Mid-Winter Ceremonies Held At The Mohawk Nation Longhouse

The spiritual year begins in the middle of the winter when the dipper constellation appears directly over head in the night sky. When the constellation is seen directly above, you wait for the new moon to be seen. When the new moon is seen, you will sleep five nights. Upon awakening after five nights that day will be the first day of the Mid-winter ceremonies.

Prior to the first day of the Mid-winter ceremonies the “Big Heads” go from house to house . They renew the fires of each family and makes announcements. They also invite the people to attend the Mid-winter ceremonies.

In preparing for the Mid-winter ceremonies families gather their eating utensils, traditional clothing, and the proper food that is required for that particular day.

The first day of Mid-winter is called the stirring of the ashes. This is the day that the people of the long house split are into two groups. The men generally enter the long house from the eastern door and the women enter from the western door except for the beginning of the second day of Mid-winter.

The people separate by clan, the bear and snipe clans sit to the south of the long house and the wolf and turtle clans sit on the north side on the long house.

The wolf and turtle clan people come in the eastern door and the bear and snipe clan people enter the western door. This practise starts on the second day of the Mid-winter and the lasts duration of the ceremonies. Once inside the long house, people are to immediately proceed to their side of the house.

The first activity done on the firsy day is the thanksgiving address. Second the wampum is put out for the people to repent. Next is the stirring of the ashes. Paddles are given out to each side of the fire for the ritual of the stirring the ashes. Everyone gets their turn stirring the ashes starting with the Faith keepers, Chiefs, Clan mothers and then the people. All the ceremonies that are conducted in the long house are done in this order. In the process of the stirring the ashes, people are giving their gratitude to all life forms and to the Creator for all the fortunate things in the past year. They also request in a humble manner that the coming year be renewed with much power. Basically the symbolism of this is that the ashes turn to dirt and the dirt is the flesh of Mother Earth and from Mother Earth all things receive the power to grow.

After the stirring of the ashes is completed by all, the Great Feather Dance sanctions far all that has taken place. Words of encouragement are said and a Women’s dance follows to honor Mother Earth and all the women for their contribution and life.

The feast now takes place. Corn soup, fry bread, corn bread and berry juice are the essential foods for the Mid-winter ceremonies. After the feast, someone is chosen to close with the thanksgiving prayer for the day.

The second day of Mid-winter is the day for the White Dog Sacrifice, this ceremony is only done at Mid-winter. Before the actual White Dog ceremony begins the man who is chosen to speak on behalf of the people will yell three times. This symbolizes the three breaths of life given to the first human beings. He also yells three times to get the peoples attention so that all minds become one. Tobacco is collected from the people and is put into a white basket. Then the male and female Faith keepers Chiefs and Clan mothers gather close to the sacred fire. When the speaker is finished talking, the white basket with all the tobacco is thrown into the sacred fire.

The white fancy decorated basket is burnt in place of the actual white dog. This is to carry messages to the Creator. As soon as this is over, the Great Feather Dance is done. Everyone participates in the dancing. When doing the Great Feather Dance, it is said that you are to dance your best to show the creator how greatful you are that you can still dance.

After dancing and eating, a speaker is chosen to say the thanksgiving prayer as the closing for the day.

The third day of Mid-winter is the Three Great Feather Dances. Before anything starts a speaker is chosen to say the thanksgiving address. When this is completed the wampum is used and is placed in the middle of the long house. A time will be a lotted for anyone to hold the wampum and make amends or personally give greetings and gratitude to the Creator. The wampum is retrieved by the Faith keepers.

The first Great Feather Dance sponsored or on behalf of the Faith keepers to the Creator. The second Great Feather Dance sponsored by the people.

After the second Great Feather Dance encouragement is given and the Women’s dance is done, also the food dance is put through. Now the third Great Feather Dance is solely for the gratitude completely for the Creator. Everyone eats and then a speaker is chosen for the thanksgiving address.

The fourth day of Mid-winter is the Atonwa. A speaker is chosen for the thanksgiving address. Everybody offers their song for thanksgiving; Faith keepers, Chiefs, Clan mothers and then the people of the Nation.

This is also the day that the children receive their names. When a child gets their name, the clan mother, chief and the child go to the middle of the floor. The chief then introduces the child to the nation, the chief announces the child’s Mohawk name, their parents name and which clan they belong to. If the child is a male, a song is sung for them, as they go to the middle and back to where they sit depending on their clan.

This year there were seventeen bear clan, four snipe clan and twenty wolf clan children named. After all the children have been named the people take part in the Great Feather Dance and a speaker is chosen for the thanksgiving address to close for the day.

The fifth day of Mid-winter is the Drum Dance. The thanksgiving address is said by a chosen speaker. Two men are selected to sing the songs for the Drum Dance.

Everyone in the long house dances, a speaker is chosen and he sits in middle.

While everyone is dancing the speaker yells, the singing and dancing stops. The speaker says words for the people to the Creator. When the speaker is through talking, he will then yell again and the singing and dancing starts again. This goes on until the Drum Dance is preformed, after the Drum Dance has taken place, next is the Great Feather Dance. The feast now takes place and a speaker is chosen for the thanksgiving address to close for that day.

The sixth day of Mid-winter is the Peach Bowl Game. The game is played with the clans playing against each other.

A large wooden bowl is used for the peach pits. There are six dice made from the pits of a small peach. These peach pits are dried then burnt on one side so that it appears almost black. The opposite side is left natural. For the purpose of keeping score there are one hundred beans used.

The way that the dice fall determine how many beans one is allowed to take. This game is to honor and entertain our Creator for the good fortunes he has given us in the past year.

At the Mid-winter ceremonies the two sides bring articles that they favor. For instance, if a singer was to bring an article he would put in a favored rattle or drum in as a wager. The articles that were wagered from the two sides would be paired and tied together. At the end of the game, each player from the winning side retrieves the article he/she put in as well as what the article was paired and tied to. This year the Peach Bowl game was won by the Wolf and Turtle clans.

After the Peach Bowl Game is completed, the Great Feather Dance is finished, that sanctions the game. The side that won the Peach Bowl Games leads the Great Feather Dance. The feast then sanctions the events for that day. The feast also completes the entire events as they occurred throughout the days of the Mid-winter ceremonies. A speaker is chosen to give a short summary of what went on throughout the days of the Mid-winter ceremonies. Then the closing thanksgiving address officially completes the entire Mid-winter New Year Ceremonies.