Aionwá:tha' & Condolence Strings
The story of Aionwa:tha' as told by Jake Swamp (1941-2010)
Grief experienced by people; comes in varying degrees. Some people who had become exposed to historical accounts of past atrocities tend to have more difficulty than those who have managed to shove it aside. It can be said with some amount of certainty that there are two types of unresolved grief. One type is the one that was passed on through history, and the other is normal communal grief associated with losses felt from natural deaths or other hurts not necessarily tied to death. Global grief, then, is harder to approach because of the difficulty in reaching the masses of people. Many times I wondered, would it be possible to console the people of the world? I was drawn back to my own Native roots and started to think about the certain possibilities.
One thousand years ago, a man called Aionwá:tha' was living a miserable life that was caused by grief. He had earlier experienced the loss of his whole family through an evil sorcerer. For a great length of time he lived a wretched existence, alone with the elements. He had imposed himself into exile far away from this community. His only concentration was on the pain of grief he felt from his great loss. He was walking in the world aimlessly, walking with no thought of where he was going. His vision was totally obscured by the constant shedding of painful tears. Not knowing, not caring, he constantly bumped into trees and bushes he could not see.
He could no longer hear the chatter of the birds or the rustling of leaves in the breeze. The dust of death that had settled in his ears evidently overcame his hearing. His only focus now was the painful loss he had experienced some time ago. At different intervals, he would try to utter words in expression of his pain. That too failed, for the words that came from his mouth didn’t make sense at all. The words he tried to form came out in shattered pieces. His thought was now occupied by pain that did not allow him to form his words.
Each day the pain of grief worsened. He no longer took care of his own body; his hair was in tangled knots. The trust he had for life was now totally gone. He entered into a period of deep depression; the nervousness he felt caused his stomach to churn. Exhausted, he propped himself up against a tree. Sitting there only a short length of time because of discomfort, he moved to another spot. Each time, he would find a place to sit, he felt as though there were bloody stains where he sat, and would cause him to move. The tragic loss he incurred caused a great darkness to envelop his surroundings to the point of no longer recognizing the four cardinal directions.
He could no longer see, or even for that matter remember, the existence of a beautiful blue sky. Aionwá:tha', of course, could not even remember the last time he saw the bright sun in the sky. Aionwá:tha' started to imagine what it would be like to take his own life. Would that solve his painful existence, he thought. He started to remember sharing a comfortable warm fire with his wife and children, but that couldn’t be anymore. Suddenly his mind started to spin as it was overcome by a powerful whirlwind. Then he calmed, and for the first time his reasoning seemed to visit upon him. For some distinct reason, it was the fire he shared with his family that was so important. Now the fire had gone out. The wood had scattered in many different directions. There was no ember, or for that matter, any smoke to be seen.
Aionwá:tha' continued his aimless wanderings. He was getting spiked by thorny bushes and scratched by undergrowth. He kept moving, not knowing where it may lead. Each step he took now was heavy, managing to slowly trudge along in painful solitude. He arrived near an old ancient oak tree, so old it had extended its roots above the ground. His foot got caught on a knobby old root and caused him to fall forward onto his stomach. His mind was completely knocked out, and after a while he regained some of his strength. He raised his head upwards very slowly. Suddenly, he got a view of a body of water.
The water was so smooth and peaceful, not even a ripple. Then as he was looking at the water, some ducks appeared on top of the water. Before he realized it, the ducks had covered every area of the water. Then he watched as a flock of ducks came flying and landing on top of the other ducks. This continued for a long time until it became motionless. Slowly he rose to an upright position. Suddenly, the ducks took flight, as if something had startled them. The beautiful lake of water was no longer there; the ducks had carried it away.
Aionwá:tha' had a profound experience; he felt as though the event he had just witnessed would cause his terrible pain to go away. When he gazed toward the dry bed of where the water was, he suddenly saw what appeared to be shiny shells. He reached into his pouch that was dangling from his side and reached inside the pouch to retrieve pieces of old deer sinew. He stood there, contemplating as to what he should do. He made a review of his painfully terrible existence he had lived wandering around forested areas. Aionwá:tha' started to have profound visions of healing.
