Links To Resources
Disclaimer: Research in progress.
All links are possible resources that can be used for general interest and/or research; not a comprehensive or vetted list.
Tsiokonsaseh's Story
Grounding: Jigonsaseh and the message of peace
Haudenosaunee Perspective
Text by: Millie Knapp, published Ontario Association of Landscape Architects
The Lynx in Time: Haudenosaunee Women's Traditions and History
Barbara A. Mann
Source: American Indian Quarterly, Summer 1997, Vol. 21
The Search for Jigonsaseh, presented by Marcine Quenzer
Mother Of Nations · Joanne Shenandoah
Peacemaker's Journey
℗ Silver Wave Records
Released on: 2004-01-01
The Remarkable Caroline G.Parker Mountpleasant, SenecaWolf Clan
By Deborah R. Holler
On March 20, 1892, a brief obituary in the New York
Times pronounced, “A Noted Indian Woman Dead,”
mentioning that she was the sister of “the celebrated
Indian General Parker” who was at the time living in New
York. A second obituary, written by the New York Times journalist
and poet Harriett Maxwell Converse, appeared a week
later in the Buffalo Sunday Express. This extended obituary
documented the life and character of “A Remarkable Woman”
who was “one of the most distinguished full-blooded Indians
of the Western New York Reservations.”
https://peace-mother.com/pdfviewer/caroline-parker-by-deborah-holler/?auto_viewer=true#page=&zoom=page-fit&pagemode=none
The life of General Ely S. Parker
LAST GRAND SACHEM OF THE IROQUOIS AND GENERAL GRANT'S MILITARY SECRETARY
A self written biography by Author C. Parker, husband of Caroline Parker (Jakohnsaseh).
Rumbling Wings and other Indian tales [by] Arthur C. Parker (Gawaso Wanneh) illustrated by Will Crawford
Page 215 - The Maize Maiden
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.39000005847616&seq=11
Spirit & Intent is an illustrated collection of short stories and other writings exploring the importance of peace, the rights and responsibilities of Indigenous women, Treaties and reflections on the responsibilities that accompany treaty rights, as well as the importance of decolonization in healing and reconciliation.
Drawing inspiration from research, stories, teachings and life experiences, Spirit & Intent takes an honest and creative approach in considering the important relationship questions facing our families and communities today.
Clan Mothers | Women's Roles
Traditional Women's Role | Tom Porter, Bear Clan, Mohawk Nation
Indian Time, May 9, 1997
The Seven Areas of Responsibility for the Clan Mothers
A discussion paper, 2009, Author(s) unknown.
7 Areas of Responsibility for the Clan Mothers – Unknown Author
Clans, Clan Mothers and Chiefs, Author(s) and origin unknown.
Audrey Shenandoa | Keynote Address to Global Forum on Environment and Development for Survival, Moscow USSR, January 15, 1990
Dr. Beverly Jacobs, Roots of Feminism: Haudenosaunee Women
Haudenosaunee | Women and Governance
with Michael Galban, Michelle Schenandoah
International Women's Day Public Talk: Haudenosaunee Women: Leading the Way Culturally, Socially, Politically, and Spiritually in Indigenous Communities Louise McDonald Herne (Bear Clan Mother, Mohawk) & Jonel Beauvais (Wolf Clan, Mohawk) Given on March 8, 2023
Murder of the Mother Line: Haudenosaunee Women
Louise McDonald Herne, Amie Barnes, Michelle Schenandoah, Jonel Beauvais, Mary Lyons at Susan B. Anthony Centre.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQKYuAiON5oG73J7tnqgPJ6e4X32bHL5_
Without A Whisper – Konnón:kwe
Explore the untold story of how Indigenous women influenced the early suffragists in their fight for freedom and equality. Mohawk Clan Mother Louise Herne and Professor Sally Roesch Wagner shake the foundation of the established history of the women’s rights movement in the US joining forces to shed light on the hidden history of the influence of Haudenosaunee Women on the women’s rights movement.
