Haudenosaunee Project

The Haudenosaunee Project encompasses a series of prints, drawings, and pastels that were created during the fall 2008 and early winter 2009 after the death of my father. My father passionately loved Native American culture and was an amateur archeologist throughout his life. Joe Soto, a Native American of Taíno heritage and Cree training, helped my father transition, and after my father’s death gave me an Adirondack grey wolf pelt. This amazing gift inspired me to begin the project in earnest. Through the metaphor of the wolf, I am exploring the importance of being stewards of the land, protecting our natural resources, and understanding the particular history of the Finger Lakes in relation to the plight of the People of the Longhouse.

These images are also a tribute to my father. A week before he died, a crow feather appeared on his doorstep at Hospice. My sisters and I placed this crow feather on my father’s pillow as he lay dying. This feather, which appears in some of these pieces, signifies the beautiful frailty of life, and a reminder of our mortality.

Lastly, this body of work, is about the threat posed by the development of natural gas drilling of the Marcellus shale in our backyards. Here is an important opportunity to become informed citizens and protectors of our community’s resources. The Haudenosaunee people (the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora), and all future generations, expect no less.

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