Author Archives: NRN

Blessing Our Mother Earth and The Horse Nation

Mother’s Day 2014 – Honoring the Sacred in Central Park:
Blessing Our Mother Earth and the Horse Nation

Sunday, May 11, 2014
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Central Park, NYC
Cherry Hill Fountain
See Facebook Event Page
Painting: ‘Horse of Happiness’ by Nicholas Roerich

On Mother’s Day you and your loved ones are invited to share in ceremony with Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Generation Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle, who will call forward a special blessing honoring Mother Earth and the Horse Nation at Cherry Hill Fountain in Central Park, New York. All are warmly welcome.

Ta’kaiya Blaney of the Sliammon Coast Salish People and Donna Augustine Thunderbird Turtlewoman of the Mik’maq Nations will be joining us.

Chief Looking Horse is in New York to take part at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and will be leading a panel entitled: “Protecting and Restoring Sacred Sites under the guidance of First Peoples’ Cultural, Spiritual and Legal Heritage Keepers” which takes place on Tuesday May 13th.

Event sponsor links:

Blue Star Equiculture: www.equiculture.org
https://www.facebook.com/equiculture

Unify.org: www.unify.org
https://www.facebook.com/unify

United Religions Initiative (URI), Protecting and Restoring the Sacred CC: www.uri.org

Wolakota Foundation: www.wolakota.org

World Peace and Prayer Day: www.worldpeaceandprayerday.com
https://www.facebook.com/worldpeaceandprayer

Lenny Foster at Casa de las Americas

FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2014
LENNY FOSTER ON NATIVE AMERICAN ISSUES
AND
LEONARD PELTIER

Casa de las Américas
182 East 111 Street (between Lexington & Third Avenues)
Reception from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Dinner will be served

7:00 p.m. Program
Opening Flute – Frank Menusan (Muskogee)

Lenny Foster of the Diné Nation is the Director of the Navajo Nation Correction Project and the Spiritual Advisor for more than 2,000 Native American inmates in nine-six state and federal prisons in the Western U.S. He has co-authored legislation in New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado allowing Native American spiritual and religious practice in prison and resulting in significant reductions in prison returns.

Lenny will speak on the illegal imprisonment of Leonard Peltier, land and resources taken from Native peoples by the U.S. government, Native American freedom of religion and the demand to honor Native treaty rights.

Sponsors include NYC Free Peltier, NYC Jericho Movement, ProLibertad
For more information: nycfreepeltier@gmail.com – 646 429-2059

Two Row Wampum Teach In at Brooklyn Friends

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 20, 2014
For More Information
Andy Mager, Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign
315-701-1592 (office), 315-559-7058 (cell)

Brooklyn Teach In to Focus on Treaties and Protecting the Earth

As part of continued efforts to educate the general public, the Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign invites the public to “Sharing the River of Life: A Teach In” on April 25-26 at the Brooklyn Friends School, 375 Pearl St, Brooklyn, NY. The gathering builds on over two years of work, including last summer’s paddling journey from Albany to New York City and over 60 educational presentations across New York State and beyond.

The Teach In, which runs from 6-9:30 pm on Friday, April 25 and from 9 am – 6 pm on Saturday, April 26, will feature presentations, participatory Haudenosaunee Social Dancing, workshops and film. Featured presenters include Onondaga Nation Clanmother and educator Freida Jacques, Mohawk elder and teacher Tom Porter, Ramapough Chief Dwaine Perry, Algonquin scholar Evan Pritchard, Taino artist, writer and advocate Roberto Múkaro Borrero and the Hudson Valley musical group Spirit of Thunderheart.

“The Two Row Campaign seeks to build on the work we have done, creating additional opportunities to share indigenous knowledge and build a strong base of support in the non-Native community to uphold the treaties our government has made with Native Nations. Honoring the treaties also means taking care of the Earth on which we all depend,” notes Two Row Campaign Coordinator Andy Mager.

Friday night’s activities are free. A $25 donation is requested for Saturday, though no one will be turned away for inability to pay. Lunch and refreshments are included. The full schedule and registration information is available online at: honorthetworow.org/teach-in.

The Teach In is co-sponsored by Brooklyn Friends School, Brooklyn Friends Meeting and NYC Free Peltier, with additional support from American Indian Law Alliance, Judson Memorial Church, Neetopk Keetopk: Sharing the River of Life

For more information, see honorthetworow.org/teach-in or call 315-701-1592.

