EVENTS

 

GANONDAGAN'S NEW YEAR OF EVENTS AND PROGRAMS COVERS ANCIENT TO CONTEMPORARY

Sports, games, and the natural world are explored in workshops, lectures, and community activities

As it prepares to open its 2011-12 season on Sunday, May 1, Ganondagan State Historic Site is taking a thematic approach this year for much of its programming. A full complement of events and activities led by Site Interpreters and guests will focus on the role of sports, games, and the natural world, including demonstrations and talks on Native hunting and trapping including the primitive atlatl (ancient hunting spear), a wooden sticks lacrosse game day, community longball games (the Native predecessor of baseball), and much more. A complete chronological event calendar follows.

The varied lectures and workshops are in addition to Ganondagan's popular annual events like the Native American Dance & Music Festival celebrating its 20th anniversary (July 23-24), the Living History event (September 24) a re-enactment of French explorer Robert LaSalle's 1669 visit to the Seneca, the historic Canandaigua Treaty Day (November 11), and the Native American Winter Games & Sports (February 4, 2012).

This year's programming and events are particularly exciting, said Friends of Ganondagan Executive Director Jeanette Miller. We planned it so that there will be something for everyone and every age.

The bark longhouse and all trails will be open for guided walks on Opening Day, which also will feature a morning wildflower walk and a history of Fort Hill, and an afternoon geocaching event. It will be the first time that Ganondagan hosts a geocaching event, a popular high-tech outdoor treasure-hunting game.

Ganondagan State Historic Site is located at 1488 State Route 444 in Victor. Most, but not all outdoor activities and workshops take place at the Site, with lectures at the Victor Town Hall (85 East Main Street). Programming and events are a combination of fee-based and free, with some pre-registration required. For details, visit www.ganondagan.org or call (585) 742-1690.

 
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2011-12 Chronological Calendar of Programming and Activities

MAY
  • 1 - Ganondagan Opening Day (10 am-4 pm); morning wildflower walk and history of Fort Hill (10 am-12 noon), afternoon geocaching event (1-4 pm)
JUNE
  • 5 - Community Longball Game (1-3 pm)
  • 18 - Native Hunting & Trapping (1-4 pm); demo and talk on Atlatl, bird blunts, arrow-making and hands-on activities including archery, hoop and javelin, and atlatl throw.
JULY
  • 9 - Community Longball Game (1-3 pm)
  • 23-24 - 20th Annual Native American Dance & Music Festival (10 am-6 pm)
AUGUST
  • 13 - Wooden Sticks Lacrosse Game Day (1-4 pm); history of lacrosse, demonstrations, game
  • 24 - Annual Educators Day: Eat, Play, Live: The Haudenosaunee Way to Health; (9 am-4 pm)
  • 27 - Community Longball Game & Storytelling (7-9 pm); participate in a game of longball then off to the longhouse for a campfire and storytelling
September
  • 24 - Annual Living History Event (10 am-4 pm); a historical re-enactment of French explorer LaSalle's visit to the Seneca people in 1669
November
  • 5 - Traditional Native Arts Workshop: Beaded Earrings (10 am-2 pm)
  • 11 - Annual Canandaigua Treaty Day; keynote speaker is Robert Odawi Porter, President of the Seneca Nation
February
  • 4 - Annual Native American Winter Games & Sports Event (10 am-4 pm)
April
  • 14 - Traditional Native Arts Workshop: Beaded Frames (10 am-2 pm)

The three-part Native American Lecture Series will be offered in late 2011 and early 2012. The theme, And Now Our Minds Are One: Connections to the Natural World, refers to the closing of each section of the traditional Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving address used at any important meeting or gathering.

All program dates and times are subject to change. For the complete event calendar, pricing, and event locations, visit www.ganondagan.org/events.html or call (585) 742-1690.

GRAMMY-WINNER JOANNE SHENANDOAH TO HEADLINE
GANONDAGAN'S 20TH NATIVE AMERICAN DANCE & MUSIC FESTIVAL

Two-day festival attracts thousands with Native American performers, storytellers, artists, workshops, traditional demonstrations and family activities

Victor, NY: The 20th anniversary of Ganondagan's annual signature event, its Native American Dance & Music Festival, will be celebrated in style with Grammy Award-winning singer and guitarist Joanne Shenandoah (Oneida) headlining the two-day festival, the only one of its kind in Western New York. On Saturday and Sunday, July 23 and 24 from 10 am-6 pm, festival-goers will have the opportunity to watch, learn, and participate in a wide variety of activities that reflect centuries of cultural heritage, crafts, and arts by dozens of Native American performers and artists.

Channeling her love of pop, folk and classical into her ancestrally-inspired music, the 13-time Native American Music Award winner Shenandoah has performed for audiences all over the world, praised for her work of peace and hope. She has performed at three Presidential inaugurations and at such prestigious events as Woodstock 94, The Parliament of the World's Religions, and at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and at Madison Square Garden. Her music has been used in many soundtracks including the TV show Northern Exposure, and on HBO, PBS, and The Discovery Channel.

In addition to Ms. Shenandoah, festival highlights include traditional Iroquois Social Dancing onstage with Ganondagan's Spirit Dancers and the Buffalo Creek Dancers; demonstrations by four Native master artisans of historic Haudenosaunee archery, ancient tool-making, pottery, and water drums and drum sticks; two cornhusk doll-making workshops, one each for children and adults; a Native flute-playing workshop; Iroquois storytelling; and both food samples and recycled craft-making activities with a focus on healthy earth, healthy bodies in the Wegmans Family Discovery Tent. Descriptions and biographies of artisans, performers, and activities are online at www.ganondagan.org/NADMF.html.

Returning this year is the ever-popular Family Drum Jam (this time onstage under the performance tent), the Native American Art Market with more than 30 vendors from across the U.S. and Canada, live cooking demonstrations, Native food vendors, bark longhouse tours, guided trail walks, historical and cultural video showings at the Visitors Center, and special raffle opportunities. In addition, the gift shop will be open as will the merchandise and artists' tents.

Free festival parking is available at Fireman's Field off of Maple Avenue in Victor with free shuttle bus service between the parking area and the festival grounds from 9:45 am to 6:00 pm on both days. Handicapped parking also is available at the Historic Site. For those who need it, there is on-site Festival Grounds Shuttle Service. All performances in the Main Tent have sign language interpreters.

Tickets are available at the event: $12/adults; $10/seniors (62+); $7/students with ID (18+); $5/children (3-18); free for Friends of Ganondagan members and children 2 and under. Those becoming members at the NADMF will be able to take advantage of free admission. For more information, visit www.ganondagan.org/NADMF.html or call 585-742-1690.