ABOUT THE ARTIST

Trish Corcoran is Tonawanda Onondowaga, Bear Clan, as well as Irish and German. She teaches Indigenous and Environmental studies at the Harley School to all grade levels. She serves on the Board of the Genesee Land Trust and Friends of Ganondagan. Trish is co-chair of Rochester Indigenous Peoples’ Day and runs educational events throughout the year. She also serves on the Indigenous Advisory Council for the Climate Solutions Accelerator, the Seventh Generation Land Defenders, Indigenous Peoples’ Health Coalition and is a reader for Witness to Injustice blanket exercise. Most of all she is a proud Mother of two, both of whom prefer to be outdoors day or night, summer or winter.

2027 “ON NATIVE LAND” CALENDAR ARTIST

What does “On Native Land” mean to you?: We’re all On Native Land. Go anywhere in the world. You are On Native Land. The first stewards lived not on the land, but with the land. They knew that they were part of Nature, not apart from “it”.

Because of colonization and capitalism, there is much extinction, pollution, extraction, devastation, and trauma that are harming Native Land around the world. Many can no longer live in their homeland due to violence, removal, and climate change; historically and currently. What does one do before studying abroad? You study the country you’re going to live in. You learn the history, culture, language, art, religion, customs. In the USA 27 states have no Native curriculum. The schools that include Natives, describe them as having lived in longhouses, played lacrosse, grew the Three Sisters. All past tense. Everything mentioned is in the 1800’s or before. No wonder an extensive 2014 study showed 87% of high school graduates believed all Native Americans were extinct.

You owe it to yourself, to the original stewards, and to Mother Earth to learn the creation story of where you live and travel. Who were/are the original people? What are their customs, history, art, music, language? Native people have been erased intentionally, you were meant to not know about Native people; because we are a living reminder of the atrocities that lead to the theft of a continent. We are still here.

The “Civilization Regulations, 1883” made it illegal for Native Americans to practice their cultures and religion. That included controlled burns, Oyster & Kelp beds, tending Bison herds and more. These actions kept Mother Earth healthy. Now western science is catching up and asking Natives for help. Civilization Regulations were rescinded in 1978 (with the Indian Religious Freedom Act) and Natives have helped wherever they’ve been asked. Support Natives, support Mother Earth, remember, no one is illegal on stolen land.