Family physician Dr. Theresa Maresca (Mohawk)—trained in both traditional Native healing and Western medicine—shares her unique perspective on Healing & Balance in the Haudenosaunee Culture, on Thursday, November 3, the final lecture in Ganondagan’s 2011 Native American Lecture Series “Sadao’hdi:yos (Lend a Good Ear): Messages from Haudenosaunee Leaders.” The lecture, a partnership between Friends of Ganondagan and the Center for Service-Learning and the Religious Studies Department at Nazareth College, takes place at the Nazareth Arts Center, Room A13 from 7-9 pm.
Building upon the framework of the lecture series theme—connections to the natural world—Dr. Maresca expects that attendees will come away with “an awareness of areas of their lives that may benefit from more in-depth attention, especially in the important life domains of spirit, mind, and body balance.” She also is likely to touch on some facets of traditional Native plant medicine with elements of both Western and traditional Native healing.
“Traditionally, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people had a natural balance in their lives,” further explains Friends of Ganondagan Executive Director Jeanette Miller. “Good nutrition, exercise, and mental and spiritual well-being were part of their everyday lives, and their ‘medicine cabinet’ was just outside their door.”
Dr. Theresa Maresca is a board-certified physician in family medicine. Her medical practice with the Snoqualmie Tribe of Washington at the Tolt Clinic combines her Western and herbal medicine approaches. She designed and maintains the clinic’s medicinal herb garden and lectures nationally on the subject of combining Western and Native traditional approaches to health. Former president of the Association of American Indian Physicians, she is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine and the Native American Center of Excellence in Seattle, Washington. She is a recipient of the University’s Distinguished Service Award for teaching excellence and community service. Dr. Maresca is a graduate of Vassar College and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
On Tuesday, November 15 from 7-9 pm, at Nazareth College, (room TBA), Ganondagan and Nazareth will host a Community Read featuring the book, To Become a Human Being: The Message of Tadodaho Chief Leon Shenandoah by Steve Wall. This event will be facilitated by Ganondagan Site Manager G. Peter Jemison and Nazareth College Professor and Chair of Religious Studies Dr. Susan Nowak, and is free and open to the public. The book retails for $17.95, and will be available for purchase at the lecture and at the Ganondagan Gift Shop until October 29.
Individual lectures are $20/Friends of Ganondagan members, $30/non-members. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.ganondagan.org/programs/LectureSeries.html or call 585-742-1690.
Dr. Maresca also will be a guest at the University of Rochester on Friday, November 4, when she speaks on Honoring the Circle: Lessons in Patient-Driven Care from American Indian Communities, part of the UR’s Native American Heritage Month. For more about this event, visit www.rochester.edu/diversity/celebrations/nativeamericanheritage/index.html.