http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/603379
My mother came home one day and told me a story. On one of her many visits to our82 year old uncle I found him in a frantic rage. The source of his unusual behaviour was a spot near his barn that had recently been dug up. He explained that he had been at the local farmers’ co-op store to get his corn made into pig-chop and a salesman approached him with a can. The man told him to feed the contents to his pigs and they would put on weight really fast. He parted with $30.00, an enormous amount of money for a subsistent farmer and upon returning home settled in to read the label. The contents of the can enraged him. He told her“That man wanted me to feed that to my pigs! What the hell will it do to me?” he was so upset that he took the can and buried it in a hole five feet deep in his yard, stating that the earth would take care of that poison! His reaction to the “poison” is a prime example of the fears of Indigenous people to the topic of this essay, genetic theft and modification of our food.
In light of everything, my family has always been farmers. Like my uncle I have been keeping my own garden at home. One day I was watching a video called “The Future of Food”, which was documenting the issue of genetically modified foods and the future of the legal safety that farmers are losing over their right to grow their own seeds. The reality of the world we live in as Indigenous people is that major businesses, backed by major governments around the world, are coming into Indigenous communities and stealing and patenting the genes of our foods because of their precious biodiversity. This grave issue is so new that there is little information available on the subject of protection for Indigenous peoples and the biodiversity of their seeds. Much of the information I have on this issue is provided by the Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism (IPCB). “The IPCB is organized to assist indigenous peoples in the protection of their genetic resources, indigenous knowledge, cultural and human rights from the negative effects of biotechnology. The IPCB provides educational and technical support to indigenous peoples in the protection of their biological resources, cultural integrity, knowledge and collective rights” (IPCB).
How is this kind of future, where major food corporations are stealing Indigenous seeds and patenting the genes of the seed, going to affect the Haudenosaunee? We are farmers by right and by tradition. My essay will be a brief outline of the following thought: we have seeds that have been in our possession since time immemorial, is there currently any government protection for our seeds? Or anybody’s seeds? These are questions that I need logical answers to as I intend to pass on my own seeds to my children; they will need a plan for the survival of their right to grow their own food.
The make a brief definition of it, Genetics is the study of the structure and function of genes and the transmission of genes associated with traits between generations (Howard, 2001). It is the study of why we look like our parents, or why a plant is capable of adapting to its environment over time. It is an honest curiosity that when delving into this field of studying what makes us the way we are, one would begin to wonder if we are able to find those traits in our genes would we not be able to change the ones we do not like? What if we could adopt the traits that are enjoyed by other flora and fauna? The grossly unethical questions begin when we begin to practice those notions. Genetic engineers, under the guise of western scientific advancement and progress in the food industry are mixing the identities of plants, animals and humans for “agricultural and pharmaceutical purposes”. According to Stephanie Howard, Nexia Biotechnologies in Canada is crossing spider genes into goats DNA with the hopes of producing spider silk in their milk. These fibres, providing that all goes “well” with the experimentation will be used in bullet-proof vests and anti-ballistic missile defence systems (Howard, 2001). These engineers definitely deserve snaps in the area of creativity. In 1987, Animal genetics “engineer” Thomas Wagner eloquently clarified the notions genetic engineers have of any sort of morality to the creatures whose genes they are crossing when he said “A cow is nothing but cells on hooves.”
As of 2004 in the US, more than two-thirds of 36 commonly grown types of corn, soy and canola seeds that were known not to be genetically modified were tested and found to have traces of genetically engineered DNA (Weiss, 2004). Although the traces were small, it has proven the capability of these genes to hybrid themselves in plants that were grown without the intention of having them added. If federal rules and farm practices are not regulated, the US may soon be incapable of regulating what portion of its food supply is free of genetic modification. This could have grave results on all markets for organic food -- one of the fastest growing segments of food culture in the West. In Mexico, genetically modified corn is being grown in trial. Mexico is commonly known to be the birthplace of corn and some 5000 “known” Indigenous varieties of the plant. Since the 1930’s it is estimated that over 80% of the country’s traditional corn varieties have disappeared off the face of the earth. Now the remainder of those Indigenous seeds are under threat of genetic modification with the introduction of US customary cash cropping and elimination of bio-diversity (Howard, 2001). The evidence is clear of the lack of regulation and the prospective contamination of heritage seeds; the protection being offered to farmers proves to be meagre at best as well. In June 2000 a case entered the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan federal court pitting Monsanto against small Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser, suing Schmeiser for theft of Monsanto products when Schmeiser’s own Canola seeds became accidentally become crossed with Monsanto’s Round-up Ready Canola seeds. In an interview for “The Future of Food” documentary, Schmeiser had no knowledge of how Monsanto seed entered his crop however he believed they may have blown in from another crop or a passing seed truck. Without Schmeiser’s knowledge, Monsanto had entered his property, took samples of his crops, and tested them in their own labs to find “his seed” to be “their seed”. Monsanto sued Schmeiser for 15 cents/acre, the standard price for their technology. The case was a classic example of David vs. Goliath; however the case was to be viewed as a draw federally; but a loss for farmers and seed savours everywhere. The court ruled that Schmeiser did not have to pay Monsanto for the accidental seeding of his crop however the court recognized that Monsanto had a patent on the seed and therefore should their seeds enter a farmers land, whether knowingly or not; the seed cannot be the property of the farmer (Van Acker). This case should be regarded as a major loss and a point of devastation for all seed growers without a patent on their own seed; including Indigenous people.
The only requirement in the US for the patenting of seeds (and genes) is the same as any other patent you would enter the US Patent office with: as long as it has not yet been patented. This includes seeds that have been both genetically modified, and heritage seeds; this leaves no constitutional protection for Indigenous peoples and pro-biodiversity farmers. It is estimated that Monsanto, a major agriculture corporation in both Canada and the US owns 11 000 seed US patents (The Future of Food). The purpose of this patenting plan would be to own the seed population, and whoever owns the seeds inherently controls the food industry for all countries. Currently, there is a small yet visible movement coming from Indigenous communities around the world. A prime example is the founding of the Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism (IPCB). One of the interesting resources the Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism has been able to proven in terms of protection has been a sample piece of legislation that can be altered and adopted by any and all tribal governments for the regulation of research in their territories. This document, called the “Indigenous Research Protection Act”, was designed by Indigenous academics and traditional knowledge holders in the IPCB who have the collective ability to know when Indigenous Rights are being violated during research, and collaborated to design legislation that can be adopted by Indigenous Peoples for their own protection. This document includes findings and policy, definitions of research, establishment of review committees within the territory comprised of Indigenous Peoples, research proposal requirements, permits and regulation of biological samples and most importantly consent after full disclosure and consultation. This sample-legislation is an outstanding example of good ideas being pursued across Indigenous borders for the benefit of all Indigenous peoples who are affected by genetic and seed theft.
At this point there is no evidence of government protection for the preservation of Indigenous and heritage seed. Quite the contrary is evident; US patenting laws are protected by the US Constitution. Now that the US Patent Office has made it known that they will admit patents for living organisms, corporations like Monsanto are buying patents for every seed that is within their reach. Groups like the Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism are fighting back in the form of self-determination; Indigenous peoples are asserting for themselves what is their property and they are protecting it. I have a few reflections of my own for the future. I don’t consider myself a wise person. I don’t feel that I have ever had a thought that was unique or ground breaking. My knowledge is more an accumulation of wise advice and insight of many different people. In our lives we learn to survive, to build and to love. Our deepest dreams are inspired by our environment; what our senses tell us. In terms of the environment that we now face as Indigenous Peoples; the world that on a daily basis questions our rights to a sovereign existence, my education is not being inspired by Marx, Che, old white university professors with hair growing out of their ears. My inspiration comes from a little closer to home. Haudenosaunee since time immemorial have been farmers. In spite of what we have gone through as a people it is extraordinary that we can continue to find our hope and responsibility in the land. We are keepers of the Earth and are essentially fighting to save what those large companies are not interested in or value. Despite this responsibility our actions in maintaining our stewardship has lead to the incarceration of many in the foreign Canadian system. The era of Indigenous reclamation and empowerment did NOT begin with the creation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It did not begin with the Indian Brotherhood, the NCAI, or even AIM. It began with the realization that our sustenance and life line were being severed. In light of persecution Our People have an extraordinary ability to remain empowered despite massive losses in our lifeline, in the words of Zach De la Rocha, “Hungry people don’t stay hungry for long.” Indigenous people are now faced with the reality that we will never stop being questioned on our right to exist, not at the pace at which the competitive western world chooses to live and fight each other. On the other hand, the land is us; and we begin with the land. Our gardens will never cease to empower us. Eating our own food is empowerment; singing our seeds songs is empowerment. Depending on nobody but us, that is true sovereignty.


