Starting a new springtime tradition, Native American leaders at Cornell planted the seeds of peace and sought to cultivate a new crop of student recruits March 21-22 at the inaugural Promising Futures event, which introduced more than 60 Native American high school students from across the United States to Cornell.
Organized by the American Indian Program (AIP), the two-day event also celebrated Haudenosaunee culture with a symposium and exhibit – “Ogwe’o:weh Consciousness as Peace” – at the Cornell Plantations Nevin Welcome Center, opened by Mohawk spiritual and political leader Tom Porter.
Porter immediately invited the standing-room-only crowd to count from one to 10 in the Mohawk native language, noting that the word for each number has symbolic significance in the Haudenosaunee creation story. For instance, the word for three – Ahsen – is similar to the word for middle, representing the middle of the giant turtle where the mother of the Earth first settled after crossing over from the sky world.
Porter said it was an example of the clever ways his people hid some of their heritage to protect and preserve their identity, and he encouraged the audience to look to the past, live in the present and think of the future.
“We always say that the decisions we make today will affect the seven generations of our grandchildren,” Porter said.
A subsequent panel discussion featuring faculty affiliated with the American Indian Program focused on the symbolism of peace in the great white pine tree. Afterward, many attendees viewed a sculpture of the Ganradaisgowa’h Peace Tree by Cayuga artist Samuel Thomas; a living tree will be planted at another ceremony July 12.
Prospective students also got a flavor of what it would be like to attend Cornell. Some stayed at Akwe:kon, the AIP’s residence hall and community center. They toured campus and areas of Ithaca and attended social and informational sessions about topics like admissions and financial aid.
“No matter what your interests or goals in life, you will find a way to pursue them at Cornell,” said Kathryn J. Boor, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, in welcoming the group.
The event was funded in part by a grant from the CALS diversity initiative to assist efforts in recruiting Native American students within the Haudenosaunee communities in New York state.
Read more about it here.
