By Tami Watt, Editor
Officials from the Seneca Nation, Salamanca School District and local government were invited Tuesday, May 4th to celebrate the grand opening of the renovated Veterans Memorial Park. Student athletes, coaches and district officials gathered to recognize the completion of the $16 million multi-sport facility.
Seneca students Carson Redeye and Amos Whitcomb gave the Ganö:nyok, the traditional thanksgiving address given at all events which gives thanks to the Creator for the gifts he has provided for us to live and prosper.
Kerry John, board member and girls lacrosse coach, lead student athletes on field to score the first goal. Grey Nannen threw the first pitch, the Morton’s kicked the first soccer goal, and Athletic Director Chad Bartozek had senior football players run in the first touch down before the rain came.
The new park added two lacrosse boxes, a new field house, one of the largest jumbo trons in the area, new turf, concessions, and locker rooms. The complex is expected to draw sports teams from across the region to come play in Salamanca. The new facility will also be the home of the Seneca-Iroquois Veterans Powwow, one of the largest powwows in western New York with the most Smoke Dance competitors.
Superintendent Robert Breindenstein and Board of Education President Theresa Ray acknowledged partnerships with the Seneca Nation are key to the future of this community. The Seneca Nation approved a 50-year sublease and the community approved the project with no tax increase.
President Matthew B. Pagels commended the project, “That’s why the nation was happy to be consulted in the planning of this project and why so many people have been watching so closely. It’s amazing to see the transformation that’s taken place. The entire community, not just the youth in the community, but the entire community is excited. Small communities are strengthened by common bonds. I see the great progress and strengthened bonds in the last few years. A congrats must be given to all here today, not only for the opening of the park, but just as important, the educational accomplishments that have been noticed by the Seneca Nation, the region and the state.”
Breidenstein introduced a land acknowledgment statement that the school intends to recite at the opening of important events:
“We acknowledge the homeland of the Onöndowa’ga:’ – the People of the Great Hill – the Seneca People, Keepers of the Western Door for the Hodinöshöni Confederacy, on whose ancestral land and water the Salamanca City Central School District now stands. We acknowledge that we are standing on the Seneca People’s Ohi:yo’ Territory in in an area called Onehdahgoh, meaning the place of the hemlock. We honor all past and present Indigenous Peoples connected to this land, and with respect, acknowledge a history of Indigenous People’s forced removal from this land. The Salamanca City Central School District acknowledges the diverse community members from Indigenous Nations, their spiritual and physical relationship to this environment, their rights, their resilience, their sovereignty, and their heritage. We acknowledge and stand with all Indigenous People in their staunch resolve to remain connected to this land.”
