Cultural Connection: Memorable Days for Grade 4 and Grade 5 Waldorf Classes
At HAWI, we believe in the power of learning through cultural experiences. In February, we had the pleasure of hosting five Grade 4 Waldorf classes for traditional Haudenosaunee social dancing and two Grade 5 Waldorf classes for traditional Haudenosaunee games with our partners at Onkwehonwe Games. Robyn Stevan (Toronto Waldorf School) has permitted us to share her recounting of our amazing day of dancing and Beth Henderson (Halton Waldorf School) shares about the exhilarating day of traditional games (reposted from the Halton Waldorf School Blog).
If you’re interested in similar cultural experiences, email us!
Grade 4 Waldorf Classes: Traditional Haudenosaunee Social Dancing
by Robyn Stevan, Toronto Waldorf School
On Thursday, Michelle Patterson's Grade 4 class joined Grade 4 children from Waldorf Academy, London, Trillium, and Halton (almost 100 students in total!!) at Six Nations to learn some social dances.
We all gathered in a large meeting room in the Banquet Hall of the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena with three men from Six Nations (Levi Skye who led the day, along with his brother, and a drummer), as well as Tekonwanyahesen (Stacy) and Ladaiya from HAWI.
Levi began with a Thanksgiving Address in Mohawk, and then taught us six social dances through the course of the morning. His explanation of the dances was also sprinkled with many words of wisdom—history of the Haudenosaunee people, as well as stories of him growing up on the reserve, learning and speaking his language, and being influenced by wise elders who shared their culture and music with him. It was a good mix of listening and doing. After he explained each song, everyone then got up to participate, then sat back down again for the next story.
We did the Standing Quiver dance, the Old Moccasin dance, and then the Alligator dance (which didn't come from here, but was traded with peoples from down south, in which the Haudenosaunee then made it their own), and the Women's shuffle dance. In the Women's shuffle dance, the men/boys (or anyone who wanted to) sat in the centre to join the singers and shake rattles. The women/girls made a circle and shuffled their feet around the circle to massage Mother Earth with their feet, "who is much in need of massaging right now". Jonathan found this particularly powerful being on the inside, and I too found the massaging around the circle especially beautiful.
The final dance, most everyone's highlight, was the "Duck Dance" and it was one in which one line (boy partners) went forward and the other (girl partners) went backward in time to the music, and when the drumming switched, the boys joined hands above, and the girls ran forward underneath the archway they made, trying not to get caught when the music changed. Much laughter ensued! While there were "boy" and "girl" lines and partners, it was all quite relaxed, and really anybody could choose any group to join.
Levi closed the morning off by opening up the floor to questions. The children had many, and below I'll paraphrase two of them:
Child: What is your favourite dance?
Levi: Oh, that's a tough one, I'd have to think about that. (he paused and then laughed). But you know what, in our culture, we are told not to have favourites. Nothing is better than anything else. I'm no better than you, and neither of us is better than that tree outside. Everything contributes in their own way, and if you remove one thing, things don't work so well.
Child: If you had one wish, what would it be?
Levi: I wish I could spend one day with my ancestors from 300 or 400 years ago. How did they live? What did they do? What did they talk about? So much of our culture was lost and only a fraction survives, and I'd love to spend that time with them, even an hour, and learn directly from them and how they lived.
There was no blame, no hint of anger in his voice, only warmth and pride, and a gentle presence that brought grace, wisdom, and humour to the day. He spoke about Indigenous people's resilience, and all I could think was what a gift it was for these children to see and hear directly from someone from Six Nations, giving context and immediacy to the Land Acknowledgements that can potentially feel distant both in time and space. His teachings resonated in a way that was heartfelt and authentic.
After lunch, we all gathered in our school groups to reflect on the morning's dances and teachings, and then joined all together in one giant circle to do a large group sharing, with a child from each school speaking on behalf of their class.
To close our day together, Tekonwanyahesen then did a final short Thanksgiving Address. She also told the children they would be back there next year for the Onkwehonwe games in Grade 5 (Traditional Six Nations Games), an announcement that elicited anticipation and excitement, especially as the room we were in overlooked the Lacrosse arena and had looked most enticing to them throughout our day there!
Grade 5 Visit to the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena
By Beth Henderson, Grade 5 Class Teacher
On February 15th, the grade five class from HWS and the class from Trillium Waldorf School in Guelph visited the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena on Six Nations for the First Annual Traditional Games Gathering. We are grateful to HAWI, who partnered with Onkwehonwe Games, for this opportunity to learn and experience three traditional games.
Bone and Toggle is deceptive in its simplicity: a bone carved into a circle is attached by hide to a gently pointed stick. The goal of the game is to swing the bone up and catch it on the stick. We had a rousing experience - especially when we were shown how to play this game in competition with each other.
Three-person Tug of War: in version of tug of war, the rope is attached to itself so that three players can form it into an equilaterial triangle. Behind each player is a ball just out of their reach. When the whistle blows, each player has to pull the rope and their two opponents far enough to grab the ball from behind them and hold it up, all while never letting go of the rope. It is a great challenge and is important to ensure players of similar size are set as opponents for each round.
Lacrosse: an energetic and complex game that teaches more skills than we can list here, including strategy, endurance, and team work. Though we did not have the opportunity to play a full game due to the weather calling an early end to our day together, we were able to have a lot of fun with drills, building a foundation for skills that would be used in the games. The children had a ball making a relay race out of the drills and supported each other beautifully.
It was such an amazing experience to be in a professional lacrosse arena, where so many great players have trained and played. We were honoured to take part in it this year and we hope that the classes coming up behind us have the same wonderful opportunity!!!
