His fascination with the culture of Indians lead him to Alaska, where he has lived since 1996. Jacek Piwowski will talk about a working Fort Knox gold mine, prestigious Iditarod sled dog teams races and the competition in which you can win 300 thousand dollars, if you guess when ice is going to crack correctly on 12th October at 5:30 PM at the Emigration Museum.

It all started with a childhood interest in Indians for Jacek Piwowski who comes from Gdynia-Grabówek. His parents said it would pass. However, it was just the opposite. As the time passed, he found more and more opportunities to get to know the culture of America’s indigenous people, In 1989, he participated in the Sacred Run organised by Dennis Banks, the founder of the American Indian Movement – a run from London to Moscow, through 13 countries. The Sacred Runs were organised by Banks since 1977, as a reference to an old, Indian tradition. In their contemporary version, their goal was to bring men closer to nature. They were a sort of prayer and meditation. At the end of the run, Banks picked one of the runners for whom he sponsored another run in Canada. This way, Jacek Piwowski ended up in America and Canada, where he participated in another two Sacred Runs. Then, he settled in Montana and later in Alaska. He has lived there for 20 years.

During the meeting, he will talk about everyday life in a place with only two seasons – summer and winter – where you can meet such huge halibuts, that they could knock a man over or where a few hour long drive is all you need to get to completely unexplored areas.

Explore the world with…

The Museum hosts meetings with unique personalities who have visited places connected with Polish emigration during their expeditions. We can listen to their stories about extreme aspects of exotic trips as well as Polish traces and situations connected with our natives, whom the guests have encountered in the most remote corners of the world.