Orenda

Hello and welcome to Word of the Week! I’m your host, Liz. This podcast is dedicated to words and phrases that are untranslatable into English. Let’s discover the nuance of the world’s languages, shall we? 

This week’s word is orenda. A Haudenosaunee word that means ‘the power of voiced and focused will’. It’s quite literally the opposite of fate or kismet. This word also literally means ‘song’, so when Huron use this word, they are conjuring the concept of mystic influence; incantation. This is the kind of power that us humans can summon, in order to fight the blind forces of fate. 

In English, words like ‘prayer’ or ‘spell’ don’t do it justice. For Iroquois, the word ‘orenda’ calls forth the image of the cicada, which composes its early morning song in order to ensure that the day will be hot and the corn will ripen well. Its song is a voiced force of will. 

But it isn’t laced with hubris or pomp. To say that ‘he lays down his own orenda’ is to say that he submits his will in the face of a great power. There is a touch of fear amidst hope in the use of the word. It’s bittersweet perhaps, but not helpless.

So in the face of phrases like ‘whatever will be will be’, you can transparently say ‘I’m going to lay down my orenda on this’. Is your relationship with your partner concerning you? Array yourself in your orenda. Do your family members question your choice of career? You know what to do.

Here’s to this week… May you all endeavor to adopt this Word of the Week and see the world a little bit differently. I’ll be back next week with a new word. Thank you for listening!