Art Class with Mural and Art Teacher Kevin Sweeney, left.
Kay Olan, Mohawk Storyteller, with students holding a Hiawatha Belt.
Kay Olan holding Condolence Cane with poster of Benjamin Franklin visiting Haudenosaunee.
Alfred Jacques holding lacrosse stick with students.
Art in Progress.
Connecting Cultures: As Long as the Sun Rises in the East and Sets in the West is a NYSCA-funded, Decentralization Art project for Waverly High School. It was designed for students to connect with our indigenous neighbors, the Haudenosaunee people, and learn about shared values of peace, friendship, and environmental responsibility. The Haudenosaunee people are also referred to as the “Six Nations” or “People of the Longhouse.”
The project was designed by Karen Kucharski, who served as Teaching Artist. Karen introduced symbols of the Haudenosaunee culture and helped students from Kevin Sweeney’s art classes create art based on project themes.
Karen also acted as Project Manager to coordinate guest presentations by Haudenosaunee speakers that were open to the entire school audience. Kay Olan, Storyteller (Mohawk Nation, Wolf Clan), Hickory Edwards, paddler and dug-out Canoemaker (Onondaga Nation, Turtle Clan), and Alfred Jacques, former Lacrosse coach and Stickmaker (Onondaga Nation, Turtle Clan), talked about their traditional art practices that support their way of life and balance within nature.
One of the cultural items introduced to the students was the Two Row Wampum belt, or “Guswenta,” which symbolizes peace and friendship forever between the Haudenosaunee and all who live or travel in this land. This treaty or agreement also stands for equality. It depicts two purple rows on a field of white, which represents two groups of people being responsible for the “river of life” together. It was first created in 1613 and continues, “as long as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, as long as the grass grows green, and as long as water flows.”
Kevin Sweeney and his students did a fabulous job creating the 4-foot by 4-foot clay mural that will be on permanent display in the Waverly High School lobby. They used a relief technique that pops the images right out of the background to become that much more realistic. A European ship and Indian canoe represent sharing the same waters, the nine clan families of the Haudenosaunee depict creatures of the land, water, and sky, and the Great Tree of Peace represents the choice to live peaceably by burying the weapons of war beneath the tree for the waters to sweep them away.
Hickory Edwards, Onondaga Nation, with two students showing the dugout canoe process in the background.
Ashlee Hunt, Waverly High School principal, helped to inspire students school-wide to participate in the activities where they were delighted to meet the Onondaga and Mohawk presenters and have hands-on opportunities with lacrosse sticks, headdresses, and other cultural objects.
The New York State Council on the Arts promotes vibrant and interactive projects, such as this, that engage our youth and community in creative and educational ways. This project was partially funded by the New York State Council on the Arts’ Decentralization program, and administered regionally by The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes, in Corning, N.Y.
This Art project reinforces the possibilities for creating peace and friendship between students and among people, for promoting and maintaining respect across cultures, for recognizing benefits of a healthy environment, and for expressing this knowledge through art.
Guests can view this work at the upcoming “High School Art Festival and Concert” scheduled for Tuesday evening, June 7. View the artwork starting at 6:30 p.m.; the concert is from 7 to 9 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
