A Clan Mother's Call: Reconstructing Haudenosaunee Cultural Memory

by Jeanette Rodríguez

Indigenous communities around the world are gathering to both reclaim and share their ancestral wisdom. Aware of and drawing from these social movements, A Clan Mother's Call articulates Haudenosaunee women's worldview that honors women, clanship, and the earth. Over successive generations, First Nation people around the globe have experienced and survived trauma and colonization. Extensive literature documents these assaults, but few record their resilience. This book fulfills an urgent and unmet need for First Nation women to share their historical and cultural memory as a people. It is a need invoked and proclaimed by Clan Mother, Iakoiane of the Mohawk Nation. Utilizing ethnographic methods of participatory observation, interviewing and recording oral history, the book is an important and useful resource for capturing "living" histories. It strengthens the cultural bridge and understanding of the Haudenosaunee people within the United States and Canada.

Genres: Indigenous, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

Published January 2, 2018

Reviews

[Arynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief, or at least not as in-depth as I expected, but done respectfully and in full collaboration with the voices featured.

Beautifully highlights Iakoiane Wakerahkats:teh, Bear Clan Mother's words, while enriching her points with other indigenous voices and observations.

Strong themes of: resilience, ritual, interconnectedness, responsibility and reciprocity with the earth, spiritual rites of initiation, strong cultural roles, "re-indigenizing," revival of mythology/truth/story, and identity