Strong Women Stories (Chapter 2)

Laura Schwager describes native traditions and values as a feeling of coming home. Her father was native but he did not speak of it. Her mother believed in native ways though and so did Laura as a child. Her story begins with searching her ancestral tree and the search to finding out who she really is. She comes from the Hotinonshon:ni, meaning the People of the Longhouse. Her great-grandmother was a hard working native woman. She spoke Mohawk and made baskets from black ash and sweet grass and mittens from deer hide to sell in Kingston. She was a native woman raising three children and went against the norm of married couples. She worked very hard when they moved to Belleville to support her three kids. Her great-grandmother is remembered for sticking up for Native people. Her father grew up with no Indian status in his life but remembers his cousin coming by the house when he was young to tell his father that he should have Indian status. It wasn’t until his twenties when he realized there was Indian blood in his family. His father finally acquired Indian status and became the first of his mother’s children to do so. Laura does not have Indian status but her family tree begins with Native roots. Laura is on a journey to find and explore her Native heritage and her Native self.