By Aaron Ginsburg, Tue, November 1, 2022 Photo of the National Museum of the American Indian courtesy of Wikimedia; Photo of AMNH’s Northwest Coast Hall courses of D. Finnin/AMNH
In November, we celebrate Native American Heritage Month as a way to commemorate the cultures, histories, and traditions of indigenous peoples across the country. Although New York became the first state to recognize “American Indian Day” in 1916, it’s important to remember that the forceful removal of Native people from their homes is inextricably linked to the history of New York City and the surrounding area. Ahead, find ways to honor Native American Heritage Month, from events at the National Museum of the American Indian to nature-inspired tours through city parks.
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By Aaron Ginsburg, Mon, May 16, 2022 All images © D. Finnin/AMNH
Five years and a $19 million renovation later, the American Museum of Natural History’s oldest gallery reopened to the public last week. Developed alongside curators from Native Nations of the Northwest Coast, the new 10,200 square-foot Northwest Coast Hall showcases the history of the Pacific Northwest with a focus on the “scholarship and material culture of the Northwest Coast communities,” according to a press release. The gallery contains more than 1,000 artifacts including a 63-foot-long canoe, the largest Pacific Northwest dugout canoe existing today, and a diverse collection of art, from monumental carvings up to 17 feet tall to contemporary works of art from Native artists.
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By Devin Gannon, Thu, November 7, 2019 It’s impossible to truly know the history of New York City without understanding the experience of the Native Americans who first inhabited the five boroughs long before Dutch settlers arrived. In November, we celebrate Native American Heritage Month as both a way to learn about the culture and contributions of indigenous people and to reacquaint ourselves with the often distorted history surrounding Thanksgiving. From live performances from Ojibwe artist Kelsey Pyro to enjoying a Lenape Harvest in the city’s largest concentration of forest, these events, festivals, and exhibits help New Yorkers understand just how significantly Native Americans shaped our city.
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By Devin Gannon, Thu, October 31, 2019 Photo by Elena Gaillard on Wikimedia
To celebrate Native American Heritage Month, New Yorkers can take a free paddling tour of the Bronx River this weekend while learning about the experiences of 16th-century indigenous communities. Hosted by the Bronx River Alliance and Moskehtu Consulting, the event takes visitors on a 30-minute canoe paddle through the Mitshubishi River Walk in the Bronx Zoo and explores the life and culture of Native Americans with a living village.
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By Lucie Levine, Tue, November 20, 2018 “Manhattan Island in the Sixteenth Century,” from the Memorial History of New York, 1892, via NYPL
Currently, most Lenape belong to the Delaware Nation and live in New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Ontario, but the word Lenape means “Original People,” and the Lenape are the Original New Yorkers. In fact, the name Manhattan comes from the Lenape “Manahatta,” meaning “hilly island.” Although the Lenape stove to “walk so gently on the earth,” without leaving an impact on the land, they influenced the city’s physical geography in ways we can see and feel today. From Bowling Green to Broadway, Cherry Street to Minetta Lane, here are 10 sites in Manhattan that reflect the legacy of the Lenape.
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By Lucie Levine, Fri, November 16, 2018 John, a third generation Mohawk ironworker who helped raise One World Trade, photographed by Melissa Cacciola, via Melisssa Cacciola
“Skywalkers: a Portrait of Mohawk Ironworkers at the World Trade Center,” opens today at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. The exhibit features photographer Melissa Cacciola’s tintype portraits of Kahnawake Mohawk ironworkers who volunteered in rescue efforts after 9/11 and helped raise One World Trade Center, Towers 2, 3, and 4, and the Calatrava Transportation Hub.
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By Michelle Cohen, Mon, July 30, 2018 While we take for granted the paths and roads we use on a daily basis, it’s interesting to find out how they came to be. It’s not a new concept that paths worn by the comings and goings of early dwellers and subsequent settlers in a particular area became roads, streets and thoroughfares, often with names that reflect their beginnings. Brooklyn Heights Blog (via Viewing NYC) shares some insight into Brooklyn’s familiar roads that began as Native American trails on a 1946 map titled “Indian Villages, Paths, Ponds and Places in Kings County.”
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By Lucie Levine, Wed, July 25, 2018 Roger Horne, a Mohawk Ironworker in the Raising Gang, ca. 1970 via the Smithsonian
The Empire State Building. The George Washington Bridge. The United Nations. The Woolworth Building. 30 Rock. The Seagram Building. Lincoln Center. The Waldorf Astoria. Virtually all of New York’s most iconic structures were raised in part by Mohawk Native American ironworkers. Since 1916, when Mohawk men made their way to New York to work on the Hell Gate Bridge, ironworkers from two Native communities, Akwesasne (which straddles Ontario, Quebec, and New York State) and Kahnawake (near Montreal), have been “walking iron” across the city.
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