Random Thoughts for a Friday morning

Sgęno Swagwe:gǫ    My thoughts for today are a mixture of gratitude and motivation. With the recent passing of one of our Elder women Faithkeepers at our Longhouse, I have been waiting for my sorrow to come. It hasn't. Instead I have been able to count myself as one of the lucky ones because for the past 15 years I was able to work alongside her and learn. The knowledge and teachings that I have received from her will continue to be passed on to others. This I know to be true. It makes me reflect back on the amazing people that I can count in my life as teachers. Some are still here, others have passed on. All ages, young and old. Sometimes a teacher passes into my life to deliver one simple truth or reminder and is not seen again. Others like her stay in our lives for a long time to share what they know. Blessed are those that are able to receive!
My motivation comes from knowing that THIS is the generation that will carry it forward. We were given those gifts, now what are we going to do with them? There will never be a shortage of things to learn about our language and culture....but rather than viewing it as a burden & responsibility to learn it all, I see it as a wonderful opportunity to carry on a legacy from some pretty amazing people. Now, let's snap to it and get to work!  Dane:toh  swani:kwa

Ayawę́  sgę:no  tagęhęk  nęgę  dawe⁷  tganiwęhnihsrage  

ędwadowisęh  hne  hni⁷  hne  dędwadotgado⁷

 Cayuga translation for:

“Wishing you a safe & festive holiday season!”

 translation credit: Lottie Keye

thanksgiving address

GANOHONYOHK- Cayuga Thanksgiving Prayer

The Young Ancestors - Trailer

Guardians of Indigenous Knowledge..Six Nations Polytechnic, November 30, 2010

"Swa:diago⁷  gaegęhjihso:⁷ǫh  Oyanré⁷

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2869521

Article about why it makes sense to restore First Nations languages

http://www.focusonline.ca/?q=node/145

Food Box full of vegetables etc

This is something that might interest you...Cya at class tomorrow
night, 6:30pm
Begin forwarded message:
> From: "woodland" <museum@woodland-centre.on.ca>
> Date: November 24, 2010 11:03:51 AM EST (CA)
> To: "Amos Key Jr. " <amoskeyjr@woodland-centre.on.ca>, "Angie
> Monture " <angie.monture@woodland-centre.on.ca>, "Deb Lickers"
> <d_lickers@hotmail.com>, "Janis Monture" <jamonture@woodland-
> centre.on.ca>, "Joan Greenbird " <joan.greenbird@woodland-
> centre.on.ca>, "Judy Harris" <judy@woodland-centre.on.ca>, "Lorrie
> Gallant" <info@littlelorrie.ca>, "'Michelle Thomas'" <cura@woodland-
> centre.on.ca>, "Museum Education Tara Froman"
> <tourswoodland@hotmail.com>, "'Quinlyn Staats'"
> <quinlynstaats@hotmail.com>, "'Richard Montour'"
> <gchild519@yahoo.ca>, "Virve Wiland" <librarywoodland@yahoo.ca>
> Subject: FW: Food Box full of vegetables etc
>
>
>
>
>
> Charie Hill
>
> Administrative Officer
>
> Woodland Cultural Centre
>
> 184 Mohawk St., P.O. Box 1506
>
> Brantford, ON N3T 5V6
>
> T: 519-759-2650 F: 519-759-2445
>
> 1-866-412-2202
>
> museum@woodland-centre.on.ca
>
>
>

Hearing More Language Spoken

Good morning all. I am experimenting with capturing video footage that shows people speaking Cayuga. I have a few videos I have made. They are short little videos that are like mini-skits with simple themes, such as:

• Getting Ready for School
• At the store
• At the restaurant
• and others to follow

I have done this to begin to promote language use as being fun, and also to get myself and others speaking more. So, hopefully with the permission of the parents (I recruited my nieces) we can get some of these clips posted for your enjoyment soon! 

Tsa⁷dewahnísrade⁷ sgá:t dedwadatnǫhǫnyǫ́:⁷ (Every day we should greet each other as one)

Sgé:nǫ  Swagwé:go⁷  In light of the recent tragedies in our community, and around the world for that matter, I have come to one conclusion. We must treat each other with love and compassion. It is true what they say; we never know when Creator will call us home. I remember my cousin Jake telling me as a young teen about how Creator had this big stick. Every person had their own stick when they were created. On this stick, were notches. He gave each person so many notches on their stick. When the notches stopped, it meant he was calling you home. Your days were done. We never knew how many notches we had, so it was up to us to live each day to the best of our ability. It is such a simple philosophy, but yet in light of the young lives that have been lost we can say that their days were done here on Earth and take comfort in the fact that they are at peace. We don't know when our time will be up with loved ones, so make the most of what we have now. Cherish one another and be grateful for all your blessings.