Honoring American Indian Activist Russell Means

Pearl Means, Christian Camargo and Ed Vassello
cordially invite you to an honoring of American Indian Activist
Russell Means
An evening of world music and a special screening
Monday, January 27, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.

Classic Stage Company
136 East 13th Street
New York, New York

www.russellmeanslegacy.com

Campaign to Free Lakota Children

CRUZ, CALIFORNIA — The Lakota People’s Law Project is launching the “Campaign to Free Lakota Children,” with a national petition (click to sign it here), call President Obama to authorize the grants needed to start tribal foster care programs, and put us within sight of bringing our children home.

Message from Chase Iron Eyes:

There is an epidemic of hundreds of state kidnappings of Native children by South Dakota’s Department of Social Services. Lakota kids are ten times more likely as non-Native kids to be forcibly removed from their homes and placed in the foster care system. The State receives up to $79,000 per Lakota foster child annually from the federal government.

The Lakota People’s Law Project has recently released a new 12-minute video ‘Hearts on the Ground”, documenting the heart breaking reality of the South Dakota DSS illegally denying Lakota grandmothers custody of their own grandchildren. Please watch and share this video.

As part of our new Campaign to Free the Lakota Children, we would also appreciate the the help of those supporters who use Twitter to recommend the ‘Hearts on the Ground” video to the popular website Upwothy, with your suggestion to @Upworthy.

We have the solution: Foster care programs run by Lakota tribes, not the culturally biased and money-motivated DSS of South Dakota.

Please sign the petition–and help spread the word. Together we can change history.

Wopila (Many Thanks),

Chase Iron Eyes

South Dakota Legal Counsel

Lakota People’s Law Project

Coatlicue Theatre Company presents HTOB HABILET

HTOB HABILETIK

An evening of archival video and talk,

looking back at twenty years of Maya Zapatista struggle

and on its significance from Indigenous and

international perspectives.

Friday, January 31, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.

$10 suggested donation

American Indian Community House

124 West 29th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues)

4th Floor

New York, New York

Una noche con charla y video archival, mirando tras veinte años de la lucha Maya
Zapatista y en su significado del punto de vista indigena e internacional

Viernes, Enero 31, 2014
700 pm $10 donativo sugerido

American Indian Community House
134 Oeste de calle 29
(entre aves 6ta and 7ma) 4to piso
Manhattan

#Elsipogtog

In Rexton, New Brunswick, Mi’kmaq Warrior Society has organized a blockade as part of its ongoing battle against shale gas exploration and hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”. Their peaceful protest was met with RCMP officers wielding assault weapons.

Uneasy Calm Shrouds Rexton Battle Site

RCMP warns more confrontations loom if reinforcements bolster Mi’kmaq ranks

#Elsipogtog: Machine Guns Against Eagle Feathers: An Interview with Ex-Chief of Elsipogtog

Solidarity protests have sprung up in cities around Turtle Island, including one in New York City at the Canadian Consulate.

Landing in New York City

HISTORIC JOURNEY TO HONOR NATIVE TREATIES AND PROTECT THE EARTH LANDING IN NEW YORK CITY ON AUGUST 9th

Over 200 Native and Non-Native Peoples
Paddle Down Hudson River Together

August 7, 2013- New York, NY— On Friday, August 9 at 10 am over 100 canoe and kayak paddlers will land at Pier 96 (57^th St.) on the Hudson River, completing a 218 mile journey from the Onondaga Nation, located south of Syracuse, NY. The Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign is coming to NYC to honor and renew the 400-year-old first treaty between the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) and the Dutch. Following a welcome from local dignitaries and Dutch Consul General Rob de Vos at Pier 96, a march will head to the United Nations for the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Events will occur over the last few days of the journey in Piermont, NY; Yonkers, NY; Inwood Hill Park, Pier 96, the United Nations, and near the World Financial Center in NYC.

—-CONTACT LINDSAY SPEER 315-383-7210 TO ARRANGE PASSAGE ON THE BOAT LAUNCH 5 FOR ON-THE-WATER FOOTAGE—

Near Albany, NY on July 28^th Edwards and the fifteen paddlers from the Onondaga Nation were joined by approximately 200 other paddlers from 20 different Native nations, 14 states, Canada, and the Netherlands. Over 500 Native and Non-Native people have participated over the course of the 13 day trip, traveling down the Hudson River in two rows to bring to life the imagery of coexistence as explained by the Two Row Wampum. This agreement formed the basis of all diplomacy between the Haudenosaunee and the Dutch, French, English, the United States and Canada, and is still in effect to this day.

