Mohawks Reinhabit Mohawk Valley Group from St. Regis returns to land of ancestors Indians buy 322 acres of land for a fresh start Hope to leave St. Regis troubles behind by Jim Reilly, Syracuse Herald Journal, Sunday, Sept. 12, 1993 Tom Porter talked about the land and, though he was over 100 miles from the spot he described, it was as though a picture of the place hung framed in his mind. "The property is roughly 322 acres, give or take a few. It faces south. In other words, there's a hill, but the hill inclines to the south, which is perfect for solar energy," he said. "It has roughly 200 acres of about the most- I believe you could say it's virgin woods, or close to it. There are trees there that are 200, 250 feet tall. There's the Mohawk river, and beyond that the Thruway. We're on the north side of the river. And I'll tell you, if you have a headache, and you go into that woods, you don't have to be there long and your headache will go away." Porter and a group of other traditional Mohawks from St. Regis Mohawk reservation near Massena hope this place, with its woods, water and rattlesnakes, will heal some of the headaches and heartache that have gnawed at the reserve for years: drug use, alcoholism, smuggling, shootings, and disputes over gambling, money and leadership that broke up families, embittered friends, led to violence and, more than once, death. Porter, a traditional Mohawk chief, won't say Akwesasne, which is what traditional Mohawks call the reserve, is a bad place. "Though we have many problems, there's many, many wonderful people her e," he said. "This is where I was born, where my family is. I'm not condemning people here, I want that to be clear." But Porter and others are leaving. At an auction in July, they bought Montgomery Manor, the old Montgomery County home for the aged and poor, and its attendant 300-plus acres in the town of Palatine. They paid $231,000, Porter said, and took title to the property this month. Some money came from bake sales and pancake breakfasts and other fund-raisers the Mohawks have run the past few years; some came from friends they've made in other countries; most, more than$200,000 came from a few particularly close friends. "I can't say the name or even where they live, because they asked to remain anonymous," Porter said. For Mohawks, this marks a return to their ancestral homeland and valley that bears their tribal name—a return prophesied and dreamed about for generations. "Principal villages of our people we re there. In fact, the place we bought was a bear clan village. Ibelong to that clan. My great-great-great-great-grandmother was born and raised not far from there." Perhaps as soon as the end of this month, Porter and a few others will move into their new home to clean, fix and figure out what needs to be done to the three buildings to make them livable. The place was vacant and boarded up more than a year. Porter said as many as 20 families may move from Akwesasne to Mohawk valley in the next year; more may come later. "It's hard to say how many. We'll have to see in two years, and two years after that," he said. They plan to farm, raise crops and animals, maybe set up a trout farm using water from a spring-fed creek on the land. "On the land, an artesian spring comes from the big hill there, right from the rocks," Porter said. "It flows day and night, and bacteria-free, they tell me. It's a beautiful, beautiful spring. A lot of possibilities there." Porter said the group is considering a variety of business ventures to help support themselves in their new home, from a mail-order service for Native American crafts to bottling the water from their spring and selling it. In time, they hope to create a conference center, where people can come to learn about traditional Mohawk and Iroquois culture. Porter, 49, is a carpenter, and also has worked as a teacher and lecturer. They also might rent space to groups seeking a conference location. But nothing that might disturb the rattlesnakes. "Half mile from the property's east boundary on top of the hill—not on our property—is one of the few timber rattlesnake dens left," Porter said. "It's supposedly the most densely populated. The other day a timber rattler crossed the road, and all cars had to stop. It was a big one, a six-footer. Timber rattlers are a sacred animal. They need to live." He and others hope to leave behind the problems of Akwesasne—political infighting between traditionals and progressives, the pollution of the land and water from decades of fallout and effluent from industries that crowd the banks at the confluences of several rivers. They also hope to create an environment where "we can preserve our language, ceremonies, our philosophies, the way we look at the world, for ourselves and our children and grandchildren," Porter said. "This is like-minded people going someplace we can preserve what we are as native people," Porter said. "I don't want to be arrogant. We aren't saying we'll do it; there's no formula, no blueprint, and things are so shattered, so many wounds. We don't know if we will be successful, but this will be our damnedest try." He has six children and eight grandchildren. Some will stay at Akwesasne, some may live in the Mohawk Valley. "Even though we're moving doesn't mean we're abandoning Akwesasne," Porter said. "There will be an open door, both ways. But in the new place, there will be no drugs, no alcohol, no gambling. We're going to stay within our spiritual teaching and tradition." Porter said, "We're not going to do anything to hurt the land; nothing that will scare the rattlesnakes away."

