Harvesting Our Future

Acknowledgements

Over the last three year this project was made pos-

sible by funding from New York State Department of

Conservation (NYSDEC) Environmental Justice (EJ)

Community Impact Grant (T304706) awarded to the

Akwesasne Boys & Girls Club (ABGC). It is a compilation

of Mohawk traditional ecological knowledge (TEK)

shared through medicine walks with elders, oral history,

personal communications, and source materials from the

North American Indian Traveling College (NAITC),

Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment (ATFE),

Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force (HETF),

Mohawk Council of Akwesasne Ononhkwa On:We

Traditional Medicines Program, and the Saint Regis

Mohawk Tribe’s Environment Division (SRMTED).

Niawen:kowa (Thank you very much) to all the

Akwesasro:non Mohawk traditional ecological knowledge

holders who shared via field visits, scientific meetings,

and interviews. This report is dedicated to all future gen-

erations of Akwesasro:non, and shared with the ABGC

youth in the hopes that someday environmental justice

and traditional uses of the environment will be restored

for Mohawks.

Contents

Introduction

page 3

Mammals & Contamination

page 4-8

Trapping

Page 9-14

Plant Medicines

Page 17-18

Beaver Cooking & Medicine Prep

Demo

Page 19-22

Muskrat Cooking Demo

Page 23 –26

Akwesasne Fur Trade

Page 27-30

Interview with Eddie Gray

Page 31-32

Interview with Sesi King

Page 33-34

Over the last three years the Akwesasne Boys & Girls Club (ABGC) has been working with local scientists and elders to provide a unique program to educate youth on fur bear-ing mammals and plant medicines and their importance to the community.

The project’s primary focus was to teach the significance of otter, beaver, and muskrat animal anatomy, adaptations, and behaviors related to how they interact in the natural environment, and may be exposed to industrial contami-nants. These three animals are significant in Mohawk culture in many ways, including but not limited to; the Creation Story, traditional foods and medicine, and Otter Society Medicines; otter being the leader of the water animals.

Activities related to the animal anatomy and contaminant exposure shared with the ABGC youth showed how sci-ence was used to monitor the populations and contami-nant impacts to otters. It also shared efforts taken by the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe Environment Division (SRMTED) to confirm beaver and muskrat were safe to eat, so some traditional practices in the community may be resumed safely.

The ABGC Program included bringing in cultural leaders of the community to discuss the importance of the Fur Trade in Mohawk history, a Medicine Walk, and a Beaver Cooking Demonstration. For many kids, this was the first time they experienced eating beaver, a meal that was enjoyed by all!

Introduction

4

Aquatic fur bearing mammals, such as the beaver, are sometimes viewed as nuisance animals to

people, developers, and land owners due to their adaptive behavior to pond and/or divert water for

their own survival and homes.

However, traditionally, aquatic fur bearing mammals were held in high esteem by the

Mohawks and Haudenosaunee, are known to create habitat for other species survival, are culturally important, and were used for food, clothing, trade, medicine, song and ceremony.

To encourage a more positive image for these lovable mammals that serve a significant cultural connection to the environment, an educational

program at ABGC was developed.

Due to their aquatic lifestyle, furbearer mammals are more likely to be exposed to river contami-

nants from past local industrial wastes, than land mammals. Therefore, ABGC youth were first in-

troduced to the current state of the environment from past industrial damages, and taught how scientists are measuring those harms and risks

today, to ensure future safe Mohawk traditional practices.

Mammals & Contamination

ABGC youth learn how industrial contaminants are transferred in the environment, move through the food web and bio accumulate in otter livers and or

beaver and muskrat fat and muscle.

Jessica L. Jock demonstrates how chemicals move in the environment and through the digestive tract of animals. She explains how the chemical make-up and stable bonds of the synthetic contaminant mixtures make them toxic and difficult to break-down in the natural environment, thus causing them to be considered “persistent organic

pollutants” (i.e. POPs)

8

In 2012-2014, SRMTED conducted a furbearer mammals study to monitor historic contaminants in

the environment from local industrial pollution sources.

