The Climate Reality Project
Sophia Powless
“Nya•wéñha Sgé•noñ, hothahyoñnίh ne’ no•wa’wa’ge•se•ye’deñh gaiye’ wagoñh se•ge’ Gañendawaks oñgyastha. I am thankful you are well; wolf clan is my clan, I am Longhouse, and ‘She Shakes The Hemlocks’ is my name.”
RELATIONSHIP TO MOTHER EARTH
Gañendawaks or She Shakes the Hemlocks was a name given to me by my Clan Mother and is what gives me medicine and strength. Many of our Nation’s names reference animals, flowers, trees, and plants; like my brother’s name Haeñhyanoñhna (He protects the Sky), and my sister’s name Niyonoñda’uh (Little Hills). Our names give us our connection to the Earth, their meanings become tied with who we are.
As Indigenous people, we do not see ourselves as being separate from the environment. We care for it, we respect it, and we are a part of it. The teachings I grew up with talk about the environment as a family. Our mother is the Earth, Ethino•ha tsha’ Oñweñja•de’, our brother is the sun, eñdekhá’ gáähgwa•’, our grandmother is the moon, Ethihsoda ahsoñhekhá gáähgwa•’.
I am Onoñda’gegá’, or Onondaga, a part of the Haudenosaunee. Together with the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora, we make up the Six Nations. Our languages may differ from one another but the meanings still hold. Our cultures are based upon our relationship with nature.