Six Nations center looks to build for future generations

Project in Onchiota will allow for expansion of Indigenous artifact collections

By David Escobar

The Six Nations Iroquois Cultural Center in Onchiota is a treasure trove of Haudenosaunee heritage, with wooden walls enveloped in colorful beaded belts, wooden pictographs and other Indigenous art. Yet, amid this vibrant display, a pressing issue looms: space.

Museum Director David Fadden said he struggles to accommodate a growing collection. It comprises artifacts related to the six nations of the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, whose ancestors descend from the Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora and Mohawk tribes. He said the museum’s acquisitions are outpacing available display area.

“Every year, someone donates something, and that’s our problem. We just have nowhere to display it,” Fadden said. “Our homes are even starting to look like museums.”

Fadden, a Mohawk member whose family has operated the museum since 1954, has resorted to placing artifacts where they fit, sometimes as high as the center’s sloped wooden ceiling. He said the museum’s interior has become overwhelming for some visitors, highlighting an urgent need for an expansion.

To tackle the space crunch, Fadden and the center’s staff are planning an ambitious expansion.

With the assistance of the Adirondack Land Trust, the center has acquired 333 adjacent acres of land to expand the cultural center. The project will include a new museum in the form of a 60 by 200 foot traditional longhouse designed by architect Ray Mann, who Fadden said has helped design other Indigenous museums.

In addition to more exhibition space, Fadden said the new museum will provide the cultural center with necessary upgrades, including climate-controlled rooms to protect artifacts from damage from harsh summer weather conditions. 

Fadden said he intends to preserve the vibe of the original museum space by moving the existing building down the road and putting it inside of the new cultural center.

“My hope was to not lose the feel of this place,” Fadden said. “When you come in here, even the smell, it reminds me of my grandparents’ attic … that sort of comfort feeling.”

Fadden said Indigenous values of stewardship and conservation will remain core components of the cultural center’s mission, especially when dealing with the expansion.

Fadden said the new site’s utilities will tie into onsite solar and geothermal renewable energy sources, and the majority of the property will fall under conservation easement under terms of the agreement with the and trust.

“So our building will be reflective of that philosophy,” Fadden said. “We’re looking to the future to protect the Earth and leave something here for our grandchildren.”

Fadden said he and the land trust are drafting a first-of-its-kind conservation easement for the new cultural center, using the parallel partnership represented in the two-row wampum. That means the draft will contain two versions of the easement that will follow the tenets of mutual respect between two organizations.

“It’s an agreement between two groups of peace and friendship,” Fadden said. “And they never interfere with each other.”

Since most of the conservation easement consists of wetland, Fadden said he intends to develop the land sparingly, with possibly one of two trails for visitors to hike.

Adirondack Land Trust grants manager Mary Thill was part of the team that two years ago purchased the $207,500 plot of land that will be the project site. A resident of Saranac Lake, Thill said she is appreciative of the bridge that Fadden has built between Adirondackers and Akwesasne, the Mohawk name for the St. Regis Reservation in northern Franklin County. She said her hope is for the land transfer to expand the center’s reach across the Adirondacks.

“[The center] will get even more attention and be even more powerful at bridging these two communities and increasing understanding among all people,” Thill said. 

Fadden said his grandfather, Ray, began the museum as a way to preserve the history of the Haudenosaunee, which is the Indigenous name for the confederacy. Fadden said part of continuing his grandfather’s legacy is dispelling common misconceptions about the Adirondacks’ Indigenous history.

“What has been a common narrative in the Adirondacks that I’ve witnessed throughout my life is that native people weren’t here,” Fadden said. “I never believed that. It just isn’t true. Because in this small collection, we have artifacts that are local, from just a couple miles down the road that were found by accident.”

The Department of Environmental Conversation’s public comment period for the cultural center’s expansion ended in July, with an overwhelming majority of respondents expressing their desire for the new space.

“Over the course of many years, the existing Six Nations Iroquois Cultural Museum has generously opened its doors to many local, national, and international cultural and environmental organizations and their representatives,” said Adirondack Wild managing partner Dave Gibson in his comment to the DEC. “As a result of onsite and offsite outreach efforts by the Museum and the Fadden family, many friendships have been made and cross-cultural bridges forged.”

Despite an outpouring of support from the public, Fadden said the project still has a long way to go. He said the expansion will cost $9 million, a sum Fadden says will take time to raise.

“It’s a bit daunting for us, but it’s exciting,” Fadden said. “My goal is to preserve this collection for future generations, and to also have a space that tells our history in a clear and comprehensive narrative.”

He hopes to complete fundraising within five years.

This reporting is a collaboration of the Adirondack Explorer and North Country Public Radio, with funding from Report for America.