A Volunteer’s Reflection on the 2023 Native Made Market

Guest Contributor: Hannah Dodson

On November 25, 2023, Angelina Hilton hosted her Second Annual Native Made Market in Rochester, New York. This is how I felt about it:

Preservation of Native Culture in Rochester, New York

Preservation is a generational responsibility, an opportunity—a duty that was destined even before the colonization of the American continent. Today, it is a generational struggle to hold onto the precious memories that keep slipping through bloodied fingers or tear stained cloth. And yet, the call still comes from the ancestors of the Native American Indian tribes, most of which have long since lost their heritage, language, and traditions. But whether the memory is lost or not, those who hear the call of their ancestors can feel the weight of the sacred obligation of preservation and survival. 

We are all humans here, but the unwitting strength, and persevering failure to fall victim to victimhood itself is what makes these people so incredibly awe inspiring. In fact, I want to cry out a loud song of pain and sorrow for the detriment that they have faced at the hands of our forefathers. And yet, in the face of their own history, all that can be found is consistency in truth, honor, humility, and pride. After all this time, there is still a powerful willingness to forgive, to move forward and repair relationships. All these communities want is to be recognized for their sovereignty and their existence as people, human beings with rich tradition and history that cannot be denied. They have been ignored long enough.

Why I got involved

Hi, my name is Hannah, and I grew up on land that used to be widely populated and cultivated by the Seneca Nation, one of the six nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. It was swampy and full of fields and forests, and it was amazing. I didn’t have much of an experience with the origins of the land or who cultivated it before I stood there, and yet, I spoke to the trees and I collected the rocks. I spoke to the clouds like a mother, and the sky like a father. I walked the fields alone in my bare feet, and ran naked through the brush like a wild thing. The relationship I had with nature was real, and what some call “animistic.” Everything was alive and everything had a personality. Deep in my soul I know my non-human kin led me to understand the song of the wind and the scent of the sun. 

But even beyond being raised by Mother Earth, I began to relate in deeper ways to the people who grew Her before me. I have known trauma of my own all my life, and I have known abandonment from family and friends alike. No two experiences can be compared, especially not to a multigenerational holocaust such as the American Indians have been striving to overcome for hundreds of years, but I was just sick of being put down and continuing to participate in a culture that did all the wrong things in all the right ways. I was ready to help. I was ready to move forward by listening again to the song of wind and rain.

By the grace of the Great Spirit, a friend of mine introduced me just at the right time to a woman named Angelina Hilton. I had literally never met a Native American before. And even after all that talk of emotional integrity to strive for a better world, I felt completely terrified of being seen as ridiculous and pitiful. Nothing that can be read or heard can lead to a genuine understanding of someone else’s painful past; especially one that goes so far back. And for the sake of my own peace of mind, I sat and listened to this woman’s life and I bore to her my own. And together we created a moment in time where all things can be held and respected for truth and humility. I was dying to help create a visibility for this wonderful, wonderful culture that has withstood the test of literal obliteration and is still vibrant and vivacious and brimming full of pride.

Native Made, an Opportunity for Visibility and Preservation in Rochester

When I walked in the door as a volunteer, I had no idea what to expect, but I understood what I saw: Family…community. These vendors and guests were from all around the country, some from Canada, and even Africa. There was no sense of estrangement, you could feel the solidarity in the air. All different cultures but the same people of Turtle Island. There were storytellers and faithkeepers, vendors of beaded jewelry and handmade crafts, stickers, paintings, leather workers and bone workers. And there was a woman who spoke about the ancient seeds of the first people, before they evolved into what is mass produced today. She has dedicated her life to finding these grains and has made incredible strides to preserve the wonderful heritage of this land and her people. And we all wept when we heard what incredible lengths it is possible for a human to go to preserve a memory and a time when the earth was seen as sacred, and her fruits were regarded with care and thanksgiving.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, which was just around that time, I am eternally grateful for even just that moment of feeling like I am not the most important person in the world, and that I do not have to bear the weight of my pain and sorrow alone, that there are people, entire communities and cultures that even when hurt are made stronger together. I am blessed that I don’t have to go thousands of miles away to find real, genuine culture with a rich and impenetrable history. 

I know that I will be volunteering at the next annual Native Made Market, and I hope to encourage others to do the same. As an American, I feel like I have a hard time feeling satisfied with my culture, but that’s because there is no innate sense of community, camaraderie, or historical tradition that I can genuinely feel proud to be a part of. I want to change that, and I think that turning back and accepting the incredibly vibrant culture of the original people who cultivated the land we so willingly extinguish with the flick of a match is one step in the direction of a community of human beings who all live here and need each other’s empathy, love, and support.