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| (L to R) My Queen Anusha, Me, Chase Iron Eyes, Chief Bear Cross and Ken Cosentino |
(Niagara Falls, NY) — The Atlantis School For Gifted Youngsters in collaboration with the Haudenosaunee, the Niagara River Iroquois Dancers, the City of Niagara Falls, NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Niagara Falls Public Library and Canada's Niagara Illumination Board welcomes Wounded Knee descendants Chase Iron Eyes and Chief Bear Cross to WNY in celebration of Niagara Falls' 1st Annual Indigenous Peoples Weekend October 7th through October 11th.
This weekend celebration began at noon on Thursday October 7th at Niagara Falls City Hall with an official raising of the Haudenosaunee wampum by Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino and Tuscarora Chief Brennan Ferguson, Turtle Clan. At 6pm that evening an Opening Ceremony took place by the Horseshoe Falls at Terrapin Point in the Niagara Reservation State Park. This included a traditional welcome by the Haudenosaunee for internationally renowned Standing Rock Activist Chase Iron Eyes and second-great grandson of Chief Crazy Horse and Lakota Wisdom Keeper Chief Bear Cross of the Ghost Nation. Chase Iron Eyes and Chief Bear Cross are Wounded Knee descendants and were distinguished guests for the Indigenous Peoples Weekend celebration. Following the traditional welcome a ceremonial dance by the Niagara River Iroquois Dancers took place and a raising of the Haudenosaunee wampum at the State Parks by Tuscarora Chief Tom Jonathan, Turtle Clan. The Opening Ceremony concluded with the Falls being illuminated in the colors of both the wampum and the Ghost Nation flag.
On Friday October 8th, 4pm-5pm there was a Speaking Engagement at the Niagara Falls Public Library. Topic of that discussion was Sacred America: Breaking 500 Years of Silence." Following a brief Invocation by Chief Bear Cross, Lakota Elders shared their experience from Wounded Knee before Chase Iron Eyes discussed the power of Indigenous culture, sovereignty and water protection. This event was free and open to the public.
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| Chief Crazy Horse second-great grandson Chief Bear Cross |
Saturday October 9th at 11am Wounded Knee descendants Chief Bear Cross and Chase Iron Eyes, Seneca Elder and Historian Paul Winnie and Niagara Falls City Councilman Bill Kennedy held a Press Conference at the Hyde Park Veterans Monument in Niagara Falls. In honor of Indigenous Peoples Weekend, speakers shared statements on the history of Wounded Knee, the plight of indigenous people and raised awareness about the Remove the Stain Act; landmark legislation that revokes the Medal of Honor awarded to soldiers for acts that occurred on December 29, 1890, at Wounded Knee Creek, Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota. The bill requires the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard to remove the names of those award recipients from the Medal of Honor Roll for their role in slaughtering hundreds of Lakota men, women, and children at the Wounded Knee massacre.
Saturday October 9th at 2pm the weekend concluded with a V.I.P. Meet & Greet with Chase Iron Eyes and Chief Bear Cross on Goat Island by Three Sisters Island.
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| Press Conference at Veterans Monument in Niagara Falls NY |
About the Attendees
The Niagara River Iroquois Dancers are a Tuscarora-based international dance troupe which include dancers from among the Six Nations. Founded by Nina and Orville Greene and family, its mission is to preserve and share the cultural heritage of Haudenosaunee People through traditional songs, dance, stories and craft making.
Chase Iron Eyes, Activist Lawyer for the Lakota People’s Law Project, was raised on the Standing Rock Nation and now lives on the Oglala Lakota Nation (Pine Ridge Reservation). Chase co-founded the Last Real Indians media model of frontline reporting in addition to an uncensored critique of the issues of the day as a way to give voice to the voiceless, presence to the unseen and action to prophecy. Chase is married to Dr. Sara Jumping Eagle and they are raising their family in Lakota Treaty lands.
Chief Bear Cross, second-great grandson of Chief Crazy Horse and Wisdom Keeper of the Lakota People, Chief Bear Cross is the Leader of the Ghost Nation who received his war bonnet from Spiritual Leader Leonard Crow Dog. Leonard Crow Dog led the takeover of the town of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1973, known as the Wounded Knee Incident.
About the Atlantis School For Gifted Youngsters
The Atlantis School For Gifted Youngsters is a private estate and learning institution founded in Niagara Falls, NY to teach/train youth in the growth, development and control of their powers. The mission of this institution is to globally inspire, empower and educate youth to be Ambassadors of our future.
