Fundraiser to Benefit Mohawk Community.
Attendees experience traditional culture firsthand.
On Sunday April 1 a fundraiser for Kanatsiohareke, a traditional Mohawk community in Fonda, NY will be held at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington, NY. Participants will experience Mohawk ceremony, spirituality, song and dance, stories and history.
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The event includes a screening of “Unseen Tears: The Impact of Native American Residential Boarding Schools in Western New York” . This film, by documentary filmmaker Ron Douglas; Coproduced by Native American Community Services - Ruchatneet Printup and Michael Martin, which focuses on Western New York Native American communities who are attempting to heal the wounds and break the cycle of inter-generational trauma resulting from the Native American residential school experience. Ruchatneet Printup will be available to answer questions about the film.
Tom Sakokwenionkwas Porter, founder, director and spiritual leader of the community will lead the event. He will start the day with the ceremonial “Thanksgiving Address,” as well as a lecture on Mohawk spirituality and teachings. As Robert Vetter, Long Island anthropologist explains, “This is a rare opportunity for Long Islanders to experience Mohawk teachings and cultures firsthand. And Tom Porter is probably the most insightful and sharing spokesman for this culture alive today.”
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Kanatsiohareke is an off-reservation community located on the ancient ancestral homelands of the Mohawk nation. It was re-established in 1993 under the leadership of Tom Porter, Mohawk/Bear Clan spiritual leader. The community, a non-profit organization, must raise its own revenues in order to survive. Kanatsiohareke is a small group of traditional Mohawks who farm, cultivate and preserve their land in the Mohawk Valley with the hope that others will follow in their footsteps. Their struggle is to maintain a place where Mohawk people can revitalize their culture, language, traditions and spirituality for generations to come.
Schedule for the Fundraiser:
9:00 Doors open, Craft Store is open
9:15 – 10:00 Traditional Thanksgiving Address, Tom Porter
10:00 – 10:15 Mohawk storyteller Kay Olan
10:15 – 10:45 Iroquois Social Dancing
10:45 – 11:00 Introduce the film “Unseen Tears”
11:00 – 11:30 Film viewing “Unseen Tears”
11:30 – 11:45 Post film Q & A
11:45 – 12:00 Introduce the Film “The Peacemaker’s Journey”
12:00 – 1:30 Film viewing “The Peacemaker’s Journey”
1:30 – 1:45 Post film Q & A
1:45 – 2:00 Traditional Closing Address
Tom Porter has been a nationally recognized Native American leader and lecturer since the 1960’s. He has served numerous positions on the Mohawk Nation of Chiefs Council over the past 25 years. In 1998, Mr. Porter launched the first Iroquois Immersion Program, a language and lifeway restoration project for the Mohawk and other Iroquois nations. Tom Porter is the author of “And Grandma Said: Iroquois Teachings as Passed Down Through the Oral Tradition” and “Kanatsiohareke: Traditional Mohawk Indians Return to Their Ancestral Homelands.” Mr. Porter is the recipient of the Rothko Chapel Award for Commitment to Truth and Freedom, The Human Rights Award from Earth Action, and the twenty-first Gamallel Chair in Peace and Justice Award.
Tickets to the fundraiser cost $20, and can be purchased at the door. The Cinema Arts Centre is located at 423 Park Avenue, Huntington, NY 11743; telephone 631-423-7611.
