The intense culture of Iroquois Indians included a set of six different languages,
Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Tuscarora (Lewis and Redish). At the Great
Council and different religious events, mostly Mohawk was spoken. Children had different
games and toys, including cornhusk dolls and a game where a dart is thrown through a
moving hoop. For art and medicine, masks were created to frighten away evil spirits and
illness. This sacred form of recreation lead to the the False Face Society, a clan of
medicine men said to have special powers wearing their self-created wooden masks
(Iroquois).
It is obvious that the Iroquois Indians participated in a variety of activities,
many of
which for recreation. Our attempt to revive Onondaga Lake begins with an idea of
displaying all of these Iroquois traditions in order to educate children, and open minds
of adults and students. Hopefully, we bring more activity and publicity to Onondaga
Lake. It would be wonderful to cause the history of Onondaga Lake to come full circle
and bring back the excitement-filled atmosphere of the past. Our primary goal is to
provide at least one annual day of activity for visitors of Onondaga Lake.

The Iroquois lived in Longhouses which were about 25 feet by 200 feet
The longhouses could house a family of up to 60 people.
Family was matrilineal, meaning that women owned property and determined kinship
When married the husband moved into the wife?s longhouse and the children were part of
the mother?s clan
There were three clans, turtle, bear, and wolf, each headed by a clan mother.
Everyone within the longhouse cared for each other as though the children were their own
and that the person living with them were like their brother or sister.
The Iroquois League was created to maintain peace
This was accomplished through The Great Law of Peace which stated that Iroquois should
not kill one another
The leaders in the Iroquois council were nominated by tribal clan mothers, yet they were
all male.
Without any modern technology, the Native Americans of this area has to survive based
solely on instinct, especially when it comes to food. The Native Americans developed a
hunter-gatherer style of obtaining food. Although this means of gathering food may not be
consistent in the sense that there is always food available in one place, they found many
natural crops and new methods of cooking so there was always food available. The crops
that were the basis for their diet were corn, beans and squash. Corn, beans and squash
are commonly referred to by the Onondagas and the Oneidas specifically as the 3 sisters.
These foods were the three foods first ?given to us from our mother earth.? The Onondagas
live near the finger lakes area of present day New York. That allowed the Onondagas for
the spring and summer months to fish in the streams. The fall and winter allowed for the
hunting of deer, turkey, rabbit and game found throughout the area. The Cayuga tribe,
Mohawk tribe, and the Tuscarora tribe were primarily agricultural people. The women
planted crops of corn, beans, and squash and harvested wild berries and herbs. The men
hunted deer and elk and fished in the rivers and on the shores of Lake Ontario. The
tribes? recipes included cornbread, soups, and stews, which they cooked on stone hearths.
The Iroquois were a hunting, fishing and agricultural people. The young men hunted and
the women and elderly men did the gardening. Children served as lookouts to keep birds
and other pests from the fields. By this cooperative effort, everyone contributed to the
production of food in the Iroquois village. Livestock included pigs and other
domesticated animals.

For the festival, each tribe would create a traditional dish, one that is representative
of their history and one that they would like to be associated with from the general
populace. There is also a sense of decorum that is expected to be done when eating and
preparing food. For example, hunters and gatherers are taught to take only what is
needed. It is a lesson to learn not to deplete all of your resources and leave none for
the people who are following you tomorrow, or to save for your grandchildren of the
people not yet born. These are the messages that we would like to convey to the audience
through the food. The food isn?t merely corn, squash etc. There is a meaning behind each
piece of food and the Native Americans do not take anything for granted, a value which
should be conveyed to the people attending the festival.

If the festival is successful, it could become an annual event which would continuously
reunite the recreation of the area with the history of the people. The point of the
entire festival is to bring people back to Onondaga Lake. Since swimming and fishing was
banned from the Lake, they lost a lot of business. The Lake also has been separated from
its roots. The foundation for the Iroquois Confederacy was formed on the shores of the
Lake. The festival will revive the Lake, bringing back people, culture and recreation in
one epiphenomenon that will reunite the people and the area in which they live.


1-Show images of Native American recreational activities.

2-Address a detailed timeline of Native American history around Onondaga Lake and the
decline of recreation around the lake.

3-Play the Sacred Bowl Game.

According to legend, directly on the shore of Onondaga Lake, the warlike Onondaga
chief
Tadodaho was persuaded by Hiawatha and Deganawidah (the Peacemaker) to accept the Great
Law of Peace, thus creating the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, also known as the Iroquois
Confederacy (Onondaga Lake).

4- Show pictures and representations of this event.

The last of the grand resorts around Onondaga Lake, Maurer's Long Beach, closed down in
1938 (Williamson 10). By the mid twentieth century, Onondaga Lake had transformed from a
resort area filled with activity, water sports, boating, concerts, games and amusement
parks, to one of the most polluted lakes in America (Williamson).

