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European art and architecture of all kinds are displayed on Syracuse University’s quadrangle. The neo-classical design of Hendrick’s chapel, Ivan Meštrović’s despairing statue in the sculpture garden, “Job,” and Ben Shahn’s mural on Huntington Beard Crouse Hall of “The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti” show off the wide range of art and talent representing the school. Even the grandeur of the red bricks and stained glass of Crouse Hall represent SU’s rich history. But all exclusively operate in European design.

However, a new installation by Onondaga artist Brandon Lazore looks to change this pattern.

“I feel like SU definitely shows that they’re willing to take that step forward and show these histories that ain’t really talked about much in traditional education in America,” Lazore said.

As a part of Syracuse University’s Indigenous People’s Day programming, Lazore unveiled his new installation, “Gayaneñhsä•ʔgo•nah,” in front of a crowd of SU students, alumni and staff, as well as members of the Syracuse and Onondaga community Monday.

‘Gayaneñhsä•ʔgo•nah,’ or ‘The Great Law of Peace’ began as a painting, which is currently on display in the SU Art Museum, Lazore said. The painting is chock full of symbols and figures from Haudenosaunee culture and tradition, with figures from the Haudenosaunee origin story as well as modern Haudenosaunee leaders.

The painting is bordered by corn and strawberries, what Lazore said were “medicine and sustenance,” as well as symbols of all the 50 chiefs represented on the Circle Wampum of the Haudenosaunee. He said that Haudenosaunee legends inspired his artwork.

In the middle of the painting are the four founding figures of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, including Hiawatha, Tadodaho, the Peacemaker and Jigonhsasee. Four wampum belts surround the figures: the Hiawatha Belt, the Tadodaho Belt, the Dust Fan belt and the Woman’s Nomination belt.

Lazore said he wanted to emphasize the importance women play in Haundenosaunee culture as well as the important role Indigenous women played in the United State’s Women’s Suffrage movement.

“The inherited right that women have in our society, being able to put up a chief and remove a chief. You get your clan from a woman, you get your nation,” Lazore said.
Onondaga lake, the Haudenosaunee nation’s founding location, sits behind the figures, and below this scene, two twin men play a game of lacrosse, as a part of a Haudenosaunee legend of how the night and day were separated.

At the bottom are historical female figures from the Women’s Suffrage Movement, including Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Matilda Joslyn Gage, all of whom were heavily influenced by Haudenosaunee culture and traditions.

Megan Thompson | Digital Design Director

This history of the Haudenosaunee is not talked about enough, said Scott Manning Stevens, an associate professor and director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies program at SU.

Stevens, who is also part of the Akwesasne Mohawk nation, expressed frustration at the lack of education of Indigenous culture and actively works to rectify this disparity.

“For so long, people have been taught U.S. history without Native Americans and that just is insane,” Stevens said. “How do you study the history of a country without talking about in any substantive way, the Indigenous people, the original people there?”

Stevens said the installation, along with Room 018 in Eggers Hall, which is modeled after a long house, can educate and inform members of the SU community of the influence and impact Indigenous people have on Syracuse campus.

The installation is more than just the painting itself. Around the painting, which is supported by two trees, are purple and white flowers that represent the wampum used in wampum belts, as well as rocks that represent the six nations: Mohawk, Seneca, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga and Tuscarora. A white pine towers over it all, representing peace between all the nations.

“We wanted life to be here,” Lazore said.

Members of the Haudenosaunee community also found Lazore’s installation important to their representation on campus and in Syracuse at large. Sidney Hill, the Tadodaho of the Haudenosaunee, spoke at the official unveiling after giving a Thanksgiving address in all the languages of the Haudenosaunee.

“The stuff (Lazore) does just depicts who we are as Haudenosaunee people. When you have those talents you can give back to our people,” Hill said. “It takes these people to continue these acknowledgements to remind people that we are on traditional people’s lands.”

Now that the installation is a permanent fixture on campus, Stevens hopes that it can be used to educate more students on Native culture and more specifically the Haudenosaunee people, whose lands the campus sits on.

“A close reading of (The Great Law of Peace) would give you some key contributions and important aspects of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Onondaga Nation in particular,” Stevens said. “It’s a really welcome addition to the campus.”

Published on October 11, 2022 at 12:23 am