The West End Arts Campus in Auburn is presenting a new exhibition examining the Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ/Cayuga Nation’s history of forced displacement, diaspora and return to its homelands.
The exhibition, titled Sa:gwáyoˀ Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ/Cayuga People, We Returned, is a collaborative project between the Schweinfurth Art Center and the Cayuga Museum of History & Art. It features artwork, video, audio recordings and historical documents exploring the experiences of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ people before, during and after their displacement from ancestral lands.
Organizers say the exhibit highlights both historical events and ongoing efforts by Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ people to return to their homelands around Cayuga Lake.
The Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ are one of the six nations of the Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih/Haudenosaunee Confederacy, also known as the Iroquois or Six Nations Confederacy. The West End Arts Campus is located on their traditional homelands.
According to exhibition materials, the Confederacy was formed through the leadership of the Peacemaker and later expanded to include six nations under the Great Law of Peace, a governance system widely recognized as one of the oldest participatory democracies in the world.
The exhibit also addresses the impact of European settlement, including the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign during the American Revolution, which resulted in the destruction of numerous Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih villages and the forced displacement of many Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ people.
In the years following the war, additional land losses occurred through treaties and state actions that divided traditional territories into military tracts used to compensate Revolutionary War veterans, according to the exhibit.
While many Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ people have lived in diaspora across New York, Canada and Oklahoma, organizers say efforts to return to ancestral lands have continued for generations, with renewed resettlement efforts beginning in the 1990s around Cayuga Lake.
The exhibition is curated by Jolene Rickard, Ph.D., along with co-curators Audrey Chan, Noah Mapes and Nikki Dragone, Ph.D., J.D., with guidance from Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ community members Hoya:neh Sam George and Stephen Henhawk.
A public opening celebration is scheduled for Saturday, June 6, featuring Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih music, dance, arts, crafts and food.
The exhibition runs through Sept. 19 at the West End Arts Campus, with additional programming and panel discussions scheduled throughout the summer.
