Gratitude has been the ostinato beat living somewhere in the back of my head at all times during this tour and the creation, producing and touring of “Turtle Island”. It comes up to the forefront sometimes in the warming, comforting waves or weighs heavily when challenged.
Gratitude. One of the core foundations to the entire belief system of the Haudenosaunee (and most other religions). I was reminded of that both subtly and once or twice in a direct way by the elders in our group.
I am writing this as we conclude the second tour of the “Turtle Island”, a collaboration of one of the Haudenosaunee nations’ artists, Peter Jemison, the French theater of the “sky” Plasticiens Volants and the Iroquois Dance Theater, produced by yours truly, with the support of so many along the way. Together we tell the Haudenosaunee Creation Story beneath a monumental inflatable Turtle carried through the sky while three generations of Haudenosaunee dancers bring the story to the ear.
On this journey, through the gracious and tenacious efforts of our elders and the hosts, we performed to the bright eyes of our audience, we were taught some of the indigenous ways of being, welcomed and served generous meals in communities from Indianapolis, Chenango, Seneca, Ganondagan and the gorgeous sovereign territory known as Awkwesasne, which straddles the international border between the United States and Canada, spanning northern New York State, Ontario and Quebec.
In the Mohawk language, Awkwesasne translates to “Land Where the Partridge Drums” (and it does!). I had the privilege to sit with the Grand Chief Leonard Akwiratekha Lazore and, one of the twelve elected Chiefs of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, Lisa Francis-Benedict. We talked about Gratitude, and also how they view the importance of education and sharing of the teachings of the Haudenosaunee and the Creation Story to the world; most interestingly we talked about how they too saw the inter-connected themes like Thanksgiving, the “good and bad” consequences of every one of our actions and decisions (the left-handed Flint and right-handed Ioskeha twins, or the Yin and the Yang as we also know the concept). How these similarities teach us rather than separate us. Just a few days earlier we learned from Peter Jemison at a breakfast table about the governance of the Haudenosaunee, the role of clans and tribes, and the history behind some of it.
After last year’s original residency and tour that started at Ganondagan, we were invited to the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians in Indianapolis, the Seneca Iroquois National Museum in Salamanca on the Seneca Nation territory; the Ganondagan Historic Site in Victor, to Norwich by the Chenango Historical Society and ultimately here, our last stop, the Mohawk Nation territory in Awkwesasne territory. We just concluded the final performance on this Haudenosaunee territories tour and I am grateful.
I am grateful we are here right now, with the team: Bill Crouse Senior, the father of the “clan” of his own – his endless family, three generations of which are a part of the dance group sharing their dance, their voices and culture: the Seneca Allegany story-tellers and dancers Courtney Crouse, Jacob Dowdy, Ashland Crouse, Kia George, Kevin George, Liam Dowdy, Reyna Crouse, Lynn Crouse. I am grateful for the art and work of the Plasticiens Volants team: Ingrid Renault and Gilles “LuB” Ecomard, who are with us on this tour, and the leadership / creative behind it from the very beginning years ago: Marc Etieve, Jean Philippe Hemeni, Frederique DeWynter, Marc Bureau, Frederique Goujon and Sylvaire Walasik, Camille Carell. My own partner, supporter, enabler and the person who does not need to be taught the essence of grace and gratitude: Thomas Donahower, and of course our elders, leaders, teachers, masters, guides: Peter Jemison and Jeanette Jemison and their Friends of Ganondagan organization.
The experience has been humbling, in some ways surprising – I did not know what to expect on the territories or in a museum setting trying to accommodate a giant inflatable with a company of Seneca dancers of three generations. And in some cases how to behave, or react. The one way that most of us think we know is the most challenging of all: using Gratitude and Grace as your guide in all situations.
Do you ever find that to be difficult? I do. When something is right in front of you, but you keep thinking: “but, but, but…” To stop and open up to what is indeed on offer, something that may be disguised as silence, or even stubbornness. To stop and to notice. This is what I am learning on this tour as I am sitting here with my strawberry rhubarb pie gifted to me by the host of our Airbnb, Jeanine, who noticed my Russian accent and determined that therefore I must have it, and she is right!
Looking out at the St. Lawrence River flowing through Awkwesasne through an imaginary divide between the US and Canada that is visible only through a stone post disguised in the geranium bush, one side of which says “Canada” and the other “US”, like an ancient abandoned artifact, watching the fish jump in the summertime.
