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Pairs of feet shuffled against the bristles of the turf at Tsha’ Thoñ’nhes Arena, the Onondaga Nation Fieldhouse, on Sunday. The dancers’ feet moved throughout the entire performance, their soles never lifting, staying grounded to the Earth.

“The dance is an ode to Mother Earth and a reciprocal act of nurturing her the way she nurtures us,” Sherri Waterman-Hopper (Onondaga, Beaver Clan) said of her dance.

Waterman-Hopper, coordinator of the Haudenosaunee Singers and Dancers, and her group performed at the Indigenous Peoples’ Day festival, alongside many other artists. The festival featured Haudenosaunee creators, dancers, foods and crafts to celebrate the presence and resilience of Indigenous peoples in central New York.

While the day was based in the celebration of Indigenous peoples themselves, it was rooted in their philosophy of foregrounding the natural world. The event began and ended with the Thanksgiving Address, thanking the Earth and each life-sustaining force.

A variety of organizations like the CNY Community Foundation, the Syracuse Peace Council and the Onondaga Nation organized and sponsored the event. The celebration was intentionally set the day before Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a rejection of Columbus Day’s legacy that still overshadows the holiday, Joe Heath, general counsel for Onondaga Nation said.

Heath spoke at the event to give updates on the effort to remove and replace the monument of Christopher Columbus in downtown Syracuse.

“Columbus is not a hero,” Heath said. “He is a testament to the fact that white supremacy and colonialism still stand. It’s time for justice, time for healing and time to remove that monument.”

The removal of the Columbus statue remains an important part of the celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Andy Mager, an organizer with the Neighbors of Onondaga Nation, said. The past two years of the festival have focused more on celebrating Indigenous peoples.

“Over time, (our goal) has shifted to making the primary focus be much more about lifting up Indigenous culture, talking about our shared history and the debt that we owe to Indigenous peoples,” Mager said.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day was first designated a federal holiday in 2021, recognized alongside Columbus Day, which became a federal holiday in 1937. Syracuse’s last celebration of the day was hosted at the Everson Museum of Art.

With the hopes of having more space for the celebration, sponsors suggested the Onondaga Nation host the festival, Mager said. The change in location doubled as an opportunity for non-Indigenous community members to learn more about the land they live on.

“We thought there might be some folks who were curious about life (on the Onondaga Nation), and don’t often have the opportunity to make it down here,” Mager said.

EJ Figuerao | Contributing Photographer

One of the many Indigenous crafts featured at the Onondaga Nation Fieldhouse’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration. The festival featured several vendors who sold traditional Haudenosaunee items like strawberry drinks and beadwork.

Artist Brandon Lazore, a member of the Onondaga Nation and the Snipe Clan, said the festival was a great opportunity for Indigenous artists to showcase their talent and amplify Haudenosaunee culture. The nearly one thousand people who entered the fieldhouse on Sunday had a chance to purchase original beadwork from Onondaga artists, and even indulge in Haudenosaunee food like corn soup or its traditional strawberry drink.

“My art is based on Haudenosaunee culture so by putting it out there I can teach a little bit about who we are through our designs and patterns, stories and histories,” Lazore said.

Karenlyne Hill, a featured artist at the festival and a member of the Snipe Clan of the Onondaga Nation, said that creating art to highlight Haudenosaunee culture is healing for her. She said her beading is her “down time.”

Joining artists like Lazore and Hill, Freida Jacques — Onondaga Turtle Clan Mother — also spoke at the event to discuss Indigenous philosophy and the importance of giving thanks.

“Humans don’t do anything that the Earth cannot do,” Jacques said. “We as human beings are so lucky that the Earth provides for us in the way that it does.”

Jacques also discussed ways that Indigenous philosophies have been stifled by colonialism, speaking about the legacy of Native American boarding schools and the need to focus on “healing for peace” within Indigenous communities.

Part of that healing is in celebration, she said.

Mager said Indigenous peoples are a proud people and often celebrate themselves and their culture, so this year’s celebration is no exception. He emphasized the importance of helping the broader community understand the United States’ history of erasure and suppression of Indigenous culture.

“I’ve worked with a variety of Indigenous people, and they know who they are,” Mager said. “They’re very proud of their culture.”

Published on October 15, 2024 at 12:35 am