Bear Hugs Alum’s Nonprofit Promotes Indigenous Sisterhood With ‘Rematriation,’ Michelle Schenandoah ’99 aims to bring the community together through events and education “Bear Hugs” celebrates heartwarming stories of Cornellians on the Hill and around the world. Have an idea? Email us at cornellians@cornell.edu! By Melissa Newcomb Shortly after graduation, Michelle Schenandoah ’99 moved to New York City for her first job. Riding the subway, she observed her fellow passengers engrossed in their reading. “I saw Black and Latina women enjoying magazines designed just for them,” she recalls. “As a young Native American woman, I wondered where my magazine was.” No such dedicated publication existed—so Schenandoah decided to start one. She asked a financial analyst friend how much money she’d need to launch a national magazine. The answer: a cool $30 million. “I thought, I guess I’m holding off on that dream for a while,” she says with laugh. But Schenandoah never forgot about it. And two decades later, she launched Rematriation—inspired in part, she says, by “the critical need to create spaces that mirrored cultural values and uplifted Indigenous women’s stories of strength, resilience, and brilliance.” As Schenandoah describes it, the term—which means “returning the sacred to the mother”—encapsulates the movement being led by Indigenous women who are reclaiming their cultures, languages, and traditions that have been impacted by colonization. Rematriation, she says, “is a process that invites all people to become conscious of living in balance with Mother Earth, so that life may continue generations into the future.” [Rematriation] is a process that invites all people to become conscious of living in balance with Mother Earth, so that life may continue generations into the future. Begun as an online magazine, Rematriation has since evolved into a nonprofit that not only creates content but educates and hosts events—with the aim of empowering Indigenous people and raising global awareness about Indigenous knowledge as viable ways to address global challenges. A double major in American studies and American Indian studies on the Hill, Schenandoah holds a JD as well as two master’s degrees—one in tax law and the other in journalism. A past recipient of the prestigious Soros Equality Fellowship, she’s based in Syracuse and is a member of the Oneida Nation Wolf Clan of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The “Rekindling the Fire of Our Sisterhood” gathering at Ganondagan, a historic site on Seneca land. Each year, she says, Rematriation hosts a sisterhood gathering that brings Indigenous women from around the U.S. and Canada and as far as New Zealand—uniting “in healing spaces of overcoming intergenerational traumas and strengthening of traditional culture to bring back to their communities.” Most participants are—like Schenandoah—from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, which includes the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora nations. The most recent event, centered around the total solar eclipse in April 2024, drew more than 200 attendees. Wampum belts representing agreements made by the Haudenosaunee. Rematriation also promotes the visibility of Indigenous women by organizing attendance at public events. They include the induction of Joy Harjo, the first Native American to serve as U.S. Poet Laureate, into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls in 2022. “We show up in our regalia,” says Schenandoah, “so people see we are Indigenous women who are very much alive and contemporary and here to represent our people.” In 2022, as part of an Indigenous delegation that visited the Vatican, Schenandoah addressed Pope Francis—in part to emphasize the trauma experienced by the generations of Indigenous children who were taken from their families and forced into church-run residential schools. We show up in our regalia, so people see we are Indigenous women who are very much alive and contemporary and here to represent our people. The pontiff later offered a formal apology to the Indigenous people of Canada, citing “the abuses you suffered and the lack of respect shown for your identity, your culture, and even your spiritual values.” Schenandoah has been active on the Hill as well; she currently holds a fellowship with the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement. For International Women’s Day in spring 2024, she gave a talk on how Haudenosaunee women are taking action to address the devastating impact that the “doctrine of discovery”—the legal principle by which European nations claimed rights to Indigenous land around the world—has had on Indigenous people. That same semester, she served as emcee of “Rematriation: The Fashion Show.” Cornell’s first-ever Indigenous fashion show, the student-organized event featured the work of Native American designers. Observing the fashion show. Indigenous designs on display.Models on the runway. Schenandoah and her husband also run a consulting firm, through which they give talks and host workshops. Among her future plans: a talk show and podcast series, titled Rematriated Voices with Michelle Schenandoah, planned to debut early next year. She and Rematriation will also host a symposium at Syracuse University with the theme of Haudenosaunee and Indigenous matrilineality (tracing ancestry through the maternal line), planned for Women’s History Month in March 2025. Says Schenandoah: “We are placing our stories, our narrative, our history, into the world.” (Fashion show photos by Jason Koski / Cornell University; all others provided.) Published July 30, 2024 Comments Ruth Hanning, Class of 1988 18 Aug, 2024 Great article! I graduated in ’88, grew up in Syracuse, and am currently a Licensed Mental Health Counselor working with kids and teens doing nature based therapy outside of Boston. I would love to connect with Michelle to learn more about how Native principles can apply to mental health work. Thanks! Ruth Hanning Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Alumni Lox, Stock, and Barrel: Hotelie Runs Fourth-Generation Food Firm Campus & Beyond ‘Computational Art History’ Finds Clues in the Canvas Alumni Sherwoods of Cornell Keep Harmonizing Through the Years