When nations within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy have meetings, ceremonies, or anything important, they begin and end with the Thanksgiving Address or opening acknowledgment. In the Mohawk language, it is called the Ohenten Kariwatekwen, translating to mean “words before all else.” These openings thanks all of creation, starting with us, or the people, and continuing upwards from the earth to the waters, the trees, the birds, the thunders, etc., and ultimately the creator. The world is orderly, and every part has been given responsibilities and instructions. Each continues to fulfill its duties as well as it can. This gratitude reminds us that humans are no more important than other living parts of the world. ISA is currently working on a proposal to implement this into commencement.
TUSCARORA TRIBE HISTORY & CULTURE In the wake of the war, many Tuscarora began migrating north to join the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in New York. Some remained in North Carolina and parts of Virginia and South Carolina. Some Tuscarora descendants live in Robeson County in communities such as the Tuscarora Nation East of the Mountain, The Southern Band Tuscarora Indian Tribe, and the Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina. The outcome was that the Tuscarora became the first native people to be dispossessed of their land during colonization, and they walked north to New York in the early eighteenth century to join the Haudenosaunee. Accepted by the confederacy, they have been part of the Six Nations ever since, together with the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca. To learn more, click here. Additional resources: • The Tuscarora War; video 1hr 19 min 38 sec https://youtu.be/wMii6rKV_Fo?si=NG3XV2OYgASL-t0a • Tuscarora: Drawing on Traditional Teaching to Confront a Changing Climate https://www7.nau.edu/itep/main/tcc/Tribes/ne_tuscarora
Figure 4 Map of where the Lenape people lived
THE LENAPE The Lenape people lived all over the Northeastern Woodlands, what we would today call Canada, New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania, along the Delaware River watershed, New York City, western Long Island, and the Lower Hudson Valley. Often, they can be confused for a single tribe, but the reality is much more complex. The Lenape people comprised smaller tribes who spoke similar languages and shared familial ties. Some Lenape spoke Unami, while others spoke Munsee. Although all Lenape belonged to the same group, a Lenape citizen would have identified first with immediate family, clan, and village, then neighboring villages, and finally through language with more distant communities. To learn more, click here. Additional resources:
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