ST. BONAVENTURE — As part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen bonds with its neighbors in the Seneca Nation of Indians, St. Bonaventure University formally acknowledged for the first time “the stewards of the land” upon which the school was built almost 170 years ago.
In a ceremony at center court just before tipoff of the Bonnies game Sunday with George Washington, Fr. Stephen Mimnaugh, O.F.M., vice president for Mission Integration, read the 65-word statement, authored last year by members of the university and Seneca communities.
The statement reads:
With respect and contrition, we honor the Seneca Nation.
Praised be You, our Creator, through our native friends.
For generations, the Great Hill People and Keepers
of the Western Door of the historic Haudenosaunee
Confederacy have been the stewards of the land
where St. Bonaventure University now resides.
As we journey together, may we polish our covenant
chain of friendship, in humility, reconciliation, and peace.
Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca and First Lady Nicole Seneca were joined at center court by SBU President Dr. Jeff Gingerich, who presented them with a framed print of the statement and a $1,000 donation to the Faithkeepers School in Steamburg.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, President Seneca held the framed print above his head to acknowledge the standing ovation from the fans. Layla Seneca, a cousin of the president, then offered a beautiful rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.”
Several Seneca Nation councilors and other Seneca VIPs were also in attendance, and children from the Cattaraugus and Allegany Community Centers played basketball at halftime.
The Land Acknowledgment Statement was SBU’s first commitment to the Seneca Nation after the university and Senecas formed a committee last year to strengthen their friendship.
Since 2021, the university has had a minor in Native American and Indigenous Studies; received a $147,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant to bolster its relationship with the Seneca Nation; hosted several Native American cultural events; and recognized the student founders of SBU’s Indigenous Student Confederacy at a Bonnies game in November.
