Victor, NY— On Saturday, October 6, from 1-3 pm, Friends of Ganondagan hosts two powerful speakers —Michelle Schenandoah (Oneida/Wolf Clan) and her husband Neal Powless (Onondaga/Eel Clan) — for “Around the Table Conversations,” a contemporary male/female discussion on the spiritual, economic, social, and political roles of Hodinöhsö:ni’ and Euro-American women.

Attendees will come away with a deeper understanding of the traditional and contemporary roles and responsibilities of Hodinöhsö:ni’ women, expanding on their important and collaborative relationship with men. An open and meaningful discussion with attendees will include the complexities that contemporary Hodinöhsö:ni’ women face as they make a powerful difference within their cultural community and on the community at large.

An Iroquois White Corn tasting will follow the discussion. Iroquois White Corn, a culturally significant, heirloom food, was a sustaining food of the Seneca and Hodinöhsö:ni’ and was grown in abundance at the vibrant agricultural community of Ganondagan until the late 17th-century.

Michelle Schenandoah is an inspirational writer, speaker, lawyer, and thought leader, who has taken her expertise to create new platforms in media, community development and leadership models for Native American women and their communities. She is founder/editor-in-chief at Rematriation Magazine <http://rematriation.com/> , an online, rematriating storytelling platform powered by a sisterhood of over 200 Haudenosaunee women for Indigenous women to gather for collective healing from historical and current trauma—and empowerment through new narratives. Schenandoah is also featured in the “Walking in Two Worlds” section of the exhibit, Hodinöhsö:ni’ Women: From the Time of Creation <http://ganondagan.org/hodinohso-ni-women--from-the-time-of-creation>  at Ganondagan’s Seneca Art & Culture Center.

Michelle with her husband, Neal Powless, founded Indigenous Concepts Consulting to incorporate Indigenous perspective into mainstream culture to organizations and individuals all over the world. Powless is a PhD Fellow at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in Films, Mass Media and Indigenous Imagery, is a film co-producer for the major motion picture “Crooked Arrows” and the short documentary “Game of Life; Heart and Soul of the Onondaga” about the cultural origins of the game of lacrosse. Powless himself was a three-time All-American lacrosse player which led to his seven-year professional lacrosse career.

Cost at the door: $8/general; $5/Friends of Ganondagan members. The Seneca Art & Culture Center is located at 7000 County Road 41, Victor, NY.

Saturday-Sunday, October 6-7 also marks New York State’s Path Through History weekend. As a participatory organization, Ganondagan presents “Women of Ganondagan” from 10 am-4 pm. At the top of each hour, personal tours of the exhibit, Hodinöhsö:ni’ Women: From the Time of Creation <http://ganondagan.org/hodinohso-ni-women--from-the-time-of-creation>  will be led by the women of Ganondagan’s interpretive staff. The tour will include a viewing of Katsitsionni Fox’s short film Haudenosaunee Women & Women’s Suffragists: A Hidden History. The event is free with admission to the Seneca Art & Culture Center.

Ganondagan thanks Canandaigua National Bank & Trust for its support of “Around the Table Conversations.”

NOTE: Photos of Schenandoah and Powless are available on request.

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Who: Guest speakers Michelle Schenandoah (Oneida) and Neal Powless (Onondaga)

What: “Around the Table Conversations” about Hodinöhsö:ni’ and Euro-American Women from a Female-Male Perspective

When: Saturday, October 6, 1-3 pm

Where: Seneca Art & Culture Center at Ganondagan, 7000 County Rd 41, Victor, NY

Cost: $8/general; $5/Friends of Ganondagan members

For more: visit http://ganondagan.org/Events-Programs <http://ganondagan.org/Events-Programs>