Fwd: Seneca Nation Exhibit to open at Fort Necessity to Begin National Park Week

*Fort** Necessity* News Release

 

Release Date Immediate

 

Contact: Brian Reedy or MaryEllen Snyder

 

Phone number: 724-329-5811

 

Date: April 14, 2014

 

Seneca Nation of Indians Partners with National Park Service on Exhibit

and Cultural Education at Fort Necessity

 

FARMINGTON, Pa., The National Park Service has partnered with the Seneca

Nation of Indians in New York. This partnership includes a museum exhibit,

cultural festival, and cultural training. The Seneca-Iroquois National

Museum in New York has developed the exhibit entitled "The Seneca and the

French & Indian War. Installation is in progress and the exhibit opens April

19, 2014 for National Park Week at Fort Necessity National Battlefield. It

will be displayed in the park's visitor center through March 31, 2015.

 

In celebration of National Park Week, April 19 and 20 is a fee free weekend

at all National Parks. Entrance fees will be waived at the National Park

sites in western Pennsylvania - Fort Necessity, Johnstown Flood National

Memorial, and Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site. Flight 93

National Memorial and Friendship Hill National Historic Site are National

Park sites that do not have entrance fees.

 

The Onöndowa'ga:' (Seneca) are one of the six nations of

Haudenosaunee("Iroquois Confederacy"), or people of the Long House.

The Onöndowa'ga:'

are known at "Keepers of the Western Door" within that political alliance.

In the 1700's their influence extended far beyond their traditional

homelands in New York State as they played a prominent role in the

political and military events surrounding the French and Indian War.

 

"The Seneca and the French and Indian War" reveals aspects of the Seneca

and Haudenosaunee culture and how it influenced the events of the

mid-1700s. Artifacts on loan from the Rochester Museum & Science Center

and the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum will be displayed along with pieces

from Fort Necessity's collection.

 

A cultural weekend is planned for June 28-29, 2014 at Fort Necessity. Guest

lecturers and cultural demonstrators will highlight the event with focus on

Seneca life in mid-18th century America. Special programming at the event

will include demonstrative arts of traditional dance and children's games,

as well as talks on the Seneca involvement in the French and Indian War and

the use wampum in Seneca culture.

 

While the exhibit and cultural weekend highlight Onöndowa'ga':s (Seneca's)

roles as diplomats and warriors in the French and Indian War, and in the

development of "The Seneca Plan" that eventually became known as Pontiac's

War, they also aim to inform that the Seneca are still a vibrant and

dynamic sovereign Nation in New York State.

 

During the fall of 2014, members of the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum and

the National Park Service will conduct a teacher's in-service

Haudenosauneeculture and history.

 

Fort Necessity National Battlefield is located 11 miles east of Uniontown,

Pennsylvania on US 40 - The Historic National Road. Admission to the park

is $5.00 per adult, children 15 and under are free of charge. The fee is

collected at the Interpretive and Education Center and is valid for seven

days. For more information on park programs, call 724-329-5811 or visit

the park web site at www.nps.gov/fone.

 

-NPS-

 

*ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE*

 

More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 401

national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve

local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn

more at: www.nps.gov.

 

*ABOUT THE SENECA-IROQUOIS NATIONAL MUSEUM*

 

The Seneca-Iroquois National Museum is located at 814 Broad Street,

Salamanca, NY on the Seneca Nation of Indians' Allegany Territory. It cares

for over 100.000 archaeological and ethnographic materials that relate to

Onöndowa'ga:' (Seneca) and Hodinöhsö:ni' (Iroquois) history and culture.

The Museum has permanent exhibits including a re-creation of a longhouse,

a historic Onöndowa'ga:' cabin, and an exhibit on the Kinzua Dam's

devastating impact on the people of the Allegany Territory. They also have

rotating exhibits. Each year, we host visitors from the region, nation and

from around the world. This May-December, 2014, the SINM is pleased to

present "We Play Lacrosse", which will feature contemporary and historical

objects relating to the history of lacrosse on Hodinöhsö:ni' territories.

For more information about hours of operation, please visit us on our

website: www.senecamuseum.org, or visit us on our Facebook page.

 

*ABOUT THE SENECA NATION OF INDIANS*

 

One of the original Five Nations of the Hodinöhsö:ni' (Iroquois), the

Seneca are a proud people with a rich history. The Onöndowa'ga:' ("Great

Hill People", or Senecas) are known as the "Keepers of the Western Door",

for they are the westernmost of the now Six Nations (Seneca, Cayuga,

Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk and Tuscarora). Today the Seneca Nation of Indians

has a population of over 8,000 enrolled members, many of whom continue to

live on their traditional territories in New York State. To learn more

about the Seneca Nation, visit our website at: www.sni.org, or the

SNITourism site at

www.senecantion.com.

 

Images:

 

Michael Galban, a Public Historian from Ganondagan State Historic Site in

New York puts some finishing touches on the "Seneca and the French and

Indian War" exhibit.

 

Items from the Seneca culture displayed in the exhibit include historic

clothing, a corn grinder, corn washing baskets, jewelry, wampum, and a pipe

tomahawk.

Done