Traditional Survival

On Monday evening, January 12, 2015, there were some very busy young people along with some adults at the Snye Recreation location. It was a workshop called Gill Net Making, a tradition that used to be quite prevalent years ago when our river waters were healthy. Fishing was very important to every day life in our community and many times gill nets were used to catch certain fish. This workshop was sponsored by the Akwesasne Family Wellness Program and they invited the community to participate.

This workshop is one of many that are planned throughout the year and emphasis is on culture and traditions. There is obviously a need to reach our people at a younger age to educate them of our past activities and survival.

Some of the activities this past year included dances, drum making, rattle making, baking and even how to cook a turkey. These are only a few mentioned, but the program tries to offer one activity per month. Listen for announcements of future gatherings.

So, on Monday evening, a presentation involved the Masters from the Fishing and Trappers, Norm Peters (Ionerahtasa), and Roger Thompson. The apprentices present were Ratshikoiaks and Karonhiakwekon. The very eager students involved were Dawson, Ronan, Shalia and Louie. They were taught so much about making a net, what kind of fish that will be caught and the materials needed. They went home with their own net after completing it.