On the Coloring Sheets page, there is a new sheet for Indigenous Peoples’ Day which is today. Below I will explain what each square represents. I’m glad that we are beginning to acknowledge the people who were here long before the Europeans arrived and drastically changed things through their way of life, their diseases, their concepts of ownership, and of course, their biases, which for many remain today.

I am determined to remind myself and others that the land I live and work on once belonged to the world, and the Haudenosaunee (in my specific area) were the caretakers. They were willing to help the new settlers, and did. And I’m sure regretted it. The Europeans weren’t exactly grateful in the long run.

Wherever you live look at the names of the towns. Across this country (the US) and Canada you will find many towns and streets are named with Native American names. I like to look into some of those names and see what they mean in the various languages.

This is a thumbnail of the color sheet. It can be downloaded on the page for the coloring sheets. Permissions are on that page.

What do these pictures mean?

1. The wampum belt of the Haudenosaunee, also called the Iroquois. The belt is called the Hiawatha belt after the Peacemaker’s helper. It is not the same as the Hiawatha in Longfellow’s poem. It represents the five nations (Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk) coming to live in peace, and now also includes the Tuscarora.
2. On the left is a turtle. The Haudenosaunee (and other Native American nations) believe that the world is carried on the back of a turtle. St. Kateri Tekakwitha, who I often write about is also a member of the Turtle Clan.
3. On the right is a Lily, symbolizing St. Kateri’s informal name: Lily of the Mohawks.
4. The first box is a longhouse with smoke rising through the hole in the roof. This is where the Haudenosaunee people lived according to their clans. In the village in what is now Fonda, New York, there were twenty longhouses. In the top left corner of this square is a depiction of the Three Sisters: the base crops of corn, beans, and squash.
5. The second box holds a cross with an arrow design that is similar to one on the First Nations Version of the New Testament book.
6. The third box is simply a bead design that I created.
7. The fourth and final is the sacred fire that most nations use in their ceremonies.
8. The bottom section is divided into three non-straight lines to symbolize the sky, the earth, and the water.