From the Editors: Erie, front and center

Mid-August in Erie means that civic pride takes center stage. From We Love Erie Days to Celebrate Erie, our send-off to summer has traditionally coincided with showcasing our assets as a community and a region. Our local businesses, our schools and universities, our arts and culture scenes, our waterfront, our food, our music, our people — these aren't props; they're very real markers of our collective identity. It's crucial we portray ourselves in our best light.

With an impressive lineup of talent across the disciplines of dance, music, and theater, the Mercyhurst Institute for Arts and Culture has long helped Erie's image shine. This year's program again proves that world-class performances can and indeed should be enjoyed here. The string of sellout crowds at MIAC events in recent years affirms that stellar entertainment — of interest not only to Erieites, but also folks beyond our city limits — will continue to be accessible here.

Speaking of beyond city limits — how about Florence, Bologna, Pisa, Modena, Ferraro, Naples, and Rome, Italy? These are the cities that sent student representatives to the ninth annual Giovanni Mazzotti Anatomy Conference at Gannon University this summer. In just 12 days, these foreigners cultivated a strong appreciation of all Erie has to offer, and reminded columnist Liz Allen of our legacy as a city and a nation of immigrants and new Americans. It's not always easy to see the good from the inside looking out, under the glare of hot stage lights, our inner critics deafening. Sometimes it takes a little outsider perspective to revive our enthusiasm and motivate us for the encore.

Lest we forget why we're here, how we got here, and who preceded us, writer Jonathan Burdick is eager to jog our memory. The indigenous Eriez tribe, "masters of the south shore of Lake Erie" and our city's eponym, clued European settlers (outsiders) in on what was an excellent resource and highly desirable location. Although many of the area's indigenous peoples were dispatched or displaced, their descendants still live on and carry on their customs while adapting to a drastically different 21st century lifestyle. The new Seneca-Iroquois Museum, which opened earlier this month in Salamanca, N.Y., is an $18 million and 33,000 square-foot monument to the cultural and historical imprint these Native American confederations left on the region.

We've all been outsiders at some point — and while that can be scary or intimidating, it can also be exciting and invigorating. Step outside your longhouse, wigwam, ranch, or Cape Cod and take in the scene with a fresh perspective. Sometimes we owe ourselves a round of applause.