And Grandma Said… Iroquois Teachings

Description

The Iroquois culture and traditional Longhouse spirituality has a universal appeal| a ring of truth to it that resonates not only with other indigenous people| but also with non-Native people searching for their own spiritual roots.

Raised in the home of a grandmother who spoke only Mohawk| Sakokweni¢nkwas (Tom Porter) was asked from a young age| to translate for his elders. After such intensive exposure to his grandparents’ generation| he is able to recall in vivid detail| the stories and ceremonies of a culture hovering on the brink of extinction. After devoting most of his adult life to revitalizing the culture and language of his people| Tom finally records here| the teachings of a generation of elders who have been gone for more than twenty years.

Beginning with an introduction about why he is only now beginning to write all this down| he works his way chronologically through the major events embedded in Iroquois oral history and ceremony| from the story of creation| to the beginnings of the clan system| to the four most sacred rituals| to the beginnings of democracy| brought to his people by the prophet and statesman his people refer to as the Peacemaker. Interspersed with these teachings| Tom tells us in sometimes hilarious| sometimes tragic detail| the effect of colonization on his commitment to those teachings.

Like a braid| the book weaves back and forth between these major teachings| and briefer teachings on topics such as pregnancy| child-rearing and Indian tobacco| weaving the political with the spiritual. Through his recollections of “Grandma|” and what she said| we also get an inside view of the life of a Mohawk man| and his struggles. Sometimes articulate and at other times inventive with his second language of English| Tom takes us on the journey with him| asking us to trade eyes| by “erasing the blackboard” to see if we “can understand what a Mohawk sees|