“Woman is the First Environment. In pregnancy, our bodies sustain life. At the breast of women, the generations are nourished. From the bodies of women flows the relationship of those generations, both to society and the natural world. In this way, the earth is our mother, the old people said. In this way, we as women are earth.”
Tekatsi:tsia’kwa Katsi Cook
Speaker:
Katsi Cook
Midwife, Environmental Activist, Mohwak community at Akwesasne
At the intersections of environmental health and reproductive health in a social justice framework, the story of the Indigenous woman’s body is told from core cultural constructs - the knowledge, difference and power - of the Mohawk community of Akwesasne, located in Northern NY State, Southwestern Quebec and Southeastern Ontario along the St.Lawrence River. From the MotherBabyMotherEarth continuum, presenter Katsi Cook will connect themes of Historical Trauma, trans-generational embodiment of industrial contamination and transformative processes necessary to achieve Structural Competency for the health, well-being and thriving lives of Indigenous women.
Dr. Beverly Jacobs from the Mohawk Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Bear Clan, delivered this keynote speech at EVA BC's Annual Training Forum on November 23, 2022.
The Untold Story of The Iroquois Influence On Early Feminists
Oren Lyons includes Tsiokonsaseh/Jikonsaseh in this video.
This short film is part of 8 short, testimonial films, on the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois.) The Iroquois are embarking on an historic project about the 500-year history of the Iroquois, their relationship with Europe and America and their prophesies that, if heard, can help us navigate the oncoming changes due to climate change. This series of short films is done via their testimony, and creates the space for the Iroquois to tell their story as they strive to uphold the traditions and the legacy of their people while also protecting the central tenents of their people and their relationship and care for the Earth. This series was created by Tree Media in collaboration with Oren Lyons, Sid Hill and the Haudenosaunee. This series was created with the support of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and with the support of Executive Producer Oliver Stanton.
Author:
Sisters in Spirit: Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Influence on Early American Feminists explores how the thoughts of early American feminists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Matilda Joslyn Gage were influenced by the women of the Haudenosaunee in upstate New York. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Lucretia Mott had formed friendships with their Iroquois neighbours that enabled them to understand a world view far different, and in many ways superior, to the patriarchal one that existed at that time. This is the provocative and compelling history of their struggle to bring equality and dignity to all women, and the role played by the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) women who modeled the position women could occupy in society.
Iroquois Reprints: Iroquois Women
Author:
Iroquois Women: An Anthology is a source book about the role of Iroquois women that contains 12 scholarly essays and 3 newspaper articles. The selection of reprinted essays focuses on how anthropological scholars have viewed Iroquois culture and the role of women from 1884 - 1989.
SHIRTS POWDERED RED
HAUDENOSAUNEE GENDER,
TRADE, AND EXCHANGE ACROSS
THREE CENTURIES
By Maeve Kane
https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501767883/shirts-powdered-red/#bookTabs=1
Introduction: Clothing the People without History
1. Domestic Work and Exchange in Early Contact
2. Purchased Cloth and the Transformation of Labor in the Seventeenth Century
3. Cultural Entanglement and European Anxiety in the Early Eighteenth Century
4. Women’s Cross-Cultural Exchange in the Mid-Eighteenth Century
5. Gender, Race, and Civility in Eighteenth-Century Education
6. Erasure and Violence against Women in the American Revolution
7. Caroline Parker and Making a Modern Traditionality
Epilogue: Miss Mountpleasant and the Indian Wigwam
Economic Organization and the Position of Women among the Iroquois Author(s): Judith K. Brown
The Mothers of the Nation & Other Essays
- Publication date
- 1992
- Publisher
- Ta'wil Books
- Collection
- inlibrary; printdisabled; internetarchivebooks
- Contributor
- Internet Archive
- Language
- English
https://archive.org/details/mothersofnationo0000dian/page/28/mode/2up
Audrey Shenandoah, 1996
Audrey speaks to the following, times are approximate:
0:46 Chiefs and wampum
0:51 Stories of Wampum Belts and Museum incarceration
0:55 Haudenosaunee Passports
1:00 Creation
1:07 Language and understandings
1:20 Women and equality
The Nation in Our Midst: Onondaga History, Culture and Spirituality was a presentation by Sid Hill, Tadodaho of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and Audrey Shenandoah, Onondaga Nation Clan Mother and internationally known writer, teacher and adviser to the United Nations. It was held on February 27, 2006 as part of the year-long educational series Onondaga Land Rights & Our Common Future. The series was coordinated by Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation in collaboration with Syracuse University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. It was co-sponsored by the Inter-Religious Council and the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation. Audrey Shenandoah passed away on March 15, 2012.
