Plattsburgh officials marked Indigenous Peoples’ Day by placing a new sign near the base of the Champlain monument overlooking Lake Champlain.
Rather than remove a statue portraying European explorer Samuel De Champlain officials in July 2020 placed a marker below the monument that points out and corrects its errors.
Since then a series of plaques, markers and artwork are being installed in the city explaining the more than 10,000 year indigenous history of the region.
On Monday a new sign to be placed near the statue was unveiled.
Mohawk Emily Kasennisaks Cecilia Stacey is pleased by local efforts to educate people about indigenous heritage.
“My family has been here since before colonization and yet for some reason people don’t know that. They don’t understand that.”
The plaque outlines plants and medicines and efforts to revitalize traditional native medical practices.
