Marissa Manitowabi

Marissa Manitowabi (Seneca), a museum education professional, has a B.F.A. in Product Design from Parsons School of Design and an M.S.Ed. in Museum Education from Bank Street Graduate School. She has been using her dual training in arts and education over the past decade to study how Native peoples are represented in elementary schools in New York State and to create materials that inform the public about Haudenosaunee culture and history. Working in consultation with multiple Haudenosaunee community members and in collaboration with the American Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of the American Indian, The Seneca-Iroquois National Museum, and others, Marissa has created curricula, educational materials, hands-on activities, and programming to engage visitors and students while they learn. She is currently working with the Ganondagan State Historic Site to create a database of K-12 materials about the Haudenosaunee that will provide teachers with the most accurate available materials and which will inform future curricula creation.