Director Katsitsionni Fox On The Untold Story Of Indigenous Women And The Suffrage Movement
Video, Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner
Sisters in Spirit: The Iroquois Influence on Early American Feminists
Great Law of Peace | Birth of Confederacy
Kaswentha | Paul Williams and Curtis Nelson, January 1995
There is no `official' version of the Great Law of Peace of the Haudenosaunee. In writing this
paper, we have used four different versions. The first was compiled by a committee of chiefs,
including Skaniadariio (John A. Gibson), Kanongweya (Jacob Johnson) and Deyonhegwen (John
William Elliott), at the Grand River Territory in 1907; the second was written by Dayodekane
(Seth Newhouse) of the Grand River Territory and transcribed by Albert Cusick; both of these
were published through the efforts of Gawasowane (Arthur C. Parker) in 1916 (cited as
Gawasowane (Parker), Chiefs and Gawasowane (Parker), Dayodekane (Newhouse) respectively
in this paper). The third was recalled by Skaniadariio (John Arthur Gibson) of the Grand River
Territory and transcribed by A.A. Goldenweiser in 1912 (cited as Concerning the League in this
paper) and published in 1992 as part of the Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics Series. The
fourth was told by Tahadegaihiyade (Roy Buck) of the Cayugas of the Grand River Territory, in
Mohawk, and translated by the staff of the North American Indian Travelling College in their
book, Traditional Teachings . Dayodekane wrote another version in 1885.
Read more:
The Warriors Who Turned to Peace | John Mohawk
How the Iroquois Confederacy Was Formed
UPDATED: | ORIGINAL:
Link: https://www.history.com/news/iroquois-confederacy-hiawatha-peacemaker-great-law-of-peace
The Last Speech of Deskaheh, Author/Origin unknown
Holding Hands With Wampum: Haudenosaunee Council Fires from the Great Law of Peace to Contemporary Relationships with the Canadian State
Kathryn V. Muller
https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/thesescanada/vol2/002/NR46200.PDF
I owe a tremendous debt to the Haudenosaunee people who have been so generous with their time and so patient with my questions. At Six Nations, my eternal gratitude goes to Buck and Doris Spittal, who provided me with a home, friendship, and hilarity. Buck is a discerning critic and spent countless hours supplying me with historical and anecdotal details for each chapter of my dissertation. Marion Henry, Evelyn Bomberry, Arnie General, Germaine Myke, and Carol and Lindsay Bomberry have made me laugh and have taught me more from their stories and experiences than I could have learned in a library. At the Haudenosaunee Resource Centre, Sue Jacobs has indulged my emails and phone calls, while Jock Hill, Pete Skye, and other chiefs, sub- chiefs, and faithkeepers, have wisely explained history, culture, and protocol. Ken Maracle made me a beautiful Two Row Wampum replica and his wife, Rhonda, has been an excellent correspondent and proof-reader. I have enjoyed many meals and conversations with Ray Skye, Rick Hill, and Paul Williams, who have taught me much about wampum. Yvonne Thomas has been an incredible resource: she kindly provided me with materials from the Jake Thomas Learning Centre, spoke to me about her own experiences, and has been a thoughtful critic.
At Kahnawake, an enormous thank you is extended to Tommy Deer of the Kanien'kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitiókwa Language and Cultural Centre who provided me with astounding insight into the community, the Mohawk Nation, and the Confederacy, along with a sense of humour and a relief from my usual library ventures. My language teacher, Akwiratékha Martin, showed patience as he introduced our class to Kanien'kéha, while Brian Deer, Charlie Patton, Joe Deom, Kenneth Deer, and Kevin Deer spent time answering my questions and helping me to understand Mohawk sovereignty.
