Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy have maintained and occupied North America since time immemorial. The Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) Nation is one of the Six Nations within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The early colonials of Great Britain and the United States made treaties with the Haudenosaunee. The treaties guaranteed the traditional governments of the Haudenosaunee would continue to exist and maintain their way of life.

The Jay Treaty was a treaty that guaranteed the right of free passage for the Onkwehonwe (Native Americans) through the newly established international boundary in order not to infringe on our inherent rights to move freely across our territories by the external governments. This treaty was abrogated by the War of 1812. Onkwehonwe were promised that the international border would not affect our way of life and our pre-existing guarantees would be upheld in the Treaty of Ghent.

Today, the external governments are slowly eroding our rights to be who we are. Locally, Mohawk people living in the Mohawk territory on Kawehnohkowanen:ne (Cornwall Island) are prisoners on their own land. For a person who lives on Kawehnohkowanen:ne (Cornwall Island), they are subject to police identification and/or reporting when they travel south to the United States or travel north to Canada.

If this were a Canadian citizen, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms would not allow this police state to continue. However, justice is not attainable, legal action has been fruitless. Canada has bullied their way upon the Onkwehonwe and Canada’s might have reached into the judiciary. What fairness can an Onkwehonwe person obtain if the justice system maintains colonial ideas despite promises by the early governments?

We are organizing a peaceful march across the international bridge on Friday May 17, 2013 based on the three main principles our Peacemaker brought to the Haudenosaunee: skennen (peace), kasastensera (power), Kanikonriio (good mind). We want all Akwesasronon, Haudenosaunee and our neighbors north and south of the border to become united as one body, one heart and one mind to fight the injustice going on at the international border. This affects everyone.

We will be having a tobacco burning on Thursday, March 16, 2013, starting at 8:30am at the Mohawk Nation Longhouse. On the next day, Friday, May 17, 2013, 8:30am we gather again at the Mohawk Nation Longhouse. At 9:00am, we will start marching to the U.S. Customs. At 10:00am we will proceed from Cornwall Island at the cross roads to the Canadian Customs. We will hand deliver a letter from the Haudenosaunee to CBSA of our grievances against Canada and demand meetings with the Canadian Government to improve relations among our two nations. Then we will head back to the cross roads on Cornwall Island for food and refreshments. We encourage people to wear their traditional clothes, ribbon shirts, ribbon dresses, and gustowas and bring your Haudenosaunee flag if you have one.

This is a pot luck event; please bring a dish to pass so we can feed everybody.

We encourage anyone that has any business that involves passing through the international bridge to do it before 10:00am or after 2:00pm or do it the day before or after May 17th.

Know why we are marching. To Honor Treaty promises.

About the rally MCA stated, “The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne supports the Nation Council’s decision to demonstrate peacefully on Friday. Although MCA is not organizing the event, community members have a right to demonstrate how they so wish, and we can only encourage everyone involved to be mindful of one another, of the Akwesasne community and that emergency vehicles be allowed to cross freely over the Three Nations Bridge Crossing at all times throughout the march.”

Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Chief Randy Hart said, “The Tribe supports the membership’s right to protest and their fight for our rights to cross into Canada freely.”