Hudson Mohawk Magazine

In place of our regular Hudson Mohawk Magazine programing, today we share this episode of The Aunties Dandelion podcast called "Auntie Kahehtoktha - Keeper of the Seeds."

Show notes:

EPISODE SUMMARY

NARRATOR: On this episode of The Aunties Dandelion – an interview with Kahehtoktha Janice Brant - a Kanyen’kehà:ka Mohawk farmer, Seed Keeper, and co-founder of the Kenté:ke Seed Sanctuary. Janice and her Tyendinega collaborators recently took over care of a seed collection held by nuns for decades at a nearby convent. It’s been a journey of community engagement, discernment and the creation of a new and original wampum belt to honor the transfer of the seeds.

KAHEHTOKTHA JANICE BRANT: When you open that husk – it is like you are looking at an infant. You are looking at a baby. You are looking at the future generations and to me that is extremely humbling and extremely powerful. They have been around for a long time and here they are still.

NARRATOR: That power behhcomes a push back against our over culture -- and Kahehtoktha discusses the risks of caring for seeds with an intention sovereignty.

KAHEHTOKTHA JANICE BRANT: We are not trying to create control over the seeds. In fact just quite the opposite. We are trying to make seeds available to people to make healthier, stronger seeds available to people. So you can see how that sort of – just given that flip of the paradigm can make it a dangerous game to play. And so we have to be careful and we get stopped at the border. You become sort of like a terrorist almost in the same – we are dangerous because we are in charge of freedom and you are free when you have your own food.

In place of our regular Hudson Mohawk Magazine programing, today we share this episode of The Aunties Dandelion podcast called "Auntie Katsitsionni Fox (Kanyen'kehà:ka) Filmmaker, Artist, Potter."

Show Notes:

AUNTIE: Wa’tkwanonhweráton. Greetings, love, and respect from me to all of you. On this edition of The Aunties Dandelion we’re visiting with Katsitsionni Fox who is a beloved Bear Clan filmmaker, potter, and artist from our Kanyenkehà:ka territory of Akwesasne.

After decades of teaching Indigenous media and Rotinonhsyón:ni culture in her community’s schools – Katsitsionni has become an independent artist and filmmaker after receiving the Nia Tero’s storytelling fellowship in 2021 that unleashed her unique storytelling skills and perspective onto a global stage. She’s created two movies that aired on PBS with another on its way to completion and each film is profoundly tied to our Onkwehonwe teachings and practice.

KATSITSIONNI: I am not telling the story and disappearing. I’m going to be here. People come into the communities and try to harvest our stories and then it is not coming from the inside because they don’t have that connection and respect and that way of being I guess that comes from living in the community.

AUNTIE: Back in the day Katsitsionni trained at the acclaimed Institute for American Indian Arts in Santa Fe and her art installations and films have been featured at the Museum of Art and Design in New York, Musée Du Quai Branly in Paris, Everson Museum in Saracusev, the Ganondagan Seneca Museum and beyond.

Her art extends to new variations on traditional Rotinonhsyón:ni pottery and Katsitsionni attributes her prolific storytelling and art to the relationships she tends to in everything she does.

KATSITSIONNI: Whether its, you know, having a relationship with that clay. It is not something you just grab and slap together. For me I always greet that clay and I say “Nyá:wen” to the clay and I put my intention in there. What am I making? I have that intention. I share it with the clay before I start.

AUNTIE: I’m Kahstoserakwathe and we are Yéthi Nihsténha ne Tekarónyakénare. The Aunties Dandelion. We’re focused on revitalizing our communities through stories of land, language, and relationships. And we want to say Nyá:wenkò:wa – or big thanks – to Canada’s Indigenous Screen Office – teyonhkiwihstekénha – for making this podcast possible through their New Media fund.

Learn more about https://www.theauntiesdandelion.com

Today, on the Hudson Mohawk Magazine:

We begin with coverage of the Lights Out Norlite press conference before the recent DEC hearing.

Then, for our peace bucket, we talk with activists who hung banners in support of a Free Gaza at the Empire State Plaza on Wednesday.

Later on, Brea Barthel gives us another library report that looks at books about families.

After that, Moses Nagel covered the Sunday, November 19 dinner by Capital District Border Watch.

We finish with another segment about the challenges by adjunct college professors.

On Sunday, November 19, Capital District Border Watch hosted a dinner in Albany to Celebrate Asylum. Members of Capital District Border Watch along with other groups spoke about the history of asylum and spoke with some of the refugees who have recently arrived in the area. Venezuelan food was provided by a new catering company started by asylum seekers and there were live music performances. Moses Nagel was there.

On November 22, as Israel announced that it had agreed to a 4-day halt of their assault on Palestine, supporters of a Free Gaza did a banner drop over the roadway entrance to the Empire State Plaza to call for a permanent ceasefire and a halt to the killing of so many children. Mark Dunlea talks to three of the organizers of the banner drop for Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

Today, on the Hudson Mohawk Magazine,

First, Mark Dunlea tells about a NYS lawsuit against PepsiCo.

Then, Andrea Cunliffe reports on the event that took place at the time of the signing of the Clean Slate Act.

Later on, we continue to hear Willie Terry’s roundtable discussion entitled “The Struggle Continues”

After that, Brad Monkell brings comedian Erin Harkes into the studio.

Finally, for this week’s Talking with Poets, Thom Francis spotlights Albany poet Victorio Reyes Asili.

Comedian Erin Harkes came into the studio and talked about comedy, music, and podcasting with Brad Monkell.

Hugh Johnson, a retired meteorologist, talked with Alexis Goldsmith and Brea Barthel about a recent report on global emissions (see article linked below), about notable weather on past Thanksgivings, and on what's expected for the upcoming holiday and beyond.

"World on track to blow past 1.5C as emissions rise not fall" https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/global-warming-limit-un-report-b2450466.html

Fantasy, role-play games, airship disaster, and encyclopedias -- hear about a variety of topics in this month's picks of new books by Ian Hauck, of Troy Public Library's adut services. The choices discussed: "Forged by Blood: A Novel" (Okosun, 2023) is the first in a new fantasy series exploring colonization through Nigerian mythology. "Role PLaying" (Yardley, 2023) has a mother and college-age son trying to be more sociable through online gaming. "His Majesty's Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine" (Gwynne, 2023) is a non-fiction account of one of largest airship disasters in history, in 1930. "All the Knowledge in the World: The Extraordinary History of the Encyclopedia" (Garfield, 2023) delves into the history of efforts to compile all knowledge into one set of books, and reflects on similarity to the limitless range of online information. But even if all can be compiled, can all be absorbed by anyone? For more details on books and activities, visit www.thetroylibrary.org. To find other libraries in New York State, see https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/libs/#Find. Produced by Brea Barthel for Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

Thom Francis welcomes Albany poet Victorio Reyes Asili to the stage for a reading at The Linda, WAMC's Performing Arts Studio, presented by the Hudson Valley Writers Guild and literary journals Hobo Camp Review and Trailer Park Quarterly. That night in August 2023, Victorio read from his chapbook, "Crown Me: An American Mix Tape."