Iroquois Museum Hosts Native Art Show

The “Identity/Identify” exhibit presents artistic responses from across Iroquois country that speak to who is considered Haudenosaunee and what constitutes membership. The show explores how these definitions and designations determine access to tribal and federal resources, rights, residency options, and other components of cultural and community participation.

Artwork created specifically for the exhibit presents political and polarizing issues surrounding blood quantum standards, the position and challenges of mixed-race individuals, those whose connections to heritage are through their father's (rather than mother’s) lines in this matrilineal culture, and those who grew up off reservation. 

The exhibit features video, sculpture, beadwork, and photography by Peter Jones, Hayden Haynes, and Michael Jones from Seneca territory; Margaret Jacobs and Natasha Smoke-Santiago from Akwesasne Mohawk territory; Robert D’Alimonte from Tuscarora; Karen Ann Hoffman from Oneida, Wisconsin; Danielle Soames from Manhattan; Andrea Chrisjohn from Kingston, NY; Sheila Escobar and Lance Hodahkwen from Syracuse; Rosy Simas from Minneapolis; Ric Glazer Danay from California; Melanie Printup Hope from Toronto; Erin Antonak from Mississippi, and Dawn Dark Mountain from Santa Fe, NM.

The show is curated by Iroquois Museum Curator Colette Lemmon and Haudenosaunee Artists Melanie Printup Hope and Andrea Chrisjohn.

A celebration with artists and special guests is planned for Indigenous Peoples Day Weekend, on Saturday, Oct. 9, at the Museum, 324 Caverns Rd. in Howes Cave, NY. 

Starting May 1, the Iroquois Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information about the Museum and upcoming events, visit www.iroquoismuseum.org.