5- Show pictures of Onondaga Lake and these activities.

The beginning of the resurgence is now. As a Superfund site, the government has
invested millions of dollars to clean up Onondaga Lake. Our project attempts to bring
the lake back to its roots, to honor history and bring back recreation around Onondaga
Lake.

Iroquois Indians played the Sacred Bowl Game and invented the sport of lacrosse
(Iroquois, Lewis and Redish). The strong and powerful nation of the Iroquois Confederacy
hunted, gathered crops, survived and thrived around the Onondaga Lake. Unappreciated
culture and traditions began around Onondaga Lake.

The Iroquois practiced year-round festivals (Iroquois).

6-Show list of festivals and more pictures.

Slide 1 -The Iroquois lived in Longhouses which were about 25 feet by 200 feet
The longhouses could house a family of up to 60 people.
Slide 2 -Family was matrilineal, meaning that women owned property and determined kinship
When married the husband moved into the wife?s longhouse and the children were part of
the mother?s clan
There were three clans, turtle, bear, and wolf, each headed by a clan mother.
Everyone within the longhouse cared for each other as though the children were their own
and that the person living with them were like their brother or sister.
Slide 3 -The Iroquois League was created to maintain peace
This was accomplished through The Great Law of Peace which stated that Iroquois should
not kill one another
The leaders in the Iroquois council were nominated by tribal clan mothers, yet they were
all male.

As well as games there will be a section that will be devoted to the traditional dances of the iroquois such as the eagle, bear, rabbit and stomp dances. All of the dances will be preformed one after the other with a few minutes between. during this break one of the dancers will explain the signifigance and origin of the dance to the spectators. An example would be the rabbit dance. In this legend two hunters saw hunreds of rabbits dancing around a larger rabbit. when the hunters returned to their village they showed the elders the dance the rabbits preformed and the elders were impressed so they named the dance after the rabbits to show their gratitude. Also before the dances that spectators can participate in there will be a demonstration of how the dance is supposed to be preformed. volunteers will then be able to preform along side the professional dancers. Here is a clip of one of the most popular dances and is also a dance that the audience can join in.
It's called the bear dance. once all the dances have been completed there will be a longer 30 min break before the dances are repeated. Dancing will start at around noon and will continue until the festival ends with this fromula.

