Poster Image

A Haudenosaunee man with a lacrosse stick beside a calm lake at sunset

$20

Item#: 2011SYR07

Purchase Details

11x17-inches, printed on heavy weight (100-pound) Hammermill cover paper. We package each print with a piece of chipboard in a clear plastic sleeve.

You also receive…

An information page with photos of the artist and poet, and hand-written comments from each.

Medium- and large-format posters are available by custom order. Contact us for details.

Poem Inspiration Location

Return to your Home

poster information

Description

Return to your home
the lake of our forefathers
where your soul was born

I was inspired by two thoughts. I wanted to celebrate the cultural importance of the Haudenosaunee people and the significance of Lake Onondaga as a sacred place to the Iroquois. I was also inspired by the marketing campaign “Come Home to Syracuse,” which encourages successful business people and recent graduates to return to their hometown.

Just as the traditions of the Iroquois and the lakefront have been all but forgotten by modern society, so too has the city been abandoned by people migrating elsewhere. I would love to see the Haudenosaunee return to the lakefront and commemorate its importance with a monument, and for those who have left our city to return to share their talents and rebuild their homeland.

We all know of the tragedy that was the irreversible pollution of Lake Onondaga. In that, a resource was tarnished that can never again be as it once was.

I wanted to depict the respect the Haudenosaunee have for their land, with a rising sun. At times Lake Onondaga is still beautiful. I also included the lacrosse aspect because it is a contribution to the American culture that should not be forgotten.