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Syracuse University and the Onondaga Nation will hold events all day Monday to celebrate Indigenous People’s Day.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day recognizes the resilience and diversity of Indigenous people in the United States. Last year, President Joe Biden was the first U.S. president to issue a presidential proclamation marking Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

“Native peoples challenge us to confront our past and do better, and their contributions to scholarship, law, the arts, public service, and more continue to guide us forward,” Biden wrote in this year’s proclamation.

Art installation unveiling
Shaw Quadrangle, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Onondaga Nation member and artist Brandon “Ganyada·kda” Lazore will unveil his commissioned public artwork, entitled Gayaneñhsä•ʔgo•nah (“The Great Law of Peace”), on Indigenous People’s Day.

Lazore, who is a self-taught graffiti artist, said “Gayaneñhsä•ʔgo•nah” attempts to educate viewers on a deeper and less-known version of Haudenosaunee history. The artwork also celebrates Haudenosaunee peoples’ contribution to governing concepts and principles fundamental to the U.S., including democracy, peace, harmony, respect of nature and women’s rights, according to an SU news release.

Lazore also painted the Two Row Wampum 400 Year Anniversary Mural in 2013 for the 400th anniversary of the Two Row Wampum Treaty, an agreement between the Haudenosaunee and Dutch immigrants.

Santiago Noblin | Design Editor

Celebration on the Quad
Shaw Quadrangle, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

SU’s Office of Multicultural Affairs will hold a celebration on Monday featuring Haudenosaunee singers and dancers from Indigenous Students at Syracuse and SU’s Native Student Program, as well as learning opportunities about Indigenous history.

Celebration and refocus event
Everson Museum of Art, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The Central New York Women of Italian and Syracuse Heritage and the Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation will hold “Indigenous People’s Day: Celebration and Refocus on Onondaga Land,” featuring Haudenosaunee speakers and singers, Onondaga Nation vendors and a series of short films co-sponsored with the Urban Video Project and Lightwork SU.

The event will close with the Reforce short film series, which centers on Haudenosaunee culture. Gwendolen Cates and Ryan Mackie, who each directed one of the event’s three short films, will be in attendance to speak with the audience along with Onondaga Legal Nation Counsel Joe Heath.

Esports Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebration
Barnes Center at the Arch room 046, 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The Barnes Center at the Arch is featuring video games focusing on Inidgenous life in its Esports room. The event will feature titles like “Never Alone,” a single-player game based on the stories of 40 Alaska Native elders from the Iñupiat tribe.

Published on October 10, 2022 at 12:07 am