For class last week we were given the opportunity to travel
to quinte Mohawk school for their harvest festival. I am so glad that I took
this opportunity and joined the group in this cultural experience as I really
enjoyed it and found it an interesting and fun way to learn more about the Mohawk
culture. Before we arrived I wasn’t really
sure what to expect once we all walked into the school but quickly found that
everyone, including the students at Quinte Mohawk were so warm and
welcoming. I felt that the school was
very united and seemed to work together as a whole, making the environment feel
the way it felt. I also enjoyed the artwork and murals around the school and
found that even the way the school looked seemed to bring everyone inside of it
together and the scenery was also very reflective of their culture.
Walking into the gym and hearing their first announcement of
the day was very interesting. The daily “opener” for the day is called “the
thanksgiving address” and although we only heard it being said in Mohawk I still
felt like there was such a meaning to it and it meant so much to the staff and
students. This made me interested in what the thanksgiving address translates
to, so I ended up going home and researching it. I researched the translation
of the thanksgiving address to English and this is what I got. I also talked to
my friend Sam who is Mohawk and asked her a little more about it. She shared
with me that the thanksgiving address is used to both open and close the
ceremony and that” if it were a more traditional setting (outside of the
school) there would be a sacred fire that would be kept burning for the
duration of the ceremony” . She said that the purpose of this fire is to honor
all of the spirits and the great spirit (which is the creator) at the special
ceremony.
I had a chance to also build longhouses with the grade 4’s
and 5’s and the kids loved being able to create their own and make the outside
look however they wanted. They also seemed to enjoy having us CYWS help them
and I noticed that children who seemed to be shy in the beginning opened up a
little more after building longhouses with us. One little girl in particular
that I worked with was so much more talkative after I helped her in building
her longhouse. I found out that longhouses are where the community gathers for
political, social and spiritual functions in the Mohawk culture.
Tyendinaga longhouse on Ridge Road
We ended up going outside to play lacrosse and I asked her what lacrosse means to the Mohawks and she shared what she knew with me. She said that the Mohawks play lacrosse when someone is sick. I talked to my friend Sam about this as well and she didn’t know too much about lacrosse but she did say that “traditionally it was played by just the men and it was bad medicine for women to play”. I went home and researched a little more about lacrosse and I found out that lacrosse was meant to resolve conflicts and that sometimes more than 100 players were included in the game.
Being from Tyendinaga and really not knowing too much about the Mohawk culture made me wonder why I hadnt tried to find out more when I was younger. I feel that knowing about this culture is very helpful especially in this area when working with children and families. I think that knowing a little bit about the mohawks and asking questions will make children and youth feel appreciated and accepted. Also, its good for children and youth to be able to explain and express their culture in different ways and for CYWs to be supportive and help them learn more when they need to.
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