Rooted in the Haudenosaunee Creation Story -
Where we learn that Water is the first element of Earth
The Ohné:ka Healing Project emphasizes the sacred relationship between humans and Water. By combining ancestral knowledge with contemporary environmental education, the project encourages youth to think critically, act mindfully, and advocate for the protection of the natural world.
The Ohné:ka Healing Project was developed and delivered by the Indigenous Arts Collective (IAC) in close collaboration with Haudenosaunee educators, artists, and environmental knowledge holders. Grounded in the Haudenosaunee worldview and the sacred responsibility to Water, the project offered culturally rooted activities designed to (re)connect youth, families, and communities with traditional teachings, language, and land-based learning through arts and environmental stewardship.
Through partnerships with Indigenous artists, Haudenosaunee educators, and local schools and youth groups, the project delivered an expanded series of engagements, including:
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Learning from the Haudenosaunee Water and Environmental Curriculum developed with Dr. Sarah Konwahahawi Rourke and Abraham Francis.
Hosting traditional arts workshops such as basketry, ribbon skirt-making, and painting.
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Creating paddle-board murals with youth and community members, transforming the boards into mobile Water-based artwork for cultural and environmental learning.
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On-the-Water paddles with certified Indigenous paddle-board instructors and Water testing with Water Rangers kits.
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Public engagement events and mural exhibitions of the paddle boards and curriculum guide at the National Indigenous Peoples Day Event in Kingston, The Pumphouse Museum, Truth and Reconciliation Day in Akwesasne, and our Indigenous Women’s Arts Conference.
Working with Indigenous youth and community members from Tyendinaga, Kingston and Akwesasne, IAC member artists -Melissa Brant, Jaylene Cardinal, Victoria Ransom, and Morgan Roundpoint, have helped us create seven amazing paddle board murals. Want to see our paddle boards in-person? They will be exhibited for a limited time at the Pumphouse Museum in Kingston, starting August 19th 2025 until November 2025.
Art Workshops
We had an amazing time facilitating basket and ribbon skirt workshops in Tyendinaga with Carrie Hill, Angello Johnson and Darlene Maracle, as well as at our Indigenous Women's Arts Conference, and in Akwesasne in partnership with Haudenosaunee Universe. We're grateful to Millside Ceramics (Marleen Murphy, Tyendinaga) for starting us off!
Download our Educator's Resource Guide created by Abraham Francis and Dr. Sarah Konwahahawi Rourke, designed to reconnect youth and communities with traditional teachings and the sacred responsibility to Water. Join Abraham Francis as he presents the curriculum in Akwesasne on September 8th at 6pm. Schedule your private presentation with your staff for free!
Email board@indigenousartscollective.org
Thanks for joining us at Confederation Park in Kingston on National Indigenous Peoples Event on June 21st, the Akwesasne Art Market on July 26th, the Kingston Pumphouse Museum on August 19th, and National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on September 30th. Everyone loved to participate in community paddle board paintings, learn about the Water, and receive their Ohné:ka Healing Project Curriculum.
Sierra Johnson-Sunday Caldwell
Ohné:ka Healing Project was inspired many years ago with a message from Sierra Johnson-Sunday Caldwell. In that connection, something deeper was set in motion. It was understanding that relationships are not accidental but are masterful webs of intention, memory and ancestral guidance.
It was a meeting of paths and an awakening – bringing to light the interconnectedness of everything in Creation and how everything in Creation relies on water. It was a call that illuminated Ohné:ka’s suffering; how her health reflects on all the people now and why we are carrying deep concern for the well-being of generations yet to come.
Sierra was a messenger and is now our ancestor. We are grateful for her sacrifices and lessons so that we can carry the momentum forward, rise up and elevate our contributions to a higher vibration of action and healing.
A commemorative paddle board mural was painted by Akwesasronon artist, Victoria Ransom and presented to the Johnson family and the community at the Akwesasne Art Market and Juried Show on July 26, 2025.
Ohné:ka Healing Project is dedicated to Sierra Johnson-Sunday Caldwell, Akwesasronon, September 22, 1988 - June 13, 2025.
Call To Action
Strategic placement of factories (General Motors and Reynolds Metals/Alcoa) and systemic poisoning of the river, aquatic environment and land makes our community the target of environmental genocide. In 1981, dormant sludge pits containing PCBs were found behind the GM plant and by 1984 it was designated a U.S. Superfund site (a contaminated location identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as requiring long-term cleanup of hazardous waste). Two massive aluminum smelters (Alcoa, formerly Reynolds Metals) began discharging PCBs, fluoride and volatile organic compounds in the late 1950’s and the legacy of contamination remains today as cleanup continues at an alarmingly slow rate and with selective effort.
We are elevated to a state of emergency and have been for 75 years.
This project is funded by:
and we are proud to collaborate with:
