On November 28, 2023, the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) Board of Education unanimously voted to permit the flying of the Haudenosaunee (Hood-en-no-sho-nee) flag on one of the two flagpoles at Ithaca High School (IHS), in consultation with members of the Haudenosaunee community. This significant decision reflects the district’s commitment to reversing the legacy of racism and establishing communities built on love and joy.
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is a group of six Native American nations: the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora. The flag depicts the Hiawatha belt, traditionally created using Wampum shells, and is a symbol of unity, peace, and strength among these nations. Displaying the flag at IHS signifies a deep respect for the native people and land on which the school sits.
“We as Ithacans are on unceded lands,” IHS junior Brenna Lucio-Belbase said, “and flying the Haudenosaunee flag, we would not merely demonstrate allyship and show support, we would additionally do the necessary step of acknowledging a sovereign nation’s rightful lands with a unique culture and unique regulations.”
The proposal to fly the Haudenosaunee flag was first introduced to the Board on October 24 by a group of Ithaca High School students, administrators, teachers, and caregivers. The group urged the Board to pass a resolution to fly the Haudenosaunee flag at all ICSD buildings.
At the November 14 board meeting, the proposal was modified in consultation with the Haudenosaunee community, students, and staff due to the laws surrounding how flags can be flown. Ithaca High School has two flag poles that can be used to fly both flags.
A conversation on flying the flag at the rest of the buildings in the district will continue.
“Flying a flag here [IHS] would be a great platform to build off of,” IHS senior Rhianne Rushing said, “and start to represent a group that typically is not well-represented or represented at all.”
Eleven of the twelve ICSD campuses occupy the traditional lands of the Gayogohó:nǫˀ, or Cayuga Nation. Caroline Elementary School occupies the traditional lands of Ganakdagweñni•yo’geh, or Onondaga Nation. Both the Gayogohó:nǫˀ and Ganakdagweñni•yo’geh’ are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of the ICSD, New York State, and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ and Ganakdagweñni•yo’geh’ dispossession and honor the ongoing connection to the people, past and present, to these lands and waters.