Our next stop on Permatours was in Hogansburg, New York. We were staying on the Akwesasne Reservation - belonging to the Mohawk Tribe. Our hosts, Roger and Diane, explained that they did not consider their land to be in or owned by the United States or Canada.
The journey to get there took just under seven hours. When I arrived, Joy and Jake were building a door for a shower that had just been built by Roger. I immediately jumped in to join. None of us really knew what we were doing but we managed to get everything cut and assembled nicely.
That’s when Roger pulled up. I was quickly introduced as he showed us around the community room, which is where we would be staying. He explained the paintings around the room and the meaning behind them. Most of the things in the room were sacred and we were not supposed to touch. He shared his thoughts on how so many of us feel the need to touch with our hands and not just our eyes when there’s no need. He talked of how when we find things in nature that are beautiful we often feel the need to keep them for ourselves when what we should be doing is leaving the beauty there for all to see. We often rob nature of its beauty. After having such deep discussion it surprised me when he turned to me and said “okay now we need to get fire works because we are going to party tonight!” It came completely out of nowhere! Apparently he had recently opened a cannabis dispensary. The tribal side of the Mohawks had originally tried to shut the dispensary down. He took them to federal court to fight it and he won. The court said that they could not tell him what to do on his own land. In celebration, we were having this party.
As he ran around preparing for the party there wasn’t much for us to do so we all decided to go for a swim to refresh ourselves. Joy, Jake, Teg and myself all went down to the water. We pulled up to a river that was on beautiful land. There was a giant sweat lodge and a longhouse in the back.
This land was absolutely beautiful. We walked around taking it all in before retreating to the water. It ended up being a little chilly to swim so instead we all sat by the river chatting and singing, taking in the view.
It was finally time to head to the dispensary to party. Across the street there was some sort of rap event, and every person who went received a bracelet which allowed them to get a free pre-rolled joint from the dispensary. We partied in the parking lot feeling like we were in high school again as people trickled over. We smoked until our hearts content as fireworks blasted above the dispensary.
Teg also spun fire in the parking lot for everyone to watch. We partied until we couldn’t anymore before going back and passing out in the community center.
The next morning all of us who slept in the community center woke up to the sound of Joy singing about breakfast. Roger and Diane had already left for breakfast and wanted us all to meet them there. We arose with our tired eyes and crazy hair and went straight over. We went to a cute little diner in town. After eating we all drove around and Roger stopped to show us where all the wild Cannabis was growing. It was a sight to see. As we walked around the fields we listened to all the knowledge he had to share with us. He had done so much in his life and he wanted to be sure he could get his message of peace out to us. Teach us the ways of the land and how important it all is. He was a well of knowledge that we were all able to tap into.
The rest of the day was spent tending to his cannabis fields. I had never seen so many plants in one place in my entire life. After a long day of working in the field Diane made us a lovely dinner of soup and sandwiches.
As the day went on I could feel my body start to be weighed down by sleep. As much as I wanted to go along with the group for other adventures I knew my body was telling me to rest. I retreated to the community center to sleep and did not wake up until the rest of the group returned. They came into the community room as I slowly woke up. We all sat in a circle to hear Roger speak. He first opened up the circle asking to hear about each of us. We went around sharing shortened versions of our lives before he took the floor. He spoke of his life and his mission which is to love and to connect with each other and the earth. He was saying that weight doesn’t have to be on one person's shoulder, but on all of ours together and that’s what makes life easier. That’s how we get things done - by helping one another. He also spoke of how life is not about what you are taught but it’s about what you learn. It was amazing, we got to not only hear his life journey but also his philosophy on life.
The next morning was the day we were leaving. It seemed as if we had been here for so much longer with all the knowledge we gained. Some of us packed up while I joined others at the diner for breakfast for our last day there. After long hugs and goodbyes we all hit the road stopping at the dispensary to pick up a huge bag of goodies they had put aside for our group.
It seemed as if they were as happy to have us there as we were to be there. I marked the spot on my map as a place I could return to if I ever needed to. I’ve been finding so much love and so many home bases out on the road. What a beautiful world it is that we live
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