essay 3

Richard Dojan

04 November, 2007

Valery's Ankle and Canadian Self Image

"Valery's Ankle" is an essay film about how the Canadian self image, one of peaceful and clean people, is in stark contrast with the way that they play and watch their national sport, hockey. It is a 33 minute film using using mainly archived footage of hockey violence, but there are also some recreations of some of the violence in the old footage. Any essay film is very closely related to a documentary, however it differs from a documentary in a few, but large ways. The main difference between the two is that a documentary is supposed to be non-biased while a film essay is more like a written essay in which the author tries to argue his thesis about the topic on which he is filming. There are other smaller differences, but this is the main difference as films such as these do not try to keep the illusion that they are doing nothing but providing information as a documentary would. Brett Kashmere the narrator and writer of the film was born in the Canadian plains and played hockey himself for over a decade. After a many years of not paying to close attention to hockey he decided to create a film about the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the U.S.S.R. specificly in game six where Canadian player Bobby Clarke intentionally slashed the ankle of the star Russian player Valery Kharlimov. This incident is what many people believe allowed the Canadians to win the next 3 games and win the Summit Series. The goal scored in the closing seconds of the final game that sealed the Canadian victory is one of the most remembered moments in Canadian history, but the slash which is what caused that to happen has been blocked out by what Kashmere calls "Cultural Amnesia." Hockey is of course a violent sport with all of the protection, speed, allowance of body contact and the fact that the hockey stick itself is a weapon, but Kashmere believes that many Canadians players take this violence to far. Even though hockey is a violent sport played by a people who pride themselves on their peacefulness and civility, but instead of taking those properties onto the ice it seems as if Canadians players let out a dark side of them once the game starts.
The film opens with a speech made by Bobby Clarke a few years after the incident in the 1972 summit series, between Canada and the USSR, in which he intentionally broke the ankle of the star Russian player Valrey Kharlimov. During the speech he mentions how he became a hockey player and how he believes in hard work and thats how he got to where he is now. Soon after it shows the infamous and intentional two handed slash to Valery Kharlimov's ankle under orders of the Canadian assistant coach John Ferguson. Throughout the rest of the film there are numerous pieces of archived footage and stills that show savage attacks and fights committed throughout the history by Canadian players. Initialy the film was supposed to be about nothing but the slash of Kharlimov's ankle, but during the making of this film Todd Bertuzzi sucker punched a rookie player injuring his neck as he hit the ice. With this incident many sports television stations began showing hundreds of other violent acts committed during hockey games and this led Kashmere to expand his original idea for the movie. Now he shifted his focus to more the amount of violence committed by Canadians and how the general public permitted this as well as the way the executives at the National Hockey League (NHL) used this violence to promote hockey to usually non-hockey areas such as Los Angeles or Tampa Bay. The majority of the film is about this and how it is in contradiction to what is the Canadian identity which is that of a peaceful and civil people. Kashmere argues that this violence is not needed to make it successful as womens hockey is popular and there is no tolerance for fighting or body contact. Kashmere does not try to force his opinion upon the viewer, even though he does give it, however he does provide the viewers with something to think about and discuss with the other people who watched the film.
Having grown up in rural Canada and having played hockey for over 10 years has given him an understanding of how the game is looked at by Canadians, and how it affects their lives. Even at an early age Kashmere saw violence linked to hockey. Back when he played and also now when he watches younger people play he sees the parents being violent, getting in fights with other parents or even the officials. All this violence that a child sees gives them a sense that this kind of behaviour is fine and become permissive about it or may even act upon their own violent tendencies on the ice. While there were violent and even deadly acts committed since hockeys inception Kashmere thinks that there was an influx of violence because of how the NHL markets hockey to certain parts of the country. "In order to sell the game in certain non-traditional hockey markets—like California, like Nashville, Tennessee, or Carolina—they underline the rough aspects to attract fans that otherwise have no relationship to a game played on ice." (Stylus) Kashmere explains that hockey does not need violence to be an entertaining sport. He gives womens hockey as an example explaining that there is no body contact allowed and there is a strict ban on fighting and womens hockey is still popular. Kashmere also points out that fighting is not allowed in any other sport, but they are still more popular than hockey. Hockey is the only major sport that allows brawling to occur, even fighting sports such as boxing have rules and they must wear gloves so that they can not cause as much damage to the other person. At one point during the film there is a sequence of intense, violent scenes which Kashmere hoped would be the equivalent of getting punched yourself. “Such images are indeed able to usurp reality because first of all a photograph is not only an image (as a painting is an image), an interpretation of the real; it is also a trace, something directly stenciled off the real, like a footprint," (Sontag 350).
According to Kashmere and most other Canadians they would say that they are a non-violent peaceful people, but there is a darker side that many people do not realize or choose not to. In his essay film Kashmere explains Canadians as a whole can usually be described as culturally diverse, civil, kind and tolerant. Once Canadians take to the ice however it seems as if all of that politeness is defenestrated. While Canadians are not the only players that are being violent it is the dual fact that many of the more infamous attacks on other players are preformed by Canadians and because the Canadians are seen as extremely polite people off of the ice. One of the more recent and brutal attacks committed by a Canadian was by Todd Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi approached a rookie, who had checked him earlier, from behind and punched him in the back of the head causing the rookie to fall to the ground and injured his neck. Kashmere brings up this idea of "Cultural Amnesia" which is when an entire community of people selectively forget about something that is unpleasant for them to think about such as the slash on Valery's ankle.
The violence that is in modern hockey is not something new; even since the early 1900's there have been numerous horrible attacks and even deaths on the ice. in 1904 alone there were 4 deaths caused by either fighting or violent stick work. when hockey was first made an official sport in the late 19th century there were only seven rules and these were rather rudimentary ones. because of the lack of rules it is believed that physical intimidation was prevalent and fighting was a large part of this. eventually the fighters on a team came to be known as enforcers and their role would be to protect their teammates who were better at puck handling from the other teams enforcers. As this continued to happen players developed an unwritten code on fighting. most fighting today is consensual and is usually between two enforcers only rarely are there spontaneous fights. one of the main reasons proponents for fighting give is the fact that without the enforcers there will be an increase in other no legal and often more dangerous attacks. opponents however say that in women and European leagues where fighting is punished severely there is not the hazardous stick play that players are worried about.
“I am not a preacher of non-violence. But violence belongs in war, not in sports. As do most Canadians, I like tough, physical hockey and played it. As do most Canadians, I don't like the cheap illicit stuff - the knees, the checks from behind, the charging, the goon tactics when a team is down.” (Moore). This echos the thoughts of many fans of not only hockey but any sport that has physical contact. A majority of sports fan think that violence in sports is healthy and keeps the players honest and it also provides some entertainment. without violence in sports there would be no football or rugby which are two of the worlds most popular sports.
Violence in hockey is a part of the game because of the speed, padding, allowance of body contact and the fact that hockey sticks could be used a weapons, but there are limitations as to what a player can and cannot do. Todd Bertuzzi, Bobby Clarke and countless other Canadians have committed extremely violent and illegal attacks on other players either to gain an advantage in a game or for pay back and this is in direct contradiction of a Canadian self image of peacefulness.
 