Bibliography

Van Acker (2005), Co-existence of GM and non-GM crops in Canada: Current status and future direction. Second International Conference on Co-existence between GM and non-GM based agricultural supply chains. Viewed on November 24, 2008

Howard, Stephanie(2001), Life, Lineage and Sustenance: Indigenous Peoples and Genetic Engineering: Threats to Food, Agriculture, and the Environment. Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism. Edited by Debra Harry, Brett Lee Shelton. Viewed November 23, 2008

Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism (2008). Indigenous Research Protection Act. http://www.ipcb.org/publications/policy/files/irpa.html.viewed November 26, 2008

Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism (2008). www.ipcb.org. viewed on November 26, 2008

Weiss, Rick (2004); Study finds seeds tainted with engineered DNA strands, The San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/02/24/MNGV356VH11.DTL Viewed November 26, 2008.

Koons-Garcia, Deborah/Butler, Catherine Lynn (2004). The Future of Food. United States. Lily Films

]]> Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:34:00 EST http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/603379 44.3 -78.333333344.3-78.3333333 http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/603377 Wa’akohyá:ton’ ne: Dakota Brant
Whenever the Haudenosaunee people are talked about in any setting, academic or not, you can be sure of what parts of Haudenosaunee culture and tradition are going to be the point of discussion. The Great Law, Matrilineal heritage and government, and on a lesser scale the Handsome Lake Code, have come to embody the worldview of how one identifies Haudenosaunee core values, beliefs and way of life. This paper will not discuss any of these. Long before there is a Great Law, before we organize ourselves into Clans and produce government, before our value system according to Handsome Lake is brought into discussion: we need to eat! The world in which I was raised taught me that humans are beings with the sole responsibility to feed themselves, their children and keep healthy, fulfilling the instructions that were given to them by the Creator at the time of creation. Ne káti yorihowá:nen nén né:e, é’thone Rotinonhsyón:ni Onhehste’ón:we ne shonkwá:wi ne Shonkwaya’tìson, (For this reason, to the Haudenosaunee people the Creator gives the original corn).
I am proud to be Haudenosaunee. I am afforded the ability to represent My People through both words and actions. I was inspired by my people at an early age and decided that for everyday of my life I would commit to learning the maintenance and practices associated with being a human being. Growing up in Six Nations I learned my roles and responsibilities by being a good listener and observer. My mother Terrylynn (Turtle Clan) raised me and my sisters with a certain lifestyle so we knew how to rely on and have faith in each other. Over the front door of our home hung a sign that read “Mohawk Sovereignty will Never Die.” That kind of lifestyle entailed two things: we grew our food, and we lived away from the road! What has stayed with me from childhood has been the worldview that was imparted to me in the simple act of maintaining the corn seeds of my family.
Sovereignty for my people means the difference between existing as a nation in which we can continue the practice of being Onkwehón:we (an original person, meaning one who continues to follow the original instructions imparted to us by the Creator) and a fallen, captured, and enslaved people. You cannot tell a true Haudenosaunee person that they are Canadian or American, because they are neither European nor subject to European sovereigns. This is what our ancestors believed; this is what we believe. Maintaining seeds equals an act of sovereignty that keeps our relationships in this world true to the integrity of nature and not to the rule of any one human over another. I grew up learning this lesson in the only way my mother knew how to teach it. The seasons of the year passed in a way that while one represented for me getting outside to weed, plant, seeing ugly bugs and running away screaming, another represented the work that needed to be done inside; when cleaning the woodstove my sisters and I lugged heavy ashes to the garden for fertilizer; but not the hardwood because those ashes were special. We burned hardwood on the coldest nights of the year and saved them to lye our corn. There existed a certain peaceful quiet that has been absent to my life since leaving home. The quiet gives you the time and energy to listen and feel for all the things around us that continue the work the Creator gave to them. Wilfred Jamieson, a 94 year old seed grower from Six Nations mentions his own experiences with this quiet and his ability to work in tune with his surroundings.
“I look at things that people just don’t stop and look at no more, the wind, the moons… I like it; it makes me feel like I’m working with the Creator. I ask the creator “I planted the seed. I put the seed in the ground and now it’s up to you to see how they’ll grow.”
I’m only 21 years old; these are not the memories of any of our grandparents, though they may understand the life I come from. My mother raised me knowing that her family is and always was pure bred farmers. I’ve learned from hearing stories of my great-uncles that sovereignty is found in your garden. Our sovereignty has always been in the fact that we can care for ourselves. My favourite story was of how my great grandfather, who was a Mohawk Wolf Clan chief, always planted an extra corn field for the People. The only rule in our house was that you take what you need and you use what you took. You have only Shonkwaya’tìson to thank. My Mother through all of her stories taught me that a Nation is not a Nation until it can feed itself; and we can take good care of one another.
This stressing of the importance of corn in the way of life of the Haudenosaunee people was understood not only by my family, but even recorded to be of utmost importance to our ancestors. In the times dating to colonial America journals of the way of life of the Haudenosaunee have quite commonly made impressed accounts on the sheer sizes of the stores of corn and other food crops within Haudenosaunee villages. Over the course of the 17th century several notable expeditions were dispatched from the French in an effort to break down the power of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, including those of Samuel de Champlain (1615), Courcelles (1655), De Tracy (1666), De La Barre (1684), Denonville (1687) and two separate campaigns by Frontenac in 1692 and 1696 (Parker, 1910). A campaign of note is that of Denonville in 1687 for the accounts that he had made of his expedition concerning the importance to the success of his campaign meaning the destruction of Haudenosaunee corn reserves, and the sheer amounts of corn reserves he had recorded to have been stored within the palisades of the Confederacy:
“I deemed it our best policy to employ ourselves to laying the Indian corn which was in vast abundance in the fields, rather than to follow a flying enemy to a distance and excite our troops to catch only a few straggling fugitives.” (Parker, 1910)
The laying of destruction to the cornfields proved even more devastating to the Haudenosaunee than even the burning of their towns and palisades. Houses can be rebuilt in a matter of days, but fields cannot produce another harvest until the next year. Denonville remained within the area of four Seneca villages within which his men destroyed by fire some 1.2 million bushels of corn.
