Indigenous Stories at Syracuse Stage
Joann Yarrow, Ty Defoe, Talia Shenandoah and Michelle Schenandoah. Reading of “Our Words are Seeds.” 2022
Syracuse Stage has long championed and elevated stories from the Indigenous community. In 1994, the theatre premiered The Indolent Boys from Pulitzer Prize-winning Kiowa novelist N. Scott Momaday; in 2008, alongside celebrated theatre artist Ping Chong, Syracuse Stage created “Tales From the Salt City,” an interview-based examination of the history of Syracuse which included Jeanne Shenandoah, environmental leader of the Onondaga Nation; in 2018, born of a desire to further learn from and engage with the Indigenous people of Central New York, Syracuse Stage launched Our Words are Seeds, a collaborative performance project under the creative guidance of lead artist Ty Defoe; and in the summer of 2025, Syracuse Stage and Netherlands-based choreographer Nicole Beutler collaborated with Oneida/Haudenosaunee thought leader Michelle Schenandoah on A Room in Our House—a dance piece that interrogates the relationship between Dutch colonists and the Indigenous peoples of North America—as a multi-year effort to further the theatre's commitment to telling the stories of the Indigenous community. Such projects not only enrich the local artistic landscape—they continue to inform and deepen the artistic vocabulary of Syracuse Stage as a people-first organization.
THE INDOLENT BOYS 1994
“The Indolent Boys” by N. Scott Momaday, Syracuse Stage 1994.
TALES FROM THE SALT CITY 2008
A powerful exploration of the changing face of Syracuse through an interview-based theatre work,Tales from the Salt City presents the first-hand narratives of seven citizens of Syracuse – both recent arrivals and long-standing citizens. Tales from the Salt City examines the history of Syracuse, beginning with Indigenous peoples, as a center of abolitionism and the Underground Railroad, to its history as an industrial steel-centre, and recent location as a sanctuary city for refugees.
Jeanne Shenandoah in “Tales from the Salt City.” 2008
TALES FROM THE SALT CITY - REUNION 2021
“Tales from the Salt City” was a powerful exploration of the changing face of Syracuse through an interview-based theatrical work that presented first-hand narratives of citizens of Syracuse. Created by theatrical innovator Ping Chong and constructed as a chamber piece of storytelling, the performance featured local residents telling their personal experiences of creating cultural identity out of rich and complex histories. Collaborators Ping Chong, Sara Zatz, and Kyle Bass continue the conversation 12 years later, bringing together the diverse community cast members that made this theatrical experience so powerful and memorable.
OUR WORDS ARE SEEDS 2023
"Our Words Are Seeds” was a project that commissioned playwright Ty Defoe to collaborate with communities of the Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca, Cayuga, Tuscarora, Mohawk nations that form the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. This included sessions with youth and elders, weaving Indigenous history and futures. It was presented first as part of the Cold Read Festival of New Plays, then as a workshop performance at Syracuse Stage that traveled to the Onondaga Nation School and Big Picture School. The process of this community collaboration was shared at Western Arts Alliance in Seattle as well as at the Rematriation Haudenosaunee and Indigenous Matrilineality Symposium in Syracuse.
Interview with Ty Defoe and Joann Yarrow for The Dramatists Guild
WASHINGTON, January 8, 2024 –Original copies of handwritten letters to federal government officials by Oneida Nation activist Mary Cornelius Winder helped connect some of her descendants with her legacy during a visit to the National Archives at New York City this past summer.
Montana Adams in “Our Words are Seeds.” 2023
Left to right: Sequoia Shenandoah, Dianne Schenandoah, Michelle Schenandoah, Shane Hill, Shirlee Winder, Wanda Wood, and Mary Winder pose for a photo outside the National Archives at New York City. They are all descendants of Mary Cornelius Winder (1898–1954), an activist for the Oneida Nation. (Photo courtesy of Wendy Mella Carreño)
Presentation at Onondaga Nation School / Big Picture School
Onondaga Land Rights and Our Common Future:
Quest for Justice March 2025
We open our space for allies and community to share the work being done on and to Indigenous lands. Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON) is a grassroots organization of Central New Yorkers which recognizes and supports the sovereignty of the traditional government of the Onondaga Nation. A program of the Syracuse Peace Council, NOON supports the right of Indigenous Peoples to reclaim land, and advocates for fair settlement of any claims which are filed.
Haiwhagai'i Jake Edwards (Onondaga, Eel Clan) Community Educator and Jeanne Shenendoah (Onondaga, Eel Clan) Onondaga Elder, Traditional Medicine Keeper
A ROOM IN OUR HOUSE 2025
A Room in Our House – is a unique and urgent international co-creation of two strong women with a mission; thought leader Michelle Schenandoah (Oneida/ Haudenosaunee) and choreographer/theatre director Nicole Beutler (Netherlands/Germany). They are committed to a better world; a world in which we remember how to live together in peace. Together as humans and with all that is alive on planet earth. In times of the climate crisis and all its massive consequences we find it necessary to claim space for re-thinking all relations.
Montana Summers performs.