A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
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We now turn our thoughts to the Trees. The Earth has many families of Trees who have their own instructions and uses. Some provide us with shelter and shade, others with fruit, beauty, and other useful things. Many peoples of the world use a Tree as a symbol of peace and strength. With one mind, we greet and thank the Tree life. We are continually reminded that our Creator has made all things with a purpose, a duty and a responsibility; few things carry their responsibility with as much grace and beauty as the Trees. The Trees have many...
We must hunt, trap, and farm properly. When we take the life of an animal, our original instructions tell us that we must do so respectfully. Never use lead shot, which contaminates our land and water. We should hunt, trap, and farm for our sustenance - to feed, clothe, and provide shelter for our families. We should always burn tobacco and use our language to thank the Creator and the animal for the sacrifice it has made. We must never kill the first animal that we see, for it may be the last of its species or it may be needed by some other...
Toxic Substances Scientists from around the world are puzzled by the alarming decline in amphibian populations. Fossil records suggest that frogs and toads have existed on our Mother Earth for at least 150 million years, which indicates that they are very adaptable to change. However, within the last ten years, the world’s frogs and toads have been disappearing, even in protected parks and wildlife reserves. In some cases, a direct cause can be identified, such as the loss of a wetland or alterations in water availability. In other cases, pollu...
Why the Animal Life is in Distress Prominent scientists from around the world are beginning to make conclusions that are very similar to the prophesies of many Native Peoples. Biologists tell us that we are currently involved in a catastrophic loss of plant and animal species. Current estimates are that worldwide, between 18,000 and 73,000 species become extinct every year. Between 50 and 200 species a day will never again be seen on Mother Earth! As our Creation story continues and the twins battle for control over Creation, fewer and fewer...
Animals as Teachers Our oral traditions speak of a time long ago when our people became lost and confused. As our populations grew, we forgot to come together to perform our ceremonies and express our thanks to the Creator and the natural world. For the first time, our people began to experience death, not just among the aged, but among the young, and as a result, our people were overcome with grief. They were not able to get on with their lives because they were always in a state of mourning....
We gather our minds together to send greetings and thanks to all of the Animal life in the world. They have many things to teach us people. We see them near our homes and in the deep forests. We are glad they are still here and we hope that it will always be so. Now our minds are one. Our Original Instructions: Acknowledging the Importance of The Animal Life Respect Your Elders: Turtles: 350 Million Years Old Wolves: 50 Million Years Old Respect for Life - Since Creation Our original...
Now we turn to all the Medicine plants of the world. From the beginning, they were instructed to take away sickness. They are always waiting and ready to heal us. We are happy there are still among us those special few who remember how to use these plants for healing. With one mind, we send greetings, and thanks to the Medicine Plants. “Medicine” is a wide word. In modern North America, most people tend to think of it only as something we take once we are already sick. In Haudenosaunee tradition, though, medicine is also what keeps us wel...
Returning to the Three Sisters Diet The Mohawk Nation Agricultural Project In the Spring of 1998, a number of people met to participate in an agricultural project near the Mohawk Longhouse - to create a community garden. In the spirit of Haudenosaunee tradition children, adults, and elders cleared two acres of land in preparation for the Three Sisters. Our purpose was to “walk the talk” of self-sufficiency and to follow our traditions. Our goals were to develop friendships, improve our family’s diet with traditional food and to help each other...
With one mind, we turn to honor and thank all the Food Plants we harvest from the garden. Since the beginning of time, the Food Plants, especially the Three Sisters, the corn, beans, and squash have helped the people survive. We gather all the Food Plants together as one and send them our greetings and thanks. The Three Sisters in Our Mythology The Three Sisters are the foundation of the Haudenosaunee culture. In the Skyworld, Chestnuts were the staples of the society. Once Thoronhiawakon...
With one mind, we turn to honor and thank all of the Berry Plants for providing the two and four legged animals and the birds with sustenance. They also provide us with medicines so that we will not know sickness. We gather our thoughts as one and send all of the Berry Plants our greetings and thanks. Berries Are a Special Gift Wildberries remind us of our childhood. Indeed, they are a special gift of Creation to the children and to women. Over 250 species of berries and fruits—strawberry, red raspberry, currants, elderberry, juniper berry, cra...
Small Plants and Grasses continued What We Can Do To Help Save the Small Plants and Grasses The very best way we can save the small plants and grasses is through education. We need to learn everything about them and work to identify as many as possible. The more we get to know the small plants and grasses the more we will respect them. To do this, we need to change the way we educate our children both at home and in the school system. We need to let the plants be the teachers. If we do, they will help our young people understand how to adapt...
The Challenges facing the Small plants and Grasses The biggest challenge faced by the small plants and grasses is the ignorance of humans toward the natural world. Some of the most devastating impacts experienced by plants have come as a result of massive development projects promoted by profit oriented individuals and corporations who turned our environment upside down, Hydro-electric dams have flooded the land and killed many important plants including grasses, berry bushes and medicine plants. Economic development along rivers and ways has...
Introduction As Onkwehon:we (Native Peoples), we have a special relationship with the small plants and grasses. This relationship goes all the way back to the time of Creation. In this chapter, I will express our thanks and appreciation to the small plants and grasses by using the Thanksgiving Address (ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen). I will explain why the grasses are important and discuss their relationship and value to all of creation. I will also talk about why we need the small plants to sustain life on Mother Earth. By starting with the people...
