Contrary to popular belief, Native Americans didn't all live in teepees and ride horses. Many were foot soldiers, according to Grant Mitten, a fierce advocate for Native American concerns.

Mitten, a silversmith and member of the Wolf Clan of the Tonawanda Band of Senecas of the Iroquois Confederacy, was the featured speaker Saturday for the College Club of Sharon's annual fall luncheon at the Sharon Country Club. He spoke to a group of about 30 members about his culture and the value of cultural education.

The 68-year-old Mitten said there are many myths people believe about American Indians that are just plain wrong.

"It's hard to accept these stereotypes that are being taught on television and in schools," he said. "All Indians don't ride horses or speak the same tongue."

He said some American Indians harbor harsh feelings toward the legacy of Christopher Columbus, but he sees nothing wrong with Columbus.

"He was just a lost traveler," he said, "and it's up to people like me to go out and teach these things."

He encouraged club members to start changing the way people think, beginning with the education of their children and grandchildren. He said history books leave out a great deal of information regarding American Indians people and other cultural groups.

"We're not in the history books because we didn't write history but if it weren't for the Seneca Nations, we'd be speaking French right now," he said, referring to the nation's alliance with the English in the French and Indian War.

Mitten was raised on the Tonawanda Reservation in western New York state in a close-knit community where the women are the ones in charge. In his culture they believe women have the most wisdom, he said.

The women are the land owners and the ones who appoint the male chief, he said. And if the women are displeased with the chief's work, they can demote him, he added.

He elaborated more on Native American lineage, free access to medicine and cultural music and dance.

Mitten also performed a special blessing for club members, lighting a piece of sage and inviting the women to a blessing of the "Eagle feather."

At the end of his presentation he offered a gift to College Club President Ann Coleman -- a dream catcher, which American Indians believe hold the destiny of the future and are usually hung above beds or in homes to sift dreams and visions.

Mrs. Coleman called Mitten's lecture "very interesting."

"We like to bring different cultures in. We try to learn something at all of our meetings," she said. "I think the women liked that he came from a matriarchal society where the women are more in charge."

Mitten travels around the United States trying to dispel myths about Native-Americans in America. He said he enjoys sharing his knowledge of his people in a sensitive and historically accurate way.

The College Club of Sharon was founded in 1926 to encourage higher education and lifelong learning.