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Artpark has made a commitment to Indigenous Arts programming and awareness with a full season of Indigenous programs built for and by our local Indigenous community. Our programming serves residents from the Indigenous community in Lewiston, Youngstown, and beyond as well as non-Native persons who are interested in learning more about the culture and traditions.
June 21, 2025
Strawberry Moon Festival is a global celebration built on the Two Row Wampum Teachings that promote all Nations walk together in parallel, with respect, compassion, and understanding to cultivate an inclusive community for our shared future. This festival celebrates the indigenous cultures of the Niagara region through storytelling, music, dance, and arts & crafts. Guests will participate in an inclusive and engaging Native American community gathering.
Not just a music festival, Strawberry Moon celebrates the fact the sky does not acknowledge borders, as different cultural factions from Western New York and Canada gathered to honor the beginning of a new season and tip their collective cap to the land that sustains us all. -- The Buffalo News
More info and events to be announced!
ARTPARK'S NATIVE AMERICAN PEACE GARDEN
by Michele-Elise Burnett of Kakekalanicks Consultancy, Bryan Printup, Rene Rickard, Vince Schiffert and Violet Printup
Artpark Lower Park (South 4th Street entrance)
Opened August 2020
Free and open to the public during regular park hours.
Designed in the sacred shape of the Turtle, this garden is a place for people from all Four Quadrants of the Medicine Wheel to come in unity and friendship. Overlooking the beautiful Niagara River, this healing garden not only offers visitors the opportunity to relax and reflect in a peaceful setting but also acts as an ongoing Native American outdoor land-based classroom with many Strawberry Moon Festival programs to be offered in the future.
The opening celebration on August 1, 2020 began with the traditional Thanksgiving Address, songs and a special Wampum Belt Gifting ceremony to Artpark by Dr. Joe Stahlman, Director of the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum, and Richard Hamell, Professor Emeritus of Monroe Community College. The program also featured storytelling, music and other performances, and special talks / Q&A sessions.
Elders Advisory Council
Allan Jamieson, Sr., Cayuga Nation / Neil Patterson Sr., Tuscarora Nation
Produced by Artpark in collaboration with Kakekalanicks Indigenous Arts & Consultancy
Artpark, positioned at the birthplace of Niagara Falls, is situated on land of cultural, historical, and spiritual significance to multiple Indigenous peoples and nations. The site is home to a burial ground of the Hopewell people of the Ohio River Valley, in continuous use for the last 2,000 years, and contains one burial mound dated to approximately 160 A.D. Niagara Falls and the Niagara River Gorge also have longstanding cultural significance to the Haudenosaunee people who live in Western New York.
In addition to the land’s use for traditional, and historical, purposes, Artpark has long fostered cultural and artistic collaboration with Indigenous peoples since its founding in 1974, including the annual Strawberry Moon Festival, the Native American Peace Garden in the lower park, and more. The rebirth of this programming at Artpark in recent years was fostered by Michele-Elise Burnett, Artpark's Indigenous Arts Producer from 2019-2025. Artpark continues to build connections and expand programming to reconnect with the site’s Indigenous history and share access and stewardship with these original communities.
