Indigenous Peoples Day scholarship presented at ceremony

As is tradition on Indigenous Peoples Day, the Historical Association of Lewiston teamed with leaders from the Tuscarora Nation to present a scholarship to a deserving student on Monday.

Anneliese Brayley was awarded a check for $750 at a ceremony held at the foot of the Tuscarora Heroes Monument on Center Street.

Presenting the check (and a celebratory version) was former Village of Lewiston Mayor Terry Collesano, joined by Tom Collister, curator for the Historical Association of Lewiston/Lewiston Museum.

“It has been 10 years already since the Village of Lewiston officially recognized Indigenous Peoples Day,” Collister said. “During a board meeting, Deputy Mayor Bruce Sutherland brought up the idea of recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day in the village as a way to honor and recognize our Tuscarora neighbors. Mayor Terry Collesano ran with the idea and did his research in an effort to not offend anyone if a change was made.

“Neil Patterson and Lee Simonson were consulted on the best approach for adding Indigenous Peoples Day. Neil said Columbus Day would be just fine. So, on Oct. 11, 2015, Mayor Collesano and the Village Board of Trustees declared that the second Monday of October would hereby be known as Indigenous Peoples Day and Columbus Day.

“As of 2025, 30 states and 221 cities have followed Lewiston’s lead and are now celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day.

“In 2018, Lee Simonson approached me with the idea of doing something on Indigenous Peoples Day. Many of you know I have a love for Native American beliefs and way of life, so it was an easy decision to ask the board to establish a scholarship as a way to honor the Tuscarora. In 2018, we gave out our first scholarship and, while I still have dreams of filling Academy Park with Native American activities, I am proud to say the Historical Association is still here today, eight years later, keeping the dream of Bruce Sutherland, Terry Collesano, Neil Patterson, Lee Simonson and others who were involved in making this day special in 2015, alive.”

Brayley, 20, is a junior at the University at Buffalo studying communications and entrepreneurship.

“After graduation, I want to do something with broadcasting journalism; and I'd like to be able to cover Native American topics – and even events like this – and showcase to the public how proud we are to be Natives, and what that means to us, and how our community is so strong,” she said.

Brayley is a former Niagara County Peach Festival Peach Queen Scholarship Pageant participant. She explained, “I started off with the Miss America organization in 2021, and I started to develop different platforms and social impact initiatives – community service work. And my first one was raising awareness on Native American mental health, because so many people do not know that Native Americans have so much history with generational trauma, and I think that has a lot to do with the mental health issues that we have around here. So, I took it upon myself to make workshops for the students at the Tuscarora Elementary School. I've reached about 200 students with the steps on how to control your mindset, and how to have good mental health.”

Tuscarora Nation member Jamie Gilbert said leaders formed a five-person education committee that annually reviews applicants.

“We select the student that is doing well in school, being successful on the path to graduation,” she said. “We tend to select students who are upperclassmen, and Anneliese fit that to a tee. It was unanimous. There was no question about it, that Anneliese would be selected this year.”

Tom Collister, curator for the Historical Association of Lewiston/Lewiston Museum, speaks Monday at the Tuscarora Heroes Monument as scholarship recipient Anneliese Brayley looks on.

Anneliese Brayley is presented with a scholarship by Tom Collister, curator for the Historical Association of Lewiston/Lewiston Museum; and former Village of Lewiston Mayor Terry Collesano.

Local leaders, friends and family members joined the Historical Association of Lewiston and members of the Tuscarora Nation at an awards ceremony on Indigenous Peoples Day.