Ames.
[cheering & applauding]
Oneida nation on the fertile farmlands of southwestern
Ontario, on the eastern bank of the thames river.
It is home to the oneida.
The oneida being one of the six nations of the
Iroquois confederacy, the haudenosaunee.
And just to clarify for people at home who don't know,
Haudenosaunee is the term coming into more popular
Usage now because it is the indigenous word as opposed to
Iroquois... Which is the french word,
So why not use the original?
Iroquois is still widely used,
But for people like myself who, you know,
Really know their shit...
[laughing]
Why not go with the original?
It's only a couple of syllables longer,
I had it down pat in less than an hour.
Haudenosaunee. No sweat.
I'll be able to spell it by next week.
[laughing]
When you grow up in a small town in newfoundland,
You see that people have
A sense of humor about hard times.
Check, check.
I turned that into a career and hit the road.
Mr. Jonny harris!
Now I'm on a mission to find the funny in the places
You'd least expect- canada's struggling small towns.
Towns that are against the ropes, but hanging in there,
Still laughing in the face of adversity.
This is oneida nation of the thames.
♪
[cheering & applauding]
Good farmland was what the oneida were looking for when
They were routed from their homeland in upstate new york
On the american side of lake ontario.
And here they settled.
And for decades, life and farming was going pretty well.
The oneida established a reputation for cultivation
For growing beans, squash, corn,
Until the 1930s, when the indian act was used
To not just kneecap your economy, but your way of life.
It was made illegal for the oneida to participate
In commercial agriculture.
It was illegal for you to sell to outsiders,
Illegal for them to buy from you.
They could get in trouble if they got caught.
They could be caught carrying an ear of "corn-traband".
[laughing]
♪
To learn the history of the oneida,
I met up with elected to council at the age of 21
Oneida's benevolent "doxtator", brandon doxtator.
[cheering & applauding]
Brandon told me about how in 1838,
The american president signed in the
Treaty of buffalo creek.
This was part of the american forced displacement of
Self-governing indigenous people.
There was a treaty called the treaty of buffalo creek,
Where they essentially said, "get out of here,
Convert or die," you know, and so our people decided to
Sell their lands and get the heck out of there, you know.
And the oneida purchased this land.
That's the difference between this place and
Many indigenous reservations.
So, it's not reserved land, right?
It's not held under trust by the queen.
And that's a really unique situation amongst all the
First nations communities in canada.
This place is not a reservation because
The land was bought and paid for.
Although with all the conflicts you've had with the
British crown about what was promised and what was
Delivered, it's a bit like a reser-
It's a bit like a reservation with air canada.
You know what I mean?
It's like, wait a minute, but I bought that land.
It's paid for.
"yeah, but we didn't think everybody who bought land
Was going to show up."
[laughing]
So after our community moved here and settled in
We were very industrious.
Brandon told me that in the 1930s,
The canadian government began heavier enforcement
Of the indian act.
We're in the middle of the great depression.
There's a lot of competition.
Farmers, they're getting mad that the oneidas are
Out selling them and out competing them.
And so they went to the indian agent and
Told him that our, our cattle all had disease.
People had to hide livestock from the indian agents
Who enforce the indian act.
Indian agents would come round to the farms.
And I don't know much about cows, but I know it is
Likely that they will be spotted...
[laughing]
Or heard.
[laughing]
Government policies like the indian act
Wiped out our community's economy.
But it wasn't just about farming.
Brandon told me that the indian act,
It destroyed culture, language, song, dance.
Indigenous people weren't allowed to gather to practice
Their ceremonies, you know it became illegal
Under the indian act to do so.
Brandon said even a sunrise ceremony was forbidden.
It was dark times.
Traditional songs and dances had to be done secretively.
My ancestors had to hide their ceremonies
Without the indian agent knowing.
Thinking about these indian agents.
I don't know, I find something sort of like tragic and sad and
Also funny about a grown adult becoming irate at a dance.
[laughing]
Also, this was the thirties.
Like there were some strange dances happening
At that time, like the charleston knees.
[laughing]
The indian agent is like, "don't let me see you
Doing any of those weird ceremonial dances.
