The Onkweshónwe are Excellent Marksmen
but here is how we name the birds, says Kawenniostha
in Kanienkeha: by the sounds, by their voices
how they talk about the weather
yoro, yoro on an overcast day
Not the sight of them, not dead on the forest floor
the way John Audubon thought to name them
after he fired a gun at them, but we say
Katsihnekwárha: Goldfinch
Teríteri: Bluejay
Só:rak: Duck
Tsiskó:ko: Robin
Tawístawis: Sandpiper
Raónraon: Hummingbird
Show respects to cousins
Otsiten’okón:’a: all the birds are
Konderronoton: full of music
In this way, the Karontároks, the Woodpecker
lives in dignity, not the ghost of its former Ivorybill
now extinct, shot on its nest even by old Audubon himself
Kanienkéha have more common sense
than to wonder who would bring food to the little ones
if you take out the nesting parent
In this way, the Káhonk – the Canada Goose – calls
to corral the others, to warn them of change
cries, “let’s go,” as they leap into the wind
steps into it, when the cooler currents
bring that waiting change that means
all the creatures in the yoro yoro
will be making plans
Translator’s Statement
This poem was based on a language lesson, the synthesis of a student and a teacher’s reflections, written down by the student.
Rebel Brown is a poet, educator, musician, scholar of the Kanienkeha language, writer about birds, open water swimmer, and clergyperson in northern Massachusetts. Their Mohawk name, given by Kawenniostha, is Iagotennitorasco, which means “They Walk in Sympathy For Others.” They write a column for the local paper, “Running with Birds,” for the athletes out running in the landscape, to know what birds they are hearing. Their headshot was created by Heather Goff, of Island Folk Pottery.
Kawenniostha Nicole Martin is a teacher of Kanienkeha and Seneca and an educator at the Kanajogolegue school for Mohawk immersion, in Canajoharie, on the Mohawk River, New York. In this school, she teaches conversational Mohawk, grammar, and the names of the birds. If you ask her for her bio, she says she is just passing along the knowledge and that the credit goes to the Akwé:kon né’ne ahsen Tyonnhi:yo—to everything that is, to life, to that which encompasses the cosmos and the earth. Her headshot was created by Heather Goff, of Island Folk Pottery.
