Two Row Paddlers Stop in Piermont

Close to 100 paddlers on kayaks and canoes landed in Piermont late Wednesday afternoon after seven hours on the Hudson River as part of the Two Row Wampum Renewal campaign.

Organized by the Onondaga Nation and Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation, paddlers are spending 25 days on the river and at campsites in order to recognize the anniversary of Two Row Wampum Agreement. The treaty was signed in 1613 between the six Iroquois nations, and the Dutch settlers to ensure peace, friendship and love.

The paddlers began their journey on July 14 in Onondaga Nation, near Syracuse, and are set to end their journey August 9 in Manhattan. By that point, the paddlers will have rowed over 140 miles.

For many of the paddlers, this was their first time taking a kayaking trip.

“I’ve never been on a kayaking trip before,” said Jason Tripodo, a man who came from San Francisco upon being asked by his Native American friend. “It was a little rough, but it’s important to me to support native people.”

Once everyone had landed, a celebration broke out in Pirelli Park in Piermont, with music, food and dancing.

Piermont mayor Chris Sanders was at the park to extend a welcome to the paddlers and supporters of the cause.

“On behalf of the village, or shall I say, nation of Piermont, welcome. We honor the Two Row here, and wish you a pleasant and enjoyable stay, and safe journey down the Hudson,” Sanders said. 

Chief of the Onondaga Nation, Jake Edwards presented a replica of the Wampum belt, which has two colors, representing two sides to the treaty.

“We’ve traveled far and long with this belt, on the river that flows both ways. This belt is the foundation of all treaties that Americans made,” Edwards said.

When the group arrives in Manhattan, Edwards and the paddlers are set to speak with the United Nations in order to get their ideals across.

“We’re going to the UN to extend education of our oral teachings to the world,” Edwards said. “You must persuade your government to honor the treaty and help to protect the environment.”

Chief Edward’s nephew Hickory Edwards also spoke at the gathering. Hickory served as the head paddler and coordinator for the Two Row. Starting two years ago, he began mapping out the trail for the paddlers.

“It felt really good to get here today. We’ve been planning it for years. A lot of my life has gone into these 25 days,” said Hickory.

Hickory is the carrier of the Wampum belt, a position that he does not take lightly.  

“Four hundred years ago our grandfathers made this treaty for us, so that we could survive “ Hickory said. “Four Hundred years later we’re standing here. It’s our time now to look 400 years into the future and leave the earth the way we want it for our grandchildren. Its up to us now.”

Along with the Onondaga nation, the Sparkill Watershed Alliance put in a great effort to make sure the paddlers could land in Piermont.

Margaret Grace of the watershed alliance has been involved in organizing the event for close to a year.

“The Two Row committee actually reached out to the us because as they we’re environmental advocates, and we were so excited to be able to help them,” Grace said.

In January the Alliance and the committee discussed Piermont as a landing site. The Alliance brought this idea to the Piermont Village Board of Trustees, and they unanimously voted to let the paddlers set up camp in the park.

“It's such a great opportunity for the village to protect the environment, have activity on the waterfront and be involved in our history,” Grace said.

Laurie Seeman was one of the leaders of the event, and began her involvement with the Two Row in 2010. As chairperson of the Sparkill Watershed Alliance, and as a woman of some Native American descent, Seeman is proud to have the Two Row and raise awareness about the environment in Piermont.

“This is the melding of people who understand what we’re trying to do. It's activating people,” Seeman said.

Seeman dedicates her life advocating for clean water, and expressed her strong opposition of United Water’s plan to build a desalinization plant in Havestraw.

“The idea of desalinization of a water rich place with trees and water and marshes all around is a measure of last resort and can’t possibly be granted. It's wrong,” Seeman said.

It's clear that the environment is also the main driving force for Chief Edwards.

“By being here today, it means we’re not going anywhere. We need to protect the water, stop hydro-fracking and honor the treaties that were made for peace and friendship,” Edwards said.

The original Wampum treaty between the Onondaga Nation and the Dutch included natural laws to abide by and share in the bounties of mother earth. The natives wanted to share with the Europeans the idea that you leave what you don’t need to survive. However, the treaty was immediately violated with the beginnings of the fur trade.

“The woods are our home, the sky is our ceiling and the trees are our walls,” Edwards said. “We do anything it takes to protect mother earth.”

The Onondaga Nation is adamantly against casinos, and entirely for fresh clean water.

There are between two and four thousand in the Nation, all living independently of government funding. The only funding the nation was set up in a 1794 treaty. Each member of the nation receives 1/3 a yard of Muslim cloth a year, and nowadays don’t have much use for it.

“We refuse non-treaty funds because there are always strings attached,” Edwards said. “We would have to accept that the nation is not an equal governing body with the U.S. government, and we can’t do that.”

Edwards insists that assimilation is hurting his people, and that the policies of the United States are not good for anyone. The only way the Nation has survived is through oral teachings.

“The Two Row was created to signify us and the white man living side by side, not interfering with each other’s vessels,” Edwards said. “We won’t let them break us down. Though we’re tired and small, we’re still here and going nowhere.”