NLM Family Day: The Stories We Tell

Join us for a day of storytelling and memory-making as we discover the origins of our many sacred traditions. NLM welcomes We Are the Seeds, a Philadelphia based non-profit that celebrates and educates about contemporary Indigenous arts and culture, to present a day of activities for young learners and their families to explore the history, culture, and stories of Indigenous communities. Drop in for a rattle-making workshop to learn how to make traditional instruments inspired by the modern Indigenous story portrayed in the book I Will Carry You. Join storyteller, musician, and magician Tchin for two special performances featuring oral history and creation stories. Stop by our Liberty Learning Lab: truth* Pursuits and learn how the celebration of Thanksgiving has evolved over time, and share what occasions we may celebrate in the future. There are stories, games and more, as we strive for a rich understanding of the cultural traditions that are observed in various ways around the nation at this time of year.

Run of Show:

10:00 am – Museum opens for regular hours

12:00 pm – Family Day programming begins, free to join with museum admission.

12:00 – 4:00 pm – Join We Are The Seeds in the second floor gallery for a hands-on rattle-making workshop, inspired by the storybook I Will Carry You.

12:00 – 4:00 pm – Visit the Liberty Learning Lab for resources about how the Thanksgiving holiday has evolved and what this means for our complicated history. Use what you learn to create your own holiday: whose stories do you want to see celebrated? Also available: truth* Pursuits, and interactive experience encouraging people to become truth seekers and take a closer look at news, art, and other media.

12:30 – 1:00 pm and 2:30 – 3:00 pm – Storyteller Tchin shares creation stories and oral histories interwoven with music and magic.

4:00 pm – Family Day ends.

5:00 pm – Museum closes.

We Are the Seeds, a Philadelphia based non-profit celebrates and educates about contemporary Indigenous arts and culture, creates opportunities for Indigenous artists, and provides positive and accurate representation for Indigenous peoples. As a Native-led organization, their utmost priority is to serve the Indigenous community of Philadelphia and surrounding areas and to design programming that reconciles the major gaps in representation of Northeast Indigenous artists and makers. While they are located in the Northeast, their work impacts Indigenous peoples nationally and globally. We Are the Seeds is continually challenging Indigenous erasure and invisibility and creating safe spaces to exist as they are— beautiful, thriving peoples with important histories and even stronger futures.

Tchin is a nationally known artist and educator of arts and culture. Through the art of oral tradition, he tells stories portraying the creation of the world and how things came to be. In his energizing presentation, Tchin addresses important topics including: cultural diversity, music appreciation, and environmental consciousness. These stories have been passed down through generations and illuminate both young and mature minds. As part of this program, Tchin will perform and explain the seldom seen or heard courting flute.