“Each line of the wampum belt represents each of our laws, governments, languages, cultures, our ways of life,” Jake Edwards of the Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs explains. “It is agreed that we will travel together, side by each, on the river of life… linked by peace, friendship, forever. We will not try to steer each others’ vessels.”

“The Two Row is the oldest and is the grandfather of all subsequent treaties,” said Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Onondaga Nation’s Turtle Clan who has represented the Haudenosaunee in world councils at the United Nations and elsewhere. “The words ‘as long as the sun shines, as long as the waters flow downhill, and as long as the grass grows green’ can be found in many treaties after the 1613 treaty,” Lyons said. “It set a relationship of equity and peace. This campaign is to remind people of the importance of the agreements.”

“This trip together helps to renew the ties of peace and friendship between our peoples,” noted Jeanne Shenandoah of the Onondaga Nation. “It is an opportunity to learn from one another.”

On August 10th a day-long festival is planned in the outdoor plaza between Brookfield, World Financial Center and the North Cove Marina. The festival is organized by the American Indian Community House and will include many world renowned performers including Comedian Charlie Hill (Oneida, Mohawk, Cree) who will act as Master of Ceremonies. Performances by the Akwesasne Women Singers, Sherri Waterman & The Haudenosaunee Singers and Dancers, SilverCloud Singers (intertribal), Josephine Tarrant (Kuna/Rappahannock/Hopi/Ho-Chunk). Speakers include Tadodaho Sid Hill, Chief Oren Lyons, Chief Jake Edwards.

“Americans have largely forgotten the importance of treaties, even though Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution states that treaties are the supreme law of the land,” explains Andy Mager, the Project Coordinator for the campaign and a member of Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation. “In the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua, George Washington promised protection for Haudenosaunee territories. Understanding and honoring the Two Row Wampum can improve relations between our peoples and remind us of our responsibilities to the Earth which we all share. We need this more than ever.”

Protection for the environment is at the heart of this campaign. The Haudenosaunee work closely with their neighbors to protect the environment, as evidenced by their work to address Superfund sites at Onondaga Lake and along the St. Lawrence River, and the strong stance they have taken against hydrofracking, the extreme energy method of extracting methane gas from shale. As paddlers passed the Indian Point nuclear facility south of Peekskill, NY they carried signs calling for its closure. A similar increasingly urgent message of peace and healing for all living beings is being made by Indigenous peoples across North America, including the Dakota Unity Riders from Manitoba, Canada, who have joined the paddlers on horseback at various events. “An important aspect of this agreement was that we live in the river of life and we all need to take care of it,” Freida Jacques, Clanmother of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation reminds us. “The environment was a part of this agreement.” As climate change inflicts severe flooding and storms, drought and melting ice caps, the lessons of the Two Row Wampum agreement are particularly timely.

“Our ancestors made this great agreement on our behalf 400 years ago,” notes Hickory Edwards, the lead paddler for the Onondaga Nation. “Now is the time to think about people living in the next 400 years.”

:: :: :: :: ::

August 8:

10 AM LAUNCH at Piermont Pier

1:30 PM WELCOMING at Kennedy Marina – Deputy Mayor Sue Geary; Chuck Lenit, City Council President; Judith Schwartzstein from Sarah Lawrence College; Yvette Hartsfield, City of Yonkers Parks Commissioner; Tony Moonhawk, Marcey WindintheTrees, Ramapough Lenape;

5:00 PM LANDING at Inwood Hill Park, near La Marina.

6:30 PM Poetry and Spoken Word: Two Rows and More at Inwood Hill Park near La Marina

Welcoming by Shorakapok Earth Keepers and Harlem Samba band Special guest readers include Janet Rogers (Mohawk)*, Daygot Leeyos (Oneida) and Suzan Harjo (Cheyenne & Hodulgee Muscogee). There will also be an opportunity for open mic time.

