William Tarrant is the Seneca-Cayuga Nation Cultural Preservation Director

Will Tarrant has served as the Seneca-Cayuga Nation Cultural Preservation Director since 2016. Will grew up in Quapaw, Oklahoma and is 1 of 8 siblings. His mother, Patty Harjo-Shinn was ½ Seminole and ½ Seneca-Cayuga. Patty spent the majority of her career as a curator, working in several museums across the country. Her focus was historical preservation and she spent time serving in New York City and Washington D.C. at the Museum of Natural History. Her personal curiosity and knowledge of history played a significant role in Will’s upbringing. It was through her work that he grew a similar appreciation of history and the desire to preserve it. 

Tarrant’s role is a full-time position at the Nation. Will spends many days preserving and working on the land and property surrounding SCN. He is a staunch supporter of tribal rights over land use and sees his greatest possible contribution as defending the historical artifacts and traditions of the tribe. 

Will’s leadership role within the tribe requires him to operate as the key caretaker and nurturer of the following: 

1. Grounds
2. Artifact Preservation
3. Ceremonies
4. Cemetery/Funerals

In 2008, Tarrant became a pot hanger and faith keeper for the Seneca-Cayuga Nation, a role of lifetime appointment. Our Seneca-Cayuga pot hangers are the traditional ceremonial and religious leaders for our tribe. These leaders make decisions regarding various ceremonial activities throughout the course of any given year. 

Vince Gonzalez, Will Tarrant, Patty Harjo-Shinn and Crystal Tarrant together share the responsibility for teaching the cultural and scientific aspects of nature to the younger tribal members during the annual SCN youth summer camps. The camp reaches the youth of the nation who are ages 9-16 years old. While this year’s camp was not able to be held due to COVID-19, there is a lot of anticipation about getting the camp going again in Summer 2021.

Tarrant manages a storehouse of knowledge and history that illustrates the roots and traditions of our Seneca-Cayuga nation. When discussing this piece, he shared an interesting historical fact about the influence of native traditions on American government: “The Iroquoian Confederacy represented the interest of our first nations to the United States government. This confederacy comprised the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora. It heavily influenced Benjamin Franklin in the writing of the first Constitution. These pioneering tribes in the 1400’s had government  representatives, speakers, voting and a democracy etc. that served as a guiding force for the early Indian tribes. When the first settlers from Europe travelled to America, they were in search of a different government structure than what existed in Europe.  The first draft of the U.S.  Constitution, as well as government system, was fundamentally built off of the Iroquoian Constitution.”