By Melissa Newcomb<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Shortly after graduation, Michelle Schenandoah \u201999 moved to New York City for her first job. Riding the subway, she observed her fellow passengers engrossed in their reading. \u201cI saw Black and Latina women enjoying magazines designed just for them,\u201d she recalls. \u201cAs a young Native American woman, I wondered where my magazine was.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n No such dedicated publication existed\u2014so Schenandoah decided to start one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She asked a financial analyst friend how much money she\u2019d need to launch a national magazine. The answer: a cool $30 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/div> \u201cI thought, I guess I\u2019m holding off on that dream for a while,\u201d she says with laugh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But Schenandoah never forgot about it. And two decades later, she launched Rematriation<\/a>\u2014inspired in part, she says, by “the critical need to create spaces that mirrored cultural values and uplifted Indigenous women\u2019s stories of strength, resilience, and brilliance.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Schenandoah describes it, the term\u2014which means “returning the sacred to the mother”\u2014encapsulates the movement being led by Indigenous women who are reclaiming their cultures, languages, and traditions that have been impacted by colonization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n [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.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Begun as an online magazine, Rematriation has since evolved into a nonprofit that not only creates content but educates and hosts events\u2014with the aim of empowering Indigenous people and raising global awareness about Indigenous knowledge as viable ways to address global challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A double major in American studies and American Indian studies on the Hill, Schenandoah holds a JD as well as two master\u2019s degrees\u2014one in tax law and the other in journalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A past recipient of the prestigious Soros Equality Fellowship<\/a>, she\u2019s based in Syracuse and is a member of the Oneida Nation Wolf Clan of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2014uniting “in healing spaces of overcoming intergenerational traumas and strengthening of traditional culture to bring back to their communities.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most participants are\u2014like Schenandoah\u2014from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, which includes the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most recent event, centered around the total solar eclipse in April 2024, drew more than 200 attendees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rematriation also promotes the visibility of Indigenous women by organizing attendance at public events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They include the induction of Joy Harjo, the first Native American to serve as U.S. Poet Laureate, into the National Women\u2019s Hall of Fame<\/a> in Seneca Falls in 2022.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe show up in our regalia,\u201d says Schenandoah, \u201cso people see we are Indigenous women who are very much alive and contemporary and here to represent our people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2022, as part of an Indigenous delegation<\/a> that visited the Vatican, Schenandoah addressed Pope Francis\u2014in 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The pontiff later offered a formal apology to the Indigenous people of Canada, citing \u201cthe abuses you suffered and the lack of respect shown for your identity, your culture, and even your spiritual values.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Schenandoah has been active on the Hill as well; she currently holds a fellowship<\/a> with the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For International Women\u2019s Day in spring 2024, she gave a talk on how Haudenosaunee women are taking action<\/a> to address the devastating impact that the \u201cdoctrine of discovery\u201d\u2014the legal principle by which European nations claimed rights to Indigenous land around the world\u2014has had on Indigenous people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That same semester, she served as emcee of “Rematriation: The Fashion Show.” Cornell\u2019s first-ever Indigenous fashion show, the student-organized event featured the work of Native American designers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/07\/Michelle-S-portrait-A-819x1024.jpg\")
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