The Cultural Gallery
The Cultural Gallery is at the heart of the new structure and it is made up of many symbols significant to the Onondagas. The overall shape is a circle representing the "circle of life". Mother Earth, the turtle, is inlaid in woods of different colors in the floor of the gallery. Overhead is a sylight allowing views of the sky and clouds. Natural light floods into the gallery. There are thirteen wooden arches around the perimeter of the gallery which have an arch shape. The number 13 is significant because there are 13 lunar months in a year. The arch shape is representative of a natural tree arch and the shape of early longhouse's wooden roof structural members. On each arch is a circle in which the phases of the year are depicted. Surrounding the central circle are smaller clan symbols representing all the Onondaga clans.
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