Methodist Church, primary sponsor of the event, has been working on the event for a year. Other contributors include the West Ohio Conference United Methodist Committee on Native American Ministries, the Oxford Community Foundation and Oxford Youth Empowered to Serve (OYES!), according to Karen Montgomery, associate pastor at the Oxford United Methodist Church. The Oxford Community Arts Center donated all its space to the event, said Montgomery, who helped organize the event.

"We were trying to find a way to do something meaningful for our community," Montgomery said.

The idea for the event came from a two-year study by the United Methodist Church on Native American culture and history.

"We wanted to give this cultural diversity event as a gift to the Oxford community," Shaw said.

Shaw said the study and event share the name "Giving Our Hearts Away," which has a double meaning for the culture. It is a combination of a quote by Christopher Columbus and a traditional Native American story. The story explains that animals had to give their hearts away to help the human race.

"(It reminds us) that the human is the caretaker of the animals' hearts, which he is meant to share with other people," Shaw said.

Through this event Shaw hopes to share the spirit of the Native American culture through stories and art.

Shaw, who has spoken all over the world, has talked to several classes at Miami University about Native American culture.

"Students are open-minded and want to know about other cultures," Shaw said. "This is a great event to do so."

In addition to speaking for a half hour, each American Indian expert will have a table set up in the Oxford Community Arts Center so guests can speak to each of them on a more personal level. There will also be opportunities to play Native American games and eat traditional food. Featured artisans will also have items for sale. In the spirit of the culture, each child will receive a gift as well.

More information about "Giving Our Hearts Away" and a detailed list of speakers is available at http://www.oumc.org or http://www.oxarts.org.