BY: PHIL PRESTON

INDIAN TIME - VOLUME 22 - NUMBER 3 - JANUARY 22, 2004 EDITION

Is it our Native way, or "traditional" to be late? More and more people in traditional Longhouse circles are expressing that this idea is misconceived.

One well-respected leader stated that people would rationalize that "things will happen when they are meant to happen." While this is a very real philosophy of traditional lifestyle, it is also tainted by colonization and the negative changes to Native ways.

All ceremonies follow the cycles of the moon, stars, and real natural events. Mid-winter ceremonies begin the fifth morning after the new moon, never on the full moon. The reason for this is as old as the first human beings. Long ago, Onkwehonwe were a balanced people. We were harmonious with all of Creation. The women's menstrual cycles always followed our Grandmother the Moon in synchronicity. Women would always be in their menstruation at Full Moon. In order that the women could be part of Mid-Winter, the ceremonies begin after the New Moon, when menstruation is not occurring. Our bodies today are different due to our lifestyles and cultural changes, but we still follow this tradition keeping in mind it began with respect to women, the nurturers of life.

Men would only hunt on the Full Moon, never the New Moon. The animals have something occurring in their cycles, which cause their meat to possess a gamie taste during the New Moon.

Thunder ceremony occurs following the first arrival of the grandfathers, the thunder. This ceremony is held the day after the first thunder of the season. Today, practical reasons, such as work, we hold this ceremony the following day after work.

With Mid-Winter Ceremonies ready to start, a Longhouse leader reminds us that we need to begin each day of ceremonies at the time agreed upon. In order to start on time, all the Faithkeepers, Clanmothers, and leaders should arrive at the Longhouse hours before ceremony. This will ensure everything will be ready when the people arrive. However, no responsibility falls completely on a chosen few. As a Longhouse community, we all must help in whatever ways we can to support our leaders.

Today, we are all very familiar with clocks, a human invention that we never asked for but have had for hundreds of years. As demanding as our lives are today, we can still strengthen our responsibility to each other and the natural world. When someone is always on time, or even early, we feel more compelled to follow.