INDIGENOUS WOMEN RIGHTS

CONSENSUS STATEMENT BY FIRST NATIONS WOMEN CHIEFS AND COUNCILLORS
February 17, 2007, Vancouver, B.C.

First Nations Women Chiefs and Councillors outraged by crown government interference in the the lives of Indigenous people gathered together for the first time in modern history at the Assembly of First Nations National forum in Vancouver. They expressed their overwhelming concern and frustration with the current situation facing First Nations Communities, families and children.

FIRST NATIONS WOMEN CHIEFS AND COUNCILLORS:

Honor the spirit and intent of the original relationship between First Nations and the Crown to live in peaceful co-existence, without interference, and to uphold the unceded inherent authorities given to us by the Creator.
Assert that First Nations in Canada are Nations with pre-existing collective rights, responsibilities, languages, cultures, territories and laws.
Maintain our authority to be the law-makers and caretakers of our Nations, our families and our lands. First Nation holistic laws will continue to guide our decision-making in the face of any and all federal, provincial and territorial legislation. The Crown continues to breach this original compact and interfere with this inherent jurisdiction, thereby creating and perpetuating poverty conditions amongst our peoples.
Assert our collective inherent and Treat rights must not be diminished or adversely impacted in the development of federal, provincial and territorial law and policy.
Will stand with First Nations governments to advance a comprehensive plan for accountability of all governments, the protection of collective rights and to eradicate poverty and social injustice.
Will ensure that our lands, families and children are cared for; ensure that our rights are respected and upheld; and we will be responsible for the decisions that affect our lives. We will not relinquish our rights at the expense of our lands, families and future.
Assert that negotiations and consultations regarding any federal, provincial or territorial initiatives that impact pre-existing inherent First Nation jurisdictions and Treaty rights must take place with the leadership of First Nations governments.
Assert that solutions can be achieved locally, regionally, and nationally by working collective. We call upon the Government of Canada to work together with First Nations governments to co-create a new future for all our people.
Assert that the cycle of poverty, violence, lack of access to quality health care and education, and the non-recognition of inherent First Nations jurisdiction continue to be perpetuated in federal genocide and assimilationist policies and approaches.
Are united to oppose attempts by the federal government to unilaterally impose legislation and policy such as its initiatives currently reflected in the matrimonial real property process, and the repeal of section 67 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. These federal initiatives that diminish or adversely impact upon our unceded inherent authorities will be rejected.
We will accomplish this through collective efforts that support systemic change.

WAY TO GO, SISTERS!

NOTE 1: Section 67 of the Canadian Human Rights Act reads: "Nothing in this Act affects any provision of the Indian Act or any provision made under or pursuant to that Act. [1976-77, c.33, s.63.]"

NOTE 2: Matrimonial Real Property Issues: There is no provision in the Indian Act which addresses partition or forced sale of individual interests in reserve land, i.e. matrimonial home in the cases of domestic violence. This is a serious legislative flaw resulting from the non-application of provincial family law and the absence of federal law. The only recourse is to apply for an order for compensation upon sale of the property. This has no teeth because the courts do not have the power to order a sale of an interest in unsurrendered reserve land. Couples are generally left to themselves to find a resolution to disputes concerning matrimonial real property on reserve. In other words, there is no statutory law, i.e., interim possession of the matrimonial home, for spouses in an uneven power relationship. In a domestic violence situation, therefore, women and children are trapped in the matrimonial home with their abuser with nowhere to go and no laws to protect them unless a criminal act has been committed such as attempted murder or murder.

NOTE 3: If the male holds the title for the land on which the matrimonial home his located, the woman's right to remain on reserve may end with the breakdown of the marriage depending on how the band council has exercised its bylaw powers or residency. Even if she has membership should the husband decide to transfer his interest to the band or to another member of the band (which he can do without her consent), or if she is told to leave or has to leave, there is no legal remedy for her to gain possession of the house even though she is the primary caregiver to children of the marriage.

