“In my vision as a Mohawk midwife, reproductive justice and environmental justice intersect at the nexus of woman's blood and voice.”

HaudenosauneeHaudenosaunee - PRProven Resilient
Written By Blog Post Author

Katsi Cook (good-gee cook)

Mohawk midwife

IMAGE SOURCE: Ronnie Farley photo. Earth Keepers: Native Portraits gallery. | QUOTE SOURCE: “Powerful Like a River: Reweaving the Web of Our Lives in Defense of Environmental and Reproductive Justice.” Original Instructions: Indigenous Teachings fo…

IMAGE SOURCE: Ronnie Farley photo. Earth Keepers: Native Portraits gallery. | QUOTE SOURCE: “Powerful Like a River: Reweaving the Web of Our Lives in Defense of Environmental and Reproductive Justice.” Original Instructions: Indigenous Teachings for a Sustainable Future. Ed. By Melissa Nelson. Bear & Co. 2008.

QUOTE CONTEXT: “Of the sacred things that are to be said about this, woman is the first environment; she is an original instruction.”

QUOTE QUESTION: How are women’s blood and women’s voice defended and strengthened in your tradition?

IMAGE CONTEXT: Mohawk midwife Katsi Cook tends to a birth at Massena memorial hospital in Massena, New York, 1992.

IMAGE QUESTION: Who welcomes new life in your community?

MEDIA LITERACY CONTEXT: The quote is from Katsi Cook’s presentation to the 2002 Bioneers’ conference.

MEDIA LITERACY QUESTION: The photo is from a professional photographer’s website. How do you choose your media allies?

LEARN ABOUT AND SUPPORT KATSI COOK’S WORK: https://indspire.ca/laureate/sherrill-katsi-cook-barreiro/

DOWNLOAD THE HAUDENOSAUNEE SLIDE DECK FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES:

Blog Post Author
Previous

“We see the natural world as a living being with rights. The rights of the natural world—of the air, the water, the moon, the stars—always take precedence.”
Next

“We need to identify the processes that so often lead people who are honestly seeking to resist and destroy colonization to unconsciously re-create the elements of their own oppression.”