At this very moment he realized that his own vision had become lost through the painful tears he had been shedding. How, he wondered, am I the only person suffering this terrible pain of grief? Then he started to think of another human being that may be suffering such as he has experienced. “If I came upon such a person, I would certainly understand, and this I would do” as he started to hang shells on the first string. “The first string of shells will represent the tears of a person suffering from grief. With this string I would look to the heavens above and retrieve the softest skin of the fawn. And with this gentle skin of the fawn I would wipe away the tears of this person who has been afflicted with so much pain. I would then turn to the Creator of the universe and ask a favor on behalf of this person that their vision would be restored as the new sunrise comes tomorrow. Tomorrow when the new day has arrived, the sun will shine on all creation to be seen again by this person.”
He started to hang more shells on another string as he thought about the person in grief. “When a person suffers the pain of grief they suddenly lose all sense of hearing. Other people will speak to them, but the words cannot be heard because the dust of death has settled in their ears. Now this is what I would do for that person. I would reach toward the heavens, and I would retrieve the softest feather that I could find. Then I would use this soft feather to gently wipe away the dust of death from that person’s ear. I would then look toward the heavens and ask a favor on behalf of this person that as soon as the sun rises tomorrow, the hearing will be restored.”
Then he took another string of sinew and started to hang the shells as he remembered what had happened to him when he realized he was speechless. The painful loss he remembered caused him not to be able to form his words any longer. Holding that string in his hand, he started to think about another human who may be suffering in this way. Then he said silently to himself, “If I should find such a person I would understand. This is what I would do. I would reach to heaven and look for the purist water possible, and I would offer this water for that person to drink. This water would cause the obstruction in the throat to clear so that the foods could pass freely once again. This person would stand there in the new dawning of the day with a restored voice. This person will again be able to converse with family members with a voice of clarity.”
Aionwá:tha' stood there in deep thought, then with a sudden realization he took another strand of deer sinew and started to hang shells. This, he felt, would represent the stomach of a grieving person. He spoke then and said, “When a person suffers a painful loss, the stomach churns with discomfort. If I found such a person this is what I would do; I would reach toward the heavens and I would find the best medicine water to give to this person. Then I would turn to the Creator of the universe and ask a favor on behalf of this person that this medicine water would cause this person to again live in comfort as soon as the new day arrives.”
Aionwá:tha' remembered what had happened to him not so long ago. He remembered the times he could not find a place of comfort to sit. He took another string and started to hang the shells that would represent a bloody seat of discomfort. “If I found a person suffering in this way, this is what I would do. I would reach toward the heavens, and I would find the purist white skin of the fawn and I would take this and use it to wipe away all the stains on your seat. I would then turn toward the Creator and ask for a favor on behalf of this person, that this person will now experience comfort again as soon as the new day dawns.”
With the next string he prepared, he was having thoughts of what happens when a person suffers a great loss. He said, “A great darkness surrounds the person in grief to the point of no longer recognizing where to go. Everywhere they look it is dark, their life is taken over by the great darkness. Now this is what I would do if I found a person suffering in that way. I would turn toward the heavens, and I would ask a favor from the Creator that the darkness would be lifted and replaced by a bright light that would shine over the whole area. This would cause the person to once again see the activity going on about them.”
Aionwá:tha' now prepared another string of shells. “With this string I would describe what happens when a person is suffering from a loss. This person would look up into the sky but would no longer see the blue sky because it has been obscured by the great loss. Now, this is what I would do; I would reach toward the heavens and ask the Creator to replace the blue sky so that this person will once again see the blue sky. This person will stand there on the arrival of the new day and will notice the blue sky again.”
Aionwá:tha' remembered the times when he would be contemplating ending his own life. He would look here and there for poisonous weeds; how easy it would be to end his own misery, he felt. Now suddenly he realized how important life really is, and that caused him to take another string to hang more shells. “With this string he said, I will reach to heaven above to ask a favor from the Creator on behalf of the afflicted person. When the sun rises tomorrow, this person will stand there and their thoughts of suicide would have dissipated to the universe.”