NOTE 4: If a woman holds joint title to the matrimonial home and the marriage breaks down and she is forced to leave the home with her children to to domestic violence situation, for example, she will have difficult in getting another allotment from band councils, there there is a perception that the family entitlement to land had been fulfilled.

NOTE 5: Women on reserve have been able to get a restraining order due to domestic violence issues that have allowed them to remain in the matrimonial home. However, after obtaining such an order women have been told by the RCMP that the band did not have the power to enforce the restraining order and there were not going to interfere in band council business!

This is the reality for Women in the twenty-first century on reserves!

The following is taken from; Aboriginal Law Handbook, 2^nd ed., by Shin Imai.
HOW DOES LAW-MAKING WORK BETWEEN GOVERNMENTS AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES?

The relationship between the application of federal laws and provincial laws is complicated.

The Federal Government can make a wide range of laws in relation to Natives or Native lands. One example of a federal law is the Indian Act of 1876. This law addresses many areas which would normally be under provincial jurisdiction including education, wills and ownership of property on reserve.
The general provincial laws which apply to everyone in the Province can apply to Natives as well, unless those laws relate to something special about being a "Native." For example, a provincial law about traffic can apply to Natives, even on a reserve, because driving a car has nothing to do with being Native. However, a provincial law cannot take away a child’s status as a registered Native.

The final complication is found in s.88 of the Indian Act which makes provincial laws applicable to Natives under certain circumstances. While this section plays an important role in the past, its current relevance to the application of provincial laws is in transition.

WHAT IS ABORIGINAL JUSTICE?

Internal community disputes concerning members of the Native community only, and occur entirely within that community. Community-based solutions are the most appropriate for these types of disputes.
Reforms to the mainstream system are necessary for disputes which involve Native people and federal or provincial laws. Most of these disputes arise in the criminal and family law areas. In the past, the quality of justice Native people have received in these disputes has often been poor.
Disputes which involve Native rights can arise when hunting, fishing or other charges are brought against Native individuals.
Disputes can also arise in the context of land claims and self-government negotiations. These disputes require the balancing of interests of Native and Non-Native people. Therefore, decisions should be made by tribunals which include both.

"Among the Indians there have been no written laws. Customs handed down from generation to generation have been the only laws to guide them. Every one might act differently from what was considered right did he choose to do so, but such acts would bring upon him the censure of the Nation....This fear of the Nation’s censure acted as a mighty band, binding all in one social, honourable compact."

George Copway, 1818-1863
Ojibwa Chief

WHAT IS RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

First, let me tell you that is it NOT what a recent National Post article snidely said, "a group hug for offenders." I'm not sure where such thought processes come from except from the minds and pens of those who are entrenched in the idea that incarceration actually works! Corrections Canada is one of the largest corporations in this country, and unless it has prisoners, prison does not work.

What makes it worse is that Canada's First Nations population comprises approximately 2.7% of the thirty-three million of us. Yet, Indigenous offenders comprises a little over 18% of the prison population! Something is wrong, if that number continues to remain as consistent as it does. Corrections Canada is making some reluctant moves in the direction of restorative justice issues by introducing, for example, sweatlodges and Indigenous Elders into prisons across Canada. However, the programmes are hardly consistently applied and woefully under-funded.

Having worked with youth in corrections, I can attest to the fact that payment for services rendered is flat out insulting to those of us committed to the healing of our people. The prison system is a huge employer with huge budgets. It is akin to seriously trying to find a cure for cancer, what would have happen to all the research, development, political and social organizations if an actual cure was found. Perhaps it is by design, who knows, but as long as the focus is not on healing but in incarceration nobody wins but the bottom line of the corporation.

Restorative Justice is also NOT about:

Mediation. In a broad sense mediation is about reconciling opposing factions. This is not the goal of Restorative Justice.
Primarily forgiveness and reconciliation.
Replacing the current legal system.
Replacing prison.
Serious crimes such as murder, and repeat hard-core offenders.

