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 28th, 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 9th 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.
“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.”
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.”
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. 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 will parallel the paddlers on horseback.
“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.
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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.
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Updates and more details on the web
