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RFH 2010

Native American Arts and Culture Festival October 16

Sun, Oct 03, 2010

Native American Arts and Culture Festival October 16

Colgate University’s annual Native American Arts and Culture Festival will be held on Saturday, Oct. 16 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  The festival celebrates Native American culture with performances of music and dance, art and archaeology demonstrations, many vendors selling unique Native American crafts, and more. The festival is free, open to the public at the Sanford Field House. 

The music and dance acts take place all day, with plenty of seating for all.  New this year is Lisa Little Wolf, who will perform traditional Cheyenne women’s buckskin dances. Corn Bred, an acclaimed Native American Blues band, will return to the festival this year.  A popular fixture of the festival is the Onondaga-based troupe Haudenosaunee Singers and Dancers, which includes many young dancers performing fast-paced smoke dances as well as traditional Iroquois social dances in which the audience is invited to participate.  Representing Indigenous culture south of the border, Tahuantinsuyo, an award-winning group of musicians from the Peruvian Andes, will perform traditional dances in regional dress.

Vendors from many Native American communities offer a wide array of unique craft items for sale including exquisite jewelry, pottery, baskets, leatherwork, dolls, and musical instruments.  Artists also offer sculpture in stone, antler, and clay, as well as prints and paintings.

The artists enjoy speaking with visitors about their work, and special craft demonstrations will take place throughout the day, including lacrosse stick making, silver-working, stone sculpture, flute playing, antler-carving, and pottery.  An archaeology display by Mohawk educator Mike Tarbell, and a display on regional birds and animals courtesy of Roger’s Environmental Center, will both take place all day.

While visitors browse and chat with the artists and performers, they may also sample traditional Iroquois corn soup and fry bread, as well as strawberry cake, made-to-order Indian tacos, and other foods, all of which will be available for purchase throughout the day.

The event's Children's Corner feautres coloring and storybook readings, as well as making traditional cornhusk dolls, paper canoes, and bead bracelets with the help of Colgate students. 

The festival is organized by Colgate’s Longyear Museum of Anthropology in cooperation with the Native American Studies Program and Native American Student Association, and is supported by the Upstate Institute, Core Curriculum, and ALANA Cultural Center.

For more information contact Carol Ann Lorenz of the Longyear Museum at (315) 228-7184, clorenz@colgate.edu.

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