Restorative Justice IS about:

Social Harmony
Dispute Resolution of a holistic nature.
Peacemaking and the healing of the WHOLE person, family, victim, community.
Placing the main focus on the victims, addressing their concerns and needs. It offers hopeful justice for them. By starting with the victim automatically leads to the next step, who is responsible for restoring justice to them. Therefore, questions such as Who was hurt and why? What do they need? Whose responsibility is it to satisfy those needs? In other words, placing the focus on putting it right.
The Six 'Rs' - Respect, Repair, Responsibility, Reintegration, Relationship, Restoration.

I have just finished writing a textbook for an Ontario High School in which Justice issues are discussed in some detail including the Gladue Court embedded in the current justice system. It really has at its root RESPECT because it allowed for all parties involved an opportunity to provide input and to participate in the process as completely as possible. The process recognizes the integrity of hearing everyone without judgment as clarification is provided from each person involved. It takes tremendous trust and faith that restoration will be made in a manner that is just, honest and respectful.

Important & Interesting Note: When the State becomes the primary victim, that is its laws (i.e. criminal code) have been violated, then it automatically shoves aside victim's rights and the community. They do not have the opportunity of coming together to resolve conflicts because the state's interests have to be served first.

Restorative Justice is also not new

All across Asia, interest in restorative justice has been focused on Juvenile justice. In his book, A Spiral of Success: Community Support is Key to Restorative Justice in Japan, John Haley writes that Japan has been the most successful industrial democracy in dealing with crime. "Japanese authorities have learned from experience that offender correction and restoration to the community are essential elements of an approach that has proven to be effective in correcting socially deviant behavior. What has developed is a spiral of success, with law enforcement officials, community members, criminals, and victims working interdependently to prevent crime and reintegrate offenders back into the community."

SENTENCING CIRCLES

Traditional Aboriginal sentencing circles have been integrated into the Canadian justice system in several Native communities. Instead of meting out punishment such as jail terms, circles focus on healing the victim, perpetrator and community. The circle is a powerful alternative to prison terms imposed by courts -- not only for Aboriginal people but, potentially, for all communities. The high Native prison population in Canada is of concern to political leaders but not so much that finding long-term solutions should become a top priority. It is a slow process.

The introduction of Native sentencing circles includes the critical element of healing - not only the perpetrator, but the victim and the whole community. Community involvement is integral to the success of sentencing circles because it is ultimately the community who feels responsible for the wrongful act on the part of one of its members. Rupert Ross' book, Returning to the Teachings, has a thoughtful look at this method of justice. He also provides first-hand examples that he witnessed.

The following is an excerpt from, Moving Toward Native Justice: Intercultural Communication in Aboriginal Sentencing Circles in Canada, by Jean-Paul Restoule

"Sentencing circles are not perfect. However, they are, for Native people, an improvement over the Canadian court system in many ways. They attempt to heal the offender rather than merely punish him. They give Native offenders a sense of self-esteem. They restore the relationships and health of the community. They save money by reducing rates of recidivism (Mandamin, 1996), by reducing both the number and length of prison sentences, and by reducing the amount of time spent in court hearing cases. Although successful in addressing the specific cultural situation of Indigenous peoples, this process need not be limited to Native offenders. There are now some initiatives to allow non-Native people, in particular circumstances, to submit themselves to the process of the sentencing circle as an alternative to traditional court procedures. One can see the benefit this system would have in dealing with young offenders and offenders with drug and alcohol abuse problems. The hurdles that currently face the sentencing circle are awareness and education.

Media representation of sentencing circles may be able to foster more effective inter-cultural communication between Native people and Canadians. If presented properly, the sentencing circle has the potential to challenge cultural stereotypes of the 'criminal Indian' to which many Canadian people mistakenly cling. However, a backlash might be expected from people who would see the sentencing circle as a way of allowing Aboriginal offenders to be handled with kid gloves.

