Iotsi'tsíson (Sky Woman's) Forever Farm

For the Kanien'kehá:ka peoples, our struggle surrounds land, land base, land access, healthy land to live and prosper.  For centuries the Kanien'kehá:ka have been involved in land issues stemming government take over, wars, assimilative policy, forced relocation to reservations, residential schooling, day schools, corporate take over of lands, waterways, and sacred places.  This struggle is worldwide for all Indigenous peoples.  The Schoharie Valley in up state New York, is only one of our ancestral sacred lands that has been taken over by settlers, and European style of governing.  One of the biggest challenges we face today is, we are all living on reservations that are not closely located to our ancestral land base.  Our dream is to move our people back to the valley, where our ancestors have been waiting for us to come home.  

Through fundraising events, a concert, and many donations, we were able to purchase a full functioning 60 acre berry farm in Schoharie/Middleburg N.Y.  The farm sits on the remains of the last Kanien'kehá:ka village on what is now a 60 acre working berry farm. Over the spring/summer of 2022, the Waterfall Unity Alliance raised 872,000$ in grants, loans, and donations to purchase and renovate the farm as a rematriation project to begin a new Kanien'kehá:ka community in our ancestral territory.   

This farm is going to be the beginning and centralized place of return for our people. At this moment, one of the greatest challenges is getting our people out there and having a place to stay, and the distance from reservations is between a 4-5 hour drive one way. Providing a space for people to stay would be enormously helpful in getting more volunteers, workers, and guests to spend more time on the land, and to become more familiar with the community.  Currently we do not have anyone living permanently there.  One family is living there a few weeks at a time, but still travels home with her children every other week. She is living in the unfinished farmhouse with her children.  

The farmhouse is going to be utilized as a central place of connecting with volunteers, workers, berry picking customers, and visitors from all around Turtle Island.  We are working on preparing for the farm opening, and all the responsibility that comes with owning and running a farm.  We are all learning as we go, but we are very fortunate that there's so many local/allies people who are willing to support us in many ways on the ground and administratively.  The land and the farm are the hub of it all.  We are people of the land, and as an all women run board, we are taking our direction from the land, our mother.

 The farm is not an organic farm at the moment.  We are also working with volunteers in transforming and regenerating the land back to organic as best as possible at this time.  The space that has been treated with chemicals will rest for this season, with ground crops planted we will regenerate the soil naturally. 

Another foreseen challenge is a place to house our learning facility.  This leaning facility is not going to be called a "school".  This terminology will be cut from our language and be replaced with a more non colonial word that will resonate with the type of learning we will be engaging in.  The learning facility, will be "the land".  The land is our teacher.  And in our cultural ways the land was our teacher.  As an educator for over 25 years, I will be facilitating the development of this learning facility.  For the summer season, we do not really need a building, but as soon as the weather changes we will need a place to host our learning projects, and children's tools for learning and creating.  Also, there's the issue of hiring other teachers.  We are planning to hire more teachers, but at this moment we do not have the funding to hire.  

Another project challenge is getting the farm stand ready and able to begin making preserves, pies, and all the yummy treats that can be created from the beautiful fruit we'll be harvesting.  We are looking to have a full working kitchen that will provide the space and place where we can cook, bake what we want to and preserve what we can through jarring/canning. These items will be for sale in the farm stand, and will be part of the business side to the farm. 

The main challenges at this moment are lack of funding. We wish to continue the renovations, a tractor purchase, hiring extra hands on ground and administrative, building a working kitchen in farm stand, hiring more teachers, and last but not least, a physical place for these people to stay while there. 

One solution for the land is to let it rest for this season and begin to work it next season with soil testing and monitoring, we will be able to begin new plants next season. This is what we are already doing to regenerate the soil.

With steady funding, we can hire more people locally, student jobs can be created, resulting in building community relationships across turtle island and locally.  We can hire another teacher or two, and begin to think about a physical space to house these children and the learning from the land projects.  I have also located Montessori materials that will be donated to our learning facility, and these items are located in Berkley California.  We are planning to have the materials driven to the valley once packed up.  The children will be learning their original language.  The teaching and learning activities that are planned, will be taught in our language, Kanien'keha/mohawk. All children will be learning how to speak, sing, dance, recite, and orally retell their own history, culture, and be able to have fluid conversations in our ancient language.  This goal is not limited to Kanien'kehá:ka children.  We welcome all children. 

