Photo by Jenny Yu '24. The Zowie Banteah Cultural Center hosted a screening of "Ohero:kon - Under the Husk: A Native American Rite of Passage," a documentary film.
By Sophie Frank ’26
Staff Writer
The documentary “Ohero:kon - Under the Husk: A Native American Rite of Passage,” which was shown on Nov. 28 by the Office of Community and Belonging and the Zowie Banteah Cultural Center, follows two young Mohawk girls, Kaienkwinehtha and Kasennakohe, as they complete their traditional passage rites ceremony and become Mohawk women. The pair live “in the Mohawk Community of Akwesasne,” which is located on what came to be known the U.S. and Canada border. The ceremony takes place over the course of four years and, as the film distributor Vision Maker Media said, “Challenges [the girls] spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically. It shapes the women they become.”
For this community, the ceremony represents more than just personal growth. According to an article written by Running Strong for American Indian Youth, an Indigenous-led group devoted to strengthening Indigenous communities, the ceremony “also resists the devastating impacts of colonization, reverses effects of the residential school systems and reclaims ancestral knowledge.” Much of the ceremony marks a commitment to learning and passing down language and working within the community; the personal journey through the ceremony also brings an individual closer to their community.
The ceremony is a four-year process. Young people spend months learning skills such as fire building and having conversations with elders around “intergenerational trauma, traditional health and wellness practices and how to foster healthy loving relationships,” according to a blog post from Project562, a project dedicated to photographing Indigenous communities with the purpose of preserving history.
After practicing their skills and learning within their communities, the adolescents partake in spiritual fasts where they spend time alone in the woods with no food or water. The first year they spend one night, but by the end of the ceremony they are able to spend four days and four nights alone. This time helps them “learn their own strength,” as described by Project562.
While the fasts are solo excursions, the tradition of Ohero:kon is deeply community-based, as the adolescents are given the skills to succeed by working with other members of their community. “Ohero:kon also brings [the youth participants] close together. Because they’re in ceremony together. It gets them more connected with each other and with the community,” filmmaker Katsitsionni Fox said in the Project562 blog.
The Zowie Banteah Cultural Center, which co-hosted the event, “promotes visibility and empowerment for Native American and Indigenous communities by providing space for dialogue, interaction and community,” according to the College website.
The event was open to the College as well as the wider community, and many stayed for a discussion of the film and Indigeneity in modern times. The screening and following discussion was hosted by Katie Dick ʼ21, a graduate assistant for residential community and belonging and an Indigenous Mount Holyoke alum.
She believes that “demonstrating concrete, permanent support for Indigenous students plays a huge role in making sure people are able to … live their life.” Dick is new to the job, and said in an interview with the Mount Holyoke News that she will be working closely with the cultural affinity centers and affinity-based LLCs. She said, “Bringing Indigenous teachings and Indigenous stories that are full of love … and gratitude and … interconnectedness is something that I hope makes people’s lives better and brighter and worth living. And so I hope in these trying times that the work that I do on campus can make this college more livable for Indigenous students.”
“Bringing Indigenous teachings and Indigenous stories that are full of love … and gratitude and … interconnectedness is something that I hope makes people’s lives better and brighter and worth living. ”
Event attendees discussed the isolation and lack of community in American culture, especially during the pandemic, and Indigenous methods of community building and resistance. They also noticed the way the film created space for itself in a traditionally academic genre, which often prioritizes research and objective filmmaking rather than allowing the emotions and personal experiences of the youth participants to drive the story. The film gave permission to learn from experience, and integrates different parts of one’s lived experiences. It also shows the importance of learning through stories.
Speaking directly to readers of the Mount Holyoke News, Dick said, “To all the people who read this article, if anybody from anywhere with any experience has a connection to Indigeneity or wants one, I want this space to be for them. If they don’t think that it is that right now, I want to build that with them.” Much of Dick’s work, as well as her experience as a student, has led her to raise questions about how to celebrate and make space for Indigeneity at Mount Holyoke.
The Zowie Banteah Cultural Center is located between Ham Hall and MacGregor Halls, and hosts weekly open hours, which can be found on Embark. Events like this screening are part of the Center’s commitment to creating a safe and powerful space for Indigenous community members.