by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
The shores of Onondaga Lake in north central New York are culturally significant. This is where the warring nations of the Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga and Mohawk accepted the Iroquois prophet Peacemaker’s message for peace, laid down their weapons beneath the Great Tree of Peace, and formed the Iroquois Confederacy. The Great Law of Peace would later serve as a foundation for the American Democracy.
Onondaga Lake includes the heart of the Haudenosaunee people. The spiritually connected dimensions of the oñgwehoñweh, the original people, are in and around the lake. Onondaga is the traditional center of the Six Nations including the land base as well as the waterways.
Onondaga Lake also has the distinction of being one of the most polluted lakes in the world. The reason is a large industrialized city is near its south end, Syracuse.
Throughout the three seasons, exclusive of winter, you may see a rowing crew steadily moving across the lake. The rowers are indigenous women.
Tsadeyohdi, in her article Indigenous Rowing which was published in the Onondaga Nation News, said: “The Indigenous Rowing Club, IRC, practices using a coxswain (a steersman) with 4 or 8 rowers in a shell known as a sweep boat. This type of rowing calls for the rower to use both hands on one oar. In this type of boat shell, the rowers are in pairs to have an oar on each side of the boat. This type of rowing is different from the scull, or sculling, which seats a rower with two oars, one in each hand.”
Asa Shenandoah said: “My oñgwehoñweh name is Daiaweñdodeh, meaning ‘first light in the morning.’ My English name is Asa Rose Shenandoah. My mothers’ family comes from North Carolina with family on the Lumbee and Tuscarora Nation on NC rolls. My fathers name was Peter Edward Shenandoah, a member of the Onondaga Nation. I am an enrolled member of the Tuscarora Nation. Before I was a year old, I was adopted by the Deer Clan of the Onondaga Nation. This is where I was raised, living with relatives on the nation. I lived both with my grandmother, Audrey Shenandoah, and her household of uncles and cousins, and also for a time, I lived with my aunt Regina Jones and her girls. I joke that culturally I am an Onondaga woman but make no mistake, the blood of my relatives in the swamps of NC runs through me.”
“This overpowering influence of Turtle Island women gave me the strength to be firm in action and make my own way,” said Asa. “Aksodaha (grandmother) was a pioneering woman who brought the Onondaga language to the Onondaga Nation School. She traveled the world speaking on our duty as human beings in being stewards of the land. My aunt Gina brought new spirits into the world as a midwife and now gives our youth a protective home away from home safe space, at Syracuse University’s as she leads the Native Student Program. My own mother, June Lowery, grew up in the Jim Crow South facing segregation between black, white, and red to become one feisty teacher. All three led a life connected to plants and plant medicine. To know me, you must know that I am simply a reflection of the community, the women who raised me.”
“Indubitably, it is the power of the women around me who gave me the courage to undertake some things that at first might seem silly, but turned out to be meaningful adventures,” said Asa.
“Growing up I heard the horror of boarding schools, having some great’s myself who attended,” said Asa. “There was an opportunity to attend one, an Episcopalian institution dedicated to public purpose, who had never had an indigenous student. I decided I would be the first, and I took the opportunity to bring folks from my community and educate these leaders in the making. During my time there I found my love of rowing. There is something about being on the water that I feel at home. It could be the black waters of the NC Lumber River at home or the sacred spaces surrounding Onondaga Lake. I’m not sure, but I am drawn to it.”
In an indigenous rowing club proposal in August of 2015, a collective idea came into fruition. The proposal stated, “Members of the Onondaga Nation community recognize the need for additional athletic options, especially for women. Onondaga Lake is healing and our community has sought to renew its relationship with our waters. Members of the first-ever Indigenous Rowing Club have worked for over a year to offer yet another solution to the community’s needs.”
“With the help of the US Women’s 1985 Rowing Coach Gere Reisinger a few individuals from the Onondaga Nation community began training in the fall of 2014. Initially only three members were able to practice. The winter training session and recruiting has proven to be successful; we completed our first exhibition race in Rochester, NY on May 23, 2015. We are certain that once people know what we are all about, the interest will continue to grow, we will gain a steady footing and soon offer this program to our youth,” added the proposal.
“I was brought up to row as a lower classmen on the first boat (the top boat),” said Asa. “Our boat won the Stotesbury Cup in Philadelphia, the worlds oldest and largest high school regatta, in the girls senior eight division. We finished a 1500m course on the Schuylkill River with a time of 5:29:05. Because of our success, we had the opportunity to go to England to race in the renowned Henley Royal Regatta that summer. During our semi-final race we set a course record with a time of 5:01. After four races in war hours, we lost in the finals to the very team we beat at Stotesbury. It was still a summer to remember and one of the best training experiences of my life.”
“To finish out my career at this boarding school, I had one trick left,” said Asa. “There was a joke my junior year about a girl trying to join the wrestling team. The boys thought it was funny since there wasn’t ever one. So I decided that it wasn’t funny and tried out. I never set any records but the very next year I was elected captain. I left for Dartmouth College with a taste of what it means to challenge myself physically and make changes to accepted norms.”
“Rowing is an expensive, elitist sport,” said Asa. “When I returned home and got wind that there was a coach who was interested in helping to bring our people back to our waters with this sport I jumped in. Since 2014 I have negotiated a contract with the Syracuse Chargers for a coach and equipment, worked with Syracuse University Crew and Colgate University coaches to get equipment and indoor tank time, and garnered financial support from the Onondaga Nation to create a team. This sport requires money and dedication. Our women are university students, moms, and titleholders. It has been hard to find a space, equipment, and the means but each season we go after it. The members of this team inspire me and when we hit yet another obstacle, they help me get back on my feet.”
“Hickory Edwards is an avid canoeist who has done incredible work opening up our old routes on the water,” said Asa. “A university coach, Gere Reisinger, contacted him about starting a program here. Hickory reached out to me because of my experience in a competitive private school rowing program. We traveled two and a half hours many weekends in a row to get in a boat down around Wilkes-Barre. Rowing is an expensive sport, typically synonymous with private schools and Ivy League. We had to go where we found freebies.”
“Eventually we connected with former Colgate University’s Crew Coach Greg Kruczynski and he graciously offered us time with him on the water with university equipment,” said Asa. “That helped us because many of us are mom’s, involved in community projects, and we have a clan mother on the team, too. Being closer allowed us to take care of our responsibilities in our homes and our community.”
“Since the start of my journey I have received coaching training and was eventually recruited to coach for the Chargers Adult Corporate Rowing Team as well as the SyraCrew team,” said Asa. “The SyraCrew team is composed of students from the schools within the Syracuse City School District.”
“During this time, I worked at the local high school and with resources from local universities to bring indigenous knowledge perspectives into public school curriculum,” said Asa. “I also helped the students validate their own knowledge and we built a bridge between the tools they learned in the classroom with the needs of their community. Upon reflection, I was helping the students learn to do as figuring out how to do it myself. I left the LaFayette school district with programs for youth and resources for teachers in hopes the district continues to provide for the wellbeing and growth of all parties.”
“I am on to the next journey,” said Asa.
“I am currently a first step apprentice lineman, or line ma’am, as I call it,” said Asa. “I’ve been asking, but seems there isn’t another female lineman in my particular union; it brings me back to my wrestling days. I’m now thinking about what sovereignty means, renewable energy, energy dependence, and how turtle islanders and our communities can move away from an energy system that does not align with our values. My mother, my aunt, and my Aksodaha have all found a way to insert our voice into a system that did not seem to align. I hope I can find a way to do the same.”
Leaders help others follow to become leaders as well. “You’re never too young to have a voice or make a difference. If you feel an idea that keeps tapping you on the shoulder, don’t ignore it. For some of us from traditional families and communities, when we first step outside of the circle, you can feel lost and it can hurt. Find your peace, mine is the garden or on the water. It helps to shut out those many voices when you’ll feel a pull of duty to community versus what you want as an individual, and then what it seems you should be doing based on your peers.”
“Sometimes at home they might think you’re wandering too far away from where you come from, but trust that the values that brought you up will shine through when you follow your path. When you follow that path and that pull from down deep to do something, good medicine will follow you,” added Asa.
“Lastly, you’re never too old to do anything,” said Asa. “I’m 31 and making a huge career change. I take life seriously – I’m going to explore it and what all is inside of me until the end of this journey.”
Photo Credit: Asa Shenandoah
This is beautiful