Who We Are

The Creator Blessed Me

We carry the blood of our ancestors

We teach our young ones to be proud

We pray to the creator for strength

We look to the sky as the eagle passes by

We feel our souls soar as the drum beats

We feel the earth beneath our feet as we dance

We celebrate our culture

Our ways always and forever passed down

My calendar, the moon

My day, follows the sun

Corn, Beans, and Squash

My sustenance renewed

The canoe my vessel as we explore the land and waters

My longhouse, where we lay our heads, made from the trees

We learn from the two-legged, four-legged, those who come from the water, and from the sky

The lessons we learn from the world around us

As we forage for tobacco, cedar, sweetgrass, and sage

We remember the story of our people, many moons ago, forced and removed from our homes

As our struggles had just begun

Erasure, broken agreements, and death

But we are here

Long ago once forgotten

We cannot be destroyed

We have been created from the seeds planted by our loved ones

We endure and defend

A good heart guarantees we are here at the end

Our elders and the knowledge that they keep

Our walk, our path, we lead our young ones each and every day

When the season comes, where the snow touches the ground

We gather together, both young and old, and hear the story of our people

Onʌyoteʔa·ka, legends told of a large stone that led us to our next home

Removed from our homelands as we were pushed west

Torn from our brothers of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy

The Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, and Tuscarora

Brought together, by the Peacemaker’s strong words, he formed the Great Peace

The wampum belt shares the story, he ended war and brought love and peace to the people

Together they planted the tree of peace

Beneath the weapons of war washed away by the underground stream

The branches protect, as the roots lead us back to a place of peace to gather and renew

Our leaders represented by the trees, deeply rooted connected to the land, and equally strong

The eagle rests on top of the tree as a protector of the peace

He hears our prayers and takes them to the Creator

We are all connected

From the baby to our youth to our adults and our elders

Our elders share the story of the Sabe, the great elder brother who guards the forest

The two legged, the four legged, the waters, plants, and stars all accept the way they are

The creator made us to be who we are

We need to be true to who we are

We are each created for a purpose, our journey, our path

Just as sky woman fell thru the clouds

Just as muskrat brought the mud up from below the waters

Just as mother earth was born on turtle’s back

Our People each have a role

The keepers of the longhouse carry out what the clan mothers and leaders say

The clan mothers choose our leaders

The leaders are those who speak for our people

The lack of people means there are no people

We make up the people, We are Ukwehu·wé

Each clan has a role

The Wolf Clan leads us down the path that the creator has made for us

The Bear Clan our healers hold the knowledge of all plants on the earth

The Turtle Clan keepers of the land hold knowledge of the earth, and the cycles of the moon

We teach our young to adhere to the Seven Grandfathers

We learn and share our knowledge, we love, respect, tell the truth and stay honest

We place others before ourselves, act brave and courageous to face and overcome challenges

To uphold the Sacred Hoop and embrace our ways and respect each ceremony

We dance, we pray, we feast, we smudge, we heal

We carry our sacred bundles, gather the sacred plants, and walk upon our sacred lands

We burn cedar to carry our prayers to the Creator

We burn sage and sweetgrass to protect, cleanse, ward off the bad, and welcome the good

We hang dreamcatchers by our beds, we bend the branches and weave the webs

The bad dreams are tangled up to be destroyed, the good dreams are allowed to pass through

We look forward to the sacred buffalo born, whose color softly gleams as the snow that falls

He represents harmony restored, balance, and hope of peace for all on Mother Earth

Tshatekˀshélha, a ceremony celebrated a few days after the new year moon

To renew and look at how we engage our roles to honor our ways

We carry out three rounds of the Great Feather Dance

To honor our leaders, clan mothers and keepers of the longhouse, our people, and the creator

We turn the ashes

Mother Earth can now renew herself

We burn tobacco, an acknowledgement of thanks

As we encourage all the creator has made to renew and carry on

As our real names our offered up to the Creator

Everyone dances the Water Drum Dance

We play the peach stone game, the bear and turtle clans versus the wolf clan

After, we dance the Great Feather Dance, the Old Woman’s Dance, and the Bean Dance

Lastly, the false face and corn mask healers enter

They are eager to make one remember to renew ourselves as they do

We have been told all people many moons ago were able to understand each other

But today we cannot understand all the languages of the world

One must learn to speak many languages, one must go out and learn from others

Hear the sounds of the words, and ask about the words that they have heard

Where ever you stay, or where ever you go, you can learn and start to understand the language

The language can connect us to one another

We speak the language of our ancestors and code talkers who have come before us

We express thanks and gratefulness when the creator blesses us