REIMAGINING: Honoring the Land… Reflection of the Past, Present & Future

Join us for a reflective journey honoring the African Burial Ground and Indigenous history with artist Dennis RedMoon Darkeem.

About this Event

Wednesday, July 30, 2025

2 Sessions: 5:30pm or 6:30pm

This community walk begins with a ceremonial call-and-response featuring tobacco, sage, and libation, grounding us in ancestral presence and the healing elements of nature.

Participants will walk a guided path through four significant historic and natural locations, each offering a chance to connect with the land, history, and collective memory. The walk will invite deep reflection on the park’s layered history from Indigenous stewardship to the erasure and resilience of enslaved African lives. The journey culminates at the African Burial Ground with an offering of sunflowers and messages written to the ancestors, which will be placed at the gates as a gesture of honor and remembrance.

We conclude with an on-site art-making workshop to memorialize the moment through drawing, collage, or message making, ending with a circle of silence and intention. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of the sacredness of the land and their place in its continuing story.

Workshops start at Enslaved African & Kingsbridge Burial Grounds in Van Cortlandt Park (use Baobab Tree of Life directions in Google Maps)

Space is limited. Advanced registration required.

VAN CORTLANDT PARK ALLIANCE (VCPA)

This program is a part of Van Cortlandt Park Alliance’s Reimagining initiative. In partnership with the Design Trust for Public Space and Immanuel Oni, Liminal Sp, VCPA invites the community to reimagine the park’s Enslaved African Burial Ground site as a memorial space that fosters long-term healing and restoration.

This project is supported by the Mellon Foundation.

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