News

Decolonizing Vassar: Living the Land Acknowledgment

Mahikannituck, the River that is never still (Hudson River): Algonquin/Lenape
Photo: Tamar M. Thibodeau

Close crop of wild bergamot plants with green leaves and purple blossoms.

Decolonizing Vassar: Living the Land Acknowledgment

Wteehaskwal (Wild Bergamot, to be found on the Vassar Farm): Stockbridge Munsee

Photo of Casperkill Creek running down the middle framed by fall foliage

Decolonizing Vassar: Living the Land Acknowledgment

Thanakonok or Pietawickquasseick (Casperkill): Wappinnee, Wapinck, Wappinge
Photo: Tamar M. Thibodeau

People sitting in chairs in a circle having a discussion.

Indigenous Leader Reflects on Shared History at Vassar

Shannon Holsey, President of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians, visited Vassar to discuss Indigenous history, land acknowledgment, resilience, and collaboration between the College and the Stockbridge-Munsee.

A close-up of a rustic metal sculpture with a weathered, rusted surface. A small, green-patina mask of a human face is embedded in a cutout of the rusty metal. The sculpture is outdoors, with green grass and trees visible in the background.

Monumental Sculptural Artwork Added to Vassar College Grounds

Posted 10/13/2025

Soaring 18 feet high, seven sentinels made of weathered steel surround a female bronze figure that appears to emerge from the earth. This dynamic and awe-inducing public artwork, situated at the northwest perimeter of the campus, is Vassar College’s newest public art acquisition.

Molly S. McGlennen, Professor of English, Co-Edits New Book Indigenous Poetics

Molly published the book with her 25-year mentor, scholar and poet Inés Hernández-Ávila (Nez Perce/Tejana) from UC Davis. The book is a collection of essays by contemporary Native American poets that highlight the role of poetry in Native American and Indigenous Studies.

People standing in an art gallery smiling and talking.

Countering Injustice

Vassar has made an ongoing effort to acknowledge the displacement of Native peoples from the land where the campus has been built and to build relationships with those Native nations today. The College recently hosted a visit by the Tribal Liaison from the Stockbridge-Munsee, whose ancestors were forcibly moved from the land.

Lev Winickoff ’25 Receives 2024 Barnabas McHenry Award

Lev Winickoff ’25 received a 2024 Barnabas McHenry Award to create a video project in collaboration with members of the Stockbridge-Munsee band of Mohicans. The video will document a Munsee story told by an elder (in English) with contributions by children in the tribe (in Mohican) and incorporate paintings reflecting the natural beauty of the Hudson River Valley along with Munsee symbolism.

Person seated behind a microphone in an art gallery facing the camera and speaking to a seated audience

New Native American Artwork Announced at Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center in Collaboration with Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts

Posted 5/3/2023

An innovative collaboration between the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center and Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts (CSIA) will bring new, original Native American Art to the Loeb over the next three years.

Women's History Month collage - Photos from Smithsonian American Art Museum, Dulcey Lima

Focused on Native American Women, Course Offers Insight—not Stereotypes

In Associate professor Molly McGlennen’s course, Women’s Studies 262: Native American Women,” students are examining the impact of colonization on Native American nations through the brutal and intentional subjugation of Native women over the past 400 years.

Assistant Professor Whiteduck is teaching Indigenous Political Thought.

New Vassar Faculty Members Bring Unique Talents, Diverse Backgrounds to Campus

Vassar’s new faculty members bring a variety of talents and backgrounds to the campus.

Abstract or impressionist painting of birds.

“Calling it Art, not Native Art”

New York Times art review

Image: Kenojuak Ashevak (Inuit, Cape Dorset, Canada, 1927–2013) and Johnniebo Ashevak (Inuit, Cape Dorset, Canada, 1923–1972)
Animals Out of Darkness, 1961
Stonecut on paper, 5/5019.5 x 21.75 inches
Reproduced with the permissions of Dorset Fine Arts