Dyannah Pace shared her story at Tuesday’s Native American Celebration at the Manteca Senior Center.
It’s a love letter of sort that traced her Piscataway roots through several generations, as far back to her great-grand parents.
The Piscataway tribe was from Southern Maryland. Pace lived there until she was age 7.
At the local event, she along with others – Tom Philips and Tommy Phillips Jr., both drummers at the various Powwow events – shared their rich culture to community members and dignitaries such as Mayor Gary Singh and council members’ Regina Lackey and Mike Morowit.
For Pace, she’s Piscataway from her mother’s side and Cree – a Native American tribe from West Virginia – from her father’s side.
Retired for the past 12 years, Pace worked for several Native American agencies in San Francisco and Santa Cruz, and the Mt. Madonna of the powwow for the Elder.
“I was lucky enough to attend the National Indian Child Welfare Conference,” she said of the event that took place in Seattle back in 1978.
Pace, who turns 77 this month, started thinking about her amazing experiences during her lifetime about two years ago.
“About that time, I started noticing how my close friends had started vanishing, crossing over. And I was saddened and a little scared not of death but because I wanted to know who carry on, who would remember our stories and all we have lived and fought for so far,” she said.
With November being Native American Heritage month, Pace – she had a vision of doing this event just last year – decided to put together a gathering to honor her heritage and culture.
She did so with help from family – included is her 26-year-old granddaughter – and the City of Manteca for providing the Senior Center to accommodate this special event consisting of various vendor booths for Native American services along with goods and apparel.
Indian tacos were also offered up to those in attendance.
Since 1990, Native American Heritage Month is celebrated annually in November, honoring the rich culture, traditions, and contributions of America’s original inhabitants and their descendants.
