Activist explores Native peoples' history, recent issues during presentation at The Westmoreland

Apr. 3—Miguel Sague Jr. finds value in reenactments involving Native Americans, such as those at Bushy Run Battlefield that have prompted widespread discussion over their appropriateness.

But he conceded that, when non-Native Americans depict Native people, it can be tricky.

"I think reenacting these battles is a good thing. It's something that allows for history to come alive in front of people who haven't researched it themselves," said Sague, a board officer and speaker with the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center in Pittsburgh. "When you have real, flesh-and-blood people out there doing it, it can give people an interest in something they probably never thought about much before.

"Ultimately, I'm not happy with the idea of non-Indians playing Indians. By the same token, I can see that, if you don't have non-Indians playing Indians, you're not gonna have any Indians.

"It takes a certain kind of person to (be a reenactor), and there aren't a whole lot of Native Americans who have that inclination."

The problem, he said, is the dwindling number of Native Americans in Western Pennsylvania.

Thousands of indigenous people once lived throughout the region, but census figures estimate that, in 2022, there were about 12,000 Native people in Pennsylvania — about 0.4% of the population.

"When you have people reenacting people they are not, it becomes problematic," he said. "But I frankly don't have much of an answer on how to solve that problem. No one does."

Sague made the remarks during a talk last week at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg as part of the museum's programming in conjunction with the exhibition "Action/Abstraction Redefined: Modern Native Art, 1945-1975."

The last Native settlement in Pennsylvania was eliminated in 1965, the culmination of population loss that began in colonial times, Sague said. But there is still a Native American presence here.

"There are a few Senecas still left in the area. There are people from tribes all across the Americas — not just North America, but Central and South America, too," he said. "It's a small group, but we have maintained our presence here.

"The very last recognized, original indigenous population existed on the banks of the Allegheny River in Warren County. Most of the other original peoples of Eastern, Western and Central Pennsylvania were driven out — first to Ohio, then to Indiana, then to places like Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

"The one tribe that maintained its presence closer to home, that I've centered my work and research on, is the Seneca. The Senecas retained a tiny chunk of land in Warren County until 1965. Then the very last Indian reservation in Pennsylvania was extinguished by a dam."

Lost land

The reservation, known as the Cornplanter Tract, was targeted by the Army Corps of Engineers for construction of the Kinzua Dam as part of a flood-control project for Pittsburgh.

"Before the dam, you had people canoeing down Liberty Avenue in like, 5, 6, 7 feet of water," Sague said.

Although the Senecas fought the project and were supported by prominent Americans, including former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, they lost and were relocated to the Allegany Reservation along the northernmost reaches of the Allegheny River in Western New York.

"I always tell people, if they say, 'Why were they complaining so much about being moved across the border? When you go across the border, you'll be with your own people,' " Sague said.

"You live here in Westmoreland County, in Greensburg, and somebody tells you, 'We need your land, and we're going to take it, whether you like it or not,' " he said. " 'We're going to move you to West Virginia, but it's OK. There's white people living in West Virginia. You'll be fine.'

"That's the logic."

Learning opportunities

Sague recommended several day trips as a way to learn more about the region's indigenous history.

He encouraged a visit to the Seneca Iroquois National Museum in Salamanca, N.Y., a repository of artifacts, documents, photos and other items pertaining to the history of the Seneca, Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga and Tuscarora, peoples often collectively known as the Iroquois.

Another of his suggestions is the Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village in Washington County, the country's oldest site of human habitation, dating back 19,000 years.

Also on the list is the Grave Creek Mound in West Virginia, one of the largest conical-type burial mounds in the United States.

"It's been looted of all its bones and artifacts, but it's still amazing to see," Sague said.

A Penn Hills resident, Sague was born in Cuba and has indigenous Taino Indian, Spanish and African roots. His family moved to Erie when he was 10.

"We left Cuba at the time of the Communist revolution. My parents were not in agreement with the new government," said Sague, 71.

Sague's father, a teacher, was able to secure a position at Gannon College, now Gannon University.

With the change in weather, culture, language and lifestyle, finding community in his new home wasn't always easy.

"I did not know one word of English when I came to the United States, but children are very adaptable, and I was able to make the adjustment," Sague said. "But I was very curious about our indigenous culture, and I did some deep digging into my own background.

"But most of my life has been spent in Western Pennsylvania, and I fell in love with its indigenous heritage and made it my business to become informed on the indigenous legacy."

A former art and Spanish teacher, Sague also is a musician and founder of the Caney Indigenous Spiritual Circle, an organization that assists indigenous people in reclaiming their spiritual traditions.

He noted that The Westmoreland will host a May 7 Native Peoples Celebration with drum and dance performances provided by the American Indian Center.

Other programming associated with "Action/Abstraction Redefined" includes a Thursday gallery tour incorporating selections from "American Indian Stories" by the Yankton Dakota Sioux writer/musician/activist Zitkala-Sa (also known as Gerturde Simmons Bonnin); and Three Sisters Garden Day on May 20, with recipe sampling and information on Iroquois foods, including the staple trio of corn, beans and squash.

More information is available at thewestmoreland.org.

Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .