Artist Statement of Alan George.

I feel it is important that indigenous artists/musicians and dancers be involved in museum programming, because the first impression that non-native people often have is that we are savages. Once they find out what we do is taking care of the Earth and thanking it, it helps to ease the tensions. That is how education can help.

A lot of times, it is taken for granted that all of nature will be available all the time, but if we ruin it, it won't be there. In the Thanksgiving Address, which has been given for a long time, the first thing we do as people is to give thanks to the people who have come to the gathering and if someone is sick, we ask the Creator and the four Messengers to help. Then, we give thanks to the Earth and everything put on the Earth, so they can be happy with us. We always start with what is on the Earth, then we go up to the Sky, Sun, Moon, and Stars, and the Four Messengers, and our teachers, and the laws they gave us to live by. Then we give thanks again to the Creator, as we still use the things He provided, because when He thought of the people He wanted each one of us to be happy as we walk this Earth.We thank Him for that.

The same social dances were performed in all the Six Nations of the Confederacy, as it was considered one longhouse. All the dances are still done in all longhouses, and we are all included from oldest to youngest. When a child participates in a dance, he instinctively knows he is part of something that is good, and it gives him enjoyment to be part of something that is true--a sense of the truth. There is also a connection to the older people in our dances; they are a part of that as well, and it is still going on today.

I feel our song and dance performances in different schools, museums, and centers, for different age groups, are good ways to cultivate respect and understanding of Haudenosaunee traditions--because when young preople grow up, they will have a different view of Native people. Hatred and animosity will not be there. They will acknowledge us. We don't say our world is the best; they (non-native people) have their own way. We don't try to push our way of life on people. We make it available for educational purposes, and people find out we are not different than they are, and when they do these things, the mind changes.

If I walk into a museum, they have history and talk of certain things that happened that we know from experience--from oral tradition. A lot people don't know that when you plant a garden--and I was told by an elder that you could take your shoes off and walk in the garden and your feet will know--the feeling you have from all the earth, the plants, and roots will heal you. The medicine pine trees, if you have problems, will solve them for you. There are medicines planted on this Earth for every illness that is known to man. This is the knowledge I possess. I can only speak for myself; I can't speak for different people.