Husking Bee at Tuscarora, by Allison Joseph

I’m so glad I could make it to the Tuscarora Husking Bee!

I had a great time working together with everyone there, husking and braiding the white corn (or in my case, assisting the braiding process).

The floor of the barn started out covered in corn, and together we managed to clear it- of course there was another truckload to be husked and braided, but it was nothing we couldn’t handle.

Thanks to the husking bee, I improved my husking skills with the help of our Tuscarora friends. And I can’t get by without mentioning the food. There was white corn soup, venison stew, pie, cake, and my new favorite, fried bread. But what was even better than the food, (and there’s really only one thing better than food), was the sense of community felt and shared by everyone there, young and old.

This was my second husking bee, and like last year, I delighted in meeting new people and working hard together.

If you missed the Tuscarora Husking Bee, make sure you come to the Husking Bee at the Iroquois White Corn project. So much corn will be delivered from Tuscarora that the Husking Bee will take place over two (2) days, November 1^st and November 2^nd, at the Iroquois White Corn Project Farmhouse (7191 County Road 41).

Register for either day, or both by emailing whitecornproject@gmail.com or by calling (585) 742-1361.

We will be husking and braiding the corn, and, of course, sharing lunch together. Hope to see you there!

The Grandest Festival in Town

Intern Post Two

The vendors stand by as the deluge of locals streams through.  This is the Park Avenue Festival: by far the single most densely populated event that I've attended on behalf of the Friends of Ganondagan.  The sensory cues are just as charmingly pervasive as the people, I learn on my break while I'm walking through. Because the street is closed to traffic for several miles, and our stand is located roughly in the middle, it takes almost half an hour for me to walk to one end and back. Still, I savor every minute of my experience.

As I walk down toward Berkeley Street, I can smell the tantalizing aromas and take in the illustrious sights. All around me are market stands selling everything from delicate pieces of colored glassworks and various articles of clothing, to hallowed sandwiches, ice cream, and (virgin) piña coladas. I settle upon a baggie of cinnamon roasted pecans that I have been pining for from the moment I first laid eyes upon the booth. As I continue walking toward the end of the street, I gleefully dig into my treasure trove, stopping only when my mouth begins to feel dry. Fortunately there’s another booth on my right that’s selling one-dollar water bottles for charity. I gratefully purchase one with my spare change before making my way back to the Iroquois White Corn Project (IWCP) stand, where our immensely popular cookies have already run out for the weekend. 

Despite the shortage, we still get plenty of curious customers coming up to ask about the IWCP, though most of them with little to no knowledge of our mission or products.  I don’t mind; this gives me more opportunities to practice and improve upon the delivery of our marketing pitch while reaching out to more people.  Important as our sales are, the Friends is as an organization that seeks primarily to promote the vibrant living Native American culture that thrives despite the numerous struggles and hardships that its people have sustained throughout history.  Already it has been almost a month since I’ve been working with them, and I’m still learning how to integrate the gentle attitude of the culture into my approach to weeding, sorting, packaging, and selling, among other tasks.  I am happy to report that I’ve made substantial progress in all of these endeavors.

Just please don’t ask me to give away my roasted pecans.  

     

  

Incoming: A Bostonian Intern in Western New York

My name is Leah.  I’m a rising junior at Boston University pursuing a Psychology major and Communication minor.  I am currently interning with Friends of Ganondagan and have already learned a great deal about Native American history and culture.  I first started out two weeks ago with no prior knowledge of or experience with this nonprofit.  I’ve spent most of my time working with the Iroquois White Corn Project (IWCP), a business of the Friends.  Since then, I’ve gotten acquainted with everything from the process of weeding out ugly corn kernels to assisting at the sun-kissed farmers markets where the employees and volunteers sell products from the IWCP, including Hulled White Corn, White Corn Flour, and Roasted White Corn Flour.  

The Friends of Ganondagan’s IWCP has already gained local recognition for its gluten-free, non-GMO corn, the likes of which, in my humble opinion, has greater integrity than any comparable product in the mainstream market.  The average person who comes up to our stand has some awareness of the nutritional deficiencies in the typical varieties of sweet corn, thanks to the recent media spotlight on corporate-owned agriculture.  However, since the power of nostalgia-based food choices cannot be understated, I suggest you read up on the issues surrounding the origins of the food in your grocery bags.  If nothing else, you’ll develop a greater appreciation of the farmers and vendors who drive into the market at five and six in the morning to sell their wares.

Blue Cohosh

If you take a hike on one of the woodland trails you may see blue cohosh, a native woodland plant. Did you know that two different species of blue cohosh are native to this area? Read the following article and learn more!

Blue Cohosh Article


-kim