This short film is part of 8 short, testimonial films, on the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois.) The Iroquois are embarking on an historic project about the 500-year history of the Iroquois, their relationship with Europe and America and their prophesies that, if heard, can help us navigate the oncoming changes due to climate change. This series of short films is done via their testimony, and creates the space for the Iroquois to tell their story as they strive to uphold the traditions and the legacy of their people while also protecting the central tenents of their people and their relationship and care for the Earth. This series was created by Tree Media in collaboration with Oren Lyons, Sid Hill and the Haudenosaunee. This series was created with the support of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and with the support of Executive Producer Oliver Stanton.
The Great Law Of Peace ·
Joanne Shenandoah Peacemaker's Journey
℗ Silver Wave Records
Released on: 2004-01-01
Haudenosaunee’s Legendary Founding
Special | 5m 52s
The Hiawatha wampum belt tells the story of the Haudenosaunee’s legendary founding and wampum’s power to heal. It tells of a warrior named Hiawatha who meets a prophet known as the Peacemaker. Together, with the help of Jigonsaseh, the first Clan Mother, they bring an end to war and create America’s first democracy.
https://www.pbs.org/video/haudenosaunees-legendary-founding-ziahzz/
The White Roots of Peace
Paul A. W. Wallace
White Roots of Peace, reprinted in 1998, is an important contribution to the understanding and significance of the Six Nations Iroquois / Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace originally published in 1946. Paul Wallace wrote this popular account of the founding of the Great Law of Peace. He set out to provide the general reader with a greater understanding of the message of peace brought to five warring nations by the Peacemaker.
Six Nations Artist, Raymond Skye, talks about how his drawing of 'The Great Peace... The Gathering of Good Minds' came to be. Six Nations Polytechnic https://www.snpolytechnic.com
SENECA MYTHS AND FOLK TALES
Speakers Jamie Jacobs, Jock Hill, Paul Williams and Rick Hill.
Deyohahá:ge: Indigenous Knowledge Centre at Six Nations Polytechnic
Rick Hill connect wampum, art and stories of Great Law of Peace
Wampum Belts
We Are The Haudenosaunee
This is the first of 8 short, testimonial films, on the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois.) The Iroquois are embarking on an historic project about the 500-year history of the Iroquois, their relationship with Europe and America and their prophesies that, if heard, can help us navigate the oncoming changes due to climate change. This series of short films is done via their testimony, and creates the space for the Iroquois to tell their story as they strive to uphold the traditions and the legacy of their people while also protecting the central tenents of their people and their relationship and care for the Earth. This series was created by Tree Media in collaboration with Oren Lyons, Sid Hill and the Haudenosaunee. This series was created with the support of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and with the support of Executive Producer Oliver Stanton.
https://youtu.be/2DofTnRhm5o?si=Uk2rPnpSoiqxmB3a
For more information: http://www.digitalwampum.org and http://www.treemedia.com
This short film is part of 8 short, testimonial films, on the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois.) The Iroquois are embarking on an historic project about the 500-year history of the Iroquois, their relationship with Europe and America and their prophesies that, if heard, can help us navigate the oncoming changes due to climate change. This series of short films is done via their testimony, and creates the space for the Iroquois to tell their story as they strive to uphold the traditions and the legacy of their people while also protecting the central tenents of their people and their relationship and care for the Earth. This series was created by Tree Media in collaboration with Oren Lyons, Sid Hill and the Haudenosaunee. This series was created with the support of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and with the support of Executive Producer Oliver Stanton.
https://youtu.be/V3gF7ULVrl4?si=m_PdvgqkXrWiIECr
For more information: http://www.digitalwampum.org and http://www.treemedia.com
Iroquois elder and global Indigenous leader Oren Lyons describes the authentic origins of the U.S. Constitution in the ancient Iroquois “Great League of Peace.” He weaves the story of the Peacemaker and how leaders are raised and chosen, with decisions based on seven generations and women choosing chiefs. He warns climate disruption should motivate us to “raise up our leaders.”