WRONG ANSWER The ease at which introduced species adapted to conditions in the New World would impress the settlers. Their answer to the decline in fish populations was obvious: stock new fish and that would supplement catches. Pacific salmon and Steelhead trout were brought in from the West, while hardy Brown Trout were imported to New York from Germany. In most inland lakes and rivers, these fish have successfully established natural breeding populations. However in many waters, fish populations depend solely on annual hatchery stockings....
We turn our minds to all the Fish life in the water. They were instructed to cleanse and purify the water. They also give themselves to us as food. We are grateful that we can still find pure water. So, we turn now to the Fish and send our greetings and thanks. Now our minds are one. Long before contact with Europeans, the Haudenosaunee held an enormous influence over the Northeast. Haudenosaunee people used waters westward to the Great Mississippi, northward to Georgian Bay, southward to the Oh...
When the New York Power Author presented these proposals to the CCP Team, they also announced that they would, holding separate meetings with Mohawks to discuss the Mohawk issues, the summer of 1998, the Mohawk governments united in their efforts to get our issues addressed and established a Mohawk Working Group, consisting of two representatives from each of the Mohawk governments (St. Regis Mohawk Tri Council, Mohawk Council of Akwesasne and Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs). In March 1999, the Mohawk Working Group proposed a process to...
Why the CCP Didn’t work for the Mohawks of Akwesasne As has been mentioned earlier, the Kaswentha or Two-Row Wampum Belt recognized that two distinct societies, the Haudenosaunee, in our canoe, and the Dutch, in their ship, were to travel down the river of life together, side-by-side, but each in our own vessel. We believe that the principles of the Two-Row-Wampum Belt apply to the re-licensing of the St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project. The Dutch have been replaced by the New York Power Authority and we represent the Haudenosaunee people. The CCP w...
The Senecas begin fighting against the Kinzua Dam as early as the mid 1920’s. However, they were up against a stacked deck. By the mid-40’s, the Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, and the New York State Council of Parks each prepared surveys that called for vast flooding of Seneca lands, in spite of Seneca protests. In the late 50’s Congress was sending pending legislation affecting Seneca treaty rights to public works appropriations committees and not to those whose charge was Indian affairs. The Army bulldozed sacre...
The Lewiston Reservoir In 1950, the United States and Canada signed the International Niagara River Treaty to promote the hydroelectric potential of the river. Eleven years later, in 1961, when the Niagara project produced its first power, it was the largest hydro-power facility in the Western world at the time. It is located about 4 miles downstream from Niagara Falls and consists of two main facilities: the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant and the Lewiston Pump-Generating Power Plant. In between the two plants is a forebay capable of holding...
The Peacemaker In the coming of the Peacemaker and the creation of the Haudenosaunee (Confederacy, Water plays an important role as well. The story begins on the northern shore of Lake Ontario. From here, the( Peacemaker constructed a canoe of stone ( travel the many lakes and rivers to stop the shedding of blood among human beings among people who would become the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, am Seneca Nations. Later in the story, the Peacemaker climbs to the top of a tall tree by the waterfalls that the Mohawks then cut down over a...
We are not the owners of the soil or the Earth, but we are dependent upon the Earth for our survival. It is our responsibility for its protection so that successive generations of our People and the other Nations of Creation will continue to receive sustenance from the Earth in the same way that we have. It is our duty to take into account our actions and impacts upon the next seven generations. Each successive generation has that responsibility. It goes on in perpetuity. The responsibility never ends. We need to encourage those whose philosoph...
It is another that our Creator made the rivers and the streams and the rains and the oceans. And in the beginning of time, beyond the memory of you and I, our Creator spoke to the rivers and our Creator made the rivers, not just an H2O, but he made the rivers a living entity. And our Creator spoke to the rivers and said the Mississippi will be the great-grandpa and the St. Lawrence will be the uncle and the other small streams will be the cousins. And altogether, those rivers of Mother Earth and lakes will be the blood veins of our Mother, our...
THE AKWESASNE WOLF BELT: The Land and the People are One Akwesasronen have a very special relationship with the Land and Territory that they call home. Notice of their ownership is conveyed through the Ohkwaho Kaionwi ne Akwesasne, also known as the Ohkwaho:ionwi ne Akwesasne (Akwesasne Wolf Belt). It records the Community Charter created by the Mohawks who formed the Akwesasne Community, within the Traditional Kahniakehaka Territory at Akwesasne. When the Kahniakehaka People at Akwesasne felt that they were safe enough to use this part of...
Earth Names…Naming our Children When we name our children, it is the responsibility of the community to name the child appropriately. Usually only one person at a time holds a particular name. That helps us identify individuals more specifically, and to treat each person with special attention. Numerous Kahniakehaka names that are given to our children celebrate a relationship and our connection with the Natural World. Our children are given names that are the attributes of weather, of seasons, of plants or they reiterate our relationship w...
From a mainstream perspective, the initiative was clearly good for the Mohawks of Kahnawake – it would have brought business, jobs, money and a tie-in to the global corporate power structure for Kahnawake. But there were crucial problems with the initiative from a traditional perspective. Aside from the general problems arising from the company’s spotty environmental record and debatable reputation as a corporate citizen around the world, the initiative would have located the grain storage facility close to Kahnawake’s high school. As well,...
