Ganondagan Games offer a taste of Iroquois winter life
With no crops to tend and fewer animals to hunt, the winter was a time when the Iroquois would relax a little bit, gathering in their longhouses to listen to tales from their traveling storytellers.
“The blanket of snow is putting mother earth to sleep, so it’s the time when the storytellers come out,” said Jeanette Miller, executive director of the Friends of Ganondagan. “They would go village to village.”
So it was fitting that indoor storytelling was among the most popular events at Saturday’s Ganondagan Native American Winter Games & Sports. Then again, the 18-degree weather probably had something to do with that as well.
The event, which has been running for five years, drew several hundred people to the Ganondagan Historic Site in Victor. When attendees weren’t warming up in the longhouse during storytelling, they were out braving the cold, participating in snowshoe races, watching demonstrations of toboggan making and maple sugaring, and playing snow snake, a traditional Iroquois game that involves sliding a thin spear down a ramp made of snow.
“Everything has to do with the life of the Seneca people,” said Miller, a member of the Mohawk Nation, which along with the Seneca Nation make up two of six Iroquois tribes that lived throughout upstate New York.
“People can come up and have a good time and learn at the same time.”
Hosted by the Friends of Ganondagan, the event also featured archery and traditional Native American food offerings. The event was established because the group wanted to be able to host events throughout the year, not just in the spring and summer. The Native American Winter Games & Sports allows for people to experience a taste of Iroquois winter life.
“They can go inside the longhouse, they can see snowshoes, or toboggans being made, and see how people could live hundreds of years ago,” said Perry Ground, president of the board of Friends of Ganondagan. “That’s what we’re here for and what we want to teach about.”
It was the first time that Brighton resident Mark Shapiro attended the event. It was also the 17-year-old’s first time in snowshoes. “You have to lift your knees a bit higher than regular walking, so you had to adjust your walk a bit,” said Shapiro. “But it was interesting to see how people used to get around.”
SDOBBIN@DemocratandChronicle.com
