Stewart Huntington
ICT
David Fadden is not blind to hard truths.
“You can’t help but become angry about the injustices and land theft and all the wrong steps that occurred in this country towards Indigenous people,” he said.
But bitterness, Fadden said, is not an answer. A Mohawk Nation citizen and director of the Six Nations Iroquois Cultural Center in New York’s Adirondack State Park, Fadden thinks it’s best to look back to move forward.
“One way to correct that is to use our ancestor’s philosophy as an example,” he said.
With the help of the Nature Conservancy and others, Fadden’s cultural center and museum last month acquired a 600-acre tract of woodlands for $1.1 million from Paul Smith’s College. The land is adjacent to the center’s existing 330-acre campus in Onchiota, New York.
Initial plans call for ecological restoration as some of the property has been logged. Hiking paths and a youth camp are envisioned in the future, Fadden said. The land is part of the traditional homelands of Fadden’s Mohawk ancestors. It is also part of the broader territory of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the historically sturdy alliance of six nations in what is today mainly New York and Ontario, Canada.
“We’re going to invite knowledgeable folks from [the Haudenosaunee Confederacy] to come to explore the property, to identify what’s under in terms of medicinal plants, food plants, animals, their habitats and their trails,” Fadden said. “And in coming years, we’ll develop a trail system that will avoid the more sensitive areas so we don’t walk on delicate plant life.”
And the land will be protected by carefully constructed legal guard rails. The cultural center is a non-profit entity that will own the land. The land title will come with conservation easements restricting what can be down on the property. Importantly, the text of the easements will be based on Haudenosaunee values of peace and reflect how Indigenous communities view land stewardship with a laser focus on how any decision will benefit future generations.
And, in what is believed to be a first in New York state, the easements will be filed in both English and Mohawk.
“We’re going to frame it very similar to the Two Row Wampum,” said Fadden, referring to the beaded belts of parallel colors that represented a commitment to harmony between Haudenosaunee Nations and early Dutch settlers centuries ago. The new documents will be “a binding agreement, a compact, a promise that will both take care of the land.”
Despite the fact that the Dutch – and their French, British and American successors – did not respect the peaceful precepts of those original pacts, Fadden maintains a commitment to the ideals of his ancestors. Under the new conservation easements, “we will help each other and we’ll learn from each other. Hopefully this will set a good example for others in the future,” he said.
The folks at the Nature Conservancy agree. The global conservation organization has been growing partnerships around the world with Indigenous nations and communities and said it was excited to team up with the Iroquois Cultural Center on this project.
“Some of the members of the Haudenosaunee community had come to us and asked if we could help find a property in the Adirondacks where the they could gather as a community and create a home for a Native youth camp,” said Peg Olsen, director of the Nature Conservancy’s New York State Indigenous Partnerships program. “When we realized this property was up for sale, it had all the elements. It could provide an opportunity for ecological restoration. It had cabins that would be good for a youth camp. And it happened to be right next door to the Six Nations Iroquois Cultural Center.
“It’s like all the stars aligned,” she said.
“Since time immemorial, the Haudenosaunee have lived in reciprocal relationship with these lands and waters,” said Bill Ulfelder, executive director of The Nature Conservancy in New York. “This [land purchase] marks The Nature Conservancy in New York’s first land return and demonstrates our commitment to expanding Indigenous access, care, and ownership of land.”
Which brought – and brings – a smile to Fadden’s face. He grew up in and around the property and explored it extensively.
His grandparents Ray and Christine Fadden founded the cultural center in 1954.
“As a young person, I used to hike that area,” he said. “I knew those woods like the back of my hand. And, I always had a fear that they would be sold off to developers or loggers.”
Today that fear is gone, replaced with hope.Now, the 600 acres Fadden wandered in his youth “will serve as a classroom to share and learn Indigenous ecological knowledge for Native and non-Native students alike for generations,” he said.