égade⁷nyéda⁷ ganikwi:yo

Sgéno swagwe:go   Hope this finds you all well this morning! One lesson I have been trying to remind myself of daily is to be thankful. This helps me to stay on track with using ganikwi:yo (a good mind). This is central to Haudenosaunee beliefs. You hear this often amongst people, in the community, etc; but what does it really mean? One thing I have come to accept, is that it means something different to each person.  Undertanding that has helped me to appreciate others concepts and opinions. I have been thinking of what it means to me, and truly trying to incorporate it into my life.  For myself, a big part of using ganikwi:yo includes our thoughts. I am making a conscious effort to be more tolerant, loving and compassionate with my thoughts. Thoughts are energy. So I figure the more we can create ganikwi:yo using our thoughts, the better off this planet will be. We all have that ability within us to empower ourselves and other people. That is the power of our mind, and I believe the basis behind using ganikwi:yo. It is up to us to put that power into gear and make ganikwi:yo a part of our daily lives.... éwa:dǫ́  Édwadenyéde⁷ (let's all of us try it)

Onęh Gęnęnagéhneh

Gęnęnagéhneh (fall) is amongst us, and I loved seeing the beautiful yellow leaves in piles this morning. Along with a fresh coating of frost on my windshield. Yes, the crispness is in the air. This made me think of the section in Gaihwi:yo that states that everyday is a nice day, despite the weather. I think we need to put this into our subconscious now as we gear up for even chillier weather! Actually Gohshréhneh  (winter) is my favorite season. There's nothing like being inside with some hot chocolate on a cold winter's day watching the snowfall. Dogęhs  oyá:nre⁷ !  (Really, it's nice)  Tǫ́:ha   ha⁷gahe: .....  (it's almost the time)
PS. My apologies for any phonetic mistakes with the Cayuga...I am still learning. Feel free to post & correct any words :)

Thoughts from the Gaihwiyo Trail

Sgeno Swagwego! Hope this finds you all well. This past week our Longhouse hosted the Gaihwiyo in the Six Nations community. This is a five day event that is rich in history and protocol. It is the recitation of the Moral Code of Handsome Lake. As a faithkeeper, our roles are clear that we are to sit and listen to these words again to be reminded of how things are to be within our quality world as Onkwehonwe people. This is our time to listen to Creator's message that came through Handsome Lake.
This year I was fortunate enough to be able to have a different perspective on the Gaihwiyo. This is due to the generosity of elders within our community that have worked tirelessly to preserve our languagae and culture. Part of that process has been the translation of the Gaihwiyo as given by the late Huron Miller. Huron was a supreme orator within our culture. The fluency level he attained in several languages is remarkable! Lottie Keye, Alfred Keye and the late Fran Froman worked to translate his version into English. This is no easy task, as the words and language level in this recitation use what we refer to as "high language", meaning that they are not words we use in everyday language. There is a certain formality to them. To translate that into English to achieve relatively the same meaning is challenging!
With the foresight of the WCC Language department, a partnership with Memorial University was created to receive a community based research grant.  An initiative within this project has been to host a Community Outreach Program on Gaihwiyo. We are studying this version that has been translated, while listening to the audio version. To have access to a study guide that was recited and translated by our own people during this time has been invaluable to my learning! I am so grateful to have had this experience and thank all those that have made this possible.  We will continue to meet every Thursday to study the Moral Code of Handsome Lake.

CURA Grant Announcement

L-R: MP Phil McColeman. Co-Investigators Carrie Dyck, Amos Keye, Barb Brant,
Seated: Lottie Keye, Master Speaker

The C.O.O.L Project (Cayuga: Our Oral Legacy) received a grant from CURA (Community-University Research Alliance) in the amount of $1Million to study and conduct research in the Cayuga Language. The duration of the grant is from 2011-2015. On hand to accept were: Carrie Dyck  Primary Investigator and Amos Key, Co-Investigator. This creates a unique research alliance between the Woodland Cultural Centre and Memorial University of Newfoundland. CURA is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities       Research Council of Canada,   grant #833-2009-1001.

        The main goals of  COOL are:

•          to increase the number of speakers of Gayogo̲ho:nǫ⁷
•         to increase fluency levels
•         to hear Gayogo̲ho:nǫ⁷ spoken everywhere in the Six Nations community
•         to demonstrate how knowing Gayogo̲ho:nǫ⁷ promotes spiritual, emotional, and academic intelligence
•          to engage in public education and advocacy about minority language education, bilingualism, an bilingual education
•        to promote a change in public attitudes and policies about First Nations languages