Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2023SYR01
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
Haudenosaunee Women
poster information
Description
Haudenosaunee women
Fayetteville bloomers-
orange sisters in the hood
While doing historical research I was overwhelmed with the immense influence that the Haudenosaunee women had on the early women’s rights movement in Central NY. The model of freedom that the Haudenosaunee women of the Six Nations Confederacy demonstrated to the early feminists and suffragettes provided them with the vision, direction, and inspiration that they needed. This was not a coincidence.
Matilda Joslyn Gage, who was “written out of history” for being too radical, and other “sisters in spirit,” called out to me (despite my being a male), as needing representation and tribute in this poetry project.
I struggled with connecting the concepts and words in this poem, until Syracuse Poster Project blogger, and friend, Rosalyn Carroll, reworked the words and cadence in her watchful and attentive way. This poem is as much, or more, hers than mine. I will keep writing a daily haiku to counteract my dark phases, and to be more present and aware of these special, yet quotidian moments in time, season, and space.
I chose this poem because it resonated most for me as a relevant cultural statement. I find I seek to make art that is not only beautiful in color and composition, but that also compels consideration.
For me, the disparity between modern Syracuse and the ancient wisdom of this land and its native peoples is the most relevant conversation we could have.
It is one that applies to the world at large. The matrilineal wisdom of indigenous peoples and their connection to earth is what will remedy our dismal future. We must remember. This poem, this poster, remembers the women that came before us.
The women that paid every price to grant themselves and future generations access to sovereignty.