Onondaga Community College celebrated the grand opening of its new Indigenous Student Center during a ceremony April 2 in Mawhinney Hall. Guest speakers included:
- Sid Hill, spiritual leader for the Haudenosaunee.
- Kocechvmpc Emarthle, OCC student and member of the Turtle Clan of the Tuscarora Nation.
- Oren Lyons, Haudenosaunee Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan.
- Rex Lyons, member of the Eel Clan of the Onondaga Nation.
- Irv Lyons, Jr., OCC's Native/Indigenous Admissions Coordinator
Also, Chris Thomas led a dance performance. He is a champion smoke dancer and Haudenosaunee Educator from the Onondaga Nation's Eel Clan.
The new Indigenous Student Center is open to all students. It is located on the 2nd floor of Mawhinney Hall in room M275.
The celebration also included the sharing of a new Land Acknowledgement:
"We here at Onondaga Community College acknowledge with respect the Onondaga Nation, the Firekeepers of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, whose homelands the college now stands upon. We work to honor this important and long-lasting relationship, for present and future generations, with the nation from which we derive our name."
This summer, OCC will host the Haudenosaunee Art Festival. It will be held Saturday August 9 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the campus quad. The event will feature arts and craft vendors, food trucks, live music, dance shows, fashion shows, and a smoke dance competition with cash prizes. The festival will be sponsored by Honest Engine Films.
