October brings with it Indigenous Peoples’ Day (10/14). Throughout the month of October, Ithaca.Community will be featuring content that celebrates the work of local indigenous people and promotes resources that support these communities in the region. While no single blog post could encompass the full range of diverse communities represented in the area, we hope you find the list below helpful in connecting with a few local and national communities/organizations.

“The Cayuga Nation is a member of the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois. The Haudenosaunee is an alliance of Native Nations that reside in the state of New York. The Nations that make up this confederacy are the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk and the Tuscarora. The people of the Cayuga Nation have called the land surrounding Cayuga Lake their homeland for hundreds of years.  Cayuga land lays between that of the Seneca Nation to the west and the Onondaga Nation to the east.  Archeologists have found evidence of Cayuga settlements in many areas surrounding the lake including the present-day villages of Union Springs, Aurora, Cayuga, Seneca Falls, Ithaca and Canoga.  Nya:weh.  (I am thankful)”

“The Seneca Nation of Indians has a proud and rich history. We are the largest of six Native American nations comprising the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy or Six Nations, a democratic government that pre-dates the United States Constitution.

We are known as the “Keeper of the Western Door,” for the Seneca are the westernmost of the Six Nations.  In the Seneca language we are also known as O-non-dowa-gah, (pronounced: Oh-n’own-dough-wahgah) or “Great Hill People.””

“MRC engages in cultural and systemic transformation by building with our communities to eliminate barriers to racial justice, cultural dignity, equity and inclusion, and indigenous rights.

The Multicultural Resource Center (MRC) was formed in 1987 by Marcia Fort, a woman of color and leader in the community and Eileen Brown a white ally, as a project of the Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC). It formed to address the lack of ethnic, cultural cross-community understanding in schools and communities in Ithaca by starting a multicultural resource library located in the Beverly J. Martin public elementary school…

MRC’s transformative programs, events, and projects are conducted by several coordinators and community organizers, as well as supported by student interns and community volunteers.”

“From Seeds to Wisdom is a new monthly series for kids and families in collaboration with local indigenous persons. For kids ages 6-12 and their caregiver.”

The next event is on Sunday, 10/13 at 12:30pm at the Tompkins Center for History & Culture, Ithaca College Gallery/CAP ArtSpace, 1st Floor, 110 North Tioga Street.

“The American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program (AIISP) provides a unique combination of American Indian and Indigenous Studies (AIIS) courses, student leadership opportunities and Akwe:kon, the first Native student residence hall in North America. The AIISP has affiliated faculty in the fields of Art, Art History, Anthropology, Archeology, English, Education, Fiber Science, History, Horticulture, Indigenous Studies, Linguistics, Natural Resources and Philosophy.”

“The Native American/Indigenous Studies minor covers a broad range of issues, from the historically constructed and contested nature of individual identities to issues of cultural and historical representation, social justice, and struggles for racial redress. While the primary focus of the minor is on the experiences of Indigenous peoples, its overall objective is to encourage, allow, and facilitate a study of the self in relation to the other. Where possible, courses rely on historical and comparative methodologies, a combination of epistemological/theoretical concerns with an analysis of “real-life” problems, and a critical approach to the processes of knowledge construction, all of which allow students to develop a contextual understanding of the issues they are studying.”

An interactive map to help convey the rich cultural heritage of indigenous land.

“Created and curated as one settler’s labor of love and resistance, Unsettling America aspires towards a decentralized network of autonomous groups and individuals dedicated to mental and territorial decolonization throughout Turtle Island and the ‘Americas.’

We are not here to document Statist, top-down legislative/governmental ‘decolonization’ from above, but rather the mental, spiritual, and psychological decolonization and liberation that can only come from below and within, and does not seek sanction or legitimization from abstract (and fundamentally illegitimate) external power structures in seeking true sovereignty and self-determination for ourselves and for all people.”

“The Podcast that highlights Native Makers and Shakers – from the Tuscarora Nation, to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and beyond! We will discuss Maker backgrounds and motivations, projects, tools and techniques, strategies for success, cultural and political aspects, art and design and more. We will focus on the unique challenges we face as Native people as we navigate through a colonized world. Our goal is to provide thought-provoking content to inspire, inform, and educate our audience.”

“7th Generation Image Makers is a dynamic, youth-led Aboriginal community arts program operating within Native Child and Family Services of Toronto.

Since 1995 we have provided quality and accessible art and media-based programming in a culturally supportive and safe environment to Toronto-based youth and youth at-risk. We work to create opportunities for professional arts training including ongoing accessible and quality fine art instruction taught by professional contemporary Native artists, mentors, and Elders.”

Do you have news and/or events you’d like to share with the community?  We would love to hear from you!  Please email us at info@ithaca.community or message our Ithaca.Community Facebook page.  You can also let us know what features on our website would be the biggest help to you by following this link to fill out our website survey.