Josephine Smith Josephine Smith is an enrolled member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation and resides on the Shinnecock Territory near Southampton, Long Island. Josephine has been an educator at the Shinnecock Nation Museum, the Shinnecock Indian Education Program and currently serves her nation as the Cultural Resources Department Director.  As an indigenous cook, artist of […]

Please join us at the East Meadow Public Library on February 13, 2022, at 2 pm, for a very special program — Recognizing Diversity: A Personal Struggle. The struggle for recognition by women of color is part of the broader civil rights movement on Long Island. In this program join us for an exploration of […]

Denise Silva-Dennis

Denise Silva-Dennis Denise “Weetahmoe” Silva-Dennis (Shinnecock/Hassanamisco-Nipmuc) is a retired Southampton Elementary School art teacher.  She is from the Shinnecock Tribe in Southampton.  Silva-Dennis graduated from Hamilton College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art. Upon graduation, she received honors in her discipline.  Silva-Dennis is also an accomplished bead work crafts woman. The traditional […]

Joan Hodges: African American Fiber and Craft Artist Joan Hodges was born in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn in the early 1940s and is the daughter of Roberta and John Hodges, descendants of southern slaves. Both of Joan’s parents came to New York during the “The Great Black Migration” to seek a better quality of […]