The program was titled a Celebration of Dance, but it also included a display of Native American artifacts and clothing, and a presentation on Native American history by Dr. Dale Bowers, an archeologist and historian from the Seneca Nation. In addition, there was material distributed at the event on the Eastern Delaware Nations plans for its cultural center, which would be constructed in Wyalusing Township.
Members of Eastern Delaware Nations demonstrated a number of dances at Sunday s event, including a stomp dance, an ancient dance that pre-dates the arrival of Europeans in North America, said Mollie Eliot, secretary of Eastern Delaware Nations. One of the first people of European descent to describe the dance was President George Washington, who observed the dance while traveling in the wilderness as a young man and wrote about it in his journal, she said. One of the artifacts on display at Sunday s event was a blue and white flag of the Iroquois Nation, Eliot said.
Native American tribes didn t use flags until after they had contact with Europeans, Eliot said. There were hundreds of Native American tribes in America, and each tribal group pretty much had its own flag, Eliot said. The Eastern Delaware Nations, which is a local Native American organization, has received grant funding to develop the concept of its planned cultural center and hire an architect to design it, Eliot said.
The center would contain museum exhibits, serve as a site for council meetings and cultural programs, Eliot said. It would be constructed on land near the Wyalusing Rocks, but on the opposite side of U.S.
Route 6. We re trying to secure funding (for the construction of the cultural center), Eliot said. We re in the beginning stages of getting funding for this.
We hope to have the (architectural) plans done by this summer. It s a big project. As many as 20 people came to the Celebration of Dance, many of whom believe they have some Native American ancestors and wanted to find out more about their heritage, she said.
The event was opened to the public, but not as many attended as were hoped for, she said. I thought we reached a good target audience through publicity that was done by both the Eastern Delaware Nations and the YMCA, Eliot said. Sunday s program was sponsored by the Eastern Delaware Nations, which is a local Native American organization, and the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.
It will be repeated today for a group of 11th-graders at Sullivan County High School.
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