I am Onondaga. I am Eel Clan. I am Haudenosaunee. I am a son. I am a brother. I am a husband. I am a father. I am a learner/teacher.
I grew up on the Onondaga Nation, which is a sovereign nation. It is separate from the United States, and located in the center of what we now call New York State. My mother, Helen Jacobs, and my father Irving Powless Jr, wanted us to grow up knowing our native traditions and heritage, so my sister and brothers would attend ceremonies at the Longhouse. I attended the elementary school that I currently teach at, which is an all-indigenous school. The school is a small community but I always loved to write, tell stories, and make people laugh.
After going to college at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY, I met and married my wife Gohahagehdih (JoAnne). We were married following our traditional customs, where the mothers agree to the marriage, not the fathers. She also teaches at the Onondaga Nation School, where each of our three kids attended and graduated, as me and my own siblings did years ago. We are proud parents of all of them my oldest, Niyoñonda’uh (Elaina), graduated from Syracuse University, Ganeñhdawaks (Sophia) graduated from Adelphi University and Columbia University and my son Haeñhyanoñhna' graduated from Elmira College.
As you can see, there is a history of close ties to the Onondaga Nation School and my family, but it doesn’t stop there. My grandmother Cecelia was the school’s librarian. My aunt Bev was the school secretary. My mother Helen was the first Culture teacher at the school. My brother Barry was the Culture teacher for 3 years. My sister Nancy taught first and fourth grade for 42 years at the Onondaga Nation School. Consequently, it wasn’t too much of a surprise that I wanted to teach at the Onondaga Nation School.
I was fortunate to grow up in a household where I could hear about the history of the Onondaga people. My grandfather and father (Irving Powless Sr/Jr) were both chiefs on the Onondaga Nation council (FYI—there are 14 chiefs at Onondaga). Discussions about traditional ceremonies and governmental sovereignty were a daily occurrence around my household growing up. Additionally, both were fire chiefs at the Onondaga Nation Volunteer Fire Department. Years later, I am honored by the work I that accomplished in helping design the new firehouse for the Onondaga Nation.
