Native voices speak of healing and thanksgiving

Tom Lizardo, Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·4 min read

Nov. 24—It was hard to find a parking spot near 1201 Pine Ave in the Falls this weekend as the Native Voices Cultural Festival was held at the Niagara Arts and Cultural Center.

License plates from as far away as Florida and Utah, as well as a couple from Canadian visitors, could be found on cars in the spaces near the former Niagara Falls High School campus.

Inside the two-day event, large amounts of foot-traffic made for a successful weekend.

Organizers put together a packed schedule and filled the hallways with vendor displays, the classrooms and auditorium hosted Native arts workshops, a Fashion and Regalia Show, and a well-received keynote address that framed the entire festival's fine and performing arts activities squarely within the tradition of the healing process.

Cara Ewell Hodkin, leader of Girl Scout Troop 70356 from Newfane attended the event with several troop members. She said, "I think it's important that these young ladies know more about Native Culture because we live on Native lands." Ewell Hodkin also said that the Girl Scout Council of Western New York created a dozen regional badges including the Iroquois Confederacy Patch.

One of the most popular events was a Fashion and Regalia Show, as dozens of spectators packed the auditorium Saturday afternoon to look on.

The show brought attention to the plight of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). Jay Carrier, a Native Artist whose piece "The Fallen " is on display at the NACC's Townsend Gallery, recently referred to the horrors of MMIWG as a pandemic.

On Sunday, even as the festival was winding down, Erwin Printup, Jr from the Lewiston Tuscarora Reserve was leading a well-attended workshop on corn beading.

Another workshop focusing on Native Drum and Dance, with Jordan and Kehala Smith, was popular, with about 40 attendees participating.

In the Townsend Gallery, visitors watched a video entitled "Language and Culture Keepers of the Haudenosaunee," featuring local artist Allan Jamieson, Sr and also viewed Barry Powless' Exhibit, awarded as the top Native Voices Exhibit.

The Native Voices Art Exhibit will continue on display in the NACC's Townsend Gallery through November 26.

The event's keynote address was delivered by Pete Hill of Native American Community Services of Erie and Niagara Counties, Inc. and touched on several of the most crucial issues facing Native people, as well as all humans.

Entitled "Culture and Healing with a Good Mind for Our Ancestors, Our Families, Ourselves and the Seven Generations," Hill's talk centered on the need for increased respect and what he termed "Good Mindedness." Hill focused attention on MMIWG, the residential school scandal, and the need for healing and restoration.

Hill spoke about intergenerational trauma, pointing out how things that had occurred even seven generations ago still have an impact today, and how the things that we do today will continue to change the way that our offspring live seven generations into the future. He spoke about "clearing the path for seven generations to come."

One practice Hill uses to help erase the pain of the residential school scandal is to speak Native language. He said, "Every time we do this, it helps reverse what the schools were trying to do."

Hill's themes also included thanksgiving and forgiveness. He spoke of thanksgiving as "an everyday concept, not a once-a-year thing." Hill also said "it is important for all people to honor their ancestors."

During the question period following the speech, Kathleen Olszewski of Grand Island spoke of how her favorite book depicted the impact of residential schooling on a town in British Columbia, Canada, where the children had been taken away. "I used to read it every year, for about 15 years, and I cried every time I read it," she said

Ray Robertson, the NACC's gallery director and the grandson of an enslaved man, inquired about the silence that often came from former generations who had suffered trauma, whether it be from residential schools or slavery. Robertson asked, "I wonder if they really thought they didn't want to traumatize the young people, or if the men especially, felt shame about these things they were powerless to stop?"

Hill acknowledged the importance of sharing these stories as a path to healing, "We don't want to stay in the victim mentality, the truth is a path we can move on to restore ourselves."