The sentencing circle is not an infallible method for all legal cases. Aboriginal people themselves executed very severe punishments for the very worst offences. It is likely that murder charges and similarly heinous crimes would be tried in Canadian courts without the option of a sentencing circle. But having the choice of the sentencing circle for Aboriginal people is increasing as more communities educate themselves about the process. There is a movement to reclaim it and present it as an alternative to Canadian and provincial judicial systems. The rebirth of this tradition as an alternative to current procedures of justice could have repercussions that, in the future, fundamentally alter the power relations between Native people and the Canadian government."

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce "Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other, then we will have no more wars. We shall all be alike -- brothers of one father and one mother, with one sky above us and one country around us, and one government for all."

Chief Joseph, 1840-1904
Nimi-puu

EXERCISING THE RIGHT OF SELF-GOVERNMENT AS REGARDS JUSTICE MATTERS

The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in Bridging The Cultural Divide, came to the following conclusions on self-government and criminal justice.

A renewed relationship between Native and non-Native peoples must recognize Native people’s inherent right of self-government, which includes the right to establish Native justice systems.
Native and federal jurisdiction over criminal law and procedure on Native territories is concurrent. In the event of a conflict arising between Native law and federal law passed under section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867, Native law will be paramount except where it can be shown that the need for federal law is consistent with the Crown’s basic trust responsibilities to Native people.

The establishment of urban Native justice systems will be involved with the delivery and administration of justice.

BEWARE WOMEN!

"Any Indian woman who marries any person other than an Indian, or a non-treaty Indian, shall cease to be an Indian in every respect within the meaning of this Act, except that she shall be entitled to share equally with the members of the band to which she formerly belonged, in the annual or semi-annual distribution of their annuities, interest moneys and rents: Provided that such income may be commuted to her at any time at ten years purchase, with the approval of the Superintendent General." (1920)
(Translation: Patriarchy, Gender Bias, Racism abound!)

NOTE: The true meaning of these amendments were quite simply, "Get the Women, Get the Children, Reduce the Bloodline." Many Native men were deliberately plied with alcohol by unscrupulous Indian Agents who sat with them in "good ole boy comradeship" and urged them to sign on the dotted line.

WOMEN HAVE THEIR OWN PAGE

Poundmaker, Plains Cree Chief
1842-1886 - his dying words:

"It would be so much easier just to fold our hands and not make this fight..., to say, I, one man can do nothing. I grow afraid only when I see people thinking and acting like this. We all know the story about the man who sat beside the trail too long, and then it grew over and he could never find his way again. We can never forget what has happened, but we cannot go back nor can we just sit beside the trail".

WHERE WAS JUSTICE, WHERE WERE OUR RIGHTS?

1914 - The Great War, WW 1 starts. Only a scan twenty-six years after the Indian wars end, 17,000 Natives willingly served alongside their former enemies to see that justice was served for Canada. Upon return, Native veterans were denied government pensions (1919)

October 7, 1924 - Armed police burst into Ohsweken Council House and read a decree that dissolved the Six Nations’ of the Grand parliament. They broke open a chest and seized documents going back to the time of Joseph Brant, many germane to the sovereignty case. More police raided wampum keepers’ homes taking the sacred belts, the Haudenosaunee equivalents of a flag, mace and Magna Carta.

Helen Betty Osborne, In 1971, the nineteen-year old Cree student was abducted, raped and murdered in La Pas, Manitoba. Despite knowing the truth, townspeople refused to help. Four local white men were eventually implicated in her death: Dwayne Archie Johnston, James Robert Paul Houghton, Lee Scott Colgan and Norman Bernard Manger. It was not until December 1987, sixteen years after her death, that any of them were convicted of the crime, and then only Johnston was convicted, as Houghton had been acquitted, Colgan had received immunity for testifying against Houghton and Johnston, and Manger was never charged. The Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission conducted an investigation into concerns surrounding the length of time involved in resolving the case. The Commission concluded that the most significant factor prolonging the case was racism.

