resources
/reconstructions may 30 '17
Passage from the Lighting of the Bridges ceremony:

“Tioga, or Teaoga as it has also been spelled in the past, is a Native American Word meaning gateway, or the meeting of two rivers.  As a place, Tioga was an especially strategic location. It was ‘a natural watchtown where many important Indian [rivers and] trails converged’;  a key pathway to new and unknown spaces, rich with danger, uncertainty, and opportunity.  Tioga is also the name of an ethnic group of the Seneca Nation who once inhabited diverse areas of North America.  The Tioga were known as a people who gave special priority to ‘knocking the rust off of the chain of friendship’ to enrich alliances within their group, and between their group and others, in hopes of enhancing a possible future.  Like the street name where it is located all Reconstruction programs merge multiple life pathways as their mission” (2012:9).

The direct quotes in the passage above (e.g., ‘a natural watchtown…’ and ‘knocking the rust off…’) are from the following three sources:

Randel, W.P. 1939. “The Place Names of Tioga County, Pennsylvania.” American Speech 14:181-190.
Murray L.W. 1921. “Aboriginal Sites in and Near Teaoga, Now Athens, Pennsylvania.” American Anthropologist 23(2):184-214.
Ganter, G. 2007. “Red Jacket and the Decolonization of Republican Virtue.” American Indian Quarterly 31(4):559-581.
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