Multi-time coach of championship Bucknell University lacrosse teams made a visit to Professor Siewer’s ENLS 103 class on Wednesday, February 14, 2024. The lessons and knowledge passed on through his discussion could be considered life-changing to many, and open eyes to a new lifestyle.
A Haudenosaunee person of the Cayuga nation, Jamieson was born in northwest New York from a self-governing territory. A first generation college student, Jamieson graduated with a degree in physical education and athletic training. While athletic training at Bucknell, Jamieson accepted an offer to be the university’s new lacrosse coach.
Jamieson openly told the class about how the Iroquois society works. He said, “any tribal group who wants to live in peace and harmony are able to live in it.” He gave the example of when there were five nations in Iroquois society, until the sixth nation of Tuscarora were kicked out of North Carolina by the United States’ government. Now, although Tuscarora has less of a voice in the Iroquois government, they can still participate and coexist amongst the other nations.
Jamieson told a lesson-filled story taught to Iroquois kids in secondary school called The Animals vs. the Birds (34:40). In a competitive ball game of birds against land animals, a small mouse climbs up a tree and wishes to play. The bird accepts and helps transform the mouse into a bat. Later on, the bat wins the game for the birds. Jamieson had 17 lessons that could come out of this story, with the main one being that everyone can coexist.
Living near the Susquehanna River, Jamieson reminded the class of its importance to northeastern United States. Although Americans can be naive to the environmental damage done by modern society, Jamieson says the Iroquois live by the statement, “We are all apart of everything that is above us, everything that is around us, and everything that is beneath us.” This ideology can change the way humans treat the environment. Humans do not own the Earth, the Earth owns them.
Finally, Jamieson told how Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Adams studied the Iroquois system because they had understanding of how nations could coexist so peacefully. Sometimes, acceptance and an open mind can go a long way in relations between two nations. The Iroquois ways are a strong example of how coexistence with others and the environment are possible.
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