As far back as the 16th century the scientific community has associated itself with the quest to find the true origins of corn. In many cases it was the hope of western knowledge holders to prove corn to have ancestral origins in the Old World; crediting the Bering Strait Theory for its migration to the New World as well as maintaining an age old belief that New World civilization was not of the sophisticated standards of the Old World to be capable of cultivating and domesticating wild plants. Swiss Naturalist Alphonse de Candolle, credited for the founding of a standard methodology used to find origins of cultivated plants mentions language as being a form of evidence pertinent to the quest to find accurate evidence of plant origin (Warman, 2003). When comparing New World and Old World references to corn there is a distinction to be made. Many New World languages possess a word for corn that is distinct and will not be used for any other grain or plant, both highlighting the importance of the plant in the culture and the age of the word (Warman, 2003). In Mohawk, the word for corn being Onhéhste, cannot be translated into any other word. Most words in Mohawk beginning with an “O” is also an indicator of age; these words being of ancestral origins. Linguistics proves to be a most energetic debate in terms of evidence of corn origins in the world. While in the New World the word for corn in most languages is distinct to a culture or nation, the terms used for the plant in the Old World having origins in local language practices is a rarity. The word for corn in most Old World languages is not unique to the plant. Often the term of reference is borrowed from another culture, such as the word Maize, the word for corn used by the Taino; the Indigenous Nation met by Columbus in 1492 is now a widespread term used for the plant. Columbus himself referred to corn as Mijo, Spanish for Millet. In British English the word corn is used as a generic term of reference for cereals and grain in general. In many African Languages corn is referred to as Egyptian grain, while in Egypt corn is called Syrian or Turkish grain. In France and Spain multiple names are used; Indian wheat, Turkish grain, Spanish wheat (Warman, 2003). Corn in its use in the Old World became so widespread so quickly that corn often replaced not only the Indigenous grain usage but even the very plant to which the Indigenous grain namesakes were referring. As a result, many scholars over the years have attempted to prove the existence of corn in the Old World by referring to old documentation in which the plant was referenced such as the Bible, classic Chinese and Indian texts, only to be later realized that it was not actual corn being referenced but grains Indigenous to the region whose name corn had later adopted (Warman,2003).
While in present times Central America is generally understood to be the birthplace of corn, the debated continues as to which wild plants are the ancestors of domestic corn. One living grass known as Teiosinte is debated to be either a cousin or even the ancestor to modern corn. Other scholars argue that the original wild corn grass is a plant now extinct. While western knowledge holders continue the debate, Corn from the understanding of the Haudenosaunee originates from creation. In the beginning, the Skywoman, who was full in her pregnancy, fell from Karonhiá:ke, the Skyworld, grasping roots of many plants as she fell. She carried with her beans, squash, strawberries, tobacco; all those things we need to have a good life. As she fell, a comet came to her side and gave her corn and a mortar and pestle to take with her to the new world so that she might help herself survive. Skywoman gave birth to her daughter, who in turn died giving birth to twins and to her daughters’ body she gave these seeds. From the Mother Earth birthed the first crops that we need to carry out a good life (Brant, 2009). If you want to know about birth, you go back to the first birth, that of the Skywoman. Katsi’ Cook, a Mohawk midwife from Akwesasne, relates her experiences of birthing and the relationship that connects birthing to corn:
“They say corn is the breast milk of the Mother Earth, and it is very true. Complemented with the beans and squash they create the perfect protein… The very act of husking the corn, is like seeing a new born baby, my how beautiful it is!.. In Mohawk the word for bundling a newborn baby is “putting the husk back onto the corn” so every one of these babies that comes to us is an ear of corn! So that connection is very close to us that corn, the women and the midwifery and the cycles of continuous creation that Skywoman put into place in the beginning, that’s still going on. And so when I am in a field of corn I feel the Creator’s energy in there.”
Living a life in which sovereignty was the main lesson was not easy, or necessarily fun. The hardest part of growing up the way I did was not the smell of canning tomatoes (the smell always made me sick), or waking up early on a school day to frost on my blankets when the fire went too low in the night. The tough part was being called poor and dirty by my schoolmates. My clothes would smell of smoke when I went to school. I hated my Mom for making me go to school in smoke smelling clothes; I was too embarrassed to invite friends over to my house to see that I didn’t even have running water or a colour TV. It took years for me to stop hating myself because I thought I was poor. I have slowly been able to forgive my classmates because I now realize I had more than what they had. What has come out of this lifestyle is this lesson that has been stuck in my head, that the relationship between corn and people is comparable to the first treaty of this land; nature’s treaty with the human being in the Americas. It is the place where the offerings of life, medicine and sustenance from nature have gone beyond just natural offerings to a place where human beings have a hand in that crafting, forging a new type of relationship that embodies every connotation from basic nutritional values, the cropping of it, the whole cycle of life; all represented by this one plant.
What I was able to take away from my childhood is what the old timers had foreseen. All Onkwehón:we (Original People) have experienced a fall from our independence into a lifestyle that will not last forever. Our old ways; they were timeless and self-sustaining. Living a life in which sovereignty was the main lesson was not easy, or necessarily fun. Soil and dust gets everywhere, no electricity meant no air conditioning or TV, summer is too hot and winter too cold. But what has come out of this lifestyle is this lesson that has been stuck in my head by people older and wiser and that I needed to humble myself to understand. The relationship between corn and Our People can be regarded as the first treaty of this land; between Natural Law and the human being in the Americas. It is the place where the offerings of life, medicine and sustenance from nature have gone beyond just natural offerings to a place where human beings have a hand in the crafting of food plant and medicine life, forging a type of relationship that embodies every connotation from basic nutritional values, the cropping of it, the ceremonies and songs involved with it, the whole cycle of life; all represented by this one plant.
With reclamations of both Indigenous identity and rights taking place across Turtle Island, it must be acknowledge that Indigenous Peoples are progressing greatly in our responsibility of reclaiming our children’s birthright. We must remember to acknowledge what that birthright fully involves. We are not reclaiming just a land or a resource; we are reclaiming a lifestyle. Our lifestyle depends on a land-base; they are inseparable. We are sovereign because we answer to no one; but we are bound by the agreements we have with this land. We are the People of the Corn, forging links between us and the women who mothered both us and corn in the very beginning. Sovereignty to me is not a barricade, a smoke shop or a warrior flag; none of these things link us to Creation and it can be very easy to forget this. Sovereignty is hardly the Great Law either, the Kayanere`ko :wa is a link in the long line of things the Creator gave us to survive but it is only a link; not the chain. Sovereignty came to us before that. and it came to us in the form of a garden sprouting from the ground in which the Skywoman’s daughther was buried; our home. Anyone who has the original corn, meaning the majority of Indigenous peoples on Turtle Island, and that treaty-like relationship with this land, has a inherent right to live upon it. This is what maintenance of the original corn represents.
Bibliography
Brant, Terrylynn (2009). Interviewed on Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. February 21, 2009.

