Ganondagan Hosts Special Film Screening and Panel Discussion of “Nature to Nations” from Upcoming PBS Series “Native America”
*The event has already taken place on this date: Fri, 09/07/2018
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The hour-long film and subsequent panel discussion is free and open to the public.
The panel includes director and executive producer Gary Glassman plus traditional corn grower and agriculturist Angela Ferguson (Onondaga), and Ganondagan State Historic Site Manager Peter Jemison (Seneca), both of whom are featured in the film. Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Joanne Shenandoah (Oneida) provides the music.
“Nature to Nations”—the series’ second episode—will be of particular interest to this area. Centering on the democracy of New York’s Haudenosaunee Peoples (Iroquois Confederacy), this episode reveals how elements of the natural world drive governance in Native America. The story of Hiawatha and the Peacemaker, as told by Native elders, demonstrates how shell helped end war among five tribes and bring about America’s first democracy 500 years before the formation of the United States. Ben Franklin and the Founding Fathers would later integrate key ideas from their government into the United States Constitution.
Building on these revelations, the episode also traces evidence that nations across Native America use beliefs from the natural world to support governmental systems. Science and oral tradition reveal how corn, cedar, shell, and the jaguar each inspire new nations and plant the seeds of great empires. All are part of an incredible 3,000-year narrative of nature, nations and cultural sophistication in Native America.
Through Providence Pictures’ “Native America” series, a rich story unfolds, relaying the history of Native North and South American people before European contact. It is a positive and revelatory look at the sophisticated cities, cultures, and unique ways of life that existed and continues to reverberate in Native beliefs and ways of life to this day.
The four-part series will air on Rochester’s PBS station, WXXI-TV on Tuesdays, October 23, October 30, and November 13. Check local listings for more information.
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