Kor Element Bio
Kor Element is a Hip Hop artist, poet, and activist who is here to assist in the ushering in of a new era with music and a mindset that moves you to do better, live better, and be better. He has performed with Grammy Award winning artists such as The Yin Yang Twins and Kevin Olusola of Pentatonix. With songs such as “Step Into Light” and “Bernie or Bust,” Kor Element champions self-development, the fight for the rights of the people, and caring for Mother Earth.
The WATERFALL UNITY CELEBRATION will take place from August 12-14 at the traditional Haudenosaunee Longhouse being built in West Fulton, NY. The gathering will feature traditional Kanien’kehá:ka songs, dances, crafts and teachings as well as performances by local residents Bethany & Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul & Mary), The Jock Family Singers, Sandra Deer-Standup, The Heartstrings Project, Clara Soaring Hawk, Roberto Múkaro Borrero, Sachem Hawk Storm, Jon Lee Rucker, Wihse, Kor Element and other surprise guests. The celebration is part of a fundraising campaign organized by the Waterfall Unity Alliance to purchase the Bohringer’s sixty-acre fruit and berry farm in the Schoharie Valley as part of a community supported land-back effort for the Kanien’kehá:ka people.
The Waterfall Unity Alliance was founded in 2015 when Kanien’kehá:ka relatives from the Akwesasne reservation on the New York/ Canada border returned to stand with residents of the Mohawk Valley against the Constitution Pipeline. Together with other groups, they successfully stopped the massive fracked gas pipeline planned for the area. It was a huge win… but their prayer was not just to stop a pipeline, but to open the doorway for the Kanien’kehá:ka to be welcomed back to their ancestral lands and form a vibrant community based on balance and resilience. This central prayer has guided the work of the Waterfall Unity Alliance over the last seven years as they continue to build relationships in the Schoharie Valley.
“My family has lived in these mountains since the 1800s,” says Sonya Armlin Roland, a board member of the Waterfall Unity Alliance. “I myself have some Mohawk ancestry, as do many of the people who have lived here for generations. It is an honor to welcome the Kanien’kehá:ka back home.”
Jimmy Sumner, a Middleburgh resident, retired police officer and WUA board member was so inspired by the project that he recently donated 7 acres of land with a hunting camp on it to the Waterfall Unity Alliance. It is an inspiring story of local community coming together to welcome the original inhabitants back to the land.
Bethany Yarrow, a West Fulton resident and co-founder of the Waterfall Unity Alliance says, “A beautiful vision has taken root in the Valley. It is an extraordinary opportunity. We are truly the generation here to heal. If not us, then who? And if not now, then when?
THE BERRY FARM & ORIGINAL LIFEWAYS CENTER
On a spectacular ribbon of cropland in the Schoharie Valley of Central New York sit the remains of an old Kanien’kehá:ka village on what is now Bohringer’s, a sixty acre working fruit and berry farm. For many Kanien’kehá:ka it is the fulfillment of prophecy and a life-long dream to return to their ancestral lands and begin a community guided by Kaianere'kó:wa (the Great Law of Peace).
The return of the Kanien’kehá:ka, the People of the Flint, to the Schoharie Valley is not only the fulfillment of prophecy, but also part of an urgent task of environmental justice. The Akwesasne reservation is home to the largest PCB dump in America, courtesy of General Motors, Reynolds and Alcoa. Akwesasne is now designated as a toxic superfund site, with extremely high rates of cancer and other rare diseases in the community.
The Original Lifeways Center at the Berry Farm will be the economic hub of the new community with a cannery, language immersion school, summer camp, and many other beautiful projects planned. The berry farm will be transitioned back to regenerative practices, re-introducing native plants, wildlife, traditional varieties of Haudenosaunee corn, beans, squash, herbs and medicines. It is part of a long-term vision of creating a bio-regional forest, water, wildlife and food sanctuary in the Valley for the continued existence of life on earth for the next 7 generations and beyond.
THE LONGHOUSE
Kanerahtiio Roger Jock, a Bear Clan leader from Akwesasne, carries a vision of return for his people back to his ancestral lands in the Mohawk Valley where his great-great-grandmothers came from. Over the past two years, he has led a team of volunteers in building a traditional Longhouse next to a sacred waterfall five miles from the berry farm. The waterfall is known locally as Bouck’s Falls, but was originally called Kahonrakén:ra, the White Spout – a place that has brought healing to so many people across the generations. The Longhouse is an initial point of return, and the process of building it has formed relationships of trust and respect – and inspired others to donate land & resources as part of this community supported land-back effort.
Kawenniiosta Jock is Kanerahtiio's daughter, a Wolf Clan land defender, artist, master seamstress and the mother of five children. "The prophecies all say that to survive we have to return to original ways," says Kawenniiosta. "We need to form and nurture communities that will sustain us through the climate tipping point and beyond. We know that there are ways to live in balance. We have not forgotten, but we need to decolonize our minds and ways of life and return to the ways of our ancestors. This is why I want to come with my children back to the Valley. It is time for us to plant the seeds of return."
According to language expert Ienonhsaka'én:ions Trina Stacey, Schoharie originally means “the place of cleansing or renewal”. It is known as the Eastern Gate of Turtle Island (North America), and the Kanien’kehá:ka are the keepers of the gate. Traditionally, the East is the place of beginning, where the sun is born each morning, where all faith and hope live. It is said that if we can transform and heal in the East, the place of origin, then everything can be transformed.
The Waterfall Unity Alliance, a 501c3 not for profit organization, invites the community to be a part of this historic healing process. The Waterfall Unity Celebration is FREE OF CHARGE. All are welcome at this community gathering to welcome the Kanien’kehá:ka back to their ancestral lands with song, dance and the renewal of old relationships. There a suggested donation of $275 for camping for the weekend, or $65 a day for music, food, workshops & fun to help purchase the farm. Camping is available on-site (no RVs). This is a drug and alcohol-free event.
RSVP requested for accurate count for food & amenities: waterfallunityalliance@gmail.com To donate visit: www.gofundme.com/MohawkReturn More information at: www.waterfallunityalliance.org
