New Life with Tobacco and Teachings

Sherri Vansickle
Native Education Counsellor

At Brantford Collegiate Institute, we have a new Cultural Mentor – Cassandra Hill – Mohawk Nation, Turtle Clan. On March 11, she arranged a workshop for some of the Native students to learn about the Haudenosaunee Creation story and its connection to one of our sacred medicines – Oien’kwa’on:we (Mohawk - tobacco). Here are a few resources to help you learn about the Haudenosaunee Creation Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSzDM7Jmg94 (or google Onondaga Historical Society – the Creation Story). Learn about our moral teachings from creation of care, kindness and generosity. Maybe try this version of our Creation Story uses which Kanien’keha (Mohawk Language) as well (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0Ukxymq-JU Or Google – Kanien’keha Creation Story part 1, 2 and 3)

The students learned to plant and care for the Indian tobacco from Lori Vansickle - Onondaga Nation, Eel Clan. As always, we laughed and learned and ate and had a good time of visiting. What we did not know was how important these teachings were going to be so soon. I received and shared a post from our community asking for everyone to stay home and burn tobacco, sage, sweetgrass, pine, or cedar and to ask for protection for our families and community. We were all going to gather our minds and call on the power of prayer on March 23. Thankfully, I was able to use some tobacco that I harvested from our planting time last year to offer prayers and thanks with my family.

Our seeds are sprouting. Ever so tiny the plants are today. Like our students, grounded in our Ancestral ways, with the right amount of nurturing, we will see growth. For us, as Haudenosaunee, people are also medicine. They can brighten our day and make us feel good. Planting tobacco seeds a couple weeks ago was a good opportunity to remind the students to be medicine for the people in their lives. This opportunity to share, touch the earth and plant seeds ensures that there will be hope for more tobacco to offer prayers of thanks to Shonkwaya’tihson (Creator).