LLC19: Networking Iroquoia

Collaborative Goals

The Networking Iroquoia Working Group capitalized on the insight from the successful launch of the first Gayogo̱hó:nǫ? / Cayuga Culture and Language class at Cornell in F’19, and two previous gatherings of Hodinöhsö:ni′ (Haudenosaunee/Iroquois) scholars and professionals (including museum directors, curators, artists and Indigenous knowledge holders) at Syracuse University, 2017 and Cornell University, 2018. The Gayogo̱hó:nǫ? ́ ́/ Cayuga Nation is the first module developed of the Six Nations because Cornell University operates within their ancestral homelands. The evolution of the work of Networking Iroquoia has resulted in a sustained focus on the Cayuga return to their homelands after 225 years of forced dispossession.

The Working Group “Networking Iroquoia” has taken on the responsibility of ethically responding to the absence of a cogent history of the Cayuga, with a specific focus on the role that material culture plays in the ongoing resilience of Indigenous nations. Therefore, the focus of the Working Group this year continued to add information to the under-represented archival and academic record about the Cayuga or Gayogo̱hó:nǫ? people, history and culture. Jordan, Martinez and Rickard worked together collaboratively to strategize the role of Cornell University, and specifically, the Johnson Museum in relationship to Hodinöhsö:ni′ material culture, with a focus on the Gayogo̱hó:nǫ?. Per the original proposal, Hodinöhsö:ni′ Holding Ground, the recovery of Cayuga knowledge and relationship to place was addressed through the art of Samuel Thomas, experiential knowledge of Sachem Sam George and the generously shared collections of allied citizen, Dolores Elliott.