Also, steady funding will provide flexibility in hiring more hands when we need to.  Each season has its own challenges and amount of work to be done, prior fruit bearing, cutting and trimming bushes, trees, and weeding between strawberry plants are necessary.  And during the growing season there needs to be cutting and maintaining the plants, insect control, watering, and maintaining the bushes, plants, and trees. The amount of berries and fruit we will be producing will need to be sold, canned/preserved, baked pies, dried fruit, tea blends, etc.  Another plan we have is to supply our communities/reservations with fresh produce/fruit from the farm.  Many of our elders do not have the ability to go shop for fresh summer fruits, and or preserves that they once made themselves.  We are going to provide fresh fruits to our people on reserve as they become available.  Each berry has its own season.  

Another solution is to build or buy tiny homes and or cabins at the farm with a communal bathing/bathroom facility. Place them scattered on the farm so guests, teachers, visitors, family, healers/elders, and ceremony peoples can have a place to stay while there.  Another solution is to have one large building that will house people over their visit or stay, with a community kitchen. 

And at the moment, we're working with a non profit organization that is teaching us about protecting the land from chemical run off, wind, and cross pollination from nearby farms.  We're looking at planting hedges on the perimeter of the farm.  This is just another example of what we're all learning as new farmers.  We are also looking to have an arbour constructed at the farm for shade cover when ceremonies are being held, there is a place for our elders and children to be comfortable from the hot summer sun, and rain as they participate in community celebrations on the land. 

We have also considered this farm to be a learning farm.  We are going to be teaching our cultural ways to customers.  We are going to be creating signs at each field that will show the Kanien'keha/mohawk word for the crop, and a sort of translation or phonetically spelled, using English, as a guide to pronounce each Indigenous word.  We are also planning to teach how we go about picking berries, food, medicines, etc. by providing story telling and cultural wisdom of our peoples.  We connect to the land by giving acknowledgment first, and we want to teach this way of connecting to the land to all our guests, customers, and visitors prior to picking your berries/foods.  This act of reciprocity can teach more than we know. 

As an Indigenous person, I know fully what it means to connect to the land, our mother.  
By giving our people an opportunity to reconnect back to our ancestral lands, is a miracle in motion.  Many elders are not able to travel that far anymore, they rely on family to drive them around to ceremony, feasts, and gatherings.  Our land is there, waiting for us to return. 

By providing a space, we will be able to bring more elders, children, and families back to the land to experience it for themselves, with hopes of us all gradually returning for good. Our babies need to be born there in order for the first generation of Kanien'kahá:ka to have been born, raised, and loved on the land that we had always occupied for thousands of years or more.  It is one of our many dreams, is to have our coming generations not know what it is to be raised on reservation.  The multigenerational trauma's that remain visible within the peoples spirit, will be healed through, from, and on our homelands. We believe that to decolonize, we must go back to our cultural ways and sacred lands, our original teacher, our mother.  The ways of the earth remain in our veins, and by reconnecting, we are healing.   

Allowing the land to rest this season is what was recommended to us by other farmers that we've been connecting with. Regenerative practices are what we're going to be learning and utilizing on this farm.  These ways of farming are more aligned with our cultural ways of farming and caring for the land. 

Steady funding will provide us with a safety net, a lot less worry, and a lot more flexibility to hire, buy or build what we will need for the future of this grand project of returning home. 

And tiny homes/one large building, will provide a safe and comfortable space for all that want to come and support, learn, and pick berries on this farm.  

I cannot say what an impact this will all have on our people.  But what I can tell you is the impact it had on myself, family members, friends, and many other people I do not really know well, have said more than once, this land speaks to you.  This land is very powerful, this land is welcoming, this land is spiritual, and magical.  I cannot say enough, the impact that it has had on my own soul and spirit.  Knowing that my ancestors are there makes this endeavour more appealing, and more spiritual than I realized. And so, I can say with an honest heart, that no matter who you are you will be impacted by this land, the waterfall, the mountains, the air, the community.  For many Kanien'kehá:ka, returning home is what we been all waiting for.  And in these contemporary times, community seems to mean more to us all than it had a century ago.  

We will all benefit from this projects success.  Our people will be able to come home, the land will be returned back to our young people, our children will learn how to live with the land, as well as the adults, and we will build new relationships with all the local families who have been residing there since the late 17th century.  We may even find relatives still living in the area.  

