The Haudenosaunee women-led, non-profit organization Rematriation is hosting an academic symposium in collaboration with Syracuse University’s Center for Global Indigenous Cultures and Environmental Justice at Syracuse University from February 28 through March 2, 2025.

Syracuse University is located on Onondaga Nation lands in the heart of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The purpose of the symposium is to share principles of Haudenosaunee and Indigenous matrilineal knowledge as a praxis to address critical global challenges.

Proposals from all disciplines are encouraged. Indigenous, non-Indigenous, all genders, and non-gendered peoples are all invited and encouraged to submit proposals, attend, and participate. Organizers welcome proposals that share traditional knowledge, as well as academic discourse that brings Haudenosaunee and Indigenous matrilineal knowledge into the academy as a field of study. Our aim is to bring Indigenous matrilineality into global cultural awareness and action.

Please submit abstracts of the proposed presentation (approximately 400 words) that include the presentation title, presenter’s name, and affiliation (nation and/or university) by November 1, 2024.

Rematriation Founder & Executive Lead Michelle Schenandoah says, “In May of 2023, Mohawk Bear Clan Mother Mommabear held the Mother of Nations Alliance gathering. That convening of powerful Indigenous and non-Indigenous women changemakers inspired us to bring Haudenosaunee matrilineal knowledge to academia and to the public. We acknowledged this critical moment in our world and the necessity to share what we know about the important role of women to return balance in our connection to Mother Earth and for everyone’s survival.”

For seven years, Rematriation has led Rekindling the Fire of our Sisterhood gatherings to create space for healing and cultivating Haudenosaunee ancestral and contemporary matrilineal knowledge. Recognizing its importance, Rematriation, along with other Haudenosaunee groups and key allies who have been positively impacted by this knowledge, wish to share how matrilineality can support global sustainability, equity, and balance with Mother Earth.

Samantha Doxtator, Haudenosaunee astronomer and symposium presenter, states, “If we don’t tell them, how will they know?” This is the conclusion she came to with her family in a discussion about whether or not to share traditional knowledge. Along with her grandmother, a Wolf Clan Mother for the Oneidas in Canada, Samantha and her family recognized the important knowledge the Haudenosaunee and other Indigenous people hold, especially in relation to critical environmental and social issues.

Women and men sing a call-and-response song of love and forgiveness at the Rekindling the Fire of Our Sisterhood gathering 2024. The Women’s Wampum belt is shared among the women, men, Mommabear and Chief Nelson. The song was written by Theresa Bear Fox to bring about peace and balance among our peoples.

“These are teachings of balance and reciprocity among people and all living beings that work in all aspects of life.”

– Mommabear

“The Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s way of life has shaped our peoples, intertwining within our daily lives and guiding us to this day. As Haudenosaunee peoples, we demonstrate that it’s possible to embrace our traditions while thriving in the non-Native world on a daily basis. Our goal is to share the matrilineal teachings that ground us so that others can benefit and thrive as well. These are teachings of balance and reciprocity among people and all living beings that work in all aspects of life.”

In addition to the Spring 2025 symposium, Rematriation is collaborating with Access Audio, a storytelling initiative of the Special Collections Research Center at the Syracuse University Libraries, to record and produce the Rematriated Voices with Michelle Schenandoah talk show and podcast series. This multi-media project features prominent Haudenosaunee, Indigenous, and non-Indigenous thought leaders. This program will highlight why Indigenous matrilineal knowledge is essential to the world in this time of social and environmental turbulence. Rematriated Voices will be released at the start of 2025. Our interviewees include Katsi Cook, Beverly Jacobs, Robin Wall Kimmerer and Gloria Steinem.

The intention of the symposium is to share this knowledge through a collaboration of Indigenous and non-Indigenous allies. As an expansion of our impact on a global scale, celebrity guest Julia Haart, star of the internationally successful Netflix show My Unorthodox Life, will moderate our keynote event panel discussion.