> Dave Taylor asks for a reading list on NA religion. If a personal list was
> mwant, skip this suggestion. If a reading list to be given to students is
> what Dave wants, Morgan's chapter on Hodenosaunee religion is worth giving,
[...]
If you want to know about Hodenosaunee spiritual traditions, the best way is
to learn directly from the elders. If this is not possible, you can get cer-
tain books which can be helpful, if you take what they say with a grain of salt
and keep an open mind -- because once you do get around to talking to tradi-
tional elders you will learn how traditional people see things much better
than from books. It is also necessary -- and this cannot be stressed enough --
to learn the native language, in this case an Iroquois language like Mohawk,
Onondaga, Cayuga or Seneca.
Books you can get are the following: THE CONSTITUTION OF THE FIVE NATIONS by A.
C. Parker; THE CODE OF HANDSOME LAKE, THE SENECA PROPHET by A. C. Parker;
THE DEATH AND REBIRTH OF THE SENECA by A. F. C. Wallace. The first two are
available in reprint editions from Iroqrafts, Ltd., R. R. #2, Ohsweken, Ontario
NOA 1M0. Also another good book that I would recommend even more highly is
TRADITIONAL TEACHINGS, published by the North American Indian Travelling
College in Akwesasne Mohawk Territory; this book is a compilation of tradi-
tional teachings by elders from different Confederacy territories. NAITC's
address is: R.R.#3, Mohawk Nation, via Cornwall Island, Ontario K64 5R7. They
have also produced other books. The Iroquoian Institute (Grand River Territory,
R.R.#1, Wilsonville, Ont. NOA 1Z0) is a school to teach traditional Iroquois
culture and languages, and it is run by trad. Cayuga Chief Jake Thomas. They
publish books on a small scale, and would welcome inquiries. Also, the Woodland
Indian Cultural Education Centre is a good source of reading materials on Six
Nations culture, history and spiritualism; the person there to contact is Mr.
Reginald Henry, a linguist and elder in his own right (the address is 184
MohawkStreet, Brantford, Ontario N3T 5V6).
Several periodicals are written from a traditional Iroquois point of view.
Highly recommended are AKWESASNE NOTES (Mohawk Nation, P.O. Box 189, St Regis,
Quebec H0M 1A0) and NORTHEAST INDIAN QUARTERLY, published by the American
Indian Program at Cornell Univ., Ithaca, N.Y. I don't have that address, so
you'll have to dig that one up yourself. (You can't have everything on a
silver plate! :-)
[ The address is: American Indian Program, 300 Caldwell Hall, Cornell
University, Ithaca, New York 14853 (Phone: 607-255-4308). _NORTHEAST_
_INDIAN_Quarterly_ subscriptions are US$12.00/year (back issues avail-
able at $3.00 apiece) ISSN 0897-2354. --Gary ]
HAPPY HUNTING! If you want to write to me I'd be happy to hear from you:
My name etc. is Brian Wiles, Grand River Territory, P. O. Box 98, Hagersville,
Ontario N0A 1H0 Canada.