The Struggle of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy
Prism | 23.11.2007 01:45
This is an account of my experiences and lessons learnt in Kanonhstaton. Here the Haudenosaunee Confederacy is reclaiming a parcel of land that has been stolen by the Canadian Government. The Confederacy was formed about a thousand years ago. The peace maker visited 5 Nations that bordered each other from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Huron and south of the St. Laurence river. The 5 Nations agreed to create the international confederacy which has sustained a thousand year peace amongst one another. The Confederacy has multiple levels of government including Clans, Council, Clan Mothers and Grand Council. The clans are extended families who meet in their area of the community and make decisions through consensus about matters of food, shelter and health of the people in their clan. The council meets at the community level and includes all members of a respective town or city.
The clan mothers are hereditary and provide the confederacy with political continuity and lifetimes of experience. The Grand council meets to address issues that require the collective action of all 5 Nations. At all levels of Government consensus is used; this fosters a different paradigm for how political differences are arbitrated. There is no political debates as seen in the western tradition of ideologies. The meetings aim to heal divisions within the confederacy. What results are complex and dynamic solutions to political problems. This means of organizing I believe to be responsible for the confederacy's continuing strength in it's struggle against the empires of Europe and North America.
In 1924 the Confederacy received a huge blow. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided the government offices within the Confederacy's territories and stole their documents than installed the band councils. The documents that were stolen included the Haudenosaunee 's copies of treaties with the British and Canadian government which gave the confederacy legal title to their land. The installment of the band council eliminated the participatory and self-determined democracy for an imposed liberal "democracy" that acts mostly as a Canadian federal agency within Haudenosaunee territory. To further the blow the installment of the band council means the Confederacy is no longer acknowledged by the international community as a sovereign power. During the time of the European League of Nations the Haudenosaunee government had a full membership and sat as a sovereign power amongst the world's other powers. Today the United Nations recognizes the Confederacy as a "Nation within a Nation." In other words it is consider completely subjugated and colonized. From 1924 until 2006 the Confederacy has been organizing clandestinely.
Faced with a growing population and more encroachments, the Confederacy took action to preserve and expand it's territory onto land that has been stolen by Canada. It is this land that I am writing from. We have occupied this land since Feburary 28 2006. It has been named Kanonhstaton which is Mohawk for "the Protected Place" and protected it is. We have defended it from a large raid by the Ontario Provincial Police as well as from regular attacks from Fascists. The fascists are practically given the go ahead from Canadian police who have done little to nothing to stop the known fascist organizers who regularly attack us here. The attacks range from racialized harassment, rock throwing, fire work shotting, threats with hunting riffles and terrorism which has destroyed our main meeting place. A friend of mine was shot in the face with a pellet gun from a military reservist that we later caught and handed over to Canadian police. The police released him without charges. Despite the risk to our physical and emotional well being, we continue to hold the land non-violently.
Currently we are in negotiations with the Canadian government. Land disputes have been negotiated in various ways for the last two hundred years and the Canadian government is continuing it's tradition of stalling negotiations and doing every thing in it's power to prevent the return of stolen lands to the first nations. Canada has also recently voted against a motion in the UN that sought to acknowledge the right of indigenous people to have self-determined governance. They were joined by only three other nations including New Zealand and Australia showing the world that former British settler colonies are determined to hide the existence of pre-colonial nations and the colonies' genocidal history and present.
I am writing this brief introduction to our struggle as an appeal for support from European civil society. We are asking that our story be looked into and retold. Also, it would be wonderful if pressure could be put on the Canadian Government through it's embassies in Europe with the demand that the land that has been stolen by the colonial settler's government be return to the first nations of turtle island. Moreover, any resources that you all would be willing to share with us would be much appreciated.
Some useful links for more information about our struggle:
www.reclamationinfo.com
www.mohawknationnews.com
www.aptn.ca
The clan mothers are hereditary and provide the confederacy with political continuity and lifetimes of experience. The Grand council meets to address issues that require the collective action of all 5 Nations. At all levels of Government consensus is used; this fosters a different paradigm for how political differences are arbitrated. There is no political debates as seen in the western tradition of ideologies. The meetings aim to heal divisions within the confederacy. What results are complex and dynamic solutions to political problems. This means of organizing I believe to be responsible for the confederacy's continuing strength in it's struggle against the empires of Europe and North America.
In 1924 the Confederacy received a huge blow. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided the government offices within the Confederacy's territories and stole their documents than installed the band councils. The documents that were stolen included the Haudenosaunee 's copies of treaties with the British and Canadian government which gave the confederacy legal title to their land. The installment of the band council eliminated the participatory and self-determined democracy for an imposed liberal "democracy" that acts mostly as a Canadian federal agency within Haudenosaunee territory. To further the blow the installment of the band council means the Confederacy is no longer acknowledged by the international community as a sovereign power. During the time of the European League of Nations the Haudenosaunee government had a full membership and sat as a sovereign power amongst the world's other powers. Today the United Nations recognizes the Confederacy as a "Nation within a Nation." In other words it is consider completely subjugated and colonized. From 1924 until 2006 the Confederacy has been organizing clandestinely.
Faced with a growing population and more encroachments, the Confederacy took action to preserve and expand it's territory onto land that has been stolen by Canada. It is this land that I am writing from. We have occupied this land since Feburary 28 2006. It has been named Kanonhstaton which is Mohawk for "the Protected Place" and protected it is. We have defended it from a large raid by the Ontario Provincial Police as well as from regular attacks from Fascists. The fascists are practically given the go ahead from Canadian police who have done little to nothing to stop the known fascist organizers who regularly attack us here. The attacks range from racialized harassment, rock throwing, fire work shotting, threats with hunting riffles and terrorism which has destroyed our main meeting place. A friend of mine was shot in the face with a pellet gun from a military reservist that we later caught and handed over to Canadian police. The police released him without charges. Despite the risk to our physical and emotional well being, we continue to hold the land non-violently.
Currently we are in negotiations with the Canadian government. Land disputes have been negotiated in various ways for the last two hundred years and the Canadian government is continuing it's tradition of stalling negotiations and doing every thing in it's power to prevent the return of stolen lands to the first nations. Canada has also recently voted against a motion in the UN that sought to acknowledge the right of indigenous people to have self-determined governance. They were joined by only three other nations including New Zealand and Australia showing the world that former British settler colonies are determined to hide the existence of pre-colonial nations and the colonies' genocidal history and present.
I am writing this brief introduction to our struggle as an appeal for support from European civil society. We are asking that our story be looked into and retold. Also, it would be wonderful if pressure could be put on the Canadian Government through it's embassies in Europe with the demand that the land that has been stolen by the colonial settler's government be return to the first nations of turtle island. Moreover, any resources that you all would be willing to share with us would be much appreciated.
Some useful links for more information about our struggle:
www.reclamationinfo.com
www.mohawknationnews.com
www.aptn.ca
Prism
