November is Native American Heritage Month. In honor of the dedication of Indigenous cultural organizations and their commitment to educating about Native arts and culture, Cliff Matias will join Mansion staff as this month’s Virtual Parlor Chat spotlight speaker. He will share how his organization, the Redhawk Native American Arts Council is preserving the Indigenous Heritage and History of New York City through their work. A leading voice in many Indigenous cultural and social justice movements, Matias brings a wealth of knowledge and perspective to this conversation that you do not want to miss.

Register on Eventbrite to receive the Zoom link. This virtual program is free; $5 suggested donation.

About the Speaker: “For over 28 years, Clifton Matias (Taino and Quechua), has served as an activist, cultural teacher, photojournalist, and performing artist for the Redhawk Native American Arts Council. Clifton has been serving on the frontlines and addressing many of the issues that Indigenous people face. He has been a part of many major Indigenous milestone events from the 500 year anniversary of Columbus at the United Nations in 1992 to more recently part of organizing the first Indigenous Peoples Day celebration in NYC in 2015. He has also been an instrumental and powerful voice for such causes as Indigenous communities in the Amazon, Standing Rock pipeline protest, Mauna Kea telescope, Oak Flats mining, Sweet Water Prayer Camp, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women epidemic, and serves as an advocate for name changes of sports teams using Native Americans as mascots and other forms of cultural appropriation.”

About the Redhawk Native American Arts Council: “The Redhawk Native American Arts Council is a not-for-profit organization founded and maintained by Indigenous American artists, performers, and educators residing in New York and New Jersey. Since 1994, Redhawk has been dedicated to supporting the urban Indigenous community and educating the general public about Indigenous American heritage through song, dance, theater, and other works of art and cultural forms of expression with a diverse group of Indigenous artists from the Americas to around the globe.”