Edna Gordon | 
Harvey Arden |
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y., Oct. 9, 2012 — Edna Gordon, a noted Seneca Nation elder, will speak at 7 p.m. Monday,
Oct. 15, in the Walsh Science Center auditorium at St. Bonaventure
University.
She will be joined by Harvey Arden, publisher and author of the book “Wisdomkeepers: Meetings with Native American Spirit Elders” and a series of other works on indigenous wisdom.
The program is jointly sponsored by Olean Public Library and the Department of Political Science at St. Bonaventure. It is free and open to the public.
Gordon, known as “Grandma Gordon,” is a widely respected elder of the Hawk (Henhawk) Clan of the Seneca Nation, one of the six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. She lives on the Cattaraugus territory, south of Buffalo. At the age of 90, she has just published her second book of indigenous teachings, “A Broomstick Revolution.” Her first book, “Wisdom of the Hawk Elder,” is still available.
In her new book, Gordon calls for “a peaceful revolution – call it a Broomstick Revolution. That’s right, we the people – and especially we Women – pick up our broomsticks and sweep injustice out ….”
Arden is a former writer for National Geographic magazine. Over the past decade, he has given readings and lectures on the dreamkeepers and the wisdomkeepers at Harvard, Columbia, California Institute of Technology, the University of Southern California, and the University of South Dakota, among other colleges and universities.
He has given readings nationwide from Leonard Peltier’s “Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sundance,” and from Matthew King’s book “Noble Red Man: Travels in a Stone Canoe.” He has been interviewed on National Public Radio and on many other stations. His books have been translated into 10 languages.
When asked once why he became so involved with the indigenous world, Arden said he subscribes to the philosophy of the Australian Aboriginal Elder Lilla: “If you’ve come here to help me, you’re wasting your time. But if you’ve come here because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
This program is made possible through funding from the New York State Council on the Arts. For more information, call Tom Krampf at the Olean Public Library, (716) 372-0200; or Mary Rose Kubal, associate professor of political science at St. Bonaventure, (716) 375-2271.
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