August 9:

6:30 AM LAUNCH from Inwood Hill Park near La Marina

10 AM LANDING at Pier 96 on W. 57th Street. The paddlers will be welcomed by local dignitaries, the Dutch Counsel General Mr. Rob de Vos and a Thanksgiving Address by Tadodaho Sid Hill of the Haudenosaunee.

11:30 AM supporters are welcome to join the paddlers as they walk across Manhattan on W. 59th street to Columbus Circle, down Broadway, across E. 50th street and down E. 2nd street to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza. The permitted march is a display of solidarity with the rights of indigenous peoples all over the world and the responsibility of all peoples to the environment. At Dag Hammarskjold Plaza the walkers will be greeted by the Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Mr. Paul Kanyinke Sena.

3:00 – 6:00 PM Special event in commemoration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples at UN Headquarters, Conference Room 2 (a Two Row campaign delegation of approximately 100 people will be in attendance). The event will be webcast live at webtv.un.org. Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper to the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation, will speak.

August 10:

12:00 -5:00 PM NYC Two Row Wampum Festival. Brookfield Place/World Financial Center, 200 Vesey St., NYC. Performances by the Akwesasne Women Singers, Sherri Waterman & The Haudenosaunee Singers and Dancers, SilverCloud Singers (intertribal), Josephine Tarrant (Kuna/Rappahannock/Hopi/Ho-Chunk). Speakers include Tadodaho Sid Hill, Chief Oren Lyons, Chief Jake Edwards.

Honor Native Treaties & Protect the Earth

Support the Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign

www.honorthetworow.org

Lindsay Speer

Community Organizer

512 Jamesville Ave | Syracuse, NY 13210

315-475-2559 phone | 315-475-2465 fax

lspeer@mrss.com
.

Photo courtesy of Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign

Historic Journey to Honor Native Treaties and Protect the Earth

Over 200 Native and Non-Native Paddle Down Hudson River Together

Hudson River, NY— It has been 400 years since the first treaty was signed between the first European (Dutch) settlers and the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy), an agreement that formed the basis of all later treaties with the English and the United States. The Haudenosaunee are still here, and this year, peoples from all around the world are joining them to honor and renew this inspiring treaty of peace and friendship.

On July 28^th, over 200 Native and non-Native paddlers launch near Albany to paddle over 140 miles to NYC side-by-side in two lines to honor and bring to life the imagery of the Two Row Wampum, the beaded record of this treaty. Full itinerary and events along the way available at www.honorthetworow.org. They land at Pier 96 in NYC at approximately 10 AM on August 9^th to walk to the United Nations in honor of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. They will be greeted by the Dutch Consul General, other non-Native dignitaries, representatives of Native nations, and many supporters.

People from all six Haudenosaunee nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora) are participating in the journey, as well as people from 20 other Native nations and people from across NY State and beyond. Over 85 organizations have co-sponsored the campaign. The honorary advisory committee includes Pete Seeger, Bill McKibben of 350.org, Jane Goodall, Oren Lyons (Onondaga), Tonya Gonnella Frischner (Onondaga), Rick Hill (Tuscarora), Joanna Macy, Onondaga County Executive Joanne Mahoney, Leonard Peltier, Tom Porter (Mohawk), Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor, and Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne & Hodulgee Muscogee), an original plaintiff in the Washington Redskins case.

The Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign was first suggested by organizers of a non-Native ally group known as Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON) in 2011, who learned the history and meaning of the Two Row Wampum, and felt a responsibility to share this information. Americans have largely forgotten the importance of treaties, even though Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution states that treaties are the supreme law of the land. In the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua, George Washington promised protection for Haudenosaunee territories. This act of paddling together is a recognition of the troubled past, and renewal for the future.

“Understanding and honoring the Two Row Wampum can improve relations between our peoples,” explains Andy Mager, the Project Coordinator for the campaign and a member of Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation, “and remind us of our responsibilities to the Earth which we all share. We need this more than ever.”

“An important aspect of this agreement was that we live in the river of life and we all need to take care of it,” Freida Jacques, Clanmother of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation reminds us. “The environment was a part of this agreement.” As climate change inflicts severe flooding and storms, drought and melting ice caps, the lessons of the Two Row Wampum agreement are particularly timely.

“Our ancestors made this great agreement on our behalf 400 years ago,” notes Hickory Edwards, the lead paddler for the Onondaga Nation. “Now is the time for us to think about the people living in the next 400 years.

