Event | Perry Ground Storytelling: Re-thinking Thanksgiving

Saturday, August 3 | 7:30 PM

Cost Free

Reservations: Please call to reserve a seat: 518-251-2505

Audience: Recommended for families with children in 4th grade or higher and all adults.

Re-Thinking Thanksgiving, a Native American Perspective on an American Holiday

This lively, content-based presentation will give an overview of the history of this very misunderstood holiday.  Based on the only primary source document that chronicles the “First Thanksgiving” and using a quiz-style format (the audience will take the ‘quiz’ prior to the presentation), participants will learn accurate and culturally appropriate information about the English settlers at Plymouth and the Wampanoag, the Native people who inhabited that area.

The PowerPoint presentation will discuss the actual events of 1621 in Plymouth, the relationship between the English settlers and the Wampanoag and how this story became the holiday we know today.  The concept of thanksgiving held by many Native Americans will be emphasized throughout. 

Although they were not present in Plymouth in 1621, connections to the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) concepts of Thanksgiving will be discussed so participants will understand how Native People view Thanksgiving today.

Perry Ground, Talking Turtle Stories, Master Storyteller & Cultural Educator  

Perry Ground is a Turtle Clan member of the Onondaga Nation of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy.  He has been telling stories for over 25 years as a means of educating people about the culture, beliefs, and history of the Haudenosaunee.  Perry learned many of the stories he shares from elders of Native American communities and feels that practicing and perpetuating the oral traditions of Native people is an important responsibility.  Professionally, Perry has worked in several museums including The Children’s Museum of Houston, Sainte Marie among the Iroquois and Ganondagan State Historic Site; also, he worked for the Rochester City School District for many years.  He has shared his stories and presentations in countless museums, libraries, classrooms, and festivals throughout the northeast and has guest lectured at numerous colleges. Perry served as the Frederick H. Minett Professor at Rochester Institute of Technology for the 2021-22 academic year.