Check this out."
[laughing]
"pretty good, right?"
"but don't you guys dance."
[laughing]
Brandon knows not just the
Importance of elders in this community,
But also of youth, guiding oneida into the future.
And he wants to be a part of it.
He said, you know, the elders
Hid farming, hid culture.
Our community was in this mode of survival.
You know, we were just trying to hold on to
As much as we could.
And now we can position ourselves
In a space to thrive.
Brandon said older generations had to focus on
Surviving, and now it's up to the youth to start thriving.
[cheering & applauding]
♪
When it comes to historic treaties,
This guy wears the land title belt.
To find out where the oneida are
Compared to where you've "bead"...
I talked to community lawyer, martin powless.
[cheering & applauding]
Martin is a former defense attorney who left his
Practice to become legal counsel,
Policy adviser and community advocate
For the oneida, by day.
By night, he beads belts.
[laughing]
The wampum belts, he explained to me
A wampum belt is a beaded tapestry
With a tale to tell.
Wampum belts are agreements between nations,
First and foremost, or to commemorate important events
Or declaration of events.
It's a recall device, almost like a mnemonic device, right?
It is a visual reminder of significant events,
Wars, treaties, agreements.
It's like a river of knowledge that goes
Between generations, right.
So this is a flow of information that we
Pass on to the next generation.
Things both spiritual and historical.
Like I have a belt, I've got this white belt that
Tells of my brief history with taekwondo,
Beautiful white belt, all white.
[laughing]
I also got a beaded necklace I got in the dominican that
Tells the story of how I like to party.
[laughing]
One belt that martin spoke quite passionately about
Was the two row wampum belt.
This was from 1613, treaty of towagonshi
And this is our society, that's the settler's society.
They're separate but equal.
And it's just two straight lines against the white.
And he said this represented an agreement between the
Haudenosaunee and early european settlers.
And it represented equality.
That's always been our position that we're not,
We're not your children, we're your brothers, right.
We go through life as equal societies.
But there's also the line of white between the two.
Generally, in wampum belts, the white symbolizes peace.
It's the white line of peace
That should exist between the two.
Just like my mom would put the white pillow of peace
Between, on long car rides, between my brother and I.
Between us, so that we wouldn't interfere.
[laughing]
I've always been enthralled by wampum belts.
But it wasn't until I was fifty years old that
I actually had one in my hands.
It's my belief that these things need to be handled.
Like touch that, hold it, feel it.
It's got feeling in it from the person making it.
It takes feelings from everybody that handles it.
And you can notice the weight of it.
I say it has the weight of history to it.
The original wampum was reserved for elders and
Preserved in museums.
And that's something that martin wants to change.
He thinks they should be more accessible to
The youth as a teaching device.
And that's why he makes ones that are not only of his own
Design, but exact replicas of the original wampum.
The belts are made out of the utmost of respect.
They're not the original ones.
But I think our people deserve to have these in
Their hands and learn about them.
I want to make our children stronger with this.
When we go off the territory and they go out and make
Their way in the world, they got to know who they are.
But when they know this stuff,
They're going to be much stronger citizens.
And they'll be able to handle the stresses
That life gives them.
Making one of these belts can take 75 to 80 hours.
Very time consuming, labor intensive,
Careful, careful work.
So hey, martin, are you finished that belt yet?
"no, keep your pants on."
[laughing]
So usually most nights I'll sit there and watch jeopardy
And just do my beading.
You know, just the way to spend the time
Constructively, I guess. Yeah.
He beads the wampum while he's watching jeopardy,
But sort of slow going.
Our returning champ martin powless.
His seven day total about this much.
[laughing]
[cheering & applauding]
♪
To tell me her "udderly" amazing story of cows
She was prodded back into the milking family business
From mother earth farms, I spoke to angie antone.
[cheering & applauding]
When angie started, she had zero farming experience and
Decided to learn on the job.
She bought 22 cows from quebec.
It was like a twelve, twelve hour drive here.
So when they got here, they weren't happy.
And despite setting up an electric fence,
They all ran away.