in their own tongue Kanatsiohareke "Ga na jo ha lay:gay" means "The Clean Pot" For over 200 years traditional Mohawk people of the Iroquois Confederacy held a dream in their hearts that someday they would return to the beautiful Mohawk Valley. These lands where they had their villages and an extensive agricultural society, are rolling hills and forests, along the waters of the Mohawk River. Spring flooding of the flats brought soils to refresh the land and provide the corn that was the major food for them. The waters were rich with fish and birds were attracted to the marshes, hillsides and fields. The wars and conflicts in the 1700s that came with the European invasion sent the Mohawks from their lands, their villages, the resting places of their ancestors. The dream and the prophecies of return continued through the decades. The decades turned into centuries. And then, amidst of some of the most disruptive troubles experienced by the Mohawk people, a new hope grew that they could begin a trip back home, a return to paths, fields, streams and rivers of their ancestors. In summer 1993, at a public auction, 322 acres of riverfront land was sold to a small group of traditional Mohawks ready to start a new home on old soils. Support from Native and non-natives in the local area, in New York and internationally, has come in spiritual and material ways, and helped sustain the Mohawk families who moved to the river valley. A spring on the hillside is fast-flowing and provides water for drinking and a potential source of hydro-electric power for their homes and workshops. It is filled with hope, this place called Kanatsiohareke. The Community name is an old Mohawk word meaning "the clean pot." This word comes from a section of a nearby creek that has large potholes formed from tumultuous waters eroding the stone creekbed with the swirling of smaller stones. Kanatsiohareke, an old name with new hope for Mohawk people. Indeed, for all Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy of Nations. Kanatsiohareke 1934 State Highway 5, Fonda, NY 12068; 518-673-5344 Tax deductible donations appreciated. Contact: Viola Whitewater Foundation 4225 Concord St, Harrisburg, PA 17109-2749

Commentary Power of Place ~ Cycles of Time by David Yarrow As a living creation, our planet was carefully crafted over endless eons as a cradle for life. On Earth, persistent presence in specific places of indigenous (native or aboriginal) peoples manifests Earth's intent to create and support humans. Ancestral tribes always occupy primary points in the planet's energy Grid, or Web, or Matrix. Legends, history, culture, and spirituality of these peoples are crucial local reservoirs in the memory matrix of Gaia's mind. As "geo-metry" derives from "earth-measure," so, too, "land-guage" intones local harmonics of geology, topography and ecology. Key land features still carry indigenous names, so we still recite land's ancient names. Such as, say, "Canajoharie," or Kanatsiohareke Within this unified global mind-field, time is a next dimension beyond space. 1993 was timely for Last of the Mohicans movie to tour North America—a gory, violent tragedy of war and treachery as France and Britain battled for continental control. James Fenimore Cooper epic penned awesome insight into this military, moral and spiritual invasion of America as "two white brothers" fought over "new world wealth." In Cooper's Last of the Mohicans, Chingachcook and his son Uncas— last two Mohicans left alive and free—are leaving their Hudson Valley homeland to move west to live with Shawnee, and escape genocide in the onrushing French and Indian War. Britain lost badly from blunders in this, the War's first year. Mohawks hadn't sided with Britain yet. Mohawks guarded the east door to the Six Nations Confederacy Longhouse. Now that Mohicans were mere memory in the forest, Mohawks would next face the European crush pouring in the continent's east entry. By end of century, Mohawks were swept from Mohawk Valley—by American, not British, invasion. A few Mohawk villages survived on British soil in St. Lawrence Valley. In irony, one reserve—St. Regis, or Akwesasne—was split in a U.S.-Britain treaty. Today Akwesasne straddles the U.S.