Haudenosaunee Peace Song

A message from the RWCC Music Director:

Today we are bringing you a song from where we are from, from the original inhabitants of that land, the Haudenosaunee. The Haudenosaunee are made up of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk and the Tuscarora peoples, and their confederacy is the oldest known participatory democracy on Earth. These six nations have lived in peace with one another for 1,000 years. This is a song of peace, and we are going to teach it to you! 

I first heard this song at the school where I teach. I want to thank Trish Corcoran, Tonawanda Onondowaga, Bear Clan and Indigenous and Environmental educator at that school, for sharing her knowledge, translation, advice and resources with our students there. When I talked to her about bringing this song here to the festival with RWCC, she was excited at the prospect of us sharing out this message of peace for you to take back home to your communities and sing there. We hope this is meaningful to your choirs!