Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2005SYR07
Purchase Details
11x17-inches, printed on heavy weight (100-pound) Hammermill cover paper. We package each print with a piece of chipboard in a clear plastic sleeve.
You also receive…
An information page with photos of the artist and poet, and hand-written comments from each.
Medium- and large-format posters are available by custom order. Contact us for details.
Poem Inspiration Location
Through the Southern Hills
poster information
Description
Through the southern hills
Ancient American roots
and nobody knows
When I give talks, or do stone carving workshops, I'll ask people if they know of the Onondaga. I'm usually surprised at how many people don't know, or don't care.
Or they'll be like: “Yeah, I know there are Indians over there, but I don't know what kind.” They don't know that Onondaga is the capital of the Iroquois Confederacy, or that Iroquois government influenced American government—that we gave root to American democracy. And this surprises me, because New York is full of Iroquois, from Lake Erie, through the St. Laurence Seaway, all the way to Albany. People aren't taught that, but they should be.
To understand who we are would eliminate stereotypes. The outside world would gain an understanding. And that would be better for all of us.
As a student new to the Syracuse area, I was instantly intrigued by the vista to the south of the city, but knew nothing of its history. The longer I lived in the area though, read the newspaper, etc., the more I realized how extensive the Native American history in this area is, and how unaware most people are of its presence. This is why this poem struck me.
When considering different approaches to the creation of the poster, I decided that it was important to show an interaction, or lack thereof, between the city and the southern hills mentioned in the poem. I took reference shots from St. Joseph's Hospital on the north side, looking to the south, so that I would be able to accomplish a view of both the city and the southern hills. This allowed me to depict the city quite small while this unknown land and our common sky looms above.