Category: Indigenous

Water Song by the Akwesasne Women Singers

11/23/2020

Kontiwennenhá:wi, which is translated as Carriers of the Words, is a women’s singing group that originated from the Mohawk Nation at Ahkwesashsne. Kontiwennenhá:wi is made up of young women, mothers, aunties and grandmothers, who all work full time as teachers, social workers, students, and retirees.

Kontiwennenhá:wi hail from Ahkwesahsne, a Kanien’kehá:ka Territory that straddles the St. Lawrence River and incorporates portions of northern New York and southern Ontario and Quebec. In Ahkwesahsne, as in other Kanien’kehá:ka communities, women’s singing societies have always functioned to help community members in time of need. When Kontiwennenhá:wi performs outside of their community, they do not call themselves a singing society. That title is reserved for their work within their Territory and other Haudenosaunee communities. But they continue many of the same functions: the funds their performances generate are always directed back toward their community. While men and women sometimes have different singing repertoires and their songs serve different functions, women always take care to learn the men’s songs as well, so that the Mohawk way of life can be preserved even in times of crisis.

In the spirit of this traditional role, Kontiwennenhá:wi, the Carriers of the Words, have embraced the “duty to help our language survive.... We believe that if our language dies, so will we as a Nation. Without our language we will have no culture. “We proudly share our songs and teach children so that we may honor everything that is natural to us. Through our songs we honor our Mother the Earth, our Grandmother the Moon, our Grandparents from every generation, the teachers of the Mohawk language, the Great Law of Peace, and more.”
https://www.facebook.com/kontiwennenhawi

WATER SONG - LYRICS - MOHAWK AND ENGLISH
Written by Theresa "Bear" Fox

Ionkwanoronhkwa Ohneka (we love water)
Ionkwanoronhkwa Ohneka
Kahnekaronnion mmmmm(all types of water)
Kahnekanoron mmmm(water is precious)
Kainawiia heiah
Yoon gwa no loon gwa(we love)
Oh ne gaw(water)
Yoon gwa no loon gwa (we love)
Oh ne gaw(water)
Gah ne gaw loonyoon mmmm(all types of water)
Gah ne gaw no loon mmmmmm(precious water)
Guy naw wee yaw heh yaw
(No words-we call it lala)
Kahnekaronnion mmmmm
Kahnekanoron mmmm
Kainawiia heiah
Gah ne gaw loonyoon mmmm(all types of water)
Gah ne gaw no loon mmmmmm(precious water)
Guy naw wee yaw heh

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Music Monday: Sing the Water Song

10/12/2020

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History of the Water Song: There are many women’s water songs from many different cultures, and they all have deep meaning and beauty. The Water Song in this video has a lyric that is easy to learn and does not take a long time to sing. At the 2002 Circle of All Nations Gathering, at Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg in Ottawa, Canada, Grandfather William Commanda asked Irene Wawatie Jerome, an Anshinabe/Cree whose family are the Keepers of the Wampum Belt to write a song that women attending the gathering would learn and spread it throughout the world. Grandmother Louise Wawatie taught the Water Song to Grandmother Nancy Andry so she could begin her mission of spreading this powerful practice. Recently, in 2017, although Grandfather William and Grandmother Louise have crossed over, Grandmother Nancy met with the Elders again in Canada, and they were unified in agreement that a video of the song should be made to hasten the teaching and widen the circle of women singing it because of the increasingly grave dangers our waters are facing. The Wawatie and Commanda families gave permission to record the song on this video. For more information go to: https://www.singthewatersong.com/

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Water Song by the Akwesasne Women Singers

Music Monday: Sing the Water Song

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