-Canadian border and the Peace Bridge spans the St. Lawrence on Mohawk land. Two centuries after this grim, bloody chapter of American history, Mohawks and Iroquois were extras in a 1993 movie remake of Cooper's early American literary gem. Russell Means, a Lakota and former American Indian Movement (AIM) leader, starred as Chingachcook. Such ironies! Two centuries after being pushed from the path of progress, Mohawks return to their ancestral homeland. As headlines screamof a world in upheaval and nations in turmoil, this minute move of a tiny, nearly forgotten people to a new settlement in their old homeland is quiet whisper of the Power of Place—subtle shift in current history's Cycles of Time. In 1990 my path crossed Tom Porter's. He told me his vision to return to Mohawk Valley. I urged him to pursue that dream. Akwesasne is toxic from extensive pollution by heavy industries on St. Lawrence Seaway. Land, water and food chain are poisoned. So are bodies, blood and brains of many people. This led inevitably to biological, mental and moral madness suffered by traditional Mohawks trying to live peacefully. I told Tom it's crucial to settle on clean land, to cleanse human bodies and psyches of poisoned soil and atmosphere. Only on land with clean soil and strong positive energy can a new, healthy beginning be made. In this light, it's meaningful the article begins with Tom talking how Canajoharie land heals—first clue to the power of the place. But it will take more than a walk to remove headaches, heartaches and turmoil of Akwesasne. It will take countless walks by a next generation among trees and herbs to recover memories of natural culture rooted in forest, nurtured by maize, informed by spirit. Yet, leaving Akwesasne for Canajoharie is a strong first step down a long road to recover the Good Mind and make a genuine return to a traditional, peaceful, natural way of life. I'm overjoyed Tom Porter's long held dream has come true. And in so personal a way as to return to his great-great-great-great-grandmother's home. Few Americans remember their ancestors from so many generations ago with such clarity. Tom refers reverently, repeatedly to rattlesnakes in a magnificent den on the hill. One duty of Earth's true caretakers is to look after all Natural World creatures. So Tom's community will do ceremonies to honor their serpent neighbors. The rattlesnakes are a second clue to the great power of this place. In 1995 I shared Thanksgiving at the new settlement. NY Route 5 runs from Albany to Buffalo, following an ancient trackway. In Mohawk Valley, Route 5 is on the River's north side. Halfway between Fonda and Palatine, on Route 5's north side, is a cluster of pleasant, cheerful but tired-looking yellow clapboard buildings: an old farmhouse, added onto and extended many times. Behind this maze of house and outbuildings is a barn and farm facility, complete with horses grazing hay in a corral. Behind this small pasture rose steep, rocky slopes of Big Nose. Before a crowd arrived, I had a moment with Tom. From my wheelchair I said this was a good, strong place to put a firm foot on earth. But only a first foot. Next step must be up onto the rock - - onto solid ground up out of the Valley and its disturbances. Tom nodded, but replied. "I brought this as far as I can in my life. It's up to the children. They must take the next step." I nodded in understanding and agreement. Reaching out, I took Tom's hand and kissed it in thanks he had brought his people securely, safely this far, with such integrity and spirit. Dinner was a modest gathering of 40, with enough food for 100. After, Tom led an eloquent Thanksgiving to focus our minds on Nature and Spirit. Tom emphasized the new community's commitment to spiritual ways of traditional life under The Great Law of Peace. And he recognized one local lady who donated an added 50 acres—tangible expression of local goodwill. Then I watched a simple but fun stomp dance. As I left, a woman asked about crystals on the ridge behind the site. I laughed, "Yes! You begin to see the power of this place!" The new settlement sits at the south tip of Big Nose. In Cooper's literary era, eagles nested on the towering cliffs of Big and Little Nose, where the Mohawk Valley narrows. Perhaps, with proper ceremony, they will again. The River makes a major bend south to pass through a narrow gap between Big and Little Nose. This rocky passage is gateway to the interior of North America. Big and Little Nose are formed by a deep bedrock fault—a crack in the crystal crust of Earth's rock mantle. This block fault is where one section of crust fractured and fell, exposing a geologic basement of Pre-Cambrian gneiss—a dense, crystalline igneous rock formed from fiery molten magma in an ancient age when only simplest biological life—bacteria—existed on Earth. Cambrian Era saw an explosion in numbers and complexity of lifeforms on the planet. In that ancient age the Adirondacks were among Earth's earliest continents. Earth's new life proliferated in shallow seas around the ancient Adirondack dome. Towering cliffs along the River at Big and Little Nose reveal layers of sedimentary rock laid down on that ocean floor—geologic records of a billion