Performance honors Native American heritage

Honoring Native American Heritage Month, Penn College hosted a November performance by the Piscataway Nation Dancers & Singers. 

Led by Piscataway Chief Mark Tayac, the 29th generation of hereditary chiefs, the troupe hails from Tayac Territory, near Port Tobacco, Maryland. (According to Piscataway history, "A succession of Algonquian peoples ultimately coalesced into the Piscataway Nation of the Chesapeake and Tidewater regions of Maryland. The Piscataway were the first Native Americans to encounter Captain John Smith along the banks of the Potomac River in 1608.")

Initially planned for the lawn of the Thompson Professional Development Center, the public event was moved into the PDC due to weather. 

Among the many ways to celebrate Native American Heritage Month: participate in Native American cultural events and engage with Native American communities, explore Native American cuisine and literature, and recognize the land you are on. 

Penn College's Land Acknowledgement states: 

"We acknowledge that the land on which we live, work, and learn is the ancestral home of the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee, Iroquoian-speaking Susquehannocks, and the Lenni Lenape (Delaware). We too recognize their Woodland Period ancestors. We are grateful for their stewardship and management of this land over thousands of years and promote this recognition in honor and respect of that caretaking.

"This process also allows Penn College to educate our community about our history which meets our Mission of providing a grounding in a comprehensive education and our Values as a Community of Respect. We value the over 100-year history of our institution, and we should value the 16,000 years of history that came before us and prepared the land for the education we now provide."