[laughing]
They just busted right through the fences and
They were gone. [laughing]
She was shocked, the cows were clearly not.
[laughing]
This kicked off an oneida nationwide cow hunt.
[laughing]
They went like through the bushes.
They hid on us.
We ended up hiring like real cowboys to come in.
They couldn't catch them.
We couldn't catch them. Like, they were everywhere.
So I had to put on social media.
You know, "please drive safe.
If you see my cows, can you just give me a call?
It doesn't matter what time it is."
Everybody was involved from all over the town.
[laughing]
They set up a hotline.
A ,"where's the beef?" hotline.
We had people calling at two o'clock in the morning, like,
You know, your cow was on my front lawn eating our grass.
You know, we seen it walking down ballpark road.
-[laughing] -yeah, yeah, yeah.
People call in with tips.
It was a different kind of cow tipping here in oneida.
[laughing]
It was three weeks they were on the, on the lam.
[laughing]
She doesn't do dairy like a typical commercial farm.
Okay, the calves stay with their moms, if they want to,
Because it's less stressful for everyone.
The cows also sort of get to choose their own lifestyle.
Sometimes you get the odd ones they won't even come in.
They're like, "no, we don't want to be milked."
She said these cows, they don't even get milked
If they don't feel like it.
But the idea is less stress will lead to
A better product, right?
Milk is most delicious, not when it's cold,
But when it's pretty chill.
[laughing]
Angie doesn't think of her farming output as
The measure of success.
Rather, she's looking to a bigger end goal-
Restarting the great farming tradition here in oneida.
I'm hoping that more of our young people would
Come in and like I'm always open.
Come in and ask me questions.
And I'll tell you like straight up that
No, it's not easy, but it can be fun, you know.
She's hiring young people from the community to
Work on the farm. She's hoping that you know,
One day when she has to give it up.
It won't be another forty-year gap
Until the next farm sprouts up.
And it's good that the youth are learning that,
You know what they say give a youth a glass of milk,
They will drink for a day.
Teach the youth to milk a cow, they'll have milk,
Well, whenever the cow feels like, I guess.
[laughing & applauding]
I met with a couple of women who are reviving this
Community's linguistic appetite,
Erica elijah and yehawi ninham.
[cheering & applauding]
Erica and yehawi told me that they had a similar childhood
Experience with the oneida language.
We were only taught like a list of single words.
And so we can't make a really conversation
Out of learning, 'dog, cat'. - Yeah.
It was a lot of memorizing phrases,
And not really understanding what they meant.
You know, they heard a lot of words...
Recognized a few of them, but didn't understand
The bulk of it. I have that kind of
Conversation with my accountant every year.
[laughing]
He just talks a lot, I'm like, "oh, yeah...
Of course, arrears, yes, please continue."
[laughing]
The thing, is learning the language now,
You don't need to worry about getting a
Hard time from the indian agent,
But you might get a hard time from your friends.
Yehawi told me that one day she was telling them
She had a pain in her arm.
I was trying to tell her that I had a sore arm,
Which is [speaking oneida].
What I ended up saying- [speaking oneida].
So that little 'h' sound instead of saying, 'wug',
I said 'wuk". And here, she start laughing.
You said, "I have a sore ass." [laughing]
And she's mortified because, you know,
She's relatively advanced in learning the language and
Suddenly it sounds like she doesn't know
Her arse from her elbow.
[laughing]
There's a lot of great work being done around the
Community to promote the language now.
We had this cooking show idea where we would kind of like
Immerse ourselves the best way we could
With the language that we knew.
[speaking oneida]
And they would be doing a cooking class in oneida and
They would have older master speakers in case it was
Something they didn't know how to say.
And so you could tune in and you'd be making your meal and
Learning the words for the ingredients in the process.
And you know, practical thing- important, like numbers,
Numbers is an important one for cooking.
I don't know why you're sick, I baked that chicken for
Half an hour at 35 degrees. I don't know.
[laughing]
Also, if you couldn't tune in that night to do the cooking,
It all exists on social media.
They'll post it on facebook or youtube or tik tok.
