Virtual Parlor Chat: Indigenous New York with Oleana Whispering Dove

An introductory oral historical account and cultural interpretation of the Indigenous ethnos and landscape of New York from 1654 to today.

What was the landscape and community life of the place known then as Manahatta and known today as Manhattan? Who were the first tribes that the Dutch encountered and formed relations with? How did Pearl Steet inherit its name? Did the Dutch influence or impact the indigenous people? Were NewYork’s Indigenous expunged with the Indian Removal Act? Who were the chiefs, and did they live in a patriarchal or matriarchal society?This dialogue answers questions rarely addressed based upon documented historical records and taps into how they exist today in the shadows of an internationally famous metropolis.

 

About the speaker:

Oleana Whispering Dove has worked as a museum professional for over 20 years and curates Native American programs, spotlighting Traditional and Contemporary Indigenous artists. Likewise, Oleana is Smithsonian Museum-trained in Lenape Indigenous history and fulfills public speaking engagements on the topics of Carving Out a Legacy and Historic Native American Women Chiefs, which reflect her Indigenous heritage as a Native American descendant.

Recently launched into the art of spoken word, she shares her inherited diary of published poems: Reflections of a Whispering Dove; Entangled in a Simmons Serenade, co-authored with Def Poetry Jam’s co-founder Danny Simmons. A permanently cataloged and archived pictorial diary with the Schomberg Center for Research.

Undeterred by social injustice during a global pandemic, Oleana accepted the opportunity as an Associate producer of the short film titled “Silent Tribute,” produced by Rainy Film & Media, which memorializes George Floyd and the Murdered, Missing Indigenous Women and Girls on Native American Reservations.