Indigneous Peoples’ Day: Celebrate and Refocus

• by Urban CNY News
• October 9, 2022

Free and open to all! Monday, October 10th, join Women of Italian and Syracuse Heritage in CNY (WISH CNY), Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON)-a project of the Syracuse Peace Council , Resilient Indigenous Action Collective (RIAC), and many more to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Onondaga territory. This exciting two-fold event features Haudenosaunee speakers, Haudenosaunee singing, Onondaga vendors, speakers and tablets representing local community groups, and a series of short films. The host for this celebration and film showing is the Everson Museum of Art (701 S State St, Syracuse). We will gather in the plaza behind the museum building, which is wheelchair accessible. In case of rain, the alternative host is Plymouth Congregational Church (232 East Onondaga St, Syracuse). Gather at 5:30 pm to mingle with vendors and event sponsors, and listen to speakers and Haudenosaunee singers. The Refocus film series begins at 7:15 PM. We begin our celebration with the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address, “the words spoken before all others,” which is given before Haudenosaunee gatherings. Our speakers include local community leaders, artists, and activists. Haudenosaunee singers will provide music for participatory Haudenosaunee social dancing prior to this year’s showing of short films in celebration of Haudenosaunee culture and recognition of the ongoing harms of colonialism in Onondaga territory. The Refocus film series will run approximately 50 minutes and be projected on the exterior wall of the Everson Museum of Art. This year, Refocus centers traditional Haudenosaunee values in regard to land. Film titles include Onondaga Nation’s The Tully Mudboils, Robin Kimmerer’s Gifts of the Land, a one-time showing of Gwendolyn Cates’ Dominion, and Ryan Mackie’s footage of the land return to Onondaga Nation- over 1000 acres in the Tully Valley. This Refocus film series is supported by  Urban Video Project/ LightWorks (SU), with thanks to  KU Commons. Event sponsors include  CNY Community Foundation, Black Artist Collective, SU Native Student Program, Alliance for a Green Economy, Unchained, Syracuse Community Choir, Syracuse Peace Council, CNY Community Foundation, and the Workers Center of CNY. FYI: Please follow all CDC Covid guidelines. We request that participants bring a mask and practice social distancing. Remember to dress for the weather and bring a folding chair, blanket, snacks, or other items of comfort as needed. Gathering spaces at the Everson plaza and Plymouth Church are ADA accessible.