Aionwá:tha' once more took a piece of sinew and proceeded to hang the shells that would represent the fire, a warm fire to warm a family. He started to express his own feelings, when he felt as though there were no more warmth to be experienced. “If I should come into contact with a person who had suffered a great loss, I would understand that their fire had gone out and all of the wood would have scattered in all directions. This is what I would do; I would go to that person and say to them, I understand your fire has gone out because of your great loss. I have brought fresh wood to kindle a new fire for your family. I have given you words of sympathy to bring you back to the reality of life. The new fire will bring warmth back to your family. The smoke will rise from your fire and go toward the sky. This will be the indicator to all of your relations that you are now healed and are ready to pick up your responsibilities."
Words of Comfort for the Departed and the Mourners
Written by: Jake Swamp (1941-2020) Edited by Doug George
We are not supposed to mark the graves, for in our teaching it says do not let your mind go back to the mound, meaning the grave, because that will hold you back from freedom to move into the future, because your mind is in the past. At the grave site there are words that are said; we instruct the person that is being put back into Mother Earth, “You were here with us for a very short time, maybe…, but you were given those days to live, and now we are the ones that have come here to perform our responsibility. We have brought you here to this place where you will rest. We have prepared your body in the finest clothing, and we are going to place you back into the Earth, because the Mother accepts you again, your body. And then our spirit will leave, and the Great Spirit will take that spirit, and it will be reassigned in the other world, where it will eventually remain.
“We take a fine plank of wood, and we put it on top of the body so that your family and relatives will know that when it rains, it will be protected, for when the sun shines so hard it will not spoil the body. This is what we have done. And today, we are going to turn around and go back and continue life. We wipe away your tracks that you have made on earth. We take your name and we put it back; we give it back to the mothers. You will not be hampered in your journey about what transpires on earth. You will go on, we now clear, you will go on without worrying about what goes on in your family. We release you, you are free to go on your journey to the spirit world, and we will go on with life.
That is why they said, do not look back to the mound. For sometimes when we do that it causes us to be aggressive; it gives us worry; we need that freedom to go on with life without any hindrance... Without any tears, even if it is possible only for one day, that is what they tell us. When our minds are uplifted, they add on at the end; we want you to feel better, even if it is only for one day, for tomorrow someone else might fall. That is how life is. And so our life is like, acceptance, acceptance of nature and how it is in its…and that’s what our lives are about.
When we feel good, we have to enjoy life. When there is no death, enjoy life to the fullest. But when there is a death, we all get together, pick the people up that’s been affected. It has gone so far astray today. At times it seems people that have lost members of their families, and you know what happens. People stay away. “I don’t want to go there. I might intrude on them in their suffering.” We should be, “I am going to go there and offer my hand to help them.” That is what we do. That is the way it is supposed to be. That is how the balance comes about, back and forth.
So there are many things that now are out of balance. People sometimes spend their whole life suffering, because no one was there to help them back up. Sometimes you go into the big cities, you see them living in cardboard boxes. Sometimes you see them walking on the streets talking away, waving their hands. Those are the signs of the unbalance in the world. But there is something we can do. We can educate ourselves. As long as we know the process, we can learn in our own way how to go about, how to put it into practice. But it is not to dishonor any nation or any family in the way that we do it. We do it in an honorable way. And if we learn to do that, then everything will be good.
Funeral Ritual
The body is spoken to at the time and place where the last breath has been taken. The person is addressed with the belief that the spirit will hear the words. The person is told that the body has died and they are to prepare fort heir transition to the other world. They are told there is a time for the spirit to adjust to this new experience and there should be no confusion as to what has taken place. They were given the gift of life with the body taken from the earth and now it is time to return it to the mother. The spirit is told of what will now take place, that a specific number of days have been set aside for the friends and family to gather and grief. The spirit is told that the body will be cleansed and prepared so that the people may see their loved one and affirm that they are no longer on this earth.
