A New Exhibit at Ganondagan

A new exhibit which has been in the works for over a year is finally ready to open next week.

On March 25th Ganondagan will open the WAMPUM/OTGOÄ exhibition featuring important Indigenous wampum objects from the musée du quai Branly, wampum belts from the Rochester Museum and Science Center and contemporary Wampum works by featured Haudenosaunee artists.

The objects from France come from a time prior to the formation of the United States and represent a complicated legacy of diplomacy between Indigenous nations and the colonial French.

This unprecedented collaboration between Ganondagan, the musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac and the McCord Museum postures Ganondagan as an international resource for authentic cultural interpretation and educational inquiry. The exhibition is the culmination of 300 years of European contact and four years of dedicated relationship-building between the musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac (Paris, France) and Ganondagan.

Over the next six months Ganondagan will be hosting programing such as Indigenous led interpretation of the Wampum Exhibition, monthly Haudenosaunee artist/culture bearer presentations and workshops, culminating in a “Wampum Matters Symposium” in September. This exciting exhibit will only be open until September 16th, so make your plans to get to Ganondagan and see it before it closes.

Michael Galban, Washoe/Paiute, Ganondagan’s Historic Site Manager stated, “Wampum yearns to be understood, and also to deliver the meaningful messages it was assigned long ago. Here at Ganondagan, it will be given that opportunity once again. Wampum is enigmatic in its versatility, it heals, protects, beautifies and confirms relationships. There was a time when everyone east of the Mississippi River understood the use and importance of wampum. We invite all peoples to come to Ganondagan and learn from and about this ancient and yet very contemporary sacred semiotic.”

Ansley Jemison, Seneca, Wolf Clan, Ganondagan’s Cultural Liaison, “Wampum has a lot to say, and Ganondagan will do our best to share those words with the public. The Wampum we have invited here, in many ways, are functioning again as objects that have the ability to restore peace.”

This exhibition was made possible by the generous support of: NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Terra Foundation of American Art, JC Seneca Foundation; Forge Project, traditional lands of the Muh-he-con-ne-ok; Athens Fine Art Services, LLC; Donn Vickers and Sharon Sachs, musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, Rochester Museum & Science Center and the Rock Foundation.