Basic Call to Consciousness

Continued from last week.

We, the Haudenosaunee, have clear choices about the future. One of the choices which we have faced is whether to become Westernized, or to remain true to the Way of Life our forefathers developed for us. We have stated our understanding of the history of the changes that have created the present conditions. We have chosen to remain Haudenosaunee, and within the context of our Way of Life, to set a course of liberation for ourselves and the future generations.

Our liberation process is not one that is exclusive to us as Humans, but also includes the other life forms that coexist and are as oppressed as we. The liberation of the Natural World is a process which is being undertaken in a most difficult environment. The people surrounding us seem to be intent on destroying themselves and every living thing.

Throughout the past four hundred years, the Haudenosaunee have exerted a great influence on the lives of millions of people. Theories about democracy and classless society have been developed from inadequate interpretations of the true nature of those ideals. This conference may be the time which begins to process which moves toward more real definitions of these concepts.

In our homelands, our people are still struggling and developing strategies for survival. In the Mohawk country, our people have reoccupied lands for the purpose of revitalizing our culture and economy. This settlement, known as Ganienkeh, has been successfully held for more than three years. (at the time this was written). The Oneida people have been waging a court battle for several years to regain 265,000 acres illegally taken in the 1700s. The Cayugas have also been engaged in an effort to regain 100,000 acres taken during the same period as the theft from the Oneidas. The Onondagas and Tuscaroras have been carrying on an unceasing battle to gain control of the education that their children receive. The Senecas have been forced into a long struggle to protect the last pieces of their land still under traditional government, the lands at the Tonawanda territory. Every day of our lives finds us defending ourselves from some form of intrusion by the State of New York or the United States or Canadian governments.

If we are to continue to survive, we need the help of the international community. We need external presence to bring some sort of stability to the situation of our people. We have learned, too frequently, that what is good law today can rapidly be changed into bad law. Both Canada and the United States have taught us that their legal systems are part of the political machinery which effects the oppression of our peoples.

We are nations by every definition of the term. We have been unable to obtain any semblance of justice in the court systems of the United States or Canada, and we suffer horrible legal injustices which have terrible economic and social consequences for our people. Many of our legal problems involve land and sovereignty over land. And land is the basis of our economy. We are seeking our rights in those areas under international law.

Lastly, we require economic assistance in the form of economic aid and technical assistance. We are aware that there exist various international figures who have technical expertise and who are conscious of development in the context of specific cultures. Our case is appropriate to the deliberations of the United Nations Decolonization Committee. We are engaged in a struggle to decolonize our lands and our lives, but we cannot accomplish this goal alone and unaided.

For centuries we have known that each individual’s action creates conditions and situations that affect the world. For centuries we have been careful to avoid any action unless it carried a long-range prospect of promoting harmony and peace in the world. In that context, with our brothers and sisters of the Western Hemisphere, we have journeyed here to discuss these important matters with the other members of the Family of Man.

To be continued.