‘Tree of Peace’ Native American Celebration and Oguaga Trail Walk

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Lackawanna Heritage Valley and the Scranton Municipal Recreation Authority will host dual Native American celebrations this weekend, honoring the history and heritage of Indigenous Peoples within Lackawanna County. These family-friendly events are intended to reconnect the public to the deep roots of Native American throughout the Lackawanna Valley and our nation.

Nay Aug Park

Families are invited to the JAD Picnic area of Scranton’s Nay Aug Park on Saturday, October 15, from 11 a.m. through 3 p.m. The Allegany River Seneca Dancers will perform traditional Native American singing and dancing and Storyteller Perry Ground will bring the stories of traditional Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) legends to life before families are invited to participate in a ceremonial planting of the “White Pine of Peace.”

Lackawanna River Heritage Trail | Six Nations Amphitheatre

The ceremonies continue at the Elm Street Trailhead in Scranton on Sunday, October 16, beginning at 11:00am, for an Interpretive Walk along a section of the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail where the Oquaga trail, a Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) diplomacy trail leading to Syracuse, once passed through the Lackawanna Heritage Valley.

Along the walk, those in attendance will pass by interpretive signage, carvings and tributes to Native American culture and the six Iroquois Nations along this two-mile trail corridor, between Elm Street in Scranton and the Borough of Taylor, before arriving at “Ohn Te Oak”, the site of a former Native American Fishing Village, and the Six Nations Amphitheatre. Native American Ceremonies of Peace will continue at the Six Nations Amphitheatre, featuring traditional storytelling, Native American singing and dancing, and a second ceremonial planting of the White Pine of Peace.

Traditionally, The White Pine of Peace is a symbol of people coming together as One Nation. Centuries ago, the indigenous nations of the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca and Onondaga came together at the shore of Lake Onondaga to create a Great League of Peace. The five nations came together in a system of government where each nation was autonomous, but also bound together in a stronger central governance. They called themselves the Haudenosaunee. Coming together to follow The Great Laws of Peace, they buried their old weapons of war under The White Pine on the shore of Lake Onondaga, whose roots spread peace across the world in every direction. The Great Laws of the Haudenosaunee strongly influenced the democratic system of governance that the newly formed United States followed in creating their Constitution.

𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞:

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃
Turtle Clan Member of the Onondaga Nation and Storyteller with more than 25 years of experience in the oral tradition.
𝘽𝙄𝙇𝙇𝙔 𝘾𝙍𝙊𝙐𝙎𝙀
Seneca Traditional Longhouse Leader and descendant of Chief Cornplanter
𝙂𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝙍𝙀𝙄𝙎𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙀𝙍
PA Advisor to The Seneca Nation’s Sacred Site Committee
𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙀𝙂𝙃𝙀𝙉𝙔 𝙍𝙄𝙑𝙀𝙍 𝙎𝙀𝙉𝙀𝘾𝘼 𝘿𝘼𝙉𝘾𝙀𝙍𝙎
Multi-generational troupe from Western NY sharing traditional Seneca and Intertribal songs and oral traditions

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐂 𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐉𝐎𝐈𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐄𝐒:

Families are invited to the JAD Picnic area of Scranton’s Nay Aug Park on Saturday, October 15, from 11 a.m. through 3 p.m.

            Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/oynrYNagLu7p45xN6

Saturday Schedule:

11:00am – Native American Singing and Dancing by the Allegany River Seneca Dancers

12:00pm – Native American Storytelling by Onondaga Storyteller Perry Ground

1:00pm – Tree of Peace Planting Ceremony by Billy Crouse

2:00pm – Native American Storytelling by Onondaga Storyteller Perry Ground

2:30pm – Native American Singing and Dancing by the Allegany River Seneca Dancers

 

The ceremonies continue at the Elm Street Trailhead in Scranton on Sunday, October 16, beginning at 11:00am.

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/UXhtHeQW64gSBzet8

Sunday Schedule:

11:00am – Interpretive Walk begins at the Elm Street Trailhead in Scranton

12:00pm – 1:00pm – Native American Ceremonies of Peace at the Six Nations Amphitheatre; Traditional Storytelling by Onondaga Storyteller Perry Ground; Native American Singing & Dancing by Allegany River Seneca Dancers; and a Tree of Peace Planting Ceremony by Bill Crouse