A formal apology from the Manitoba government was issued by Gordon Mackintosh, Manitoba's Minister of Justice on July 14, 2000. The apology addressed the failure of the province's justice system in Osborne's case. A scholarship was created in Osborne's name, by the province, for Aboriginal women. However, to this day, there is a racial divide between Aboriginal and white people in La Pas and racism deeply divides the town. Recently, there has been a movement by the Aboriginal community to make strides in building healthier communities and this is having a positive impact on the town and surrounding community.

LEONARD PELTIER
(September, 1944 - present)

An original member of the American Indian Movement (AIM). In 1977 Peltier was falsely arrested and convicted to two consecutive life terms for the murder of two FBI Agents during the 1975 siege at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. To this day despite overwhelming evidence that he was not even present when the murders occurred he continues to languish in a penitentiary in Lewisberg, Pennsylvania. Many organizations including Amnesty International consider him a political prisoner.

January 28 1991, Leo LaChance, a Cree trapper was shot in the back while leaving a store in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. The storekeeper, a white supremacist claimed the shooting was an accident. He received a four year sentence. The shooter was also an RCMP informant. Racism was not an issue during the trial or the sentencing. Needlesstosay, the public outrage at this obvious racist attack convened a commission of inquiry. It was the determined that the police had dismissed that it was racially motivated and did not pursue any evidence in that area. The Commission recommended that a Cree speaking police officer be on duty at all times, and that the police be given training on racism.

September 17, 1999 the Supreme Court released its decision on R. v. Marshall. Mi'kmaq Marshall had been convicted of fishing without a license and fishing during a closed season. Marshall argued that Section 35 of the Constitution Act protected his rights. The Court agreed and all hell broke loose. The Court noted that the Prosecution had not bothered to justify their regulation as required by law, but had merely stated that the treaty right did not exist. As a result thirty-four Maritime and Quebec First Nations began fishing for lobster outside the federally ordered season.

Non-aboriginal fishermen and fisheries responded with outrage and the Burnt Church, New Brunswick debacle was underway. Shots were fired, the non-Aboriginal fishermen destroyed hundreds of traps, vandalized equipment and three fisheries. Back to the drawing boards. On November 17, 1999, the Supreme Court released a new ruling saying that the earlier ruling they had not meant to imply that there be no treaty regulations as regards fishing commercially. In other words, "no treaty right should operate to displace any non-aboriginal participant in any commercial fishery."

Mi'Kmaq members of Burnt Church, continued to fish outside the season throughout 2000 causing further violence until the Department of Fisheries using their boats rammed Mi'Kmaq boats causing people to jump overboard in order to avoid drowning.

Professor Peter Russell noted: "The unusual decision of the Court to issue a 'clarifying judgment' emphasized that the court could unilaterally change the terms of a bilateral accord such as a treaty. undermined the Aboriginal peoples' confidence in the laws of Canada to be dealt with fairly. In bowing to the violence, the Department of Fisheries and non-aboriginal fishermen used illegal tactics to also undermine the rights of Aboriginal people. It is difficult to understand how such lawless and violent treatment can be used against another human being, unless one is able to dehumanize the recipients of the treatment. It is also difficult to understand how the ultimate arbiters of Justice in Canadian law can endorse this form of dehumanization." AMEN

2000 - Two Saskatoon police officers were suspended with pay for abandoning Native, Darrell Night many kilometers from home; he was left to make his way home in -30C weather. Two other Native men dumped in the same area by police were found frozen to death. Racism is deep-seated in the area with Native people routinely referred to as "Dirty Prairie Niggers" by police. This incident came to be known as the "Starlight Cruise".

December 7, 2001 - Saskatoon Police force fired the "Starlight Cruise" police officers; a jail sentence of eight months was handed down after Mr. Justice Schiebel rejected their request for a Native Sentencing Circle in lieu of a jail sentence. The victims lawyer said, "Judge Schiebel has not allowed these two defendants and their lawyers to make a mockery out of First Nations traditions."

