Heart & Mind Festival Presents a Spring Equinox Celebration: Masters of the Waterways: A tribute to the Canarsie People of Brooklyn with Algonquin Author Evan Pritchard
As the seasons turn and the light of spring awakens the earth, we invite you to gather in harmony, peace, and unity for the Spring Equinox Celebration.
In this ground-breaking multi-media presentation, Evan Pritchard will share original historical maps of our region and excerpts from his research into the lively Canarsie Nation and the Wappingers people they were aligned with. He will reveal the complex cultural landscape that is buried beneath the cement of modern-day Brooklyn, its pathways, waterways, and villages. The word Canarsie is based on a Taino word for "watershed that is filled like a cooking pot" and this applies to what is erroneously called the East River; it is not a river but it is a watershed and the Canarsie people lived within that sandy watershed and on islands and shores they called "Minnihanonck" which means "the place of luscious beach plums that grow at the mouths of tributaries," islands which they reached via their canoes, called mooxools, which means "it is carved from a tulip tree." Pritchard will explore not only their devotion to the water, but their mutli-ethnic roots, sharing ancestors with the Taino of Borinquen, (Hispaniola), Mohican (people of the waters that are never still) the Munsee (wolf people of stony country) and the Waughkonk of Connecticut, (stream near a rocky hill) inventors of the Classons Point pottery style, first discovered near Long Island Sound. You will never see Brooklyn the same way.
Before the presentation, Laura Murtagh will guide a yoga and meditation session with live music from Matt and Hillary Love Canale. Afterward, enjoy a heart-opening cacao ceremony led by Dream Seed and members of Golden Drum.
This sacred gathering will guide us in aligning our hearts and minds with the rhythms of nature and the spirit of renewal. We will celebrate the balance of day and night, the awakening of new possibilities, and the deep connections that unite us all.
Schedule:
2:00 PM - Arrival
2:15 PM - Yoga, Meditation, Live Music with Matt & Hillary Canale
3:00 PM - Tea and Snack Break
3:30 PM - Presentation by Evan Pritchard
5:00 PM - Cacao Ceremony
Entry by donation, $25 suggested, which includes the Cacao Ceremony. No one turned away for lack of funds.
All proceeds will go to support the Golden Drum. Thank you for your support!