Cook, Katsi (1998). The Gift. The National Film Board of Canada. Directed by Gary Farmer. Produced by Jerry Krepakevich

Jamieson, Wilfred(1998). The Gift. The National Film Board of Canada. Directed by Gary Farmer. Produced by Jerry Krepakevich

Parker, A.C. (1910). Iroquois Uses of Maize and Other Food Plants. University of the State of New York. Albany NY, USA.

Warman, Arturo (2003). Corn Capitalism: How a Botanical Bastard Grew to Global Dominance. The University of North Carolina Press. Chapel Hill, NC, USA.

]]> Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:31:00 EST http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/603377 44.3 -78.333333344.3-78.3333333 http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/532043
This has been an interesting week in US politics. For the first time in history the most powerful political office in the world is being held by a person of colour. Doing a quick internet survey of friends that chose to participate in the US vote, it was easy to see that Barak Obama was the popular pick for native people. I have to admit I was happy, however brief it was, when he did in fact acknowledge Native Americans in his winning speech. What does his election mean for us? Whether we choose to vote or not, his choices will impact our lives. It may be more than we have ever imagined.
Now I would like to say something about the World Economy. The World Economy, in its most basic definition, is something driven by what is valued by people at a given time. Not so long ago people of the world valued land for agriculture, and North America had plenty of it! Unfortunately First Nations people had undisputed ownership over that very thing. The main goal of the US and British/Canadian governments at that time was to get the Indians off that land so that it could be given for free to settlers under the condition that settlers work the land and make a quick contribution to the world economy. Where did the Indians go? Where the land was undesired. Foreign governments of the world put a hoe in one hand and seeds in the other of Indians, some of whom were generally migratory and never farmed in the history of their people. Indians were set up on rocky unworkable land and told to become decent hard working people and farm! Then it became the Indian Agents job to limit permissible travel to local towns (Indians could not leave the reserve without permission of the Indian Agent) to sell their produce so Indians were not taking profit from white farmers.
The result is that First Nations people now find themselves living on what is essentially unliveable land, depending on the rations and scraps of the Canadian and US governments to keep them alive. But that was then; this is now. Most white settlers have put away their plows and set themselves up on oil rigs instead. Cheap energy in the world economy is the new Agriculture. People crave it, people need it, and guess what, Natives have it. Who would have thought that a hundred years after being forced into settlement on unfarmable land surveyors would find this land to be so full of oil, diamonds, uranium, and everything else that makes the world go round? Presently the US is heavily dependant on foreign oil. During this years election it seemed that President-elect Barak Obama was the only candidate with a real exit plan for troops in Iraq. Obama also made promises of depleting the US dependency on foreign energy; this would mean an exit of the American market in Iraq as well. Where does that leave First Nations people? The majority of energy exports coming from traditional territory on this side of the border go to the US. If Obama wants to bring the troops and the energy market home, that means more wheeling and dealing between US and Canada. Energy use must also include energy waste; south of the border, we have already witnessed Tribal governments delving into the possibility of storing nuclear waste on their territory. Extraction of Oil, coal, fresh water and uranium, aside from where it is already happening, is the new “agriculture” in Indigenous lands.
There is still hope, however, in terms of consideration of First Nations people in these affairs. That hope is President Obama. If anyone is going to give consideration to a disempowered people it will be a person of a disempowered heritage. Black and Native people have a shared history of being people who were never asked for what it is they wanted. Our hopes must lie in this new US President because they certainly cannot lie in the Canadian system. While Canadians generally pride themselves in being more liberal and free-thinking than Americans, we have a Black man voted in during an election that according to the Toronto Star had the largest turnout of voters in over 40 years. On the other hand, the recent Canadian election saw the lowest turnout of voters in the history of Canada voting in a stronger Conservative minority, and First Nations have to contend with “free-thinking” people like Dick Pound and Margaret Wente; people hiding their racist upbringing behind their right to free speech. So where will these next four year take us? Its hard to say. What we can be sure of however is Indigenous Peoples will have to keep on doing what they do best; survive, educate, and reclaim. Whether President Obama will prove to be the champion of the under-represented that everyone wants him to be is yet to be discovered.
]]> Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:24:00 EST http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/532043 44.3 -78.333333344.3-78.3333333 http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/504651 Long ago, a group of Rotiskenhrakéthe made their way deep into the woods to find meat for their families. They travelled a great distance as game was scarce. Not wanting to go home empty handed, they were determined their task. As time passed they happened upon a great Bear. They believed this bear was so large they could feed all their families if they were fortunate enough to catch it. They were determined not to let it get away; after the great distances they had come to find it. The young fathers, sons and uncles gave chase.
This Bear, being that he was so large and old was the leader of the Bear People. When Our Men hunt, it is hoped that when they are so blessed to see an animal that is this great in size, they will leave these animals alone. Animals that live long lives and grow large are to be respected for their knowledge of survival. We leave these elders alone when out on the hunt so that the young ones can learn survival from them. Imagine if today all of our elders were taken away from us. Imagine the knowledge we would lose. Imagine how feeble our attempts to survive would become. Now try to understand how the young bears would feel to have their own elder and teacher taken away, however this story ends a little differently.
The hunters continued the chase, and the Great Bear used special abilities Shonkwaya’tíson gave him to help himself escape. The Bear began to hover above the ground. The further he ran the higher he rose. The hunters, deeply shocked by this occurrence but determined in the chase, continued the hunt. The Bear rose, higher and higher. He was now running clear across the sky. One hunter, desperate to end the chase, shot an arrow. Next thing every hunter in the group was showering arrows across the sky. The Bear, running across a sky lit by a cool twilight, was hit by one of these arrows. The wound began to sprout and bubble blood that dripped across the land. Blood showered over every leaf of every tree. The Bear, wounded but not killed, ran into the sky where he became stuck in the stars. Today we can still look among the stars and see that Great Bear, also known as the Big Dipper. Every year during the Harvest the Big Dipper tips slightly to drip blood over the trees once again, turning our landscape a deep red. To me the blood is both a sorrowful reminder of those hunters who had to go home to their families empty handed, but a lesson of why we must honour and respect Elders, both human and creature. Rather than hunt for these great leaders of the woods, our Men hunt for the “young men” of those animal people. Our Men do not hunt for the Deer with the largest antlers, or their women or children. Our men hunt for the deer with the little antlers, young and strong Deer who have lived long lives and have no children to care for. These young Deer have instructions similar to those of our own young Men. Shonkwaya’tíson in the beginning told Deer that there would be a time when humans would come looking for food to survive and it is the duty of a Deer to lay down its life. Just as our young strong capable Men lay down their lives for their families and people, so do the young male deer.
Our Men often today wait until the trees turn that blood red before they begin that hunt. Our stories are teachings to be cherished. They are our passageway in reaching back to our Ancestors. We listen earnestly to those stories and what lessons our Ancestors are teaching us. Every story carries a portion of our Original Instructions; those instructions are what make us Onkwehón:we. Nature has been the realm where Men learn from our greatest teachers. Men learn from the animals how People are to live within the natural cycles and balances of the world, to be thankful to all the things that sustain life; and to have great love for one another. Think of nature as one big family working together to sustain life, with humans as the babies and the only creature with the ability to destroy itself. Nothing exists to destroy itself or others accept humans. Because of the choice given to us by Shonkwaya’tíson and his brother we can either encourage life or destroy it. From both nature and the life lessons our Ancestors impart with us through stories we learn how to deter from our instinct to destroy and formulate for ourselves what it means to respect, show appreciation, have gratitude for ourselves and others, have responsibility for ourselves and others; and above all to help life continue.

]]> Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:52:00 EDT http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/504651 44.3 -78.333333344.3-78.3333333 http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/504649 The deer hold a place of honour among Haudenosaunee because he sacrifices the most precious gift Shonkwaya’tìson has given any of us; his life. By laying down his life he is keeping the promise he made to Shonkwaya’tìson at the time of Creation to help us survive in this world; and that promise deserves our thanks. When Rotiyanéhshon (Titleholders) are being raised in the presence of their peers; we place the Horns of Office on their heads. These horns are of deer antler because of that sacrifice the deer has made; and to remind our Leaders of the sacrifice they too must make for our People.
I have a great father. He was the only man in my family; the rest of my family is women. From that one example of a Haudenosaunee man I’ve had in my life I learned a lot about the responsibility of men, and what I am to expect in a good father for my own children. The person I am today I can attribute to the sacrifice and work my Dad did so that I might have the opportunities I had. He worked far away in Ingersoll while I grew up; and always made it home for when I needed him. Every vacation day he ever had at work he took based on what my sisters and I needed. A hockey practice, a dance class, a lacrosse game; he made the time to be there. Of all the things he could have done with his life; he chose to be a father with a place in his daughter’s lives. The only thing he ever seems to do for himself is his highly anticipated hunting trip with his hunting buddies every fall; and that is to provide US with meat.
The greatest gift we are given by our Men; our fathers, husbands and brothers, is the commitment of their strength and their lives for their families. That is what they do; we hardly find the time to thank them enough. In Mohawk we refer to these men as Rotiskenhrakéthe. There are many opinions of the origin of this word; some say it means the Men Who Carry Rust on Their Backs, or dirt, blood, or some red coloured substance. What can be agreed on however is these are the Men of the family who are strong and capable of carrying the responsibility of the perpetuation of life. In the time before the Great Law these men were the ones who went on the warpath and killed each other because the Mind of Sahwískara, the Creator’s Brother consumed them. Peacemaker condoled their minds and led them away from that way of life. Peacemaker helped these men bury the hatchet of war and instead put tools for the hunt into their hands. And so since that time the dominion of men has been where the hunt takes place.
A man doesn’t have to be a father to begin his duty of being a good role model for his People. Any man at the age of our fathers can be considered our uncles; despite my father being the only man in my family I still feel rich with the many men who have been my uncles while I grew up. Some of them taught me respect, some taught me to be truthful, others taught me of Ka’nikonhrí:yo (the Good Mind), others taught me my language; I thank them all for above all teaching me to love and care for both myself and my People. Looking out at that reddening sumac reminded me of these Rotiskenhrakéthe, carrying the burden of perpetuating our very existence as Haudenosaunee.

]]> Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:52:00 EDT http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/504649 44.3 -78.333333344.3-78.3333333 http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/477233
An Open Letter to Barack Obama
Symbolism Alone Will Not Bring Change
By LEONARD PELTIER

I have watched with keen interest and renewed hope as your campaign has mobilized millions of Americans behind your message of changing a political system that serves a small economic elite at the expense of the peoples of the United States and the world. Your election as president of the United States, where slaves and Indians were long considered less than human under the law, will undoubtedly constitute a historic moment in race relations in the United States.

Yet symbolism alone will not bring about change. Our young people, black and Native alike, suffer from police brutality and racial profiling, underfunded schools, and discrimination in employment and housing. I sincerely hope your campaign will inspire some hope among our youth to struggle for a better future. I am, however, concerned that your recent statement on the Sean Bell verdict, in which the New York police officers who fired 50 shots at a young man on the eve of his wedding were acquitted of criminal charges, displays a rather myopic view of the law. Until the law is harnessed to protect the victims of state violence and racism, it will serve as an instrument of repression, just as the slave codes functioned to sustain and legitimize an inhuman institution.

