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AKWESASNE — Reflecting on a culture a millennium in the making, the future shouldn’t be daunting for the Native North American Travelling College.

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The college, based out of its facility in Akwesasne’s Kawehno:ke district, celebrated 50 years with three days of activities that represented the steady resurgence of the Mohawk way of life.

In addition to storytelling, smoke dancing, social gatherings, and music, the 50th anniversary presented five symposium sessions titled: Resurgence, Education and Community-Based Cultural Continuity. The last session looked to the future and how the next generations will keep the cultural torch alight.

For college executive director Joyce King, the next steps should be about remembering the college’s origins.

“In regard to the future, I want to go back to that early vision, where we had an exchange between other Indigenous nations, and see how we can support them,” King said, providing a condensed version of her talk on Sunday morning.

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She said knowledge needs a bridge between communities, “and is there anything else we can do better.”

While there are considerable ongoing efforts to revive the Mohawk language and customs within their communities, King said off-reserve members may not be as fortunate. She said the possession of an Indigenous status card does little for a person’s own identity.

“If a person asks, ‘Who you are?’ and you say, ‘I’m an Indian;’ well, what kind of Indian? If you’re Mohawk, what does that mean?” she said. “Is it the card carrying your identification, or are these the (Mohawk) ceremonies that makes me unique, to want to experience our culture?

“The college wants to give back the identity to the person to make them whole again.”

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King maintained if an Indigenous person becomes immersed in their culture, there are greater possibilities for a positive outcome.

She explained the Mohawk culture does not differentiate between mind, body, and spirit.

“Which in our society that might be rolled into one (because) if the spirit is down, the mind is down and body is going to be down.”

A better understanding of each own’s Indigenous background will help prevent the abuse of exterior modifiers, such as drugs and alcohol.

King noted how the loss of identity leads to risky pursuits that could result in criminal actions. When that happens, she said the individual not only suffers, but also their direct family members.

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While there remains work to be done, King said she’s been impressed with the inroads being made between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, including between the City of Cornwall and Akwesasne. She praised Cornwall’s current administration, headed by Mayor Justin Towndale, for ensuring city staff members receive sensitivity training.

“That is a refreshing surprise and a great surprise. I’ve never seen that before,” King said.

Considering the college’s important role into the future, King said more funding will be needed to expand services.

In order to expand onsite amenities, she would like to see the construction of a replica longhouse as a way of better explaining the historical social fabric of a Mohawk household.

There were four other symposium sessions. The first two were held Friday, celebrating the Akwesasne and Kanien’kehá:ka culture, followed by a marking of the 50th anniversary of the college and its founding corporation, Onake.

The third session dealt with the college’s travelling troupe’s experiences, teaching and transformation.

Session four examined the arts and language as tools for cultural learning and continuity.

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