The Two Row Wampum-Covenant Chain Tradition as a Guide for Indigenous-University Research Partnerships
Richard W. Hill, Sr. and Daniel Coleman
This co-authored article examines the oldest known treaty between incoming Europeans and Indigenous North Americans to derive five basic principles to guide healthy, productive relationships between Indigenous community-based researchers and university-based ones. Rick Hill, Tuscarora artist and knowledge keeper from the Six Nations of the Grand River, publishes for the first time here the most complete oral history that exists today of that ancient treaty, from the early seventeenth century, known as the Two Row Wampum or the Covenant Chain agreement.
Conversations in Cultural Fluency Lecture Series #5 Guest speakers for this conversation include Bob Antone, Rick Hill, Sue Hill & Rick Monture Deyohahá:ge: Indigenous Knowledge Centre at Six Nations Polytechnic is pleased to share the following lecture series, “Conversations in Cultural Fluency”. This lecture series is intended to expose learners to theoretical and practical applications of Haudenosaunee-Indigenous Knowledge through a variety of topics including the Haudenosaunee Creation Story; Ecological Knowledge of the Dish with One Spoon Wampum; Three Sisters Sustainability; Good Mindedness within the Great Law of Peace; and Navigating with the Two Row Wampum.
Hodinohso:ni Governance & the Great Law of Peace - Conversations in Cultural Fluency #4
Six Nations Polytechnic
Dyohahá:ge, Two Roads, Indigenous Knowledge Centre at Six Nations Polytechnic
This video was created to accompany a series of lectures produced by Deyohaha:ge and Six Nations Polytechnic, with Thru the Red Door. Website: http://www.snpolytechnic.com/
Friends of Ganondagan Volunteer Rich Hammell demonstration a step by step pony bead wampum belt demo.
https://youtu.be/ucOUS8DeiWs?si=dSm21m6wBWTy5lgJ
Templates: https://ganondagan.org/files/documents/0030e75b-178b-4955-a4bd-694f4d3b1bbb.pdf
disclaimer: researcher/author Tara Prindle is not native. http://www.nativetech.org/authors/tara.html
Reading the Wampum by Penelope Myrtle Kelsey
Reading the Wampum: Essays on Hodinöhsö:ni’ Visual Code and Epistemological Recovery by Penelope Myrtle Kelsey, professor of English at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Reading the Wampum offers an academic consideration of the ways in which these sacred belts are reinterpreted into current Haudenosaunee tradition. While Kelsey explores the aesthetic appeal of the belts, she also provides insightful analysis of how readings of wampum belts can change our understanding of specific treaty rights and land exchanges.
Contributors: Shelley Niro, Tracey Deer, Eric Gansworth, James Thomas Stevens
https://goodminds.com/products/9780815633662
The Atotarho Belt • Seth Newhouse
Eclipse Significance, Historic and Predicted Paths
Dating the Iroquois Confederacy by Bruce E. Johansen
Using a combination of documentary sources, solar eclipse data, and Iroquois oral history, Mann and Fields assert that the Iroquois Confederacy's body of law was adopted by the Senecas (the last of the five nations to ratify it) August 31, 1142. The ratification council convened at a site that is now a football field in Victor, New York. The site is called Gonandaga by the Seneca.
Akwesasne Notes New Series,
Fall -- October/November/December -- 1995, Volume 1 #3 & 4, pp. 62-63.
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND THE GREAT LAW OF PEACE IN AKWESASNE
Raynald Harvey Lemelin
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the community of Akwesasne, the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, Administration IV, al1 Akwesasronon, and those Kanienkehaka, Onkwehonwe, and Haudenosaunee individuals who have participated in the making of this document. I owe a special debt of gratitude to two individuals. I thank Jake Tehanetoris Thomas for not only reciting the Kaianerenkowa in its entirety, but also for his infinite patience during my endless barrage of questions during and after the recital.
https://www.nlc-bnc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp05/mq20929.pdf?is_thesis=1&oclc_number=46553296
Rethinking Levanna Ceramics: A Tenth Century Short Term Occupation Site in Central New York
Christina T. Rogers University of Denver
*Resource demonstrates a confederacy of peace with the uncovering of artifacts dated 909.