December 11, 2001 - More than six years after he shot and killed Native protestor Dudley George (September 6, 1995), Acting Sergeant Kenneth Dean was dismissed from the Ontario Provincial Police for discreditable conduct. Police Adjudicator, Loyall Cann said that the decision on his conviction of criminal negligence causing death was the most serious conviction ever recorded against an OPP officer. His appeal was denied. He was killed on February 25, 2006 in a car accident.

HAUDENOSAUNEE Great Law of Peace
upon which the United States Constitution is based!

"Everything starts where our feet are placed-on Mother Earth.
The purpose of The Great Law of Peace is to help us remember
the natural laws of creation."
(Vincent Powless, Sr., Oneida Spiritual Advisor)

Some of the following is paraphrased from:
New World Roots of American Democracy, David Yarrow, 1987

The Peacemaker established the Great Law of Peace (called Gatanashagowa) as the Constitution of the Haudenosaunee. The foundation of the law was that thinking and negotiation could replace violence and warfare as a means of settling disputes. The nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Mohawk, Oneida, Onandaga, Cayuga, Seneca) have held fast to that law since the time of the Peacemaker (1391). The Confederacy existed centuries before the United States Constitution was written which was based on the Great Law of Peace rather than on Greek democracy, as is commonly believed and taught.

When the first Europeans arrived they were greeted with well organized communities that comprised a powerful alliance. These tribes controlled a huge area that ranged from the Hudson-Mohawk and St. Lawrence valleys across to the Great Lakes. It was an immense and strategic position because it controlled vast trade routes and no doubt put them in a position to influence modern North American history. The Haudenosaunee were powerful both militarily and economically, but their greatest gift to modern governments was the oldest, most highly evolved participatory democracy on earth. In other words, although the Haudenosaunee were military experts, their government was not founded on might and arms, but rather, on the art of peaceful reasoning.

Native People in general had a profound understanding of what it was to be a free people, of what it was to care and share about each other, about what it was to respect each person's opinions and participation in the daily life of the tribe. After all, that is how the tribes hummed for thousands of years. Effective decisionmaking and statesmanship were embedded in tribal law and understanding.

The United States Constitution is an almost mirror image of the Haudenosaunee Great law. The founding fathers (Benjamin Franklin, in particular) had to look no further than their Haudenausaunne neighbours for a superb example of pure democracy at work. The Great Law quite simply debunked the theory that European politics formed the basis of modern civilization. The following are a few of the main tenets of the Great Law

peace during negotiations must be kept at all costs. In other words, anger must not be shown.
The right of women to collaborate was a given. In fact, the Clan Mothers held powerful positions.
decisions must be morally right taking into consideration the needs of seven generations to come.
Peace was the natural order of things and the will of Creator.
Non-interference in another's opinions was the hallmark of a successful collaboration.
The Great Law was communicated to the Haudenosaunne through an historical figure known as "The Peacemaker'. He emphasized always the power of reason to achieve a righteous position of justice and health among all people guided by a spiritual mind.
Freedom of Speech of belief were givens.
Power: the power of the people must be maintained including equal sovereignty between women and men.

Conflicts between nations were also resolved through diplomacy and consensus. War - or the use of violence - was a last resort. Before the men could go to war, it was customary for the women to make the moccasins. If the women did not want war, they did not make moccasins. Even then, the women and children of the opponents were spared.

Details of the Five-Tribe Confederacy:

Seneca "Onondowahgah," meaning The People of the Great Hill, also referred to as the Large Dark Door. (Keeper of the Western Door)
Cayuga (Younger Brother) "Guyohkohnyoh," meaning The People of the Great Swamp. (Keeper of Southern Door)
Onondaga "Onundagaono," meaning The People of the Hills. (Keeper of the Sacred Fire)
Oneida (Younger Brother) "Onayotekaono," meaning The People of the Upright Stone. (Keeper of the Northern Door)
Mohawk "Kanienkahagen," meaning The People of the Flint. (Keeper of the Eastern Door)
Tuscarora (Adopted Brothers - added later, around 1760), known as "Ska-Ruh-Reh" meaning Shirt-Wearing People.

