Artists Wunetu Wequai and Christian Scheider of the First Literature Project collaborated with Guild Hall and the Padoquohan Medicine Lodge in Suffolk County, New York. Engaging with and working alongside Shinnecock Nation’s culture bearers within the Padoquohan Medicine Lodge, and working with Guild Hall through their Community Artist-in-Residence program, the First Literature Project enshrined the Shinnecock Nation’s culturally significant stories, histories, and orations into virtual reality/video works. By using immersive 3D, VR, and holographic technology, the project created a new platform for the history, culture, and language of Native nations. The artists sat with Shinnecock elders and young people to gather stories to help create artistically rendered Virtual Reality experiences that honored and emulated the ancient tradition of in-person storytelling. The project also supported Padoquohan Medicine Lodge by creating a video archive of historical footage and interviews with Shinnecock tribal members, helping to preserve their family histories and honoring their ancestors by acknowledging their lives and the significant contributions they made.

The project culminated in an exhibition titled First Literature Project, in Guild Hall’s Marks Family Gallery South from May 19 – July 14, 2024.

The Padoquohan Medicine Lodge, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization, works to honor its ancestors. They lived productive lives on Long Island for well over 25,000 years – sharing land, sea and natural resources – standing in mutual support of each other and their fellow indigenous people. PML has been working tirelessly throughout the last two decades to support fellow tribe members who struggle with food insecurity and lack of housing.

Guild Hall is the cultural heart of the East End: a museum, performing arts, and education center, founded in 1931. They invite everyone to experience the endless possibilities of the arts: to open minds to what art can be; inspire creativity and conversation; and have fun.