essay 3 outline

1st paragraph - introduction of Brett and the film.
Valrey's Ankle is an essay film about how the canadain self image, one of peaceful and clean 
people, is in stark contrast with the way that they play and watch their national sport, hockey.
2nd paragraph - summary of the film
the film opens with a speech made by Bobby Clarke a few years after the incident in the 1972 summit series, between Canada and the USSR, in which he intentionally broke the ankle of the star Russian player Valrey Kharlimov.
3rd paragraph - Brett's interpertation of hockey violence
Having grown up in rural Canada and having played hockey for over 10 years has given him an understanding of how the game is looked at by Canadains, and how it affects their lives.
"In order to sell the game in certain non-traditional hockey markets—like California, like Nashville, Tennessee, or Carolina—they underline the rough aspects to attract fans that otherwise have no relationship to a game played on ice."
4th paragraph - the canadian self image
According to Brett and most other Canadians they would say that they are a non-violent peaceful people, but there is a darker side that many people dont realize or choose not to.
5th paragraph - history of hockey violence
The violence that is in modern hockey is not something new; even since the early 1900's there have been numerous horrible attacks and even deaths on the ice.
6th paragraph - the role of violence in sports
“I am not a preacher of non-violence. But violence belongs in war, not in sports. As do most Canadians, I like tough, physical hockey and played it. As do most Canadians, I don't like the cheap illicit stuff - the knees, the checks from behind, the charging, the goon tactics when a team is down.”
7th paragraph - conclusion
Violence in hockey is a part of the game because of the speed, padding, allowance of body contact and the fact that hockey sticks could be used a weapons, but there are limitations as to what a player can and cannot do.


thesis 1: hockey is a violent sport played by a people who pride themselves on their peacefulness and civility, but insted of taking those properties onto the ice it seems as if canadains players let out a dark side of them once the game starts.

thesis 2: Todd Bertuzzi, Bobby Clarke and countless other canadians have commited extremely violent and illegal attacks on other players either to gain an advantage in a game or for payback and this is in direct contradiction of a canadian self image of peacefulness.

Jacob's lecture

"These artists, herself among them, eschew the constricting limitations not only of artistic conventions but of the traditional institutional spaces of their production, such as studios, museums and galleries. They choose the freedom of working in real places with real people addressing everyday issues.”Jacob spent most of her lecture talking about her time in South Carolina, running the public art pieces there. At the very beginning of the lecture however she 
did explain why museums were inadequate for doing some pieces because they were to small 
and because they thought of themselves as the only ones who had knowledge of what art was. 
By not having art exhibitions in a museum the artists were freed from the constraints of what 
is typically considered art and by the limited amount of space even inside of a warehouse. One 
example would be the painting of a house in camouflage patterns and colors. This would not 
have been possible in a museum setting because of the size of the project and also more 
conservative people did not want her to do the piece at also if she had to do it in a museum 
they would not have allowed it. The second part of the quote is not easily obtainable in a 
museum, but is much easier in public places where the people are. Another art piece in 
the lecture was the one door wide house. This was built in reference to the one room wide 
houses near where the art piece was built.  the same artist created a tiny park in an empty 
lot across the street from the house and put up a billboard that has a picture of children 
looking up at a real flag pole flying the artists interpretation of the American flag. 
 

"valery's ankle"

1. What does Kashmere think about other sports with violence in it such as wrestling or boxing.
2. What about the other nationalites that are in the NHL do they have less or more violent acts than the canadians.

1. "The Russians Remember" Malcom Gray in Maclean article
2. Brett Kashmere interview with stylus magazine
3. "Violence and Sport" Smith, Michael D., Ph. D. book
4. "Kings of the ice : a history of world hockey" Andrew Podnieks book and CD

Video and Resistance: Against Documentaries

the authors start off the the articles explaining how people
thought that memory or writing
wasnt the best way to retell the past, but when photographs
were invented all the scientests thought they had something
that could represent history without any form of bias. the
authors explain how this is not true and then they continue
onto the main part of the excerpt which is how
documentaries do not actually show the truth. They go
through three different documentaries and explain how
each is not totally truthfull it is just the directors interpertation.
The authors then mockingly explain how a typical liberal
documentary on a guerrilla war. at the end the authors say
that documentaries are not concrete history "but an independent
semiotic frame through which sensation has been filtered and
interpreted." Sontag believes that a picture can give
information butshe also states that they are unable to give a
moral stand point although it can reinforce an existing one. this is consistent with what the authors' of the earlier text
said. with the picture Piss Christ there are many different
ways to interpert the picture but people did in a way that was
congruent to their beliefs.

top left: Onondaga lake from the northern side.

top right: Onondaga lake shoreline

bottom: the waters of the lake near the parking lot.