As I can testify from experience, the legal institutions of this nation are far from racial and political neutrality. When judges align with the repressive actions and policies of the executive branch, injustice is rationalized and cloaked in judicial platitudes. As you may know, I have now served more than three decades of my life as a political prisoner of the federal government for a crime I did not commit. I have served more time than the maximum sentence under the guidelines under which I was sentenced, yet my parole is continually denied (on the rare occasions when I am afforded a hearing) because I refuse to falsely confess. Amnesty International, South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama of Tibet, my Guatemalan sister Rigoberta Menchu, and many of your friends and supporters have recognized me as a political prisoner and called for my immediate release. Millions of people around the world view me as a symbol of injustice against the indigenous peoples of this land, and I have no doubt that I will go down in history as one of a long line of victims of U.S. government repression, along with Sacco and Vanzetti, the Haymarket Square martyrs, Eugene Debs, Bill Haywood, and others targeted by for their political beliefs. But neither I nor my people can afford to wait for history to rectify the crimes of the past.

As a member of the American Indian Movement, I came to the Pine Ridge Oglala reservation to defend the traditional people there from human rights violations carried out by tribal police and goon squads backed by the FBI and the highest offices of the federal government. Our symbolic occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973 inspired Indians across the Americas to struggle for their freedom and treaty rights, but it was also met by a fierce federal siege and a wave of violent repression on Pine Ridge. In 1974, AIM leader Russell Means campaigned for tribal chairman while being tried by the federal government for his role at Wounded Knee. Although Means was barred from the reservation by decree of the U.S.-client regime of Richard Wilson, he won the popular vote, only to be denied office by extensive vote fraud and control of the electoral mechanisms. Wilson's goons proceeded to shoot up pro-Means villages such as Wanblee and terrorize traditional supporters throughout the reservation, killing at least 60 people between 1973 and 1975.

It is long past time for a congressional investigation to examine the degree of federal complicity in the violent counterinsurgency that followed the occupation of Wounded Knee. The tragic shootout that led to the deaths of two FBI agents and one Native man also led not only to my false conviction, but also the termination of the Church Committee, which was investigating abuses by federal intelligence and law enforcement agents, before it could hold hearings on FBI infiltration of AIM. Despite decades of attempts by my attorneys to obtain government documents related to my case, the FBI continues to withhold thousands of documents that might tend to exonerate me or reveal compromising evidence of judicial collusion with the prosecution.

I truly believe the truth will set me free, but it will also signify a symbolic break from America's undeclared war on indigenous peoples. I hope and pray that you possess the courage and integrity to seek out the truth and the wisdom to recognize the inherent right of all peoples to self-determination, as acknowledged by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. While your statements on federal Indian policy sound promising, your vision of "one America" has an ominous ring for Native peoples struggling to define their own national visions. If freed from colonial constraints and external intervention, indigenous nations might well serve as functioning models of the freedom and democracy to which the United States aspires.

Yours in the struggle.

Until freedom is won,

Leonard Peltier
# 89637-132
U.S.P. Lewisburg,
P.O. Box 1000,
Lewisburg, PA USA 17837

Special Note:

Please Help Support the LPDOC for Leonard's Freedom

As Leonard Peltier marks his 64th birthday on Sept. 12, the LPDOC is redoubling its efforts to win his freedom. We are planning an ambitious organizing drive in our new Fargo office to persuade North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan, chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, to investigate the federal government's role in the violent counterinsurgency on the Pine Ridge Reservation from 1973-1976, the FBI's withholding of thousands of pages of documents related to the AIM activist, and the unfair federal trial in Fargo which led to Leonard's conviction in 1977.

Leonard is suffering from partial blindness, diabetes, a heart condition, high blood pressure, and prostate problems. He needs your help.

We need your help too, if we are to do the work that needs to be done to obtain justice for one of the longest-serving political prisoners in the world. At the moment, we are barely keeping up with our rent and phone bills, our two full-time staff members are working without pay, and we badly need a new photocopier. Due to the damaging actions of a former LPDC employee, who removed valuable office equipment and contributor records, we are rebuilding our committee virtually from scratch. We have found an experienced volunteer editor for our Spirit of Crazy Horse newspaper, but in order to resume publication, we will need your support.

If you are able to contribute $20 or more for this campaign, you will receive a free subscription to the newsletter to keep abreast on developments in Peltier's campaign and in Indian Country generally. Please contribute as generously as you are able, and also take the time to write and/or call Sen. Dorgan With your help, we can win Leonard's freedom from the same city in which it was taken away. Even if you are unable to contribute at this time, please send us your name and address to help us rebuild our list of supporters at the state and national level.

Please send your donation to:

LPDOC
PO Box 7488
Fargo, ND 58106
701-235-2206

Thank You,
Betty Ann Peltier-Solano,
Executive Director
Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee


Kari Ann

]]> Sat, 13 Sep 2008 11:04:00 EDT http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/477233 44.3 -78.333333344.3-78.3333333 http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/464853
(Tyowennatyerénhton tsi ní:yoht entehsatáhsawen)

Ne káti kenh nón:we tsi niwathá:wi táhnon ken’ nikentyohkò:ten, ne káti rawè:ron ne

Shonkwaya'tíson nè:ne niya’tewenhniserá:te ne aetewátka’we ne Kanonhweratónhtshera ne tsi

ní:yoht rawè:ron akwé:kon kén:tho rokehrontátyes onkwahentónhshon nè:ne í:i

onkwaya’takehnháhtshera, ne káti tentshitewanonhwerá:ton táhnon taetewanonhweratónhseke tsi

nahò:ten rotkà:wen kén:tho tsi yonhwentsyá:te. Ne káti akwé:kon tetshitewanonhwerá:ton, nè:ne

tewana’tónhkwa ne ohén:ton karihwatéhkwen.


(Tyowennatyerénhton nó:nen enhsehnhó:ten)

Ó:nen kentyohkwakwé:kon entisewatahonhsí:yohste nè:ne shé:kon énhska ón:ton ne

onkwa’nikonhra’shón:’a. Ó:nen entewérheke tsi akwé:kon wa’tetewarihwayé:ri’te tsi ní:yoht ne

shonkwá:wi ne Shonkwaya’tíson. Ne káti ó:nen nón:wa entsitewahtentsyón:ko tsi nón:we

yonkawahskwáhere, ne káti entshitewarihwa’né:ken’se nè:ne enwá:ton akwé:kon skén:nen

entsítewawe. Táhnon ne káti wáhi tentsitewaterihwatihéntho tsi nahò:ten tehshonkwá:wi ne

kanonhweratónhtshera.



(Niya’teyorí:wake)

Ne káti rawè:ron tayethinonhweratónhseke ne káti ne nya’tehá:ti ne onkwe'shón:'a tsi

yenákere tsi yonhwentsyá:te. Ne kati ne nón:wa ayethiyehyá:rake tsi

nihá:ti yah thahatikwé:ni kén:tho ahonnè:seke, tókat nón:wa rotinonhwáktani. Ne káti né:’e

etshitewarihwa’né:ken’se ne Shonkwaya’tíson nè:ne ahshakoténnyehte nè:ne ka’shatsténhsera

nè:ne aonsahatiye’wén:ta’ne. Ne káti né:’e ó:ni tayethinonhweratónhseke tsi nihá:ti

ronatka’wenhátye nè:ne raotiyo’ténhsera nè:ne enwá:ton aetewà:ronke tsi niyonkwawennò:ten, ne káti né:’e ó:ni ayonkwateryén:tarake tsi niyonkwarihò:ten. Ne káti né:’e akwé:kon

tenyethinón:weron ne onkwe’shón:’a tsi yenákere tsi yonhwentsyá:te.

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.