The pottery and the shape of the proto-longhouse at Levanna support a Haudenosaunee matrilineal and matrilocal culture living at the site; ceramic decorative styles and types are melded together and built upon each other as would be present in a matrilocal household. The ceramic analysis at the Levanna site corroborates the in-situ development of the Haudenosaunee back to the 10th century, supporting review of the previous typology, the phases and the prehistory of Central New York.
The forthcoming eclipse will be the anniversary of the eclipse over Ganondagan and Onondaga.
"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC Emeritus" 1594-1999
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSE/5MCSE-Maps-01.pdf
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/solar.html
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19870014944
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19870014944/downloads/19870014944.pdf
NASA-TM-89346
https://nationaleclipse.com/maps/map_2017_2024.html
https://nationaleclipse.com/maps/usa_20th_century.html
Solar Eclipses: Past and Future
This website is available as a resource for eclipse and transit records and information.
Total Solar Eclipse of April 8, 2024 over New York
This animation shows the passage of the Moon's shadow over New York on April 8, 2024. During a total solar eclipse, the sky suddenly darkens and the Sun's corona will be revealed. This is easily the most beautiful sight you will ever see in the sky! Be sure to use solar eclipse glasses while the Sun is not fully eclipsed. Details and eclipse glasses are at greatamericaneclipse.com
For centuries the cultural heritage of the Haudenosaunee has been under assault, including everything from excavation of burial grounds for development to the theft of human remains and important cultural artifacts which were stored in museums. Learn about the increasingly successful efforts to reverse this trend and preserve this crucial heritage for the Haudenosaunee and the wider community.
Presentations by Peter Jemison and Jack Rossen on June 14, 2010 at Syracuse Stage. Peter Jemison (Seneca) is the manager of Ganondagan State Historic Site, a re-creation of a 17th-century Seneca village, located in Victor, New York. Jemison represents the Seneca Nation of Indians on repatriation issues; he served on the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation andon the board of directors of the American Association of Museums. He is also an artist whose work has been widely shown for more three decades.
An archaeologist, Jack's recent work has focussed on an early Cayuga village site near Cayuga Lake. He'll report on the preliminary findings of their work finding settlement from the 10th century. Jack was one of the founders of SHARE (Strengthening Haudenosaunee American Relations through Education). He is part of developing a "new vision" for archaeology, one that cooperates with and strives to be a positive force for Native people, studies issues that Native people are interested in, is oriented to site protection, and respects sacred areas and burial grounds. Jack has worked and taught throughout the US and South America as well as taking classes to study on the big island of Hawaii. The program was part of the Onondaga Land Rights and our Common Future series held in Syracuse, NY, from February 2010 to February 2011 and coordinated by Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation.
Notable Haudenosaunee Teachers, Speakers and Links
We Are The Haudenosaunee
This is the first of 8 short, testimonial films, on the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois.) The Iroquois are embarking on an historic project about the 500-year history of the Iroquois, their relationship with Europe and America and their prophesies that, if heard, can help us navigate the oncoming changes due to climate change. This series of short films is done via their testimony, and creates the space for the Iroquois to tell their story as they strive to uphold the traditions and the legacy of their people while also protecting the central tenents of their people and their relationship and care for the Earth. This series was created by Tree Media in collaboration with Oren Lyons, Sid Hill and the Haudenosaunee. This series was created with the support of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and with the support of Executive Producer Oliver Stanton.
