Dr. Peter Jemison (Seneca, Heron Clan) began his career at Ganondagan in 1988. During his tenure, Jemison was instrumental in ensuring that Ganondagan became recognized as an international site for Haudenosaunee history and culture.
Jemison notes that “it has been an honor to be the first Historic Site Manager of Ganondagan. It has been the greatest learning experience of my life. Ganondagan gave me the opportunity to work with creative people in film, exhibit design, architecture, art, and dance. These things have been very rewarding, more than I could have imagined. I want to express my thanks to the staff, the Friends of Ganondagan, and the New York State Office of Parks for giving me this opportunity to manage Ganondagan.”
Peter was the driving force behind the building of two remarkable properties on the site: a full-size, Seneca Bark Longhouse replica in 1998, and the Seneca Art & Culture Center in 2015. The Center serves as a permanent, year-round interpretive facility that tells the story of the Seneca and Haudenosaunee contributions to art, culture, and society for more than 2,000 years to the present day. He also served as the producer, catalyst, and inspiration for the multi-award winning Iroquois Creation Story film, a collaboration among Friends of Ganondagan, Garth Fagan Dance, and the Rochester Institute of Technology School of Film and Animation.
In 1989, Jemison was instrumental in forming the not-for-profit educational organization, Friends of Ganondagan, to provide physical, spiritual, and financial support to Ganondagan State Historic Site, and to promote the vital message of peace through the Seneca and Haudenosaunee ideals of social justice, democracy and sustainability.
Peter brought the Iroquois White Corn Project (originally founded by Dr. John Mohawk, Seneca) to Ganondagan in 2012 as a way to revitalize Indigenous agriculture, bringing white corn back to the communities, promoting healthy, traditional food and deepening cultural connections.
With the future ahead of him, Peter looks forward to harnessing the energy that he has used in his job and his cultural work to focus on his art. His illustrious career spans decades across a wide swath of diverse accomplishments with an immeasurable worldwide impact.
Widely shown and collected, his works are rooted in the framework of Native American art. Known for his naturalistic paintings and series of works done on brown paper bags, his art embodies orenda, the traditional Haudenosaunee belief that every living thing and every part of creation contains a spiritual force. His paintings, videos, and mixed media works have been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in the U.S., the U.K. Canada, New Zealand, and Germany. He believes the purpose of art is to help people to see with fresh eyes.