Ne káti né:’e ó:ni tayethinonhweratónhseke ne yethina’tónhkwa ne yethi’nihsténha tsi

yonhwentsyá:te. Ne káti né:’e enwá:ton aytewarahsi’ta’kenserahtahkwénhake tsi

teyakwatawénrye kén:tho tsi yonhwentsya:te ne tsi ní:kon ne yawenhniseratenyóntye. Ne ki’

nen’né:’e niya’té:kon nahò:ten wahshakorihontónnyon ne Shonkwaya’tíson. Ne káti né:’e

ayakotka’wenháhseke nè:ne ako’shatsténhsera ne káti né:’e enwá:ton skén:nen

aetewanonhtonnyónhseke táhnon aetewata’karitéhake. Ne káti akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron ne

yethi’nihsténha tsi wató:ken ó:ni nen’né:’e niyakotka'wenhátye nè:ne ako’shatsténhsera. Ne káti

akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron ne yethi’nihsténha tsi yonhwentsyá:te.

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.


Ne káti né:’e ó:ni tayethinonhweratónhseke nè:ne akwé:kon ne kahnekahrónnyon yonkwá:yen

kén:tho tsi yonhwentsyá:te. Ne káti nen’né:’e kanyatarakè:ron ne konwatikowá:nen. Ne káti

né:’e ó:ni tayethinonhweratónhseke ne kanyataraténnyonhs, ne káti né:’e ó:ni ne

kahnekowá:nens, ne káti né:’e ó:ni tsi tkahyonhaténnyons, ne káti ne ó:ni ne

yothnekahtentyonkwen, ne káti ne ó:ni tsi yotnawerotónnyon táhnon né:’e ó:ni tsi

yotsina’ahtaténnyon nè:ne onhwentsyò:kon. Ne akwé:kon yonatkahwenhátye nè:ne enwá:ton

akwé:kon ayonkwaya’taná:wenhte. Ne káti akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron, tsi wató:ken ó:ni

nen’né:’e tsi yonatkahwen’hátye. Ne káti akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron ne kahnekahrónnyon.

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.




Ne káti né:’e ó:ni tayethinonhweratónhseke ne káti ne kentsyon’shón:’a nè:ne awèn:ke

kontì:teron. Ótya’ke konwatikowá:nen, ótya’ke nikonnà:sas, niya'té:kon nahò:ten

yonaterihontónnyon. Nè:ne ótya’ke nè:ne kontinóhares tsi kahnekahrónnyons, nè:ne ótya’ke

yonatkahwenhátye nè:ne aoti’wà:ron nè:ne enwá:ton tyonnhéhkwen ayonkwá:ton’se. Ne káti

akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron ne kentsyon’shón:’a tsi wató:ken ó:ni nen’né:’e niyotiyerenhátye,

wató:ken tsi yonatkahwenhátye. Ne káti akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron ne kentsyon’shón:’a.

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.


Ne káti né:’e ó:ni tayethinonhweratónhseke ne káti ne yothontón:ni, ne káti né:’e ne

kanó:ta né:’e konwatikowá:nen. Ne káti né:’e ó:ni tayethinonhweratónhseke ne ohtehra’okón:’a,

niya'teyohón:take, onerahta’okón:’a, niya’tekakwirò:ten, ne káti né:’e rawè:ron ne

Shonkwaya’tísone’tho ki wáhi ní:yoht wahshakorihontónnion nè:ne ayonatkahwenháhseke nè:ne

onónhkwa ayonkwá:ton’se. Ne káti wáhi nó:nen enyethinyáhese, e’tho ki wáhi nón:we

entewatshén:ri ne ata’karitáhtshera. Ne káti ne akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron ne yothontón:ni tsi

wató:ken ó:ni nen’né:’e tsi yonatkahwenhátye ne aoti’shatsténhsera.

Ne káti akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron ne onohkwa’okón:’a.

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.


Ne káti né:’e ó:ni tayethinonhweratónhseke nè:ne otsi’nonwa’shón:’a. Ne káti né:’e enskáhne

teyonaterihwayenawa’kónhake ne kén:tho tsi yonhwentsyá:te ne nenwá:ton akwé:kon skén:nen

enwahtén:ti. Nya’té:kon nahò:ten wahshakoterihontónnyon ne Shonkwaya’tíson. Ne káti né:’e

konwatatenón:tons nè:ne niya'tekaryò:take táhnon ne enskáhne teyotirihwayenawá:kon. Ne káti

akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron ne otsi’nonwa’shón:’a tsi wató:ken nen’né:’e tsi yonatkahwenhátye

nè:ne skén:nen enwahtén:ti tsi yonhwentsyá:te. Ne káti akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron ne

otsi’nonwa’shón:’a.

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.


Ne káti né:’e ó:ni tayethinonhweratónhseke nè:ne tyonnhéhkwen. Ne káti né:’e

tewana’tónhkwa áhsen nikontate’ken’okón:’a, né:’e konwatikowá:nen nè:ne ó:nenhste, ohsahè:ta

táhnon onon’ónsera. Niya’té:kon nahò:ten yonkwá:yen tsi kahehta'kéhshon tsi nón:we

yonkwayenthóhseron, ne káti né:’e akwé:kon yonatkahwenhátye nè:ne tyonnhéhkwen

ayonkwá:ton’se kén:tho tsi yonhwentsyá:te. Ne káti né:’e í:i onkwaya'takehnháhtshera né:’e

aeyonkwata’karitéhake táhnon skén:nen aetewanonhtonnyónhseke.

Ne káti akwé:kon teyethinonhwerá:ton tsi wató:ken tsi ní:yoht yonatkahwenhátye. Ne káti né:’e

akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron ne tyonnhéhkwen.

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.


Ne káti né:’e ó:ni tayethinonhweratónhseke ne káti nè:ne wahyaniyóntha . Ne káti nè:ne

niyohontéhsha niyohshonnò:ten, né:’e konwatikowá:nen. Nè:ne tyotyerénhton enyotonníhseke

nè:ne kenkwité:ne nikahá:wi, né:’e ayethinyáhehse nè:ne onónhkwa ó:ni ayonkwá:ton’se. Ne

káti enwá:ton aetewake, ne káti ne ó:ni enwá:ton entewahnekónnya’te, ne káti ne ó:ni enwáton

entewátyehste ne tyonhéhkwen. Ne káti akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron nè:ne wahyaniyóntha tsi

wató:ken ó:ni nen’né:’e tsi ní:yoht yonatkawen’hátye aoti'satsténhsera. Ne káti akwé:kon

tenyethinón:weron ne wahyaniyóntha.

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.


Ne káti né:’e ó:ni tayethinonhweratónhseke nè:ne akwé:kon ne kontíryo nè:ne

kontitakhenóntyes tsi karhakónhshon. Ne káti né:’e konwatikowá:nen nè:ne ohskennón:ton

niyohsennò:ten. E’tho ki wáhi ní:yoht wahshakorihontónnyon ne Shonkwaya’tíson ne káti né:’e ayonatkahwen’háhseke nè:ne aoti’wà:ron ne káti ne enwá:ton tyonnhéhkwen ayonkwá:ton’se.

Ne káti né:’e tayethinonhweratónhseke tsi wató:ken ó:ni nen’né:’e niyotiyerenhátye, shé:kon

yonatkahwenhátye tsi nahò:ten yonaterihwayentáhkwen. Ne káti akwé:kon teyethinonhwerá:ton

ne kontíryo.

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.


Né:’e ó:ni rawè:ron ne Shonkwaya’tíson tayethinonhweratónhseke ne akwé:kon ne

tsi’ten’okón:’a tsi kontinákere, kontityenóntye’s tsi karhakónhshon. Ne káti né:’e

konwatikowá:nen nè:ne atónnyon niyohsennò:ten. Nè:ne a’é:ren è:neken kentskwáhere nè:ne

ohstonteri’tshera’kó:wa, né:’e í:non tewaká:nere nè:ne enyonkhihronká:ten kátke nón:we tá:we

nè:ne yotteronhtéhnyon. Ne káti né:’e ó:ni ne tsi’ten’okón:’a, ótya’ke ne ratihá:wi nè:ne

kontirenní:yos nè:ne enwá:ton enyonkhi’nikonhrakétsko tókat yonkwa’nikonhrèn:ton. Ne káti

né:’e ó:ni ótya’ke yonatkahwenhátye ne aoti’wà:ron ne enwá:ton tyonnhéhkwen ayonkwá:ton’se.

Ne káti akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron ne tsi’ten’okón:’a ne tsi wató:ken ó:ni nen’né:’e

yonatkahwenhátye.

Ne káti né:’e tayethinonhweratónhseke ne tsi’ten’okón:’a

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.

