November 2025
This month, Stony Brook University recognizes Native American Heritage Month (NAHM) in acknowledgment of the rich contributions of Native/Indigenous Peoples.
On behalf of Diversity, Intercultural, and Community Engagement and the event sponsors below, please join us in attending the many programs that will be offered during NAHM.
The Native American Heritage Month Planning Committee is a network of faculty, staff, and students. The NAHM Planning Committee welcomes members of the Seawolves community to participate or collaborate all year long. For interest in the NAHM Planning Committee, to add your NAHM Event to the calendar or for questions, contact dice@stonybrook.edu
Thank you to our partners for making these events possible.
Overview of Events
Events are open to all
WEAVING WORDS, WEAVING WORLDS:
The Power of Indigenous Language in Contemporary Art
Exhibit Open now through Saturday, November 22, 2025
*Monday- Friday | 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
The Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery, The Staller Center for the Arts
WEAVING WORDS, WEAVING WORLDS explores the profound connections between Indigenous language and contemporary art, centering artists' work engaging with Algonquian languages spoken across Long Island and the Northeast. Drawing from heritage, memory, and community, these artists use creative expression to revitalize and reclaim language as a tool for cultural continuity, storytelling, and healing. While the exhibition uplifts the resilience of Indigenous language, it also acknowledges a history shaped by violence and silence—from early colonial efforts to control and document language, to the trauma inflicted by boarding schools that punished children for speaking their own languages. It further holds space for those who were forcibly silenced, including missing and murdered Indigenous women, whose stories and voices remain essential to any conversation about cultural survival.
This exhibition recognizes how language intersects with lived experience, touching on themes of immigration, gender, family, love, trauma, and intergenerational memory. Also featured in the exhibition are archival materials from Stony Brook University’s Special Collections, which provides vital historical context for Weaving Words, Weaving Worlds, illuminating the enduring presence of Indigenous peoples and languages on Long Island. Highlights include the Native Long Island map by the Suffolk County Archaeological Association, which features over 400 Algonquian words and cultural references. These early maps, place-name studies, and historical documents underscore the exhibition’s themes of language reclamation, cultural continuity, and the resilience of Indigenous knowledge.
Artists: Chiara (Sunshine) Do’wal Sehi Beaumont, Tecumseh Ceaser, Jeremy Dennis, Demian DinéYazhi', Ginger Dunnill, Korina Emmerich, Danielle Emerson, First Literature Project, Jeffrey Gibson, Erin Genia, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Jamie John, Brittany Kiertzner (Arisawe), Ella Mahoney, David Bunn Martine, New Red Order, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, Heather Rogers, Cara Romero, Denise ("Weetahmoe") Silva-Dennis, Anna Tsouhlarakis, GianniVV, Kay WalkingStick, Anangookwe Wolf.
Curated by Jeremy Dennis (Shinnecock Nation)
*Extended Hours during evenings of Staller Center Performances
- Sat., Oct. 18th: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
- Sun., Oct. 19th: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
- Sat., Oct. 25th: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
- Sun., Nov. 2nd: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
- Fri., Nov. 7th: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
- Sat., Nov. 8th: 6:30 PM-7:30 PM
- Sun., Nov. 9th: 12:00 PM-1:00 PM
- Wed., Nov. 12th: 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM *Native American Heritage Month Panel Discussion & Reception
- Fri., Nov. 14th: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
- Sun., Nov. 16th: 3:00 PM-4:00 PM
- Thurs., Nov. 20th: 6:00 PM - 700 PM
- Sat., Nov. 22nd: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Check out more events hosted in the Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery
Shinnecock Kelp Farmers: From Seaweed to Sovereignty
Monday, October 20, 2025
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM | Staller Center, Recital Hall
Join us for a talk with the first Indigenous women-led aquaculture collective on the East Coast. Learn how they use kelp farming to resist settler colonialism and reclaim sovereignty while conserving Shinnecock Bay—part of the Planet, Art, Life series.
Dia de los Muertos | Day of the Dead Celebration
Monday, November 3rd, 2025
7:00 PM-9:00 PM | Student Activities Center, Ballroom A
Join us as we honor and celebrate Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) — a vibrant
cultural tradition that pays tribute to the lives and memories of our loved ones who
have passed. Although Dia de los Muertos is celebrated throughout Latin America, it
has deep pre-colonial indigenous roots.
Guests can take part in traditional crafts, including papel picado, mask painting,
and tissue paper flowers, and are invited to contribute photos or small offerings
to a community ofrenda (altar) in remembrance of family, friends, or cultural icons
who have inspired them. This celebration will feature a special workshop led by the Calpulli Mexican Dance
Company. Come early to sign up for the limited workshop spots.
Enjoy Latin American refreshments as we come together to celebrate life, legacy, and
community through art, dance, and shared stories.
THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO ALL.
Native American Heritage Month Celebration
& Discussion Panel
Wednesday, November 12, 2025
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM | Zuccaire Gallery, Staller Center for the Arts
Join us for Stony Brook University’s 2025 Native American Heritage Month Celebration!
The event will feature a spoken word performance by Sumaq Kilari, a viewing of the
Zuccaire Gallery exhibition Weaving Words, Weaving Worlds: The Power of Indigenous Language in Contemporary Art, and a Panel Discussion with faculty from Native American and Indigenous Studies
(NAIS).
Panel Discussion Moderator:
Joseph Pierce, Director of NAIS and Associate Professor, Department of Hispanic Languages
and Literature
Panelists:
David Weiden, Department of English
Valeria Meiller, Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature
Vick Quezada, Department of Art
Darcey Evans, Department of Anthropology
Reception with light refreshments to follow.
THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO ALL.