"'Noo Yaw' was Eagerly-Awaited Day"

OHSWEKEN - When I was a boy, a lot of children on the Six Nations Indian Reserve eagerly looked forward to the new year. This was because on New Year's Day, we went from house to house shouting "Noo Yaw." In return we received doughnuts, cookies and other pastries. I'm not sure how or when this custom began but it must be very old. My parents could remember doing the same thing when they were children.

My mother had a routine for New Year's Eve. After supper, she would start mixing the dough to make doughnuts. She knew how to make various kinds of delicious cookies but it was her custom to make doughnuts for Noo Yaw and she did not vary from it, year after year.

At about 10 in the evening the first delicious batch would be taken from the old wood stove. A heavenly aroma would fill the kitchen. My Dad would follow his nose to the kitchen table, followed closely by those of us who were still awake. The hot brown doughnuts would be placed in a large dish and sprinkled on top with icing sugar. Then we would wait impatiently for them to cool.

Even after I grew up, I would often visit my parents late on New Year's Eve, in time to sample the freshly-made doughnuts. By this time they had given up farming and were running a small country store. There were baked goods from the bakery on the shelves but this was not good enough for Noo Yaw. Tradition had to be upheld.

My wife also remembers going out for Noo Yaw. She lived right on the border of the reserve. One year when she was still quite little, she and her friends set out along this boundary. After visiting houses along this road for over a mile, they came to a sideroad. Being only children, they turned down this road not realizing they were leaving the reserve.

At the first farm house they rushed up to the door yelling "Noo Yaw." To their surprise, no one came to answer the door.

It was opened by the farmer's wife. "Noo Yaw, Noo Yaw" they shouted. She looked at them blankly. "What do you want?" she asked. So they patiently explained that they were out for Noo Yaw. "What is that?" the lady asked. More explanations. "It's something like Halloween," one of the girls said. At last they received a few goodies and they proceeded to the next house. Here the same scene was repeated.

At the third house, it occurred to them that either these people were incredibly stupid or that they no longer were on the reserve. In either case, it was time to go home so they turned around and headed back.

Last year, only a few children were out for Noo Yaw. They came by car, not on foot. The roads no longer swarm with children on New Year's Day, the way they once did. Perhaps they are no longer hungry as I and so many of my friends were. In those days we couldn't pick up the phone and order a pizza as so many now can. For this we should be truly thankful in 1988.