Mohawk Word of the Day!

As some of you may know, I have been on a journey to learn my language, Kanyen'kéha, for about 4 years now. One year ago my partner Matthew and I started learning the language together and have just completed our first year of a 2-year program. We are currently off on our summer break and wanted a way to stay motivated to continue learning new words and using the language every day so we started a Mohawk Word of the Day challenge for ourselves. We post a video teaching a new Mohawk word every day with weekly themes like family relations, flowers, or household objects.

You can follow along on my Twitter or Instagram accounts @shelbyliskphoto.

a fascination with the earth

In a world of disconnection, I want to feel my feet in the sand, I want dirt under my finger nails, I want to smell the soil. Especially in the last few years I have felt this. As someone who works with more and more technology – cameras, social media, emailing clients, I dream of building a garden, playing with flowers and tasting the food I planted weeks earlier. What I have learned since entering college again, is that journalism can be a great tool for asking questions and learning about what you’re interested in. As much as it is seen to be objective, I am drawn, in a selfish pursuit, towards subjects that I want to delve into.

A photojournalist can pretend, for a day, to be a painter, a wood worker, a cook, to remember what it’s like to be a child running through a field. I’ve had this conversation with other photo journalists before. We have a feverous yearning to know what it is like to inhabit bodies and lives that are not ours, to devour life.

I do not find it surprising then, that I am drawn towards those working with their hands and with the earth. I have noticed myself pulled towards florists, gardeners and farmers like a moth to a flame.

Janice Brant pours Bill Wheatley bean seeds onto her hand, one of the over 40 varieties of bean seeds she stores in her home, along with corn, squash, flowers and herbs. Janice is a part of Ratinenhayen:thos, a group who are hoping to open a seed sanctuary and learning centre in Tyendinaga. Janice believes that the Kenh:teke Seed Sanctuary would be important for the community to sustain connection to land and culture, food security, sovereignty and a grounded sacred space for youth, emphasizing that these practices will be lost if the community doesn’t take steps to preserve them. 

There is a communion between all people and nature, but I think that women hold a special kindred relationship to our earth. I want to sit at the fire with an elder and listen to her stories about the seeds she’s taken care of, I want to watch a mother teach her daughter about science through the flowers, plants and worms she finds in the yard, I want to watch a floral artist work in her studio creating artwork with lines, colours, textures and shapes of flowers. And I have.

Kristina Steunenberg works on floral arrangements for Valentine’s Day in her home studio in Belleville. Kristina is the owner of Minim Designs which specializes in nature-inspired floral designs for weddings, events, workshops, freelance and editorials. She works with seasonal and locally sourced products to produce bouquets, arrangements and other creations.