ABGC collaborated with SRMTED scientists to learn about and observe furbearer mammal winter

tracking, trapping, and skinning demonstrations tied to contaminant and populations field studies. These demonstrations were conducted in the field

and field laboratory. The demonstrations helped introduce the kids to scientific field research methods and furbearer mammal habitat and

populations.

By observing the extraction of organs for contaminant analysis, kids were introduced to how

toxins affect different animal health and repro-ductive organs.

Funding for the chemical analysis of the furbearer mammal study came from the USEPA’s Great

Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grant awarded to SRMTED.

Trapping & Skinning

Tracking—Jay Wilkins, SRMTED wildlife Technician demonstrates how to identify the presence of animal signs in the field through fresh beaver chews, slides, muskrat middens, or other characteristic signs. This helps identify where one may want to set a trap and

what kind of trap to set dependent on the animal sign.

Demonstrating how to appropriately use bait and lures to set a trap.

12

Skinning Demonstration - Beaver skinning demonstration to show the anatomy of a beaver, what parts are used

for consumption, and how to flesh and stretch the hide.

To assess reproductive health impairments of otter in the St. Lawrence River Area of Concern (AOC), the livers

were extracted and sent for chemical analysis for PCBs, mercury, pesticides, dioxins, and furans to a certified la-

boratory. How much contaminant an otter bioaccumulates in its lifetime depends on what it eats, and how close to a contaminant source it is eating from. Jay Wilkins shows

some identified gut content analysis to see what the otter had for dinner!

Akwesasne Traditional Educator Eddie Gray hosted a medicine walk for Akwesasne Boys

& Girls Club Teen group.

ABGC teens were led around Eddie’s medi-cine gardens and instructed on common

names of plants, Mohawk names of plants, medicinal uses, and in some instances;

medicine mixtures. Teens were provided a booklet to take notes for future reference.

The Medicine Walk is open to all Akwesasro:non. By participating regularly,

one is more likely to remember the names of plants, medicine uses, how to pick each

plant, and when to acquire the medicines. Traditional teachings are best shared in the

natural environment, using Kenien’kéha.

“I teach traditional herbs. So when they come here, we go around here and look at all the grasses. They’re not just grasses, they’re

medicines. I tell them what they are for.”

- Eddie Gray

Plant Medicines

16

Burdock/ Orhohte’kow:wa—leaves used for ulcers, kidney pains; roots used as blood purifier

Strawberry/Ken/niiohontesha—It is the first berry food to appear in the spring and this sacred plant is gathered at that time and eaten as a blood purifier. The iron and the minerals in the berries and leaves of the wild strawberry make this fa-vorite berry plant a valuable blood remedy.” (NAITC 2007:65)

Food is Medicine!

Traditional beaver meal with wild rice and strawberry drink prepared by Sesi Mitchell.

Traditional teachings tell us to eat from the earth and meats provided to us by our

four-legged brothers.

The wild strawberry is regarded as medicine among the Haudenosaunee. The strawberry is one of the plants said to have

been brought with Sky Woman from Sky World, and is considered the ‘leader’ of the

plants.

“The grasses and small plants are what we eat. We have to always remember that

power and strength does not lie with the people but is within the land itself and its ability to produce food and medicine to

sustain and heal the people and the rest of creation.” (NAITC 2007:53)

Beaver Cooking & Medicine Preparation Demonstration

20

Beaver Cooking Demo—Kids enjoyed it so much, they came back for seconds!

