A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
AFS parents Teiohonstiakwente and Aronhiaies carry a quilt for all the bidders to view.
Master quilters Robynne Dorion and Susan Johnson at the AFS Quilt Auction. Many of the donated quilts were made by Dorian, purchased by AFS parents and donated to the auction.
All quilts were amazing, two that stood out was the In Memory of Jordan Reese, made by Renee Adams and donated by Ron Lafrance and his daughter Ariyah. Reese, was Ariyah's best friend since they were in HeadStart. Resse was a member of the SRC Lacrosse team and passed away a couple of years ago. To the right, a quilt made by Iakonikonriiosta, honoring the recent total eclipse and the creation of the Great Law.
Just before the auction, potential bidders looked closely at each quilt, admiring the skill and creativity of each.
Looking amazed, two women take a closer look at the quilts.
Dream on Quilts, made by M. Whalen of Massena and donated by Jessica Sargent.
Parents Aronhiahes and Sam Shenandoah hold a quilt while auctioneers Iakonikonriiosta and her daughter Kahneratons start the bidding.
A view of the variety of quilts at the Akwesasne Freedom School Quilt Auction 2024.
Winners of the Ironman Smoke Dance competition, 1st place Tsiawentiron Mitchell, 2nd place, Dayondihogwahs Mitchell, and 3rd place Rahentes Bush.
This past weekend the Akwesasne Freedom School held their annual Dinner and Quilt Auction Held under sunny skies at two locations this year – the AFS school ground and at Generations Park. The weekend was filled with excitement, laughter, comradery from the AFS Survival Race teams and lots of bidding. Whether it was bidding for a quilt, an item in their silent auction.
AFS received 55 donations of quilts to be auctioned off. The total for the quilt auction was just over $45,000 thousand dollars and almost half has already been paid in full. From other events and food sales made during the weekend the total amount made may be over $75,000 thousand dollars between the quilts, survival race, virtual race, online auction, and the concession and dinners sales. The AFS also received a number of large cash donations over the weekend.
This year, the smoke dance was held in a different format – similar to an iron man race where the last dancer standing, or still dancing was pronounced the winner. Over 100 smoke dance songs were sung and the dancers kept dancing for well over an hour. In the end, three young girls outdanced everyone else.
The Akwesasne Freedom School was started in 1979 by parents in the Mohawk community that saw a need to preserve our ways and play an active role in the education of the nation, starting with the children. They wanted their kids to be educated in the language, to be raised with ceremony and culture on the land of their ancestors without the influence and interference of the Western world. This approach has led to results such as an increase in speakers of Mohawk language, rejuvenation of cultural strength and familiarity, and the continuance of inter-generational hands-on learning. The AFS model has also spawned several immersion schools in Akwesasne, all successful in teaching our Mohawk children our language, culture and traditions.
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