She:kon, sewakwe:kon! I hope you’re all making the most of the last days of summer. It’s a wonderful time of year as the farmers markets and gardens are at their peak. The fields are full of sun-ripened fresh corn, tomatoes, zucchini, beans, greens, beets, and more. Trees continue to be decorated by sweet peaches, plums, and apricots. But soon enough fall will be upon us. I know it’s on its way as I already see leaves beginning to change here in New York, days are getting cooler and shorter, and my cats are shedding and coughing up hairballs. Ha! Make sure you enjoy what’s left of our sunny days!
Today I
write this blog post to share with you some exciting work I have been doing!
You all know I’ve been part of the Mohawk immersion language program and we
just hit our half-way point of the program recently. It’s been coming along
really well. We are learning so much as a group, our conversation abilities are
amazing compared to where we were back in April, we’re connecting with other
Mohawk language-learning folks, and we’ve even had the opportunity to visit and
hang with other fluent speakers. Now we are studying different verbs and their
many tenses, and I won’t lie, it is challenging work, but so rewarding! (FYI: The NACS Mohawk Immersion Program is currently recruiting for the new session to begin in January 2015. Let me know if you're interested.)
Before I
get to talking about my project, I just wanted to say a bit about my time at
the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation community last week. Our class went on a trip to be
part of the Youth and Elders Gathering, a multi-tribal summit where the young
ones and elders, and everyone in between, of different Native nations come
together to discuss the issues facing our communities. These gatherings have
been held since the 1970s, and the locations rotate across Indian Country every
year. It has been a way to build communication, relationships, and spiritual unity and collective consciousness for our many Native nations as well as discuss issues and create action. This year it happened to be at Akwesasne, in Upstate
New York, and what a meeting it was! I met people from all directions, got to
speak Kanyen’keha with elder speakers, visited the Freedom School there and
hung out with the little ones, heard from respected elders about our teachings,
and heard beautiful singing from friends and youths. It was a good reminder of
what is truly important to us – revitalizing our traditions, living by the
teachings, gratitude and giving thanks, strengthening our relationships with
one another, and working toward a healthy, strong future for our nations and
communities. It was a beautiful gathering to be a part of.
I
remember one of the mornings, a younger man went up to speak and reminded us
about how everything is connected: our bodies, our teachings, our languages,
ceremonies, traditions, foods, gardens, land, songs… everything. He went on to
discuss how we need to get back to the foods and gardening, the original
sources of nourishment. I wanted to fist-pump in the air and scream, “Yeah!,”
but it would have been wholly inappropriate. Nonetheless, it was a powerful
thing to hear, especially sitting in a circle with so many like-minds and
renowned Haudenosaunee elders. It was particularly powerful because we were surrounded by the community gardens and
fields. While we gathered around the fire and heard about the importance of the
thanksgiving address, the ceremonies, and the foods, stalks of traditional
white corn rustled and swayed in the gentle breeze. The smell of fresh rain and
sweetgrass permeated the air while a smoky cedar-sage scent from the fire
lingered on our consciousness. As we sat there, a man in a ribbon shirt walked
up and down the rows of the garden picking fresh green beans and tomatoes for
our dinner later that evening. The St. Regis River flowed quietly in the
background, reminding us that water is a blessing never to be taken for granted
given the dire drought situation taking place in California. After taking all
that in, I thought to myself, “skenn:en kenentenyons”… peace is in my thinking.
This is what it’s all about: our connections to the earth, ourselves, each
other, tyonnhehkwen – “the sustainers” or sources of nourishment, everything is
connected.
On that
note, I’ll finally share some of the work I’ve been doing. Back in May, I
started working on a community service project with Native American Community
Services of Buffalo, the same agency managing our Mohawk immersion program. I
plan to utilize and teach the Mohawk language in relation to foods, cooking,
gardening, and eating. I am creating curriculum and supplementary materials possibly in
the form of coloring books, story books, teaching materials, and gardening
kits, and recordings suited for children, elders, community members, or anyone
interested in learning this type of vocabulary. At this stage, I am creating
and recording vocabulary lists via Soundcloud available for download right now
(see table below). I hope to be able to write and translate recipes in the
language, perhaps instruct cooking classes or demonstrations, and generally
consult about Native traditional nutrition. It is my goal to show how this is all connected, advocate
for better health for our bodies and communities by eating the foods we were
meant to, and do so while knowing our original language and instructions. It’s
not merely about decolonization or food sovereignty now, but re-indigenizing
and breathing life back into the traditions that sustain us. As always,
nia:wenkò:wa for reading and following.
You’ll
notice at the top menu bar of my page there is a new tab called “Mohawk
Language Recordings.” Here is where you can follow along and access materials and
recordings that I have been working on. Or you can go directly to my Soundcloud tracks here. I will be continually updating it. I encourage you to check it out,
download some words, listen to the recordings, write some sticky notes in your
kitchen or garden, and challenge yourself to learn something new. After all,
you never know where it might take you!
