Friday, February 26, 2010

Save Ganondagan Video

Please see the following for a few of the reasons to keep Ganondagan from closing!!



-kim

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Save Ganondagan!

Dear Friends,

As many of you may have heard, Governor Paterson has made serious cuts to New York State's parks budget, closing or reducing services to 57 parks in New York State. Although Ganondagan has been removed from the "cut list," funding is now slated to be handled by the Environmental Protection Fund and must be approved by legislature, which puts our funding at serious risk.

If funding is cut or Ganondagan is closed - even for one year - it could irreparably damage the land, the buildings and the programming, obliterating the 23 years that have gone into creating this national treasure.

We are asking for your help in making legislators and the Governor understand why Ganondagan must be preserved, now and in perpetuity. At our website, we give links making it easy for you to click on the link, find your representatives and send an email.

Ganondagan is many things to many people, and by sharing what Ganondagan means to you, the legislators will realize the many ways in which Ganondagan contributes to the state, the community and its people. In case you've got writer's block, we've drafted a letter with several paragraphs from which you might select two or three to cut and paste or to use as inspiration in your communications with legislators.

The Iroquois people have a philosophy called "The Seventh Generation," traditionally applied to environmental concerns, that all decisions, all actions, must be regarded in terms of how they will impact those living seven generations in the future.

Please go today to the links listed on our website, before it is too late, to make your voice heard, taking action to protect Ganondagan for at least seven generations, for your grandchildren and your grandchildren's grandchildren.

Nya:weh (thank you)!

PS. - Be sure to visit our website to see a wonderful slide show showcasing many of the things that would vanish if Ganondagan closed its doors. See the show at: www.ganondagan.org/about/SaveGanondagan.html.

Monday, February 15, 2010

The Gift of Food

We have recently re-designed our Recipebox web page. It now has a greater focus on the foods indigenous to the Americas. Besides recipes, we also have a brief introduction to the history and origins of the food items. Some of the foods that were cultivated and harvested by the Native peoples of the Americas may surprise you. Did you know that the peanut and chocolate were first grown and harvested in South America and Central America respectively?

We have also doubled the number of recipes we are offering and have included images of the various food items. We hope you will enjoy this new resource and try some of the recipes. Also, be sure to check back often since we will be adding additional New World food items as well as new recipes!

Speaking of the traditions of food, I recently picked up a magazine that featured "heirloom," forgotten recipes - recipes that have been made for generations but have largely been forgotten. We all have recipes that have been passed down to us. I included one such recipe (Scalloped Corn in the corn recipe section). This recipe has been made in my family for at least 4 generations. It is a simple recipe that takes canned sweet corn - something put away during the harvest season and adds a few common farm-fresh ingredients to create a something-from-nothing dish. It is simple but tasty. And in eating it, you can appreciate the creativity of our ancestors to stretch what simple and sometimes meager food items they may have had into something more.

So in our re-launch of our Recipe pages, we would like to offer you the opportunity to submit your recipes featuring New World food items for possible inclusion in our Recipebox page. If it is a family tradition or if it has an interesting story that can be briefly shared, please feel free to send that along with your recipe. It is sometimes those bits of color and history that truly make the recipe! Send your submissions to us at friends@frontiernet.net. Thanks and enjoy!

-kim

Monday, February 1, 2010

Parks & Trails New York - Call to Action: Don't Close my Park!

Urgent: Parks to close unless you speak out!

If there's one time New York's parks need your help it's now.

The Governor's proposed budget slashes funding for state parks. If the budget passes as is, there will be no choice but to close parks, according to Parks Commissioner Carol Ash. How many and which parks are still unknown. But it's likely that one of the parks or historic sites you love and use will be on the list.

Please take just five minutes to help parks by contacting your legislators this week. Read more on how you can take action...

-kim