Vaughn Adams (Iaontaná:wen) from SRMTED Áse Tsi Tewá;ton Program demonstrates how

to skin a muskrat to be cooked up for a traditional meal with multiple kinds of squash, from the ‘Three Sisters Medicines”. Muskrat feed on some of Mother Nature’s most power-ful aquatic grown medicine roots, stalks, and plants such as sweet flag, cattails, water lilies, etc. When you eat the muskrat, you are taking medicine because you eat the good medicines

the muskrat eats.

“A lot of people, the older people, we ate muskrat, beaver, we even ate grey squirrel and robin eggs! We ate all the things we would kill, we would never waste it. Raccoons, we would make oil out of it for pains. The beaver and

muskrat, live on roots and it’s real good meat. Nobody had any sickness then, either.”

- Eddie Gray

Muskrat Cooking Demonstration

24

Muskrat Cooking Demo

Josh Sargent (Anenhaienton), Mohawk cultural educator and storyteller shares the history of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and Mohawks linked to the period of colonialism and the Beaver War-

Fur Trade of the 17th century.

“For Haudenosaunee, no greater example of over-hunting can be cited than the fur trade….It took

a reminder from our Creator and a spiritual revival for our people to begin to move away from these destructive behaviors. Many believe that if we had not been reminded to return to our own

spiritual beliefs, then the Haudenosaunee may not have survived as distinct people. The struggle goes on to this day. In fact, some may question whether our communities will ever recover from the wars that we waged on the fur bearers. We

certainly will never forget what happened and to this day, continue to have a special obligation to the fur bearing animals to make amends for our

past mistakes.” (NAITC 2007:92-93)

The Akwesasne Fur Trade

28

Mock Fur Trade demonstration allowed kids to choose what item they would buy or “trade” for their furs.

Trade or money value was determined by the fur buyer.

Jay Wilkins demonstrates in a mock transaction how to grade fur as a fur buyer to prepare it for the lo-cal auction by using monopoly money to pay a “trapper”. Quality is determined by leather quality, size, and grade of fur based on species. The fur market is still active today, and buyers represent fashion or textiles from different countries all over the world. Waterproof felt and high grade leather are used for Stetson Hat making.

Eddie Gray has been growing and harvesting his own medicines from his farm in Akwesasne since 1983. He’s been sharing his property and medicinal knowledge with the community through the Traditional Medicines Program for 17 years. When asked how the community views traditional medicines he had this to offer:

“They’d rather use our medicines, because ours corrects inside your body. The western medicine only concentrates, say if you have a liver problem it only fixes the liver and destroys other parts of your body. That’s the difference with natural medicine, it doesn’t destroy another part of your body, its good for your whole system. How I tell the people about not being afraid is I says, look at when the creator first made man. Where did he take that dirt? He took that dirt from Mother Earth and then he formed the likeness of himself. From that, he planted all these things that will be beneficial for our bodies. Everything that grows is supposed to be good for the body, unless it’s polluted. So we don’t pick where it’s highly contaminated, whether it’s good stuff or bad stuff, we don’t even bother.”

Interview with Eddie Gray

32

On July 25th, 2014, Sesi Mitchell shared her knowledge on medicines and beaver cooking with the ABGC summer teen program. She made a medicine drink out of sweet flag, ginger root, and slippery elm for the kids. She shared this drink made from natural roots she picked to help aid their digestion and told the kids, “These are protection medicines for our health” She shared her knowledge on preparing beaver meat for consumption. When cooking beaver, she uses medicinal plants such as sage and sassa-fras herbs to help enhance the functioning of a person’s circulatory system. “The blood that flows through our medicines is the same water that runs through our mother and the flesh that builds the medicines is also that of our mother. The medicine plants are constantly grateful to our Mother Earth, so they can continue their original instruc-tions.” (NAITC 2007:81)

Interview with Sesi Mitchell

Photos provided by: Joshua Sargent, Nik Skidders,

Jessica Jock, Jessica Cree Jock

Content provided by: Jessica Jock, Joshua Sargent and

Jessica Cree Jock

Layout provided by: Jessica Cree Jock