Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

She:kon,

My name is Hattie Edwards, and I am 21 years old. My Mohawk name is Tekanahston which means, “The rows between the corn.” I belong to the wolf clan family from the Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne. I come from a very large family here on the Akwesasne reservation. There are ten members in my immediate family alone. My mother’s name is Kim Chubb and my father’s name is Mike Kim Edwards, deer clan of Akwesasne. I have three sisters and four brothers.

In the summer of 2007, I graduated from Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School. I have recently continued on with my education at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. I am diligently working towards reaching my goal in accomplishing a bachelor’s degree with a joint major in Environmental Sciences and Indigenous Studies. I am fascinated with knowledge about Indigenous culture, and our traditional ways. At this point in my life my main focus is on trying to learn my own Mohawk culture, traditions, history and most importantly my language. I am not fluent in my language but I am literate in the Mohawk language.

This summer I am fulfilling one of my many interests, which I have spent a large portion of my time focusing on learning about the medicine plants which are located mainly in the surrounding areas of the Akwesasne reservation, but also in other areas of upstate New York. I am learning the traditional ways of how to respect the plants and environment, the uses of the plants, how to harvest and prepare the plants, and also the Mohawk and English names of the plants. I hope to retain the knowledge of the natural medicines that has been given to me. I also hope that I will be able to help myself, my family, my community, and the future generations by passing this knowledge on to them. There is a variety of things that interest me because I love to learn, and I am easily intrigued by the unknown.

I am deeply honored to have been asked to be this year’s New York State Fair Iroquois Princess. I believe this new experience will be amazing for me. This is a perfect opportunity for me to inform natives and non-natives alike about Haudenosaunee ways of life. I hope to be a good representative for my family and my community. I would like to take this time to say Nia:wenkowa and again I am extremely honored to be this year’s youth representative for the Six Nations Agricultural Society.

Nia:wen,

Hattie Tekanahston Edwards