Moving back to our ancestral lands will also provide healthier living practices.  No more reservation pollution, poisoned waters, poisoned fish life, bird life, and the fact that there is no land to hunt for wild game.  Many of our men have to travel far north to hunt.  The valley provides many wild game that we still eat today, deer, turkey, duck, goose, beaver, etc. and the wild fish. 

Being able to catch our own foods is another benefit to our people.  There are many sicknesses on reservations and the environmental issues we continue to live with have stunted our ability to provide wild wholesome and healthy meat/food to our people.  Living as closely to the land is what we're looking to achieve once again.  And by providing these skills through hands on learning and speaking the language, how incredible will that be. Community learning by working together, and providing for one another through reciprocal practices and cultural ways of celebrating and sharing common values.  

Our people are looking to go home.  That is how we will all benefit, for the next seven generations to come, that is who we're looking out for.  In my language we say, tehatikonsatatie, the faces yet to come. That reminds us that we are responsible for those "faces yet to come", yet to be born, we have a responsibility to make sure they have clean water, air, land to live upon, and all the teachings from where we came, and the journey it was to  get back home. 

As mentioned, a portion of the farm produce will go directly back to reservations.  Akwesasne, located near Hogansburg NY, and is within the province of Ontario, Quebec, and partly in the state of New York.  This reservation is one of the Kanien'kehá:ka communities that will benefit from the farms produce.  And Kahnawa:ke, located on the south shore of Montreal. Produce and or products will be shared with different local organizations that assist elders, schools, and any other not for profit that would need fresh or preserved fruit from the farm.  As the farm stand grows and begins to make more foods, baked goods, and healthy food, we will also be offering this to our communities, as needed, and by request.  

We are also working on collaborating with other Indigenous peoples in the state of NY, and other areas as well, to share, trade, and support one another in and with regenerating the soil of our farms, trading produce, foods dried and or fresh, information on farming tips, on site assistance, and cultural exchange.  Share songs, language, and teachings. As well as building relationships between and within all communities. 

The farm itself will provide jobs, full time positions, as well as summer jobs for students, and positions for young community members.  The Learning (school) center will provide jobs as well, teachers, assistants, and future staff to fill positions of Archery, Basket making, Cradle board carving, Water drum, and rattle making, moccasin making, snow shoes, etc.  These are highly skilled tasks that not very many people know how to teach anymore. The simple task of carving a stick is no longer a skill that many of our children have.  

Through the manifestation of the Waterfall Unity Alliance, which began after the protest of a pipeline that was going to be put right through New York State in 2015.  This non profit organization was established.  However, several native Waterfall family members have been engaged in land rights, water rights, human rights, and the struggle to remain Onkwehón:we (original beings) and practice our ways of life intended by the creator. As Kanien'kehá:ka, we have been in a struggle for over 450 years with foreign government systems and policies developed by non native peoples that hinder our ways of life, and prevent us from living freely as native original peoples. Colonial ways are not just what we want anymore, we want to be who we are and who we are meant to be.  Original peoples living off the land and building community with all peoples.  As we had intended at the first arrival of the settlers.  

Our history has determined who we are, and how we see ourselves on this new earth.  We have struggled to keep our language, our culture alive, and we have been defending what land we have left by all means of action for decades. Land defence, land and water defence, is something we are born into. In these contemporary times, we do not have a choice.  We need to stand up and defend our environment and our wildlife as best we can. 

As team members, collectively we carry similar ideas on land and water defence, and how important it is to maintain these natural land bases and spaces. We are the generation to do something great, and we have all the children to think about when we're working toward retrieving, reviving, and rematriating sacred lands.  As well as the idea of bringing the soil of these lands back to its natural consistency and texture for plentiful crops and nutritional organic foods. 

This team has come together through organic natural interests.  Team members have gathered to this project because of their own individual beliefs and personal philosophy.  This is how it happened for me.  I was energically drawn to this place through another land defence protest march in Troy NY, last May 2022. 

Stemming this march and land defence talk, I joined this non profit, as the energies of my ancestors brought me to this place and the dream of going home to the valley. 

All members have their own reasons for being here.  One, is that they all feel and believe that this project and move back to our ancestral territory is something that they can be a part of, and believe in.  And each person brings themselves to the project, and that is what really counts, we all bring our love and passion for land, and food sovereignty, healthy eating and living, and being able to "be" on the land as our ancestors intended for us.  To come home once and for all. 

