Akwesasne Cultural Center Museum - Part 1

I left the farm and drove to Hogansburg, New York one cold morning. I wanted to take a second look at the Akwesasne (Mohawk) Museum at the Cultural Center. I knew I'd crossed into the reservation when I began seeing giant signs advertising cigarettes at cheap prices. I parked behind the cultural center and entered the museum:

There were signs which explained the exhibits, though I never saw any people. I learned here the story of the creation of the world. Sky woman fell from the sky and waterbirds helped her to land safely onto the turtle's back. A lacrosse player assisted the Sky woman as she fell. The native songs, dances and games help connect the people to the sky world:

Akwesasne Mohawk basket makers pound Black Ash logs to make splint, which is then soaked and the fibers scraped off by hand with a knife. Hand tools are used to split the splint into thinner layers and to cut it into the needed widths. Weaving is only one part of the process and is alternated with drying time, after which the weaves are packed tightly:

Baskets are also woven of Sweetgrass, though it wasn't always clear which were Black Ash and which were Sweetgrass. I suspected that many were a combination:

I remembered from a previous visit that this small basket was called, for obvious reasons, a strawberry basket:

Lacrosse is considered a medicine game which was first played in the Sky World and is now a bridge between earth and sky, a game to lift human spirits and to entertain the Creator:

Carving bone and antler is an ancient Iroquois tradition. This contemporary piece was done by Stan Hill, a Mohawk from the Six Nations territory near Toronto, Ontario:

Baby carriers, also called cradleboards, were individually decorated and came in a wide variety of designs:

The photo below this cradleboard shows how they were used:

Baskets were used for gathering and carrying food and medicine as the people gave thanks for their environment, the natural world:

This very large basket was striking:

There was a wide variety of baskets, expertly and artistically made. I took photos of only a few of them but there were many more to see at the museum. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Six Nations Indian Museum - Part 2

I continued my tour of the Six Nations Indian Museum, where an amazing collection of artifacts bedazzled me. They had items from all six nations of the Iroquois Federation (and more), all crowded in together. There was too much to absorb in one trip:

An eagle claw necklace, a beaded belt and the head of a cane:

A close-up of the beaded sash. The sign said that the sash tells, in pictographic symbols, the lessons of the great Seneca teacher and prophet, Kaniatario:

More of the Condolence Cane, whose antlered head was seen in a previous photo:

A beaded belt, part of a charge to a group of young cousins to keep the council fire clean and respectable, to sweep it with a seagull's wing:

Prehistoric stone celts. A celt was a stone tool, similar to an adze, hoe or axe:

Amazing artwork on a very large shelf fungus:

A Cree necklace with a blue Mohawk neck ornament, showing a beaded bear head, announcing that the wearer was a member of the bear clan:

Another Mohawk neck piece, this one with a turtle clan symbol, representing the earth, and the tree of peace, representing the Iroquois Confederacy:

A highly ornamented, beaded, Oneida Tribal belt:

A reproduction of the original belt awarded to William Penn in celebration of a peace treaty:

A model of an Iroquois bark house. They were structured with cedar and other woods, and then covered with elm bark. 80 to 120 feet long, they were a home for an extended family, a matrilineal clan:

Six Nations Indian Museum - Part 1

It's open only in the summer, so I'd been waiting all winter to visit the Six Nations Indian Museum. One day I drove an hour southeast of home and, deep in the Adirondack forest, found the museum in the tiny settlement of Onchiota:

I walked up the ramp, paid $5.00 and began my tour:

Inside, a handsome young Mohawk introduced himself and offered to answer any questions I might have. I didn't know what to ask, but he did tell me a lot about the museum. He grew up in Onchiota, as this land and building used to be a summer camp, run by his grandfather. Now it's a museum and he lives on Cornwall Island, part of the Akwesasne Mohawk reserve up near Massena, except for the three months the museum is open:

I began my tour, totally amazed by the wealth of materials and artifacts they had displayed. It was very difficult to photograph because of the lighting and reflections off the glass fronted cabinets. But that may be a blessing, as otherwise I might be posting pictures from this one place for a month or more. Even with all the photos which I had to discard, there are three posts:

Beaded moccasins - many of them, too many to show them all:

And speaking of beadwork, click on this to enlarge - and be amazed:

Many of the items which had dates were from the late 1800s, but most were not dated:

A cradle board and blanket, seemingly for use together:

Lacrosse sticks from many tribes:

Mohawk baskets. The nearby Akwesasne community is noted for its fine basketry:

A close-up of a Mohawk basket:

And many more, some fancier than others. But I'd just begun my tour of the Six Nations Indian Museum. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

The Akwesasne Cultural Center Museum - Part 1

I'd planned a trip to the Akwesasne Cultural Center for a long time but kept putting it off. Finally, one cold and rainy day, I drove to Hogansburg, New York on the border of the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation to take a look:

Black ash splint and sweetgrass basketry is an important part of Akwesasne heritage, and the museum had lots of examples. That small red one was called a strawberry basket for obvious reasons:

The Akwesasne community is part of the Mohawk Nation and the Cultural Center had a library upstairs and a museum/gift shop downstairs. The exhibits held lots of extra bits of information like this one:

More basketry:

This Bald Eagle was carved from antler by a Mohawk master carver from the Six Nations territory in Ontario:

And there was an entire display case of Mohawk cradle boards, including a drawing which showed how they were used:

Another cradle board:

And yet another cradle board:

More baskets, with an explanation of the cultural importance of black ash and sweetgrass basketry plus the environmental conservation movement to protect these native materials, especially since the appearance of the invasive Emerald Ash Borer:

The partridge, or Ruffed Grouse. The word, "Akwesasne," means land where the partridge drums:

Mortars and pestles, probably for grinding corn. But there was lots more to see at the museum, so I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: