![](\"\/sites\/default\/files\/imagecache\/Image_Right\/pnl\/images\/hickory-graphic-2.jpeg\" "\\"Hickory")
<\/p>\n\nLarry. Photo: Poody Edwards<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
From Onondaga Creek to New York City, Hickory shows me the path of his journey from the beginning of July to the middle of August. He expects to have at least one person from each of the Six Nations paddle with him from Onondaga to Albany, carrying a replica of the Two Row Wampum Belt. For Hickory, \u201cIf we are going down the Hudson to New York City on the water trail, we might as well bring it from the central fire of the Haudenosaunee to Albany by way of the ancient water trade routes of our people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Onondaga describe the Two Row as an agreement about how we are to \u201clive together. Each of our ways will be shown in the purple rows running the length of the belt. In one row is a ship <\/b>with our White Brother\u2019s ways, in the other a canoe with our ways. Each will travel down the river of life side by side. Neither will attempt to steer the other\u2019s vessel.\u201d The Two Row Campaign seeks to bring this 400-year-old agreement to life as we address issues such as the Onondaga Land Rights Action and hydrofracking.<\/p>\n
Hickory started paddling with his cousins five years ago out of boredom. It has since become his calling. Showing me his thumb, he says, \u201cThere is a paddle right in the center of my fingerprint, so I\u2019m pretty sure I\u2019m made for this.\u201d He started that day and never stopped: \u201cI was on the water every day after that, going further and further out, doing 150 mile trips.\u201d Hickory takes advantage of every opportunity to get on the water, having paddled between 1100 and 1500 miles since he began.<\/p>\n
Hickory was on the water when his uncle, Jake Edwards of the Onondaga Council of Chiefs, asked if he wanted to join the Two Row Campaign to help organize the paddling. \u201cThey knew I was going on long distance trips when they asked me to be paddling coordinator only two days before the first trial run [July 2011],\u201d says Hickory. That weekend he was paddling down the Hudson to explore the feasibility of a larger trek.<\/p>\n
![](\"\/sites\/default\/files\/imagecache\/Image_Left\/pnl\/images\/hickory-graphic-1.jpeg\" "\\"Hickory")
<\/p>\n\nSuzanne Halbritter<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t realize the project would be so big. Now that other Haudenosaunee nations are aligning with the campaign, I\u2019ve taken on the responsibility of being in touch and inviting them to join us, even beyond the Symbolic Enactment.\u201d Hickory also has ideas for future paddling trips to educate allies. He\u2019d like to share \u201call the things that aren\u2019t archived in history books, from Onondaga perspective, legends of our Haudenosaunee people.\u201d<\/p>\n
After being distracted by overhearing someone talk about paddling, Hickory tells me what the Two Row Campaign means to his generation and those that follow. \u201cIt\u2019s important for us to step up and say something because people who aren\u2019t born yet are affected by what we do in our lifetime. So, I think that getting anything done for their good is a great thing, and I\u2019m happy to be a part of this and do what I can for them, long after I\u2019m gone. Now is the time for our voices to be heard, for faces that aren\u2019t here yet. Everything we do affects the seventh generation and we have to use our voice in a positive way for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
For information about applying to participate, paddling practice and trips leading up to the Symbolic Enactment, or other events, check out the \u201cevents\u201d section at www.HonorTheTwoRow.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Editors\u2019 note: In support of the Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign\u2019s kickoff event this month, the PNL presents an extended installment of a new column, People of the Two Row. Emily Bishop will introduce Onondaga Nation members integral to the Two Row Campaign. The column will continue through the Symbolic…<\/p>\n