Alright, let’s talk about this Hod-den-o-show-nee thing, whatever they call it. Sounds fancy, but it’s just folks, people like you and me, trying to keep their ways alive. Haudenosaunee resilience of culture, the smart folks call it. I just say they’re stubborn, in a good way, you know?
Now, these people, they been around a long, long time. Someone told me, maybe a thousand years or somethin’. Can you imagine? Way back when, before all these cars and contraptions, they were livin’ off the land, doin’ things their own way. They got their own stories, their own beliefs, like how to treat the earth and all that. My grandma used to say somethin’ similar, “Respect the land, it feeds ya”. See? Not so different, are they?
But things change, don’t they? People come along, wantin’ your land, wantin’ you to be like them. It ain’t right, but that’s how it goes sometimes. These Hod-den-o-show-nee folks, they had to deal with a lot of that. People tryin’ to take their land, tellin’ ’em their ways were wrong, tryin’ to make ’em forget who they are. But these folks, they’re tough. They held on. They still holdin’ on.
It ain’t easy, though. I heard tell they don’t have many folks who speak the old language anymore. That’s a shame, you know? Language is important. It’s how you tell your stories, how you connect to your past. It’s like losin’ a piece of yourself. But they’re workin’ on it, teachin’ the young ‘uns, tryin’ to keep it alive. That’s what I call cultural revitalization, fancy words for keepin’ your grandpa’s stories alive.
- They got these communities, spread out all over, but they try to stick together, share what they got. That’s smart. You can’t do nothin’ alone in this world. You need your people.
- They’re also teachin’ young people about the old ways, and about nature too. Mix the old with the new, they say. Sounds like a good idea to me. We can learn a lot from the old ways, you know? How to take care of the earth, how to live together.
And this Onondaga Lake place? Sounds important. They call it the Central Fire, somethin’ like the heart of it all. Been there since the beginnin’, they say. That’s somethin’, ain’t it? Sticking around that long, in one place. Shows you how strong they are, how connected they are to that land. That’s what they call collective meaning-making of cultural identities, which just means they remember where they came from, and who they are. Good for them!
They got these smart people, professors and such, writin’ about ’em, studyin’ ’em. I guess that’s good, helps people understand. But you don’t need a fancy degree to see they’re good people, tryin’ to do right. They just want to keep their ways alive, pass ’em on to their kids and grandkids. And that’s what Haudenosaunee culture is all about.
They even write stories, share their experiences. Heard tell they got books and all, by their own people. That’s important, tellin’ your own story, not lettin’ someone else do it for you. Everyone’s got a story to tell, and theirs is a powerful one. It’s a story of survival, of holdin’ on, of keepin’ your spirit alive, no matter what. That’s what I’d call traditions and beliefs lasting a long time, through thick and thin.
So, yeah, Hod-den-o-show-nee resilience of culture. It’s about rememberin’ where you come from, holdin’ onto your ways, and passin’ ’em on. It’s about respectin’ the earth and each other. It’s about being strong, even when things are tough. And that’s somethin’ we can all learn from, don’t you think? No matter where you come from, no matter who you are, we all need a little bit of that Hod-den-o-show-nee stubbornness in us.
Tags: [Haudenosaunee, Culture, Resilience, Indigenous, Traditions, History, Community, Language, Revitalization, Onondaga]
