STILL HERE
Site-Specific Art Installation
River Hook Preserve
611 North Midland Ave, Upper Nyack, New York

"Still Here: Women of the Ramapough Lenape Nation,” is an outdoor installation of photographic portraits nestled in the woods of the River Hook Preserve.

The goal of “Still Here” is to prompt visitors of River Hook to reflect upon and honor the Lenape people who have cared for and stewarded this land long before the Dutch and English settled on the Hudson shores, and remember that their ancestors still live amongst us.

"Women of the Ramapough Lenape Nation" is an on-going series by artist Lisa Levart created with the guidance of Grandmother Clara Soaring Hawk.

" Every woman shown in this installation has heard directly a call to honor our ancestral matriarchs."

Grandmother Clara Soaring Hawk

This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor’s office and the New York State Legislature and administered by ArtsWestchester, as well as Friends of River Hook and the Village of Upper Nyack.

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02:05

Kukna - Great Mother

Behind the scenes video by Myles Aronowitz of the making of a portrait included in the series "Women of the Ramapough Lenape Nation" by artist/photographer Lisa Levart. "Kukna" portrayed by Pointsetta, a member of the Ramapough Lenape Nation. Music - Spirit Of The Mountain Singers In the Lenape Native American tradition, “Kukna” is seen as a living, breathing being. She is the great Mother and all life arises from her, and is nourished from her breast.

02:24

The Three Sisters

Behind the scenes video by Myles Aronowitz of the making of a portrait included in the series "Women of the Ramapough Lenape Nation" by artist/photographer Lisa Levart. "Three Sisters" is portrayed by Lisa Tyner, Tiffany Tyner and Natalie Tyner Music - Windwalker According to Native American legend, winter squash, corn, and climbing beans are inseparable sisters who can only grow and thrive together. Known as a companion planting technique the Three Sisters are: corn, which provides a strong structure for beans, beans, which provide nitrogen to the soil, and squash, whose leaves provide shade to the soil, and their rough edges deter pests.

Goddess on Earth ORACLE, Autumn Lorraine as Rainbow Crow

00:44

DOCUMENTARY FILM

Women of the Ramapough Lenape Nation

Witness women and young girls from the Ramapough Lenape Nation reclaiming long forgotten ancestral stories, revealing personal connections to these narratives and in the process, raising awareness to a community whose tribal land is 20 miles outside of Manhattan. This powerful series of portrait photography by Lisa Levart has been exhibited at historical museums and colleges, and available for future exhibitions.

Filmmaker Myles Aronowitz's insightful documentary follows Levart and the women as they embark on a creative process that transports viewers into an indigenous, nature-loving world; ancient, contemporary, personal, and unabashedly - matriarchal.

Grandmother South

(Cheyann Kumar)

Documentary Film Info