PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Dylan Yeats, Director of Museum Programs and Operations at Prospect Park Alliance
2:00:42
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3 min
Dylan Yeats, representing Prospect Park Alliance, discussed their efforts to honor indigenous cultures and histories at Lefferts Historic House Museum. He highlighted recent initiatives, partnerships, and funding sources that support indigenous programming and cultural events in Prospect Park.
- Emphasized the importance of building genuine partnerships with indigenous communities and the challenges involved in this work.
- Stressed the need for substantial financial support and flexibility in funding to properly support indigenous art, culture, and history.
- Urged the committee to commit necessary resources to address historical injustices and honor indigenous peoples.
Dylan Yeats
2:00:42
Hello.
2:00:42
I'm Dylan Yates, director of museum programs and operations for the Prospect Park Alliance, the nonprofit organization that operates Prospect Park in Brooklyn in partnership with the city.
2:00:52
In my role, I develop interpretation and programs at Lefferts Historic House Museum.
2:00:57
With guidance from descendant community advisors and partners, the museum explores and honors the cultures of resistance and resilience of the indigenous people whose unceded ancestral lands the house and park rests upon and the Africans enslaved by the Lefferts family.
2:01:12
The vision is to transform this site of brutality into an incubator for contemporary, descending community, culture, and art.
2:01:20
The museum's current focus on indigenous history and culture and the legacy of enslavement began in 2022 with Prospect Park Alliance's hiring of a part time coordinator to conduct new research into the site alongside a much needed structural restoration funded by the Brooklyn delegation of the city council.
2:01:37
In 2023, transformative support from the Mellon Foundation funded a new interpretive plan, which was created in partnership with the Endo LenapeHawking Collective with representatives from 4 Lenape or Lenape Nations serving on our advisory committee.
2:01:52
This new plan celebrates the Lenape or Lenape cultures and commemorates their histories through outdoor installations as well as ongoing workshops, public programs, and exhibits, which will be implemented over the next 4 years through further funding from the Mellon Foundation, state assembly members Robert Carroll and Brian Cunningham, and the Prospect Hill Foundation.
2:02:12
Additionally, just this past weekend, as commissioner of cultural affairs noted, with generous support from the city council speaker Adrienne e Adams, the Endelina Pahawking Collective, and American Indian Community House, the Alliance hosted an indigenous culture fair that provided thousands of visitors with free cultural performances by the Red Blanket Singers, craft workshops, and access to indigenous artisans from across the continent curated by George and Julianne Stonefish.
2:02:38
Welcoming the Lenapeau or Lenape to share their cultures and their homelands has a profound effect on the park and our communities.
2:02:45
It helps us better connect ourselves to the histories of this land so we can build more sustainable and equitable relationships to it as well as to each other.
2:02:53
However, this work is not easy.
2:02:55
Culture bearers need support, audiences need access, and centuries of war, dispossession, and discrimination cannot be undone overnight.
2:03:04
Many museums and other institutions in this city took active active part in the desecration of the Lenape or Lenape and other indigenous cultures.
2:03:13
While many are now trying to do right, rebuilding trust takes time.
2:03:17
The only way to actually do this work is to build genuine and equitable partnerships rooted in shared respect that include tough discussions that can lead to effective actions.
2:03:27
Supporting the art, culture, and history of the original peoples of this land and their neighbors deserves and requires substantial financial support as well as flexibility.
2:03:36
Organizations need time to develop reciprocal relationships and shared visions, and that doesn't always fit into the typical funding cycle calendar.
2:03:45
Culture bearers are often extremely overextended and need compensation and care commensurate with their importance.
2:03:52
Skyrocketing transportation, accommodation, and venue costs are also a factor.
2:03:57
I'm honored and grateful to be able to address this committee on this important topic, and I urge you to commit the resources necessary to do right by the histories we have inherited and the peoples to whom we owe so much.
2:04:07
Thank you.
