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WESTFIELD – Members of the congregation of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Westfield, could not have been more excited and honored to welcome the Seneca Hymn Singers recently.
Invited by the Episcopal woman’s group, the singers arrived to share their stories through hymns and education. The songs have been translated, sung and recorded in hopes to preserve their Seneca language for future generations. Attendees were told this is their way to express thanks, not just on one day, but every day.
The group consists of various faiths, ethnicities, and journeys who meet every Tuesday. Sung in a cappella; the hymns, information, and experience, were engaging. Those attending learned the Seneca language was not a written language, so they are using the sounds to provide a written pronunciation with phonetic accents on one- two- and three- letter syllables. Song sheets were handed out for everyone’s participation. Even though a member of the group had suggested a piano for accompaniment on past occasions, the older generation maintains their preference for only the blended voices.