https://youtu.be/2DofTnRhm5o?si=Uk2rPnpSoiqxmB3a
For more information: http://www.digitalwampum.org and http://www.treemedia.com
This short film is part of 8 short, testimonial films, on the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois.) The Iroquois are embarking on an historic project about the 500-year history of the Iroquois, their relationship with Europe and America and their prophesies that, if heard, can help us navigate the oncoming changes due to climate change. This series of short films is done via their testimony, and creates the space for the Iroquois to tell their story as they strive to uphold the traditions and the legacy of their people while also protecting the central tenents of their people and their relationship and care for the Earth. This series was created by Tree Media in collaboration with Oren Lyons, Sid Hill and the Haudenosaunee. This series was created with the support of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and with the support of Executive Producer Oliver Stanton.
https://youtu.be/V3gF7ULVrl4?si=m_PdvgqkXrWiIECr
For more information: http://www.digitalwampum.org and http://www.treemedia.com
Iroquois elder and global Indigenous leader Oren Lyons describes the authentic origins of the U.S. Constitution in the ancient Iroquois “Great League of Peace.” He weaves the story of the Peacemaker and how leaders are raised and chosen, with decisions based on seven generations and women choosing chiefs. He warns climate disruption should motivate us to “raise up our leaders.”
Kanien’kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Center.
https://www.korkahnawake.org/gift-shop/p/maps-amp-councils-posters
Our Relationship to the Natural World, Author/origin unknown
Adapted from a story by Ionataié:was , Mohawk storyteller
© Mohawk Language Custodian Association – Kontinonhstats Project “Kanien’kéha Aionrón:ke 2” – Akohserà:ke – Winter 2016
In this excerpt from the new introduction to her acclaimed book Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer draws upon the creation story Skywoman Falling and the wisdom of plants to guide us through our present moment of deep uncertainty. Her words of hope, transformation, and courage feel especially poignant at this moment as we look to find ways to heal and address the monumental challenges that lie before us.
Podcast:
ANCIENT GREEN
Moss, Climate, and Deep Time
Oneida Nation of Wisconsin
Creation Story As told by Amos Christjohn
MOHAWK (HAUDENOSAUNEE) TEACHING ELDER: TOM PORTER
Iroquois Creation Story • John Mohawk
Keeper of the Western Door: The Life and Legacy of Donehogawa, or Ely S. Parker
On the Development of the Handsome Lake Religion By: Elisabeth Tooker
https://peace-mother.com/pdfviewer/920/?auto_viewer=true#page=&zoom=page-fit&pagemode=none
The Ground Beneath Your Feet is Sacred: Haudenosaunee Cultural Resource Protection
Presentations by Peter Jemison and Jack Rossen on June 14, 2010 at Syracuse Stage.
Quick links
A work in progress. Check back soon.
This is not a comprehensive list of images, language or research. Nor are the stories or descriptions written by scholars (with the exception of cited research links). This site is meant to be general information and condensed stories for those who are interested in beginning their learning journey and/or seek a better understanding of the 2024 eclipse and the matrilineal ways of the Haudenosaunee. You may also find spelling and language discrepancies, please encounter them with an open mind to the fluidity and complex nature of our dialects and language.
At the time that we joined together to ratify the Kayanare(n)kówa (Great Peace), some say that a total eclipse darkened the skies so deeply that the nocturnal animals woke to encircle and witness the calm of the people who unified under the Great White Pine. As our brother the Sun re-emerged from behind the kindness of Grandmother Moon, all Onkwehonwe were awakened with a new sense of balance and unity and we intend to walk in unity until the end of time.
Some kononkwe (women) are weaving the significance of the eclipse at the time of Kayanarekówa into the one that happened in 2024. In this world of war, we are reminded of the monumental role that Peace Mother, Tsiokonsaseh played in establishing unity, equality and peace among the nations.
We are calling in peace now and we are elevating Peace Mother and our voices to call for reunification.
Foundational to Haudenosaunee identity is the transmission of feminine knowledge, social structures and diplomacy and we have found a time and place to recapture that way of understanding; under the sky, hand in hand, in song and in a display of effeminate matrilineal power.
"Woman is the first environment. In pregnancy, our bodies sustain life. At the Breast of women, the generations are nourished. From the bodies of women flows the relationship of those generations both to society and the natural world. In this way the earth is our mother, the old people said. In this way, we as women are earth"
Katsi Cook, Mohawk Midwife, Akwesasne