years of Earth evolving life. This geologic timeline is crowned by sparkling, crystalline limestone. Crystals—quartz (silicon) and others—have a piezeo-electric effect. Squeezed by mechanical pressure, a crystal vibrates to emit a tiny electric current. Each crystal's size, structure and composition determine its frequency; each vibrates at its own rate. Early radios had removable crystals to tune a radio to a station's broadcast frequency. Crystals on a fault, squeezed by intense tectonic pressure, emit electric currents. Little & Big Nose form a geologic "spark gap" to join two vastly different geologic regions: Adiondack Mountains and Susquehanna Watershed. The gap between is penetated by flowing waters of the Mohawk River. Rattlesnakes nest at the Big-Little Nose fault's north end, which links with the Adirondacks—Fire pole of the spark gap. Serpents are drawn to hi-frequency vibrations of the fault's crystal layers of bedrock. Mohawks are the Flint People. Flint nodules are found in limestone outcrops along the Mohawk Valley. Flint, chipped to sharp edges, becomes tools and weapons. Flint also strikes sparks of light and heat—used to ignite fires. Early American guns of Cooper's literary era were muzzle loaded flintlocks. So the fire of Mohawk spiritual renewal comes home to nest in a spark gap that guard's the waterworld in America's interior. South, across the River, Little Nose divides two watersheds. East, Schoharie Creek flows north to the Mohawk-Hudson. West of Little Nose water bubbles up in small springs in Cherry Valley, Springfield, Richfield Springs, Sharon Springs... Many are mineral springs, and all drain—not north to the Mohawk—but south to the Susquehanna. Otsego Lake—an oval eight miles long, one mile wide—is headwater of the Susquehanna River. This modest lake gives birth to an immense watershed which drains southern New York and central Pennsylvania into Chesapeake Bay. So the Little Nose fault crosses a watershed divide: Water pole of the spark gap. As liquid electrolyte in lead-acid battery stores electric charge, Otsego Lake captures and stores Earth pulses generated by the spark gap. This charge isn't only electric, but touches realms of culture, psyche and spirit. Just so, Otsego Lake's south foot is Cooperstown, home of James Fenimore Cooper, whose father was Town Founder. Cooperstown is home, not only to Cooper's literary jewels, but other American culture treasures, notably Baseball Hall of Fame and Farmers' Museum. The Lake is scene of the Natty Bumpo legend. Indigenous legends refer to Council Rock in the lake. The Farmer's Museum houses "America's greatest hoax:" the Cardiff Giant. Dug in 1851 in Cardiff, NY, this ten foot fake fossil-carved-from-limestone was first claimed to be a petrified Indian: an "Onondaga Giant." Cardiff is south of Onondaga Nation, Firekeeper of the Six Nations Grand Council. Cooperstown's original land grant was from the British King to a Clark from Scotland. Here begins a thread of another mystery in another culture on a different continent. In Otsego Lake Clark built a round stone tower named Kingfisher. In olde Britain a kingfisher tacked upside down on a home's east wall on Halcyon Day marked return of spring's tide of green life. In The Legend of King Arthur, Knights of the Round Table quest for the Holy Grail, one of many European Grail tales. The Chapel of the Grail was in Castle of the Fisher King. Otsego Lake's north end has a small bay named Glimmerglass beside Wellington Mountain. This hearkens to Olde World legends telling similar tales of land, life, liberty, love, and divine order. Western capitalism teeters in shadows of runaway debt and deficit. Eastern dictators topple to rising cries for democracy. Ecosystems collapse in extinctions and extremes. Very quietly, native peoples return to their aboriginal places. All creatures possess "homing instinct," and this primeval biofunction turns on at crucial moments in each species'—and the planet's—life cycle. In this final decade of the Century and Millennium, Mother Earth is calling her Mohawk children home. What time is it on Earth? In the Revolution, colonists put Rattlesnake on the new nation's banner, warning: "Don't Tread on Me." Ben Franklin urged Rattlesnake as national symbol. Eventually Eagle became the new nation's emblem. At Big-Little Nose, Eagle and Serpent nest. Hermes caudeuseus, symbol of healing and medicine, is two standing serpents with eagle wings above. Twixt serpents and eagle is a neurological "spark gap" embodied in humans as pineal and pituitary glands—as spinal reflex and cerebral cortex. Serpent and Eagle united become the Winged Serpent— the Dragon harbinger of Transformation, forebringer of Illumination. —