Thoughts from a young adult in Akwesasne with "One foot in the canoe, and one in the ship"

How many times have you heard “Learn your language”? “Learn your culture”? But you are not told exactly how to do that. Yes, you can research online about our culture by yourself, but that is not the same as being immersed in it. Many of us do not know exactly what that first step should be. Maybe you did not grow up in a Traditional family. Maybe you know the basics of Mohawk Language from classes in elementary, but you are not able to carry on a conversation. I was lucky enough to attend a few language classes in person after seeing the information posted on Facebook. If I did not have Facebook, or did not want to go on it at all, how would I be aware of it? I would suggest to Akwesasne that cultural classes of any kind become advertised in more ways in the community. When was the last time you heard of cultural classes on the radio, in a flyer at a store, in the post office or the newspaper?

I do understand that those who do provide these classes are busy themselves with their own lives and jobs and can’t provide classes to hundreds at once. So, with that I challenge anyone with any knowledge who can help provide extra classes or even just to give encouragement to the community, to try. It can be anything. If your knowledge is sewing, painting, or making traditional items but you think you are not qualified to teach, I encourage you to try. If your knowledge is with the Longhouse and ceremonies, tell your friends about it, especially to those who do not go. However, we cannot bash them for trying after they have. I want to add that seeing posts and comments on Facebook about how many times a person attends Longhouse, does not help others to learn or to come back. It pushes them away. We need to help make our community not feel so judged. Telling someone to “Just go” to the Longhouse is not always enough encouragement. Do they know where to sit? What door to go in? What to wear or bring? What ceremony is going on? How can we teach and encourage this information more to those who have not learned or who are scared to go? Who is willing to invite someone to go with them? How do we share this information with more of our community?

Lastly, please make these classes and information, available to more than children or teens. Many young adults like myself have gone away to school, to work, or to do military service. Sometimes we are “too old” for these classes. Not only that, but elders would like to learn more as well. Yes, teaching the younger generation is very important and vital, but there is a huge number of us that are at this in-between stage. We are becoming the new parents, aunties, uncles, and grandparents. We need to have this knowledge, or a skill learned to then be able to teach to our children.

In the teachings from the Two Row Wampum, one row is the canoe, and one is the ship. This represents Onkwehon:we in the canoe, and the white man in the ship. It was to symbolize friendship between the two. The saying of one foot in each means you are feeling like you are not balanced. Juggling life with your one foot in culture and language but feeling taken over from colonization the other foot, losing your connection. I feel like I am not speaking for myself when I say that sometimes I feel the foot in the ship is winning, and I give up on the other side for a while. But we need to stay optimistic and keep our language and culture alive. It is time to be proud to be Kanien’kehá.