Ne ó:ni tayethinonhweratónhseke nè:ne akwé:kon ne karonta’okón:’a ne yotonnihátye. Ne

káti né:’e konwatikowá:nen ne tewana’tónhkwa nè:ne owáhta niyohsennò:ten. Niya'té:kon

nahò:ten yonaterihontónnyon. Ne káti né:’e é:so tewátstha, aetewatenonhsónnya’te tsi nón:we

yonkawahskwáhere, ne káti ne ó:ni tewátstha aetewaya’tataríha’te nó:nen enwathó:rate kén:tho

tsi yonhwentsyá:te. Ne káti né:’e ótya’ke niya’té:kon nahò:ten yonatkahwenhátye. Ne káti nè:ne

ona’watsíhsta né:’e tewátstha nè:ne onónhkwa ayonkwá:ton’se.

Né:’e ó:ni tewátstha ne ona’watsíhsta nè:ne aetewa’therónnya’te. Ne ki wáhi ne ó:ni ne

yonerahton’tónnyon né:’e á:se enshonnón:ni tsi yowerarátie’s nè:ne enwá:ton skén:nen á:se

aetewatónrie. Ne káti né:’e tayethinonhweratónhseke tsi wató:ken ó:ni nen’né:’e tsi

yonatkahwenhátye nè:ne í:i onkwaya’takehnháhtshera. Ne káti akwé:kon

teyethinonhwerá:ton ne karonta’okón:’a.

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.

Ne ó:ni tayethinonhweratónhseke nè:ne tyowerawénrye. Ne káti nè:ne othorè:ke, entyè:ke, tsi

ya'tewahsóthos táhnon tsi tkarahkwínekenhs nonkwá:ti nityowerénhen. Ne káti ratihá:wi nè:ne

ó:nen tentkawíshtohte tsi yonhwentsyá:te né:’e ratihá:wi ne kenrá:ken tenkahsirawén:’eke ne

yethi’nihsténha tsi yonhwentsyá:te. Ne káti enwá:ton né:’e ayakó:ta’we táhnon

ayako’shatstenhserayén:take tsi niyó:re entkawisaná:wenhte. Ne káti né:’e ó:ni tsi

yonhwentsyá:te ne káti né:’e enwá:ton nó:nen akwé:kon á:se enyotonníhseke tsi ní:yoht

yakwatkahthóhseronhs kén:tho tsi yonhwentsyá:te. Ne káti akwé:kon teyethinonhwerá:ton nè:ne

tyowerawénrye tsi wató:ken né:’e niyotiyerenhátye. Ne káti akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron.

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.


Né:’e ó:ni rawé:ron tayethinonhweratónhseke nè:ne yethihsotó:kon ratiwé:ras nè:ne

ratiwenotátyes,yonkhihronkà:tha kátke’ nón:we entyonkwakenhón:ti, ne káti né:’e ó:ni á:se

enshonnón:ni tsi kahnekarónnyon kén:tho tsi yonhwentsyá:te. Ne káti akwé:kon

tenyethinón:weron nè:ne ratiwé:ras. Ne káti shé:kon yonatka’wenhátye tsi ní:yoht

wahshakorihontónnyon ne Shonkwaya’tíson. Ne káti akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron tsi wató:ken

niyotiyerenhátye ne tsi nahò:ten yonaterihwayentáhkwen. Ne káti akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron

ne yethihsothó:kon ratiwennotátyes.

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.



Ne káti né:’e ó:ni tayethinonhweratónhseke ne yethina’tónhkwa ne teyonkhiyà:taton, ne káti

né:’e kayé:ri niyonkwè:take né:’e wahshakoténnyehte ne Shonkwaya’tíson nè:ne

ahonwahronká:ten ne Skanyatarí:yo, ne káti wáhi ne karihwí:yo waharihwayé:na, nè:ne

akwé:kon ne kayanerenhsera’okón:’a tsi ní:yoht aetewaterihwahténtya’te tsi niya’tekyátere ne

onkwe’shón:’a.Ne káti né:’e ó:ni aetewáhsere ne nenwá:ton skén:nen aetewanonhtonnyónhseke

táhnon ne ó:ni ka’nikonhrí:yo aétewatste. Ne káti né:’e tayethinonhweratónhseke ne

teyonkhiyà:taton tsi wató:ken ó:ni nen’né:’e niyotiyerenhátye, nè:ne yonkhiya’takéhnhas ne

kátke nón:we yonkwa’nikonhrèn:ton. Ne káti akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron, tsi wató:ken ó:ni

nen’né:’e yonatkahwenhátye ne nahò:ten yonaterihwayentáhkwen.

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.


Né:’e ó:ni tayethinonhweratónhseke nè:ne yethina’tónhkwa ne yethihsótha

ahsonthenhnéhkha wenhni’tarátyes. Nè:ne teyakohswathè:ton niya’tewahsón:tehs. Ne káti wáhi

kontíhsere ne konnón:kwe né:’e yakehyá:rons ne yeksa’okón:’a. Ne káti yorihowá:nen oh

nahò:ten yerihwayentáhkwen. Yotshennónnya't tsi shé:kon wató:ken tsi niyakoyerenhátie ne oh

nahò:ten yerihwayentáhkwen. Ne káti akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron ne yethihsótha

ahsonthenhnéhkha wenhni’tarátyes.


E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra


Ne káti ne ó:ni tetshitewanonhweratónhseke nè:ne etshitewahtsí:’a entyehkè:ne karáhkwa.

Nè:ne wáhi tehohswathè:ton, ne káti ó:ni ro’tarihà:ton, né:’e rotennyehtonhátye ne

rao'shatsténhsera nè:ne enwá:ton akwé:kon á:se enyotonníhseke kén:tho tsi yonhwentsyá:te. Ne

káti nen’né:’e akwé:kon nahò:ten yotehrón:ni rati’shatstenhserénhawe nè:ne skén:nen

aetewanonhtonnyónhseke.

Ne káti akwé:kon tetshitewanonhwerá:ton tsi wató:ken ó:ni nen’né:’e nihoyerenhátye ne oh

nahò:ten rorihwayentáhkwen. Ne káti akwé:kon tetshitewanonhwerá:ton ne etshitewahtsí:’a

entyehkè:ne karáhkwa.

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.



Ne káti né:’e ó:ni tayethinonhweratónhseke nè:ne yotsihstohkwahrónnyon, né:’e

yonya'tahseronnya’tahkwénhake tsi karonhyatátyes. Niya’teyorì:wake yonaterihontónnyon.

Né:’e káti ne yonkhihronká:tha kátke niwathá:wi entewaterihwahténtya'te, ne ó:ni oh

niyotyerá:ton entewatyé:ra’te nó:nen yonkwaya’tahtón:’on. Ne ki né:’e ó:ni ne

yonkhihsotshera’kénha né:’e teyonahswathè:ton tsi karonhyatátyes. Akwáh é:so nón:wa yah

tetsyonkwateryèn:tare oh nahò:ten yonaterihontónnyon, ne ok tsi shé:kon teyethinonhwerá:tons

tsi wató:ken niyotiyerenhátye nahò:ten

wahshakorihontónnyon ne Shonkwaya’tíson. Ne káti akwé:kon tenyethinón:weron ne

yotsihstohkwahrónnyon

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.


Ne káti nón:wa nó:nen è:neken entewakónhsatyé:ra’te nè:ne raonhà:ke nonká:ti ne

Shonkwaya’tíson, ne káti entewehyá:rake tsi akwé:kon raónha rotkà:wen kén:tho tsi

onhwentsyà:te ne í:i onkwaya'takehnháhtshera. Ne káti ne raónha tetshitewanonhwerá:ton

ne tsi akwé:kon rohsa’áhnyon nahò:ten yonkwá:yen kén:tho tsi yonhwentsyá:te. Ne káti

nen’né:’e akwé:kon rokehrontátyes onkwahentónhshon ne enwá:ton skén:nen

aetewanonhtonnyónhseke. E’tho niyó:re shonkwanorónhkwa tsi shé:kon wató:ken

nihoyerenhátye. Ne káti tetshitewanonhwerá:ton ne Shonkwaya’tíson tsi e’tho nihoyé:ren. Ne

káti akwé:kon tetshitewanonhwerá:ton ne Shonkwaya’tíson.

