On Monday, May 24, an historic dialogue will take place about The Influence of Haudenosaunee Women on Central New York and beyond at 7 p.m. at Syracuse Stage, 820 East Genesee St. Speakers for this event feature Jeanne Shenandoah and Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner. This will be the sixth event in the series “Onondaga Land Rights & Our Common Future II.”
Dr. Wagner will share her research on how contact with the Haudenosaunee fired the revolutionary vision of early feminists and radical reformers by providing a model of freedom for all based on a balance of responsibilities in an egalitarian system. Jeanne Shenandoah will describe the world she inhabits as a Haudenosaunee woman. Together the women explore the impact that the Haudenosaunee, living in absolute equality, had on Euroamericans, who came from a tradition of power from above, rather than power with.
Jeanne Shenandoah, Eel Clan, Onondaga Nation, was a traditional home birth midwife and herbalist for twenty-three years. A mother and grandmother, she works at the Onondaga Nation Communications Office, and is “involved with spiritual and political activities of my people and follow the traditional ways.”
Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner, the executive director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation in Fayetteville, New York, is a nationally recognized lecturer, author and performance interpreter of woman’s rights history. She is the author of Sister’s in Spirit: The Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Influence on Women’s Rights.
The series is coordinated by Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation. Admission is free and a reception and facilitated small group discussions will follow the presentation. For more information peacecouncil.net/noon or call 472-5478.