:: :: :: :: ::

Schedule for Events and Paddling down the Hudson
July 27 – August 10

Two Row Wampum Renewal Send-off Celebration Festival
Saturday, July 27, 10 am – 5 pm
Russell Sage College, Troy, NY
Tom Porter, Rick Hill, Pura Fe Crescioni, Margo Thunderbird, Akwesasne Women Singers, children’s activities and more.
Contacts: Kevin: kenephew@gmail.com or Lori: l.quigley@sage.edu

Sunday, July 28: Launch of the Two Row Flotilla
10 am Launch Ceremony
Rensselaer Boat Launch, Forbes Ave.,
Rensselaer Land Schodack Island Park 4:30 pm

Monday, July 29: Schodack to Coxsackie
Launch at 10 am
Land Coxsackie River Front Pk 4:30 pm
Sharing the River of Life program, 7 pm
Speakers: Mike McDonald, Akwesasne Mohawk Cultural Specialist and Educator and Aya Yamamoto, organizer with the Two Row Campaign.

Tuesday, July 30: Coxsackie to Catskill Pt Pk
Launch 10 am
Land Catskill Point Park/Dutchman’s 4:30 pm
Protecting the River of Life, 7 pm
Speakers: Onondaga Faithkeeper Oren Lyons, David Braun, Wes Gillingham and others

Wednesday, July 31: Catskill to Ulster Landing
Launch 10 am
Land Ulster Landing 4:30 pm
Indigenous Rights and African-American Freedom Struggles, 7 pm
Speakers: Dr. Airy Dixon (scholar on Native American history of Indigenous & African descent), Rev Modele Clark (African American leader in Hudson Valley) and Allison Smith of the Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign.
Drummers: Nick Miles, Airy Dixon, and their drum group

Thursday, August 1: Ulster Landing to Norrie Park
Launch 9:30 am, lunc
Land Norrie Park 5:30 pm, 13 miles
A Grand Convergence: The Two Row Wampum Campaign and Unity Riders,11 am Lunch event at Hudson River Maritime Museum, 50 Rondout Landing, Kingston
Speakers: Nina Postupack, County Clerk, Ulster Co., Mayor of Kingston, Tadodaho Sid Hill (Onondaga), Jim Davis, Hawk Storm, Unity Rider Chief Gus High Eagle

Friday, August 2: Norrie Park to Poughkeepsie
Launch 11 am
Land Hudson River Rowing Association 3 pm
Lacrosse: The Creator’s Game, 5:30 pm
Speakers: Alf Jacques [Onondaga Turtle Clan], traditional lacrosse stick carver and lacrosse player; Orris Edwards (Onondaga) player on the Iroquois Nationals under 19 lacrosse team; and Dr. Philip Arnold, professor of religion at Syracuse University and the founding director of Skanonh: The Great Law of Peace Center

Saturday, August 3: Poughkeepsie to Beacon*
Launch 10 am
Land 5:30 pm
Welcome Two Row and Unity Riders on Hudson Walkway, 9:30 am, Highland- Poughkeepsie*
Two Row Festival at Beacon, 11 am – 8:10 pm, Riverfront Park, Beacon.
Haudenosaunee and other native speakers, Pete Seeger, music, social dancing, children’s activities and more.

Sunday, August 4: Beacon to Cold Spring
Launch 11 am
Land Dockside Park, Cold Spring 2 pm
The Two Row Wampum: Past Present and Future, 4 pm
Speakers: Onondaga clanmother, poet and educator Wendy Gonyea, Two Row education coordinator and professor of environmental studies at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Jack Manno and Two Row organizer Lena Duby (Onondaga).

Monday, August 5: Cold Spring to Stony Point
Launch 10:30 am
Sharing the River of Life, 12 noon, Peekskill Riverfront Park, Paddlers land 1:30 pm

Speakers: Cayuga Chief Sam George from the Six Nations Territory, Mohawk educator Kay Olan and Brooke Hansen professor of Native American Studies and Anthropology at Cornell University and a Two Row organizer in Ithaca. Music Cayuga artist, musician and Two Row organizer Dan Hill
Land Stony Point Center, 17 Cricketown Rd., Stony Point 5 pm
Intercultural Peace/Friendship Event, 7:30 pm

Tuesday, August 6: Stony Point to Croton Point
Launch 10:30 am
Land Croton Point Park 1 pm, 4 miles
Elders Share Haudenosaunee History, 3 pm
Speakers: Onondaga clanmother and educator Freida Jacques and other Haudenosaunee elders share important aspects of their history.