E’tho káti nenyohtónhake ne onkwa’nikòn:ra.

Ne káti nón:we e’tho niyó:re í:i wa’katerihwatkwé:ni. Tókat othé:nen nahò:ten í:i

takaterihò:ktahse, í:se ki wáhi sewaya’tátshon, í:se ensewatahsónteron, í:se ensewátkahwe ne

Kanonhweratónhtshera.

Táhnon e’tho nikawén:nake,

Ta’ e’tho.

]]> Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:28:00 EDT http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/464853 44.3 -78.333333344.3-78.3333333 http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/457357 At the formation of the Great Law, the Peacemaker and leaders of the first Confederacy Council were approached by two opposing members of the Seneca Nation. The Seneca agreed with the Law of the Peacemaker, all accept for being asked to lay down their weapons forever. The Seneca are the most western nation of the Haudenosaunee, and in those days had to deal with the constant threat of invasion by foreign nations to the west of our Territory. How could the Seneca lay down their arms and still hope to have the strength needed to protect our Border that was most vulnerable to invasion? Peacemaker stood up among us and held high a small pouch of Oyenkwa’òn:we, our sacred Tobacco, and said “Let this be your strength.” We can be sure his words were true as those very Seneca men stood up to be the first titleholders of their clans; and We continue to exist as Haudenosaunee today.
To me Oyenkwa’òn:we is the most powerful symbol of Ka’nikonhrí:yo there is. Even with the threat of foreign peoples lurking at our borders the Peacemaker foretold that the Good Mind will be the tool that will never fail us when we choose to use it. Going back to that choice we have to use Ka’nikonhrí:yo we can see in our history where we truly made an effort to use it. In my mind these events include the treaties our ancestors secured; making those choices with us in mind and we have our solidified rights today to thank them for. Today, just as Peacemaker promised us, the use of our greatest tool is helping Our People deal with a new kind of foreign invader. The Peacemaker taught us that violence was not going to help us survive, thus the crucial establishment of the Kayanere’kò:wa (The Great Good/”Law”).
It is difficult to see our People penalized just for choosing to stand up when our inherent rights are threatened; but we acknowledge we are dealing with people with a very different mind frame from us. In their mind we ARE criminals, we ARE wrong, and the government will deal with us. We owe it to our children to go out and educate these people of the very existence of our mindset, instead of choosing to let them fear it. We also need to do the educating ourselves; and not let outsiders attempt to represent us because regardless of our hopes in them, they will fail. A mindset is built by one’s cultural framework; ours is Haudenosaunee. Asking outsiders to represent us will never create more than a skimming of the surface of understanding on our behalf.
There is no one way of defining what Ka’nikonhrí:yo is, every person is going to tell you something a little different; but it is going to be a definition based on passion. Everyone needs to find out what Ka’nikonhrí:yo means for them. My own heart tells me it is that thing that all humans are born with that provides us with a certain education that this physical world does not. We cannot learn how to laugh or cry, this knowledge we are born with. We treasure our mothers so much because along with the gift of our life they give us the essential o’nikónhra, which I’m going to go ahead and define as the human soul, or spirit. All creatures have life, but Shonkwaya’tíson had only intended humans to have this o’nikónhra. Whatever we define Ka’nikonhrí:yo to be, we can all agree that we cannot survive without it. In all definitions it is something we work toward as a collective; in its presence we feel most powerful. No matter the situation, “We can do this!” is on everyone’s mind in the presence of Ka’nikonhrí:yo. Anyone can reclaim a land. Choosing to do it using Ka’nikonhrí:yo however is truly masterful; and upholds our commitment to the ways of the Haudenosaunee.
]]> Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:06:00 EDT http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/457357 44.3 -78.333333344.3-78.3333333 http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/434503 This Saturday past along with hundreds of other Onkwehon:we I participated in the 81st Annual Indian Defense League of America Free Border Crossing Celebration. I have been an active member for two years now and I was proud to represent this organization for 2007-2008 as its youth ambassador. As Miss IDLA I had an opportunity to open the door to a certain history that all young Onkwehón:we should be exposed to. Many of us have attended Border Crossing in our lifetime. It is one day out of the year that regardless of the level of one’s enthusiasm of inherent Rights and Freedoms; we can all hope to celebrate and ratify those things together. This year has been a whirlwind for me, having had the chance to shake hands with Chelsey Clinton during her campaign for Hilary’s Democratic Candidacy and briefly remind her of an American politicians role in the continued alliance with the land’s First People. I had the opportunity to sit at a National discussion on Native Women’s Issues with Michaelle Jean, Governor-General of Canada and many prominent Native women leaders. I had a chance to sit with Mr. Elijah Harper and thank him for being the ONLY First Nations person to show up in my grade 10 Canadian History textbook. This title has been a blessing to me and as any girl who is in the position of representation; I had to make what I could of the opportunity. I took the time primarily to educate myself; and through my education I have found that I could not be prouder of our Haudenosaunee People than I am today.
The Tuscarora Nation is too often counted as being of the least importance in the Six Nations Confederacy; and yet a man who single-handedly defined the virtues of justice and courage for Native American People can be counted among them. The era of Indigenous reclamation and empowerment did NOT begin with the creation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It did not begin with the Indian Brotherhood, the National Congress of American Indians, or even the American Indian Movement. For us it began with the hard work of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy; through the help of all our allies. For Border Rights hero Chief Clinton Rickard of the Tuscarora Nation, it truly began with the dying words of Cayuga Chief Deskaheh Levi General, “Fight for the Line.”
In the past year I feel I have made a close friend and ally in this man whose lifetime has far preceded my own. The true function of the IDLA began when Rickard, in his distinct position as a Chief of the Haudenosaunee and a few others were faced with the reality that Indigenous Peoples are never going to stop being questioned on their rights, regardless of treaty obligations of Foreign governments and the pace at which the competitive western world chooses to live and fight each other. Not if we remain an uneducated majority. As written in Rickard’s autobiography Fighting Tuscarora, “The IDLA was founded by Rickard to combat and to open the border between the United States and Canada freely to Indians. Once this aim had been achieved, he and members continued the organization to carry on the fight for Indian rights in general and to educate both Indians and non-Indians on the values of Indian culture.” The true impact of the influence of this league is best summed up in the words of Judge Oliver B. Dickinson in Eastern District of Pennsylvania on March 19, 1927 on a case defended by the IDLA in the decision of illegal entry in the US by Mohawk Paul Diabo of Kahnawake, “The boundary line to establish the respective territory between the United States and of Great Britain was clearly not intended to, and just as clearly did not, affect the Indians. It made no division in their country... question of whether the Indians are included among the members of alien nations whose admission to our country is controlled and regulated by existing immigration laws... the answer , it seems to us, is a negative one. From the Indian view-point, he crossed no boundary line. For Him it does not exist. This fact the United States has always recognized, and there is nothing in this legislation [Jay Treaty 1794] to work a change in our attitude.” This historic case might have had a very different outcome for Our People were it not for the education the IDLA brought to the US court system. Education is too often looked upon as an enemy to tradition. Chief Rickard was by no means an academic person, having never completed even primary school. However, education took a role in his life as he became well read on Indian law and made a tool out of his awareness. We are distinct from Canadians and Americans in the simple fact that they never have their right to exist questioned or denied; We are faced with it every day. Education is the greatest tool we have in fulfilling our duties to the continuation of our identity. Our children deserve the proper answer when they are faced with the question “Why don’t you have to pay taxes, we paved the roads I suppose you should have to pay to use them too?” the way I was in high school. Do our children deserve to grow hot with shame from their unawareness? Or is someone going to teach them to answer “Well you took the land from us to BUILD those roads so I suppose we’re even”?
The IDLA surpasses all other Indigenous organizations in both age and ideals. In all its 81 years of existence it has never taken money from a foreign government in their fight for Indigenous rights recognition. Chief Rickard lived and died believing that this league will thrive based on the age old understanding that Indians will always be there to help other Indians. And so the IDLA continues to be one of an extreme few organizations that exists only on what the People are able to contribute. Chief Rickard should be regarded as a role model for our modern Chiefs; he stands out as one of the truly great ones. He was not a rich man; our Chiefs were often the