Setalcott Nation Corn Festival Powwow opens Saturday

The Setalcott Nation will gather Saturday and Sunday on ancestral land to commemorate their “elders who are strong and vibrant” in an annual Corn Festival Powwow in East Setauket.

For Monique Fitzgerald, one of the nation’s council members, this year’s festivities welcome the public and neighboring tribes to celebrate Native American traditions, while highlighting the “wisdom, resilience, and cultural preservation efforts of the eldest members.”

Chairperson and elder Helen Sells recalled that she first came to her position in the nation after the previous chairperson, her cousin Chief Theodore Green, died in 2007.

“I wasn't elected to the position when Theodore passed away,” Sells said. “I promised him on his deathbed that I would keep the history going and not let it become lost, so that's what I'm trying to do.”

In order to honor their sacred land, the powwow, a decades-long tradition, will be held on a portion of land now utilized by the Setauket Elementary School, where many ancestors and elders once attended.

The two day-event starts at 11 a.m. each day at 134 Main St. and will feature a rich tapestry of ceremonies, dances, education, music and cultural foods, including traditional roasted corn, fried bread and Indian tacos made from Native American vendors.

“Every year, this is how we ensure that we keep our voices and our place in the community,” Fitzgerald said. “This is something that we do for everyone to remember that our history is here.”

The Setalcott Nation has also extended invitations to dancers from across the world, with special performances from the indigenous Puerto Rican people, who have ancestry within the Taíno and Aztecs tribes.

Karim Oticon, powwow attendee and Brookhaven resident, said he enjoys bringing his family to see the “beautiful expression of culture.”

“The Setalcott are still here and it's time for us to learn about our indigenous culture and support the indigenous future of Brookhaven,” Oticon said.

The Unkechaug, Shinnecock, Matinecock and Ramapough Nations, a collection of first nations who settled around the area, are expected to be in attendance as well.

Tom Lyon, a powwow volunteer and retired Three Village Central School District teacher, said the powwow represents “a festival of joy and the respect that they have for their long-term history, for nature and for humanity.”

Lyon, who grew up with many of the Setalcott elders, including Sells, added that the ceremony “feels like a big family reunion where people revisit their homeland and celebrate what's still here.”

Fitzgerald also shared that the Setalcott Nation’s history notes that the Town of Brookhaven was established in April 1655, when the land of the Setalcott Nation was taken.

Since then, tribal ancestors and elders have fought against colonization and genocide, ensuring that their legacy still exists, she said.

“Having the powwow every year is a struggle and we work hard to maintain it,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re an oppressed group who still needs liberation and we just need to make sure that Long Island doesn't push us out.”