NORWICH — SUNY Morrisville dedicated an Oneida Indian Nation seal paver and a white pine, known as the Tree of Peace, Monday at its Norwich campus as part of the college’s continuing effort to recognize the Oneida Nation and build stronger ties with the Haudenosaunee community.

The ceremony recognized the Oneida Indian Nation as the original inhabitants of the unceded and ancestral lands where SUNY Morrisville’s main and Norwich campuses are located.

SUNY Morrisville President Dr. Michelle Coach joined Provost Dr. Jason Zbock, Norwich Campus Director Sarah Casscles, faculty, staff, students and community members for the dedication.

A representative from the Oneida Indian Nation had planned to attend but was unable to because of a last-minute scheduling conflict.

Adjunct Professor Michael Foor-Pessin, who helped lead the effort, read a description of the symbolism of the seal and Tree of Peace provided by the Oneida Indian Nation and published by the Shako:wi Cultural Center.

“Our friends from the Nation, you were in our ‘good minds’ yesterday, for sure,” Foor-Pessin said following the ceremony.

The dedication follows several years of work at SUNY Morrisville aimed at recognizing the history of the Oneida Nation and developing relationships with the Nation.

Foor-Pessin previously wrote a land acknowledgement that was adopted by the college in 2025.

“SUNY Morrisville respectfully acknowledges that the land on which both the main campus and the Norwich campus are situated on is the unceded and ancestral land of the Oneida Indian Nation, known as the Onyota’aika or the People of the Standing Stone,” the statement reads.

Earlier this year, SUNY Morrisville faculty members visited the Shako:wi Cultural Center to learn more about Oneida history and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Foor-Pessin also invited Ron Patterson of the Oneida Nation to speak to his Comp 102 class about the Oneida Creation Story.

Other collaborations have included the development of a “three sisters garden” based on the Haudenosaunee agricultural practice of growing corn, climbing beans and squash together. Morrisville agriculture students were also invited by the Oneida to participate in an Indian corn harvest.

Casscles previously said the college hopes those activities grow into a broader relationship with the Nation.

“We definitely have the desire to build a partnership with the Oneida,” Casscles said before the dedication. “We support and recognize all the work the Oneida People have done over the years. This is another way to show our appreciation.”

The seal paver depicts a white pine known as the Tree of Peace and represents the unity of the Oneida Nation’s Turtle, Wolf and Bear clans. A white pine planted near the paver earlier this summer now stands alongside the seal at the Norwich campus.

Foor-Pessin said Monday’s ceremony marked another step in what the college hopes will become a lasting relationship with the Oneida Nation and the wider Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

He said the relationship should extend well beyond the current generation.

“In the future, when you are on campus, stop for a moment and appreciate the Tree of Peace, the Seal, and a friendship that should span seven generations and beyond,” Foor-Pessin said.

(Jessica Benson contributed to this article.)