The spirit is told that the body will be brought to a certain place for the mourning period and then carried to the longhouse for the final ceremony. At times, the death of the body may happen suddenly so it is important to speak to the spirit to inform them of what has happened so that it understands. The body is brought to a place of mourning (home or otherwise) for three nights where meals are set aside for the spirit. Once the three days are completed the spirit is told that the body will be brought to the longhouse.
The longhouse is divided into two sections: those who are grieving (family, friends, clan) sit to the north while those who are responding ( the other clans) are seated to the south with the body of the deceased in the center. The body is carried into the longhouse from the east (men’s entrance) with the feet placed to the west (women’s entrance) from which it wtill leave. The speakers for the event are selected from the healing clan with a responder chosen from the mourning clan. The pallbearers, all from the healing clan, sit behind the casket across from the immediate family.
Once the body is before the people the casket is opened and the speaker from the healing side begins. The healing clan speaker says:
"You, (Mohawk name) have had great power. You have called together all of the people from many places, some of whom have travelled great distances, to be here today. Such is the love they have for you; the leaders of the nation, your friends, clan and family have been brought together to see you once more as you begin your journey to the Creator’s land. No one knows the number of days in which we are given to live on this earth. The Creator only knows this and has given each one of us a certain number of days, like notches on a stick. It is the Creator’s will that we don’t know our days so that we will take nothing for granted and will be grateful for the gift of life. While were in grief we cannot hold on to it."
These words are spoken so that sadness will be relieved: "We know the kind of person you were. You took delight in inyour family and friends. You enjoyed the things around you and were kind to other people. You were generous to the chiefs,clanmothers, faithkeepers, family and friends. You had a good sense of humour. You enjoyed the game of lacrosse, making things for others, preparing a good home for your family and visitors. You took pleasure in the ceremonies. You always had a good word for others. Now this is over and those things which brought you pleasure have ended. You are now to go on to the Creator’s land to undertake a journey of power. Your body will be placed into the ground to be wrapped in the blanket of mother earth. The mourning clan has been informed as to what has happened. We have taken over their normal duties and have taken care of the body and the funeral. We have prepared a place for your body in the earth. We remind the mourning side that while there is death the creation goes on. The winds will continue to blow across the land, our eldest brother the sun will rise in the morning, the birds will sing, the waters will flow. As they do, we also must carry on. There are a certain number of days in which we grieve but at its end we are restored to our duties."
The speaker for the mourning clan responds by accepting the words of condolence. The speaker will remind the people of the need to return to their normal tasks. The people will be told that they may not see their loved one in this world but will there will be a time when they are reunited in the Creator’s land. They will see the deceased when it is our time. The people are told that the body is here for them to see one last time. The healing clan then walks to the body and speaks directly to the spirit. The spirit is told what has been done from the time of death to the present moment. The mourning clan is told that the words are meant to clear their throat so they may speak using the purest water, that the eyes are cleared to they may hear using the softest off feathers and their eyes wiped clean of tears with the fur of the deer. Once that is done the leaders of the nation view the body, approaching from the east, walk around the coffin and leave the longhouse in the western door. They are followed by the healing clan, the mourning clan, then the immediate family. The pallbearers are last to leave, carrying to body to the gravesite.
At the grave the speaker will address the body after it is placed into the earth, the head to the east, the feet to the west so the spirit may begin its journey. The spirit is told all of which has happened to that time and that the body is returned to the embrace of the earth. The people are asked to walk in a counter clockwise direction around the grave and each one takes a handful of earth and places in on the grave. The people then return to a place where they take part in a communal meal with one plate set aside for the spirit. They are told that they are to resume their normal activities after the time of mourning (10 days) is over. In ten days at the dead feast all the goods of the deceased are given away to relatives and friends. Each person who took part in the funeral from speakers, pallbearers and grave preparers are given special gifts. At the dead feast food is set aside for the spirit and then taken to a remote place the morning after. In one year a final feast will be held and the rituals are complete.