Community News

Indigenous ways on display at NYPA event

Seneca Nation and Tuscarora teach about abundance and tradition at NYPA event

September 27, 2021 | www.niagara-gazette.com

Our nation borders their’s but until we take the time to visit, or emissaries come to share in things like the New York Power Authority Wildlife Festival, we don’t always always think twice about the indigenous people and traditions formed long before we arrived.

Think, for example, of the mystical tradition of maize. There are at least 500 different kinds of corn, according to Tuscarora Turtle Clan member YeKwanihst (Jill Clause), who set up in the indigenous tent at the power authority.

She was feeding anyone who came by simple dishes, Ga Neh Ha’ geh hrag (white corn).

Clause showed how the corn is picked from the husk, boiled with wood ash and rinsed and cooked two more times.

The resulting dish is known to white people as hominy. She was also serving samples of black beans, ham, quail and venison and strawberry drink

The concept, among the ho-de-nau-sau-nee is “one dish, one spoon. There is enough food for everybody” Clause said. “I just love giving away food. Always, there is enough.”

At an adjacent table, Marisa Manitowabi was teaching lashings and the intricacies of a longhouse.

“Lashings are very useful,” she said. “Most people no longer know how to tie a knot.”

The Seneca Nation member was using inner back she had on display for demonstration purposes.

Source: https://www.niagara-gazette.com/news/local_news/indigenous-ways-on-display-at-nypa-event/article_7288f499-d91c-571f-b964-2bb5e6444367.html

Photo: Spectators learn about houses and lashing from Marissa Manitowabi of the Seneca Nation. The duo are from Cub Scout Pack 630.