We are applying for financial support at this very moment.  We are also looking to collaborate with other native/indigenous farmers, land owners, and non native/indigenous farmers, who farm in natural ways and regenerative practices. 

We are also looking to collaborate with local schools, organizations who work with children and elders, local and non local agricultural schools, forest management, and farm equipment repair, and agro forestry. 

These are all the things that we are looking to achieve in this project. We are very new and have not been able to establish too many connections. However, we are working with some non profit organizations in order to learn more about farming, taking care of the plants, and mapping out the farm for the upcoming seasons.  We are currently working with Novo foundation, Prematours, and Propogate. 

Kawenniiostha Jock is a Kanien'kehá:ka woman and mother of five children. She is of the wolf clan, a land defender, and a master seamstress as well as artist. Here is a quote from Kawenniiostha that will give you a better idea of who she is and her frame of thought behind this projects goal of moving back home.

"The prophecies all say that to survive we have to return to original ways, we need to form and nurture communities that will sustain us through the climate tipping point and beyond. We know that there are ways to live in balance, we have not forgotten, but we need to decolonize our minds and ways of life and return to the ways of our ancestors. This is why I want to come home with my children, back to the valley.  It is time to plant our seeds of return". Kawenniiostha Jock 

This project is not a new idea. There are many native communities building and working toward land back, and bringing back sustainable living practices to their reservations and communities. For instance, Kanatsohareke, located just west of our farm, is another land back initiative that was accomplished many years ago through a man named Tom Porter. 

The goal at this moment is to get the farm and farm stand running.  And to get the "learning" facility built.  

The farm up and running will give us the crops to manage and gather for our communities, and to sell in the farm stand. The "learning" facility will bring more families to the valley and in hopes of enrolling them into the land based learning and language immersion activities. 

Over the next five years we intend to have our farm stand running in full capacity with our full kitchen, and organic products created through medicine picking, harvesting and drying berries for teas, and medicine blends. Homemade products are going to be a huge part of our sales when we are more established. We intent to sell our products and work with other non profit to share in the sale of what we are producing.  

We intent to have our healing lodge built, and in operation by this time. We still need a building, and we are working on plans to host workshops of healing and learning.  Sweat lodges, ceremonies, and healing practices are going to be practiced. 

We also intend to sell plants at the farm. Some micro greens, flowers for Mother's Day, crafts, jams, preserves, language materials, etc. clothing, bead work, etc. 

We also intent to host summer camps with cultural activities such as archery, carving, hiking, and forestry.  All children will have an opportunity to learn these activities.  As well as maple syrup farming, and Mustang horse care, through a local woman's Mustang farm. 

We are also planning this upcoming concert in July, with workshops and cultural teaching available on site.

Since the development of the Waterfall Unity Alliance in 2015, the ways in which we have measured our success and or downfall, is by keeping with the original intention of giving back land base and space to its rightful inhabitants and being part of this spiritual journey home for the Kanien'kehá:ka. 

We also measure our successes by going inward, as individual beings, we all seem to share a spiritual understanding that we are not alone, and that we have support from the creator and the ancestors who guide us. 

We also follow what we call Kaianere'kó:wa, the Great Peace. This is our guiding life ways, and this is a huge part of our guiding principles. 

Our theory of change stems our cultural beliefs. As mentioned above, Kaianere'kó:wa/great peace, is the guiding principles we follow. 

One of the main goals for returning home is so that we can all heal ourselves from the historical traumas and colonial acts that have changed our peoples own view of themselves.  We no longer see ourselves as original beings, we need to reconnect to our lands and become fully connected to our mother. 

Providing original culture, language and way of life, is the goal of this project.  And our intention is to be guided by the land and those energies that support this movement. 

Agroforestry and biochar and regenerative practices are what we intent to use in order to regenerate the land and soil of this farm.

These technologies are new to us, under the terms they are using, but many are in alignment with original ways of agriculture and this is why we are gravitating to these ways of farming etc. 

Our approach has always been to include a diverse group of people. We believe that all people are welcome to join this land back, and cultural move home.  We do not seek members, the members have some how come to us through our asking and manifesting these great people who want to help and be part of this journey back home.

fund-raising events and the farm purchase