Duration: 1 hour 27 minutes
This Friday evening Woody outlines the Dancing Under the Paddle Ceremony
and some Conversational Haida phrases
New addition to Video. Edited to include some descriptive text.
Below are images of the handouts.
Tonight at our Haida Class we discussed the up-coming Dancing Under the Paddle Ceremony.
Here is some information about it.
Áalaay xit Xyaahl.
(Dancing Under The Paddle)
Dancing Under The Paddle is a Ceremony of Celebration; celebrating the Beginning of a Relationship between First Woman and First Man. A relationship that has endured, and enabled us, the Human Species to Survive and Thrive for untold hundreds of thousands of years. Colonization has massive damage to that relationship; we now take back relationship and our Power.
Explanation
My Haida Grandfather, Ḵun kwiiaang (Paul Morrison) was the keeper of a Ceremony called “Dancing Under The Paddle”. He performed it in 1940 when it was against the law, so it was done in secret. I was born in 1941 and, in 1944 he took me to the History Keepers and, at age 3 my training began. I was forbidden to talk about my training to anyone but the members of that Society.
Ḵun kwiiaang Went Home in 1945. Even now, I am very reluctant to say anything about it because, I know how it felt to keep things secret because of fear of Government; and, I feel some of that same Wariness about doing it now.
What you will witness is a bit different. This is not Haida country so we modified the Ceremony to ensure the Spirits of this Land will perceive what we do, favorably. So you will see parts that are of the Salish Peoples, some is Nishgaa’ but the rest is Haida. When we do this ceremony with all Haidas it will be as when my grandfather performed it.
In 1982, after having graduated from Law School I returned home to Hydaburg, Alaska. My Uncle, Ḵáawan Sangáa (Louis Kitkoon) sent for me and gave me his name, Ḵáawan Sangáa, and, at that time the Ceremony was passed to me. I asked, "When am I supposed to do this." He answered, "You will know."
In October 2014 an image appeared in front of me: a miniature pool of water and a small object was dropped into the center of the pool. When I saw the waves radiating out, I heard the words, "It is time." It scared me so I didn’t tell anyone then, I realized I had a responsibility to carry this out.
Ceremony Background
It is said that when, That Which Exists Nowhere, Exists in Nothing and Brought all things into Being, caused the First Human to come into Being. That Being was molded from Earth and Tears Sadness and Tears of Gladness. It was Perfect, it was Female. The Breath of Life was put into its mouth in puffs of air with a "spitting sound" - Ts’uswii.
When that Female Being breathed its first Breath, it was in harmony with the Universe. But there was a problem: nothing is ever made with only one side. So this new Female Being was separated into two parts: the second became Male. That is why the children belong to the Mother’s Lineage.
When a woman gives birth to a child, its first cry is a signal that this new Human Being is in Harmony with the Universe. Jaat’áay Ts’uswíi - The Woman’s Gift or Magic of Harmony.
All of us, male and female have been taught that Woman is the cause of Original Sin. For thousands of years now, women have been vilified, tortured, mutilated and murdered because of those teachings.
Our own Cultures say, “No, that is not how it is! Woman was given this Gift of Harmony and, she must take back her legacy. She is Human and will accept nothing short of being treated as Human”.
We are not Mankind, we are Humankind. The first requirement for being Human is to be born of a Woman. Thus we are not Mankind, we are Humankind. We have to get rid of the concept of "Race" for it implies a contest to be #1. We are all Humankind. To be Humankind, one must be a Kind Human.
Our Hosts will close the Ceremony with their Protocols.
Balance vs Unbalance - Good Sounding Words.