TREE OF PEACE

"But during a dark age in our history 1000 years ago, humans no longer listened to the original instructions. Our Creator became sad, because there was so much crime, dishonesty, injustice and war. So Creator sent a Peacemaker with a message to be righteous and just to make a good future for our children seven generations to come. He called all the warring people together and told them as long as there was killing there would be no peace of mind. There must be a concerted effort by humans for peace to prevail. Through logic, reasoning and spiritual means, he inspired the warriors to bury their weapons and planted a top a sacred Tree of Peace."

The Peacemaker legend is central to Haudenosaunee history. It describes a people mired in violent bloody feuds who, guided by a spiritual teacher, were able to set aside war to adopt a Path of Peace. It is a monumental tale of good and evil, finding order out of chaos and the triumph of reason over unreasonable passion for power. Humans were able to rise above their suffering to establish a higher order of human relations. In other words, unity, balance and harmony are achievable even in the worst of times. Individual liberty can be preserved by applying democratic principles.

The Tree of Peace is the Haudenosaunee symbol of those democratic principles. It is a great white pine tree whose branches spread out to shelter all nations who have committed themselves to peace.

Beneath the tree the Five Nations buried their weapons of war, atop the tree was the Eagle-that-sees-far, and four long roots stretched out in the four great directions, called the 'white roots of peace. The Peacemaker declared: "If any man or nation shows a desire to obey the law of the Great Peace, they may trace the roots to their source, and be welcomed to take shelter beneath the tree." The eternal central sun, the source of all life lies beyond the tree.

Haudenosaunee people of the Great League of Peace were instructed to search for their roots under the Great Tree, which is the symbol of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the original five nations who chose to govern their people by peace. Of Note: The Tree of Peace has its own constitution originally established in a wampum belt.

HAUDENOSAUNEE AND WAMPUM

At the urging of Benjamin Franklin, the Haudenosaunee League of Nations Great Law, is what the United States Declaration of Independence is based on. The LON governs the following Five tribes:

On the right is a Five Nations territorial wampum belt. Square on far left is Mohawk: Keeper of the Eastern Door Second from Left: Oneida: Keeper of the Northern Door. Centre white heart represents the Onandaga: Keeper of the Fire. The white hearts also means that the five nations act as one unit in their loyalty to the Great Peace. To the right of the Heart, Cayuga: Keeper of the Southern Door and far right the Seneca: Keeper of the Western Door.

Overall the white beads symbolize that no evil or jealous thoughts shall enter into the minds of the leaders while in Council as they are governed by the teaching of the Great Peace. White is the symbol of peace, love, charity and equity and surrounds and guards the Five Nations (Six when the Tuscarora came later.)

Late Cayuga Elder, Jake Thomas holding a replica of a two row wampum belt. Also called Tékeni Teioháte, it symbolizes the relationship between Native people and white people. One purple row of beads represents the path of the Haudenausaunne's canoe which contains their customs and laws. The other row represents the path of the Whiteman's vessel, the sailing ship, which contains his customs and laws. The meaning of the parallel paths is that neither boat should out pace the other, and the paths should remain separate and parallel forever, that is, as long as the grass grows, the rivers flow, the sun shines, will each group understand their place, honour it and continue to renew their understandings and treaties.

EVERGROWING TREE BELT

The Two-row wampum belt was of particular significant to the haudenosaunne

This belt represents the Ever Growing Tree of Life with its branches spread to the east, west. The top to the north, roots to the south. It is the tree of peace for any nation or individual outside of the Five Nations who wishes to also obey the great laws of peace. If you are of clean mind and heart, you can rest awhile beneath its branches and listen to the great law.

Jake Thomas stands with a reproduction of the Ever GrowIng Tree Belt

SELF-GOVERNMENT, SELF-DETERMINATION, LAND CLAIMS

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