I think that this is the funnest food feature on
Tik tok, aside from watching skateboarders
Bruise their plums.
[laughing]
♪
Included in the revival of tradition in this community
Is a sport, a sacred game.
I spoke with an expert in the field,
A man who doesn't get angry, he gets lacrosse,
Coach ron elijah.
[cheering & applauding]
I didn't know much about lacrosse.
For me, my introduction to lacrosse was I think like
Most people across the country when canada's
National sport was on a trivia question
We all got wrong.
[laughing]
I was searching for my identity, like who am I?
Who's, what's my traditional side?
And a part of that was lacrosse.
But it is an old sport, even written english history
Predates it to european contact by hundreds of years.
Ron said it's even older than that.
I learned my creation story and where we came from,
That game was actually before the earth,
Like before our creation story,
Lacrosse was being played.
He said, "this is a game the haudenosaunee played in the
Sky world and brought with them to this earth
At the dawn of creation."
Like really old. I'm talking old.
Like, compared to lacrosse, the good old hockey game
Is good, but it's not old.
[laughing]
He also said it is a political game,
That sometimes it was used to solve disputes.
It was called the little brother war.
We couldn't decide sitting down,
We'd have to have a game of lacrosse.
In fact, he said the name for
It means, 'little brother of war'.
There's a lot less, you know, grief and suffering that
Comes with lacrosse, unless you get hit in la crotch.
-That ball... -[laughing]
That ball is dense.
[laughing]
There was a little scrimmage happening.
Ron and I went out and played for a little bit.
You know, I'm not very good at lacrosse.
When it comes to lacrosse, I'm pretty la crap.
[laughing]
Some of the kids that ron coach are playing in london
On the blue devils. Some, including his son,
Are playing in college in syracuse.
Some are competing at the
American junior college nationals.
You know, they're, they're good at the game.
I had no one to look up to when I was,
When I was these guys' age. I had no heroes for lacrosse.
I didn't know anybody.
And now these guys, their cousins,
Their older brothers, they got heroes that are doing it.
They're going to be pros.
They're going to be at the next level.
So it's gonna just blow right up.
And it's just awesome pride for our community.
And they respect the game, something that evan said,
Evan john said.
Proud of it 'cause it's our game, and...
It's a medicine game to us, so, yeah.
He said, "this game is medicine."
I was, like, oh, yeah, right, 'cause you know,
You're playing and exercising and getting healthy.
And he said, "no, no, it's like for our elders,
It's medicine."
You're playing for your elders,
People that can't play no more.
It brings them good energy to see us out there.
And we're just fulfilling like a tradition.
That thought was in my mind then, you know,
This idea that you know, I'm thinking about revival
Of tradition and of language, connectivity.
You know, lacrosse seasons and farming and medicine.
And I'm thinking about all this and then it struck me...
And it hurt, that ball is dense.
[laughing]
-Good game. -Nice, thanks.
That was awesome.
♪
A cultural revival, I suppose you could say
Is what's been happening here.
Lacrosse made a comeback.
So too the oneida language,
Though my knowledge of it is surely in arrears.
[laughing]
It's a language here that few could speak and
Even fewer taught it.
In a place where a cow might just go on the land,
Perhaps though the indian agent won't spot it.
Elders hid a flame, let it flicker so small,
That agents of change couldn't find it.
And it's returning as a blaze on the banks of the thames
And in the hearts of the oneida.
Thanks for coming out everybody.
You've been great.
It was so lovely to be here. Thank you.
[cheering & applauding]
It brought a lot of the important parts of our
Community and it's rebuilding pride in us and
I think our people really need that.
Oneida has so many opportunities and is
Positioning itself in such a good way that, you know,
It's exciting to be here.
[laughing] it was a lot of fun.
It was really good, yeah.
♪
Feels like home.
There you go, shoot that. Oh, hit the post!
I didn't realize I got the pass!
A lot of oneidas, we either laugh or cry about things.
And he brought out the positive side of that,
So I was very happy that he was so respectful of,
You know, the issues that's pretty sensitive to us,
But it was presented really nicely.
[speaking oneida]
It's two thumbs, two thumbs up.