Supporting the revitalization of Gayogohó:nǫˀ language
September 30: National Day of Remembrance for US Indian Boarding School Survivors
On this day we honor the children who never returned home, the survivors, and the impacted families.
From 1819 until 1969, the United States operated boarding schools, aiming to forcefully assimilate Native children and to strip them of their culture, language, and identity. Members of the Gayogohó:nǫˀ Learning Project were directly affected by the schools, and they discuss their experiences in the following video:
Without these schools, there might be no need for the Gayogohó:nǫˀ Learning Project project at all, because people would have been able to maintain their language and culture. This history is finally coming to light in the United States, and is commemorated each year on September 30. This also aligns with Canada’s Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, related to the Native boarding schools operated in Canada. To learn more, see the video above, as well as:
The Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ Learning Project is a collaboration of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people working to promote awareness and practice of Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ (People of the Swampy Land; Cayuga) language and lifeways in their ancestral homelands and beyond. We hope to carry the idea of sgę́:nǫˀ gó:wah, the Great Peace, into our work, cultivating peace and cooperation through education and community outreach. Our partnership is based on a vision in which Indigenous and non-Indigenous people travel separate but parallel paths to engage in peaceful coexistence.
Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ people have a rich history of over ten thousand years living in and stewarding lands of the Finger Lakes region in what is now known as New York state–a sovereignty and relationship severed during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Despite continual systemic suppression of culture, language, and lifeways, Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ are resilient, present, and determined to flourish.
We invite you to join us as we develop ways to center Gayogohó:nǫˀ-led priorities, create culturally responsive spaces in upstate New York, and develop ways to be in good relationship with one another. Please explore our pages for how you can get involved in the responsive work of our project.
Upcoming Events and Classes
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Language Resources
Explore Gayogohó:nǫˀ language with this collection of videos, articles, websites, and more.
Cultural Resources
Explore materials related to the Gayogohó:nǫˀ and Hodihnǫ̱hsǫ́:nih homelands.
Contact Us
We would like to hear from you!
Email
gayogohono.learning.project@gmail.com