Unity ride completes marathon trip at Six Nations

Page 1

A 2,200 km journey that began in Sioux Valley, Man., ended Aug. 27 when the Unity Ride and Run entered Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. The Interntional Indigenous Elders Summit opened there that same day.

The Unity riders travelled the width of Six Nations land along Chiefswood Road, and reached their destination at the banks of the Grand River within Chiefswood Park just after noon.

From one end of the reserve to the other, community members lined the roadway to greet the riders and runners. Homemade signs were posted on telephone poles in front of their houses.

Six Nations Police and Ontario Provincial Police vehicles escorted the procession from Little Buffalo to Chiefswood Park and blocked off sections of the road as the procession moved across the territory.

Six Nations youth and others joined the procession and carried the Hiawatha Belt flag to represent the Haudenosaunee people. The procession numbered about 100. An additional few hundred people waited inside the park.

Once at Chiefswood, chiefs, clan mothers and faith keepers of the Iroquois Confederacy greeted the Unity Ride and Run. The Ganohonyohk (Thanksgiving Address) was given by Leroy Hill, confederacy faith keeper. Once that concluded, Hill remarked, "This is something you don't see everyday. This is something you don't see often enough." Photographs of the greeting between the confederacy and the Unity riders were banned.

Tom Deer, a Mohawk from Akwesasne, welcomed the Unity Ride participants in the Mohawk language and later translated his words into English.

"When people come into our territory carrying a message, we will caress your from your long journey. We will begin from the top of your head to your feet," he explained. "We will remove any barriers from your bodies and we will offer you a drink of cool clear water. This community is open to you and we welcome you and we will provide you and take care of your needs while you are here," he added.

Using "the words the ancestors have left us," Deer concluded the welcome and invited the people of the Unity Ride to give the message they had brought.

Arvol Looking Horse, who identified himself as the spiritual leader of the ride, then addressed the people gathered.

"Today we gather because we have many prophecies among our nations," he said. Looking Horse, a nineteenth generation keeper of the sacred buffalo calf pipe, explained how the pipe led them to the people of the Eastern Door.

"We are very thankful that you have opened your door for us."

The opening ceremonies included blessing the horses and singing of the Horse Song to honour them. A horse was given to the confederacy chiefs as a gift from the Unity Ride. The opening ceremonies concluded with shaking hands between the people of Six Nations of the Grand River and the Unity Ride participants.

The six-day Elders Summit 2004 continued until Sept. 1.

Topics discussed included preservation of languages, preservation of traditional medicine, South and Central American issues of survival, and women recovering from colonialism and historical trauma.

The primary aims of the Elders Summit were to provide a forum for Indigenous youth, women and Elders to share visions, knowledge and concerns for the future. Haudenosaunee knowledge of the Great Law and the Code of Handsome Lake was shared with all Indigenous people in attendance.

On the last day, the Ending of the 500-Year Cycle and Beginning of a New Cycle was discussed by Elder Leon Secatero, who has studied this topic for much of his life.

Nations represented at the summit included Haudenosaunee, Inuit, Lakota, Cree, Anishnabek, Algonquin, Innu, Kogi, Navajo, Okanagan, and Inago, Kofan and Siona from the Amazon.

A social at the community hall in the village of Ohsweken marked the conclusion of the Summit. An Elders Declaration and a Youth Declaration developed there will be carried to the United Nations along with a strategy for implemenation at a later date.