Wednesday, August 7: Croton Point to Piermont Pier
Launch 11 am
Land Piermont Pier 5 pm
Sharing the River of Life program, 7 pm
Speakers: Tonawanda Seneca Chief Darwin Hill, Ramapough Chief Dwayne Perry and environmental educator and activist and Two Row organizer Laurie Seeman. Music Cayuga artist, musician and Two Row organizer Dan Hill

Thursday, August 8: Piermont to Inwood Hill Park
Launch 10:30 am
Land Inwood Hill Park, NYC 4:30 pm
Poetry and Spoken Word: Two Rows and More, 6:30 pm
Guest readers include Janet Rogers (Mohawk)*, Daygot Leeyos (Oneida) and Suzan Harjo (Cheyenne & Hodulgee Muscogee). There will also be an opportunity for open mic time.

Friday, August 9: Inwood Hill Park to Pier 96*
Launch sunrise
Land Pier 96 (57th St.)
Welcome at the Pier about 10 am. March to United Nations 11:30 am, Welcome by UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at 1:30 pm at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza

Saturday, August 10: New York City Festival
11 am – 5 pm, Brookfield Place, west of World Trade Center
Comedian Charlie Hill (Oneida, Mohawk, Cree), Akwesasne Women Singers, Sherri Waterman & The Haudenosaunee Singers and Dancers, SilverCloud Singers (intertribal), Josephine Tarrant (Kuna/Rappahannock/Hopi/Ho-Chunk), Speakers: Tadodaho Sid Hill, Chief Oren Lyons, Chief Jake Edwards, native artisans, children’s activities, and more.

DONATE to support the Two Row Campaign.

Updates and more details on the web

Seeking Home Stays for Two Row Paddlers

Our friend Anika is helping to coordinate housing in NYC for paddlers with the Two Row Wampum Campaign (more info below). In brief, the Two Row Wampum Campaign is a statewide initiative with global implications to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first treaty between the Haudenosaunee and European settlers, recorded on the Two Row Wampum Belt. Honoring the land and respecting native people was (and remains) at the heart of this treaty. To remind/ educate the public about the Two Row Wampum, and all native treaties, the campaign is reenacting a trip down the Hudson River, from Albany to New York City.

The organizers are seeking home-stays for paddlers the evenings of Thursday August 8th and Friday August 9. If you can open your home to participants in this culturally, environmentally, and historically significant event, please complete this survey! The campaign also welcomes donations, here. You can contact tworowhousing@gmail.com (cc’ed) with any questions.

About the Two Row Symbolic Enactment:

From July 27th to August 9th, the Two Row Wampum Campaign will be traveling down the Hudson river in two rows–with Haudenosaunee representatives on one side and allies on the other–from Albany to New York City, holding educational and cultural events along the way. On August 8th, they will arrive in Inwood and hold a community event. On August 9th, they will continue to Pier 96, hold a media event, and march to the United Nations to participate in their activities for the United Nations International Day of the Worlds Indigenous Peoples.

Campaign Overview:

The Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign is a state-wide educational initiative about the first treaty ever made between the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and settler nations (in this case the Dutch). It was also cited as the foundation of every subsequent treaty made with the French, British, and United States, making it the fundamental basis of the relationship between the United States and the Haudenosaunee.

The Two Row Wampum was created in 1613 and depicts the two sovereign nations–the Haudenosaunee in their canoes and the settlers in their boats–traveling down the River of Life side by side in peace, friendship, and perpetuity, as they care for their shared resources. This relationship has many social as well as environmental ramifications, and illustrates that we have responsibilities not only to one another but also to the environment that we share. This environment is our common ground that we all rely on for life and will continue to be so for all of our future generations.

2013 marks the Wampum’s 400th anniversary. Current environmental devastation gives testament to a failure on the part of settler nations to uphold the Two Row Wampum over the past 400 years. To commemorate the Wampum’s anniversary and encourage citizens of the United States to live up to the Wampum’s tenants the campaign will culminate in a symbolic enactment of the treaty.

Honor the Two Row Web Site

Honor the Two Row on Facebook

Honor the Two Row on Twitter

Thanks much!

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