Heart & Mind Festival Presents a Spring Equinox Celebration: Masters of the Waterways: A tribute to the Canarsie People of Brooklyn with Algonquin Author Evan Pritchard
As the seasons turn and the light of spring awakens the earth, we invite you to gather in harmony, peace, and unity for the Spring Equinox Celebration.
In this ground-breaking multi-media presentation, Evan Pritchard will share original historical maps of our region and excerpts from his research into the lively Canarsie Nation and the Wappingers people they were aligned with. He will reveal the complex cultural landscape that is buried beneath the cement of modern-day Brooklyn, its pathways, waterways, and villages. The word Canarsie is based on a Taino word for "watershed that is filled like a cooking pot" and this applies to what is erroneously called the East River; it is not a river but it is a watershed and the Canarsie people lived within that sandy watershed and on islands and shores they called "Minnihanonck" which means "the place of luscious beach plums that grow at the mouths of tributaries," islands which they reached via their canoes, called mooxools, which means "it is carved from a tulip tree." Pritchard will explore not only their devotion to the water, but their mutli-ethnic roots, sharing ancestors with the Taino of Borinquen, (Hispaniola), Mohican (people of the waters that are never still) the Munsee (wolf people of stony country) and the Waughkonk of Connecticut, (stream near a rocky hill) inventors of the Classons Point pottery style, first discovered near Long Island Sound. You will never see Brooklyn the same way.
Before the presentation, Laura Murtagh will guide a yoga and meditation session with live music from Matt and Hillary Love Canale. Afterward, enjoy a heart-opening cacao ceremony led by Dream Seed and members of Golden Drum.
This sacred gathering will guide us in aligning our hearts and minds with the rhythms of nature and the spirit of renewal. We will celebrate the balance of day and night, the awakening of new possibilities, and the deep connections that unite us all.
Schedule:
2:00 PM - Arrival
2:15 PM - Yoga, Meditation, Live Music
3:00 PM - Tea and Snack Break
3:30 PM - Presentation by Evan Pritchard
5:00 PM - Cacao Ceremony
Entry by donation, $25 suggested, which includes the Cacao Ceremony. No one turned away for lack of funds.
All proceeds will go to support the Golden Drum. Thank you for your support!
Presenters:
Evan Pritchard
Evan Pritchard of Mi’kmaq descent, has been doing field interviews with Native American elders since 1990, and has been the director of Center for Algonquin culture for the last 26 years. A lecturer on native studies at Vassar, Pace, Marist, Columbia, SUNY, John Jay, University of Ontario, UMass, and Ramapough State, he has also presented at Gracie Mansion, AMNH, Smithsonian, and on line. He recently presented a retrospective of his mapping work at the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries (Clarkson University). He has written over fifty books on native culture, history, language and spirituality, including Native New Yorkers; Henry Hudson and the Algonquins (Chicago Review Press); Bird Medicine (Inner Traditions/Simon and Schuster); Native American Stories of the Sacred (Turner Books) No Word For Time (Millichap) Red Head Band (Resonance Books) a collection of multi-lingual (English and various Algonquian languages) poetry, and Greetings from Mawenawasic (Foothills Publishing).Poems from Greetings were the basis of a portion of a Native American stage play called Cedars, which premiered at Lamama in New York, an iconic off-Broadway venue, and some appeared in Chris Felver’s film and tabletop anthology book Tending The Fire (University of New Mexico Press, foreword by Simon Ortiz). He is now releasing a two volume reference book Mapping Native New York, in full color. He has lectured frequently on The Way of the Heron, a body of traditional Algonquin knowledge about conflict resolution and trust building. Evan facilitated workshops in Wabenaki culture at Northwoods Stewardship Center July 4-10, 2017 (Charleston, VT) as part of the Cultural Regeneration Project and has been a frequent guest on Pacifica’s Mocassin Tracks Radio with Deb Reger, He has appeared annually at the Pocumtuck Festival in Greenfield, Ma. for many years, and lectured twice at Greenfield’s Discovery Center. He has published many original maps of Native American settlements east of the Mississippi and was featured in Ted Timreck’s film Hidden Landscapes as well as Tobe Carey’s documentary Mountain River. He has appeared on dozens of radio stations including WBAI, and WNYC, and appeared as a featured guest on CNN, ABC, Discovery Channel, History Channel, and on Roger Hernandez’ 90 minute special “Touring Native New York” on Manhattan Cable. He can be reached at evan.pritchard7@gmail.com; www.algonquinculture.org OR https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=algonquinculture
Matthew Canale and Hillary Love Canale
Matthew Canale is a student of Maestro Manuel Rufino, an elder of the Taino tradition and ceremonial leader, since 2008. Under the guidance of his teacher, Matthew has traveled around the world and studied the sacred traditions of humanity. He is a founding member of Golden Drum, a cultural community center in Brooklyn. He is also a founding member of Dream Seed, a sound healing ensemble that travels internationally sharing the gift of sacred music. He has studied and practiced kirtan and mantra for over a decade. Matthew is also a gifted artist, painter, designer, musician, drum maker and song-writer having released his first album entitled "Celebrate" in 2024. His mission is to use his gifts to aid in the evolution of human consciousness. www.mattcanale.com IG: @mattcanale
Hillary Love Riley is a student of Maestro Manuel Rufino, an elder of the Taino tradition and ceremonial leader. She is devoted to the study of the sacred and its medicinal ways. She is trained in the tradition of ayurvedic healing and pancha karma. As a song carrier she is drawn to kirtan and mantra and healing music from around the world. Hillary is also a gifted singer, guitarist, song carrier, song writer, painter and beader. She loves to share her gifts to inspire and bring healing to others.
Laura Krassner (Dharam Dhyan Kaur)
Dharam Dhyan Kaur is a KRI certified Kundalini Yoga instructor. She completed her Level 1 Teacher Training in Rishikesh, India in 2013 with Golden Bridge Yoga and has traveled to Europe and the Middle East to complete Level 2 and 3 training courses in Authentic Relationships and the 21 Stages of Meditation. Laura is a member of the Golden Drum community and a student of Maestro Manuel Rufino, to whom she is infinitely grateful.
Dream Seed
Dream Seed is a sound healing ensemble created by members of Golden Drum, Sacred Arts Research Foundation, and Didge Project. Shamanic chanting, mantras, overtone singing, Native American songs, indigenous music, didgeridoos, crystal singing bowls, bells, gongs, harmoniums, tuning forks and other overtone-emitting instruments are used to create an environment conducive to deep relaxation and inward investigation.