Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

Its August and usually at this time of year the Akwesasne Freedom School parents are recovering from weeks of planning and four days of intense fundraising. But nothing is usual this year. This time around, a handful of AFS parents are wrapping up their first and hopefully their last, "virtual" Akwesasne Freedom School Quilt and Traditional Crafts Auction. They also held two dinners, a pickup only Indian Taco sale on Friday and a pickup only BBQ Chicken Dinner on Saturday.

They also hosted an AFS Facebook entertainment page featuring an impressive lineup of Keith Secola, Murray Porter, Bear Fox and Kontinwennahawi, Darrel Tonnamah, Lonewolf and the Spaghetti Corner Band and comedian Bobby Wilson, among others.

Taking place of the AFS Survival Race was the AFS Virtual 5k & 10k walk/run. Participants registered online with AFS, paid a $25 registration fee and recorded their time and date using a Fitbit, Garmin, Nike Run or other fitness app. Over 47 participants took part with one awesome young man, Cayde Lazore, running a 5k one day and a 10k the next.

According to Jessica Sargent, they raised a grand total of nearly $57,000 with the quilt auction with bringing in about $36,500 and just about as much action and excitement as bidding in person in previous years.

Jessica Sargent stated, "It was really wonderful to see so many of our friends who can't always make it to our live auction to finally be able to participate. And the continued outpouring of support from Akwesasronon is beautiful to see each year."

Another popular quilt in the auction was "Summer Solstice", made by Lynell Cook.

When asked about coordinating a 'virtual fundraiser' of this scale and magnitude, Sargent said, "I think some of the biggest challenges with going virtual was maintaining engagement, getting the word out, and navigating different levels to 'tech-savviness.' I was really worried about our Totas' not being on Facebook or being unsure how to bid. I know a lot of the elders in our community really look forward to the auction each summer and I was hoping their kids or grandkids would help them navigate this new set up."

"We are really hoping to be able to go live again next year. The virtual weekend was great, and the turnout was amazing but there is nothing quite like Annual Dinner weekend on the school grounds, the quilts hanging on the line, kids running around, music playing, cheering as Survival Race participants start running in."

She added, "Our AFS students and teachers are doing the hard work of carrying our beautiful Kanien'kehá language and culture forward, rebuilding our nation one child at a time. Every act of support strengthens the work being done. Eso tekwanonwerahton!