The White Blaze
by Arianna RF
September 15
As my running pace slows to a walk, my heart pounds and my breath deepens. I look up at the scenery in front of me. The trail I’ve been following extends to the other side of a marshy stream, which is crossed by a wooden bridge. I see in the distance he vegetation change to a bog lined with spruce, and a white blaze to mark the rest of the trail. A quick rustle in the distance, my head shoots in the direction it came from, and my eyes gaze around the marsh and stumble upon a white-tailed deer munching on some brush. Surrounded by the natural beauty of the land. I can’t help but think about all the animals who have passed by this area, the birds who have flown by, and the people who have come here in passing.
Ever since coming to Arcadia, our yurt village on Massawepie Conservation Area. I’ve started to run the White Trail, which circles the entirety of Massawepie Lake. Marked by an off-white blaze, mirrored on both sides of various trees along the lake, the universal language of the wood identifies the well-traveled path. I routinely run the trail, following the same ups and downs of the landscape, passing by the same two ponds and noticing the same evergreens. I love the rhythmic nature and appreciate this beautiful area I get to spend time in; however, on this run my perspective was shifted.
The land we’ve been living on here at Arcadia is stolen, taken from the Indigenous populations who have been living here for thousands of years, developing steadfast communities and traditions, which have been extirpated by European settlers. As I’ve come to reside in this area, I’ve made an effort to educate myself more ab out the Native Americans who have inhabited this land since before even the existence of forests, and long before the colonizers came to the Adirondacks.
During one of our weekly classes. Land Use Change in the Adirondacks, we spent the day visiting the Six Nations Cultural Center in Orchiota, NY, learning about the history and presence of Indigenous populations in the region.
There has long been a tale in the Adirondacks, that Native Americans had never fully settled in the region, that the Indigenous people would only ever come to hunt and gather simply because the terrain was too rough, and the climate too harsh. The tale is false, and from floor to ceiling, the Six Nations cultural Center has ample evidence depicting a long period of inhabitation in the Adirondacks and a Spiritual and Cultural connection to the land.
As I wandered around the museum, I stumbled upon multiple plaques sharing the history of the 18th Century Iroquois runners who traveled across the Adirondack wilderness to communicate village to village. It immediately sparked my curiosity. A whole network of trails in the region and beyond have connected Indigenous peoples to each other for an eternity. Signaled by tree blazes cut by an axe, tied grass, and twigs. Dave Fadden, owner and educator at the Six Nations Cultural Center and member of the Mohawk Nation, has helped create the plaques and has extensive knowledge about the system of running trails. He described the intense network, noting how his ancestors would “run from Albany to Buffalo in three days”, to give and receive messages, and trade throughout the clans. To direct the runners, the trees were marked with a two way system: “when a mark appears on the back and front of a trunk, it’s so the trail can be run both ways:… when it appears on one side of each tree, [this marks] a blind trail, which can only be run one way. The blinds trail is often used by trappers and prospectors, who do not wish for anyone to follow their back track. “The elaborate system brought Native Americans from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Their presence along the trails can be tracked through the artifacts left by runners along this network. The vastness of the Indigenous networks often gets overlooked, and their markings get no credit even as they are incorporated into daily life in the 21st century. Consistently perpetuated is the false narrative that Native Americans had never been fully settled in the Adirondacks, and they are also continuously exploited in this country.
As I glance across the stream, I set my eyes o the white blaze and I’m reminded of the people who have traveled these lands before me, and who will continue to do so. I lock eyes with the deer, and as it scampers off into the distance, I pick up where I left off, start up my running pace again, and cross the bridge to meet the other side of the trail, following the white blazes. As I run, I can’t help but think about the white marks on the landscape, painted on the trees to symbolize ownership of the land. The process of exploitation the European settlers introduced centuries ago continues to present itself along the shores of Massawepie Lake, and throughout the entirety of the Adirondacks.