A tribute to both my families

"Akwe Nia'Tetewa: nerun".  In Mohawk, these words mean "all my relations".  My great-grandmother was a Mohawk from the Tyendinaga Reserve in Napanee.  Thankfully, she married off-reserve and thus I am not sniffing glue as we speak.

I was reminded of this reading an article about the United Church of Canada having adopted this Mohawk credo as part of it's crest.  The crest will now feature Mohawk language.  It will be updated to include the yellow, black, red and white of the traditional aboriginal medicine wheel "in acknowledgment that The United Church of Canada was founded, and continues to exist, on Indigenous land," says the task force that pushed for the change.

This is very true and dear to me.  My (adoptive and only) mother was a stalwart member of The United Church of Canada.  Where else would I have learned to be a "church lady"?  Where else would I have learned to make fancy sandwiches?  Where else would I have learned to sew aprons for the annual bazaar?  Where else would I have learned to brew and pour tea?  It was all about The United Church of Canada.  The basements of these establishments were the most civilized of places.  Never, ever scoff at "a church lady".  These women make the world go 'round. 

But I am also of Mohawk origin.  I am a convert to Catholicism.  So there you have it.  I am a Mohawk-United-Church-Catholic woman.