Event highlights indigenous people
With the pounding of drums, a small group which had marched completely around Lake Ontario protesting nuclear plants arrived near Hoyt Lake, part of the U.N.'s Indigenous People's Day.
The event in the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society concluded with storytelling of a better world and of the Peacemaker forming the Iroquois Confederacy 1,000 years ago.
The ceremony included Seneca drumming and a song honoring women of peace.
Agnes Williams, coordinator of the Indigenous Women's Initiatives, says Senecas preach peace and an end to nuclear efforts so the world will remain a great place for the next generations.
"We've got water to drink. We've got a beautiful day outside. The sun comes up and the rays put their arms around us and give us a nice big hug every day," Williams said.
"All of these things are stories that we tell and we talk about and that we teach our children and that we learn in our longhouses and in our communities about how to accept and respect everything that was put here."
Radiation from the former Nuclear Fuel Services plant in West Valley flows through the Seneca Cattaraugus Territory in Cattaraugus Creek.