The Three Sisters Sovereign Project: a women-led indigenous project in Akwesasne, NY [This is Part 1 of the Three Sisters Sovereign Project blog post]

On November 23rd 2019, not too far from New York City, The Three Sisters Sovereignty Project was launched by three resilient Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) women: Katsitsienhawi Iakoskarewake (Tiffany Cook), Teiohontáthe Iakoskarewake (Fallan Jacobs), and Kawenniiosta Iakohthahiónni (Kawenniiosta Jock) from the Mohawk Nation of Ahkwesasne (or Akwesasne) which straddles the borders of Ontario, Quebec and northern New York. This women-led Project focuses on dismantling the patriarchal mindset imposed by settlers at the origins of colonization and detoxifying the bodies and spirits of people on the reservation who are suffering from the proximity of not one, but four superfund sites. Superfund sites are areas in the US filled with hazardous toxic waste, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for investigating and cleaning up the infected territory, which tends to be a notoriously slow process.

The Three Sisters Sovereignty Project was born exactly out of the need for environmental, climate and anti-colonial justice which the Mohawks, as well as other indigenous communities in the US (and around the world), have been calling for since the colonial era. The Project aims to reach this goal by bringing the Mohawk people back to their original land, building a longhouse (mixing both traditional and modern techniques), and “teaching the Mohawk language, ceremonial and cultural traditions, and growing organic food and medicinal herbs using soil stewardship and regenerative agricultural practices,” as Aaron Perry, supporter of the project and a person of Mohawk descent, highlights in his podcast episode with the three sisters on Y on Earth.

Some context: Former and Present Colonization

Traditionally, the land of the Mohawk lies in the northeastern region of New York State, extending into Canada and Vermont. The first contact the Mohawk had with European settlers was with the Dutch, followed by the French. Both of these nations wanted to engage with the Mohawk to gain from their successful fur trade. The area where small rivers merge into the St. Lawrence River Valley was especially important to the Mohawk hunting and fishing practices, but unfortunately overtaken by colonizers and later by big corporations. Fast forward through settler colonial history, the area saw the arrival of General Motors (Central Foundry Division, hereafter as “GM”), Alcoa West, Alcoa East, and Domtar facilities, which were attracted to the area with the proximity of the St. Lawrence Seaway project that began in 1954. It widened and deepened the river by creating new canals and locks with the aim of opening the region to ocean-going vessels. As a result, in 1957 the Moses-Saunders Power Dam was constructed on the St. Lawrence River and attracted industries with its low-cost hydroelectricity. The map below shows the vicinity of all the four superfund sites that have historically been affecting the Mohawk people.

Map showing the four superfund sites surrounding the Mohawk territory. Courtesy of EHP — *Map showing the four superfund sites surrounding the Mohawk territory. Courtesy of* *EHP*

The toxic waste created by these companies has barely been cleaned up. In addition to that, the cleaning plans by companies such as Arconic might be very disruptive to the environment. Most importantly, considering that indigenous peoples’ way of life relies on food sovereignty, the contamination of the water constitutes a very critical problem for their health and socio-economic status.

Fallan opened up about her childhood memories of these toxic wastes. She spoke in particular of the clouds of smelly and dark smoke she would see coming from the ground: the airborne effect caused by attempts of covering up toxic waste in the soil. “Instead of taking the toxic waste out and refreshing the soil, this has been put into a box and covered with one layer of gravel and topsoil,” which is not a viable solution to getting rid of toxic waste in the ground. Fallan also spoke of detrimental health effects, such as birth defects, high rates of diabetes, cancer and asthma.

Jeremy Williams, Tiffany Cook’s son in law, who used to work at a rehab center on the reservation, also spoke about the psycho-physical effects of these pollutants. He spoke of how the pollutants contaminate not only the body but also the mind, considering that body and mind are intrinsically connected. He knows that this is the reason why men on the reservation abuse alcohol and drugs, but also their partners. In fact, as Roger Jock, Kaweniiosta’s father and Tiffany’s uncle, mentioned during the launch of the project, men and women have always been equal for the Mohawk people, and the Mohawks, being non-violent people, would normally never tolerate this kind of abusive behavior between one another, especially towards women, who carry the seed of life. The domestic violence that takes place is one of the effects of the contaminants in the ecosystem. “The pollutants contaminate the land, the waters, the animals. This compromises agricultural and fishing practices, which are our rights on the reservation,” said Jeremy, “Even though people know that the water of the river has PCBs, they still fish because it’s like our religion”.

Furthermore, according to Jeremy, the real problem is that toxins compromise the bodies, making people lethargic and without a will to physically move somewhere else, limiting their possibilities of feeling better altogether. “They never experienced feeling better,” said Jeremy. Additionally, by leaving the reservation, people might feel as if they are giving up on those few rights granted by the federal government. People feel that their rights to fish and hunt, for instance, or their rights to be free from the federal taxation system, would get lost if they were to move off the reservation. While this legislative issue must be solved because no community should feel like it has to choose between health and financial facilitations, Jeremy believes that moving is worth it. It would only be “losing something, to get something bigger”. When asked if people don’t want to leave because, perhaps, they might feel that they would lose their communities, he said that “the reservation is made by the people” and what will take to change things around is “to start the trend so people will follow it”.

This is exactly what The Three Sisters Sovereignty Project intends to do: give the people on the reservation the safety net to move back to their original land, while preserving their culture and healing their minds and bodies through harvesting their own foods. This is why this Project needs as much support as it can get: it is the Mohawk’s right (and aboriginal people’s around the world) to have the chance to move back to their original land and have the space and freedom to reestablish centuries of traditions that not only heal humans as a species but nature altogether.

The Three Sisters need your help to bring this project to life!

Kawweniiosta, Fallan and Tiffany standing at the waterfall on West Fulton, NY, the source of uncontaminated water which will provide to the food of the 3SSP. They are wearing traditional garments made by Kawweniiosta, another way of reclaiming their… — Kawweniiosta, Fallan and Tiffany standing at the waterfall on West Fulton, NY, the source of uncontaminated water which will provide to the food of the 3SSP. They are wearing traditional garments made by Kawweniiosta, another way of reclaiming their culture

Because of its fundamental mission, the Project needs your help. At the moment, the project is in the process of raising funding in order to buy more land, which will be used for the harvesting of food and for the building of the longhouse. If you want to contribute, please visit the Three Sister’s GoFundMe page to make your contribution. Even small contributions can make a difference.

Story by: Ludovica Martella