Original Sender: Queens Library <CLASS.ORG!qladmin>
Mailing List: NAT-LANG (nat-lang@gnosys.svle.ma.us)
Fellow NATIVE-L, NAT-EDU, NAT-LANG, INDIANnet, INDKNOW,
IROQUOIS, ACTIV-L, and TRAILS subscribers: I am posting this for Lloyd
Oxendine (Lumbee), who doesn't yet have Internet access. (Apologies
for duplication.
I am also a volunteer on the project. You are encouraged to re-
distribute this information wherever you think it may
generate interest and support! Thank you.
An article describing the project, entitled
"For Mohawks, a Village to Call Their Own," appeared
in the _New York Times_ on Sun. 8/8/93.
(If you wish to contact Lloyd by e-mail, feel free to use
my address: qladmin@class.org)
Carol Liu
---------------------------------------------------------
Kanatsiohareke ( Ga na jo' ha la'y: gay ),
"The Clean Pot"
The Mohawk Valley Project
News Release Contact: Lloyd E. Oxendine,
Project Director,
at Lotus Fine Arts,
tel. 212-989-5331
fax 212-675-7191
A Fresh Start for Traditional Mohawk People:
The Mohawk Valley Project
For centuries, the Mohawk people had been farmers,
raising corn, squash, beans, and other foods. They hunted
game and fished the crystal lakes and streams in the
Mohawk Valley. Over two hundred years ago they were
driven from their home in central New York State, taking
up residence on a reservation known as Akwesasne, on the
border between Canada and the U. S. along the St.
Lawrence River.
The ravages of pollution, politics, and gambling have
taken their toll at Akwesasne. PCB-laced water has made
the fish inedible, and the battle over these issues has
threatened to destroy the very fabric of traditional
Mohawk life. Tom Porter, Sakakwenionkwas (Spiritual
Leader) of his people, had a vision that his people would
find a new home. He began to write and speak publicly
about finding this place for Mohawks to make a fresh
start.
Aware of Tom's search, Dr. Vincent Schaefer, a respected
archaeologist, pointed to a 300-acre plot of land in the
heart of what had been Mohawk country. Nestled in the
hills along the grassy banks of the Mohawk River Canal,
this was the refuge for the people and the survival of
their culture. The land was bought in July 1993, and the
stage is set for the traditional Mohawk people to return
to their ancestral lands.
"There was a prophecy that one day our great-
grandchildren would come home to this valley," Porter
says. "So now, here we have returned. We call this place
Kanatsiohareke (pronounced Ga na jo' ha la'y: gay). It
means 'place of the clean pot,'" Porter comments. The
word refers to the 12-foot-wide limestone potholes in the
local creek bed. Nearby Canajoharie, home of Beech-Nut,
got its name from the same Mohawk word.
A sparkling stream flows through a large forest and past
the buildings. About 90 acres of tillable fields stretch
to the river, which is framed by landmark crags called
Big Nose and Little Nose. Five families moved to the
settlement this fall, from Akwesasne and reservations in
Ontario. Twenty more will joint them this spring. For
now, they live in the rambling main house and share
meals; one day they will build separate homes, The main
house will function as the longhouse, the meeting place
and social and religious center of the traditional
Iroquois community. They will seek to be self-
sufficient. Porter wants to grow organic vegetables,
raise beef cattle, and perhaps buffalo.
There is a shop selling books and native crafts,
including ash-splint baskets, moccasins, ribbon-shirts,
and beadwork. Eventually, a learning center and library
may be established for those who wish to study Mohawk
culture and spirituality.
Porter says the community fulfills and old Mohawk
prophecy in which hunters bring home two snakes, one gold
and one silver. The snakes grow huge and turn on their
caretakers. One goes north, the other south, leaving a
path of destruction. The Mohawks are told to go to a hill
to ward off the serpents. Porter's grandfather says the
silver snake is Canada and the Gold is the United States.
But Porter interprets the story to mean that greed will
destroy his people. That's why it's time to go to the
hill, Kanatsiohareke.
A fund-raising office has been set up in New York City at
Lotus Fine Arts (109 West 27th Street, 8th floor, NYC
10001) to help support and maintain the community,
purchase additional land, augment business plans, and
collect items on a wish list [attached]. Fund-raising
events are being planned, including a proposed benefit
auction at Christie's in December 1994.
If you wish to help by donating funds, volunteer time, or
in-kind goods or services, or for more information,
please contact Project Director Lloyd Oxendine at the
address/phone/fax numbers above (or by e-mail to Carol
Liu at qladmin@class.org). Contributions are tax-
deductible.
Advisors and Friends of the Mohawk Valley Project:
Barbara Barnes, Joanna Osborne Bigfeather, Coleen Bins,
Brad Bonaparte, Daren Bonaparte, Tom Buckner, Jonathan
Cesar, Kamala Cesar, Frances Daniels-Thompson, Mary B.
Davis, David Eastman, John Fadden, Doug George, Kimberly
Halligan, Pat Hilden, Rick Hill, Michael Hittman, Ron
Hoskins, Dianne Ingerson, Peter Jemison, Gunter Kleeman,
Arnold Krupat, Sara Krusenstjerna, Esq., Brenda La
France, Doug Leibacher, Carol Liu, Manuelita Lovato, Olga
Berde Mahl, Gayle Morse, Robert Murray, Lloyd Oxendine,
Rodger Parsons, Rodger Perkins, Tom Perkins, Tom Porter,
Lauren Raiskin, Perry Passionate-Robin Reid, Carla
Roberts, Elizabeth Sackler, Peter Sarabella, Vincent
Schaefer, Dianne Shenandoah, Joanne Shenandoah, Joel
Singer, Brian Swann, Clara Thuma, Robert Vetter, Sandra
Wright-Houghton.
--------------------------------------------------------
Kanatsiohareke (Ga na jo' ha la' y: gay)
"The Clean Pot"
THE MOHAWK VALLEY PROJECT
The items listed below are badly needed by the people of
this community to see them through this winter and
beyond. If you can donate anything on the list, or if
you wish to contribute funds, volunteer, or just be
included on the mailing list, PLEASE CONTACT: Lloyd
Oxendine, Project Director, The Mohawk Valley Project,
c/o Lotus Fine Arts, 109 W. 27th Street, 8th Floor, New
York, NY 10001; tel. 212-989-533; fax 212-675-7191.
WOOD SHOP EQUIPMENT & OFFICE EQUIPMENT &
SUPPLIES SUPPLIES
large table saw computers
large band saw printers
large wood planer file cabinets
glass cutter copying machine
lathe paper
router envelopes
drill press general supplies
gas welder
scaffolds BULK FOOD ITEMS
lumber potatoes
nails rice
clamps corn
tool organizers flour
oatmeal
FARM EQUIPMENT cheese
4-ton haywagon w/tires pasta
brush hog juice
wheel barrows sugar
4-wheel-drive tractor
30- 40-HP tractor HOUSEHOLD & KITCHEN ITEMS
set of 3 bottom plows air-tight wood stoves
set of disc chisel plows wood furnace
set of drags large refrigerator
2- or 4-row corn planter large freezer
corn-pickers band saw for meat
2- or 4-horse stock trailer brooms
hay bailer (model 320 cap.) dust pans and mops
500-bushel manure spreader clothes hampers
smoke detectors
CRAFT SUPPLIES fire extinguishers
beads laundry & dish detergent
string/thread bar soap
fabric dishes
animal pelts large pots and pans
display case mixing bowls
PLUMBING EQUIPMENT
sink drains
80-gal. electric water
heaters (2)
OTHER ITEMS
paint
snow shovels
3- & 6-ft. fluorescent
lights
35 mm camera
television & VCR
warm clothing