Splitting black ash into strips for basket weaving, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, September 30, 2025, Lamoureux Park, Cornwall, Ontario. The day is called informally Orange Shirt Day, after a shirt that was taken from a child when she was forced to go to a residential school that this day commemorates for the abuse and harm done to natives in Canada by this school system which tried to strip them of their culture and identity.
The ash separates into strips easily after pounding. It had a pleasant smell, and the man told me that the ash was related to the olive tree, which also has a nice smell. My mother's friend, Cecelia Thomas, who lived in Akwesasne and was a famous basket maker, told us that white people didn't know what to do with the black ash. The man said he harvested the ash from local forests and that the tree is under attack by the emerald ash borer, an invasive species.
Haudenosaunee often wear images of their clans, sometimes even on their cars. There is a Turtle clan singer next to a Bear clan.
Dreamcatchers. Originally Ojibwe they have become popular across North America - they catch bad dreams which dissolve in the sunlight next morning, but the good dreams know how to find their way out to the dreamer.
Orange doughnuts. Chocolate and vanilla. Given away but I gave a donation.
Dancing at sunset
Fox and Raccoon game, Haudenosaunee. I didn't hear the complete explanation but when the music stops, one dancer is the fox and the other is the raccoon and the first chases the second and tries to catch them.
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