And Grandma Said: Iroquois Teachings As Passed Down Through the Oral Tradition

Tom Porter is a member of the Mohawk Nation near the Saint Lawrence River, and an archivist of Mohawk language and teachings. This book is a collection of philosophies he gathered from his relatives over the years, ranging from creation stories to musings about the language. I think the language chapter is the best, because it’s quite funny; he compares English translation to watching a black and white TV. Words in Mohawk are far more descriptive than the English translation, such as “this red shirt” in English would be “this shirt is the color of the blood that flows through my body” in Mohawk. They don’t say “bury the dead,” but “wrap him in the earth.” The language is very descriptive and metaphoric, while English, by comparison, is a bit blunt. That’s why English translation of Native American can’t really be accurate.

But here’s where an English speaker might think of Mohawk language as blunt; Porter, as per tradition, refers to older persons as “grandpa,” so it’s a little hard to tell which are his blood relatives. From his description, life was clan oriented. As for school, he describes it as bizarre and annoying. On the first day, the Mohawk social worker says to them “you have to learn to read and write so you can sit behind a white man’s desk in a shirt and tie and push paper, not like your elders who shovel manure and husk corn.” Now imagine saying that to a callous-palmed farm boy in the Midwest. Do you think he’d want to go from a “manly” job to cubicle hell?

The chapter on the St. Regis Mohawk school starts with some bad memories, like white teachers hitting the kids with rulers. But then it turns into comedy. They have to sing “Yankee Doodle” which to them is completely alien, because their music consists of water drumming. Then they sing about a bridge falling down, or about weasels going around bushes, and wondering what kind of song is this? They think the teacher is practicing witchcraft because when she spins, the seat goes up (because of the screw in the chair, but none of them have furniture like that.) Then they have “art” involving a Christmas, and he’s wondering why they’d chop down a tree and put it IN the house. As for the popcorn stringing, well they’ve been told that you never, ever, ever, waste food! He thought the teachers had gone crazy.

While I found a lot of this book hilarious, my only criticism is that it’ll be a tough sell to get non-Mohawk to read it. I wonder if a straight autobiography would be more appealing, with an emphasis on the funny or shocking parts, the way Frank McCourt did with Angela’s Ashes. The “fish out of water” concept always makes for great storytelling. Maps would be welcome too, as I had some trouble understanding exactly where the stories too place, whether it was on or off the reservation, in the USA, or Canada. Nonetheless, I recommend using this book with middle school students as part of US history, especially the “Trading Eyes” chapter. I can just imagine their faces when they learn that “squaw” means “woman’s reproductive organ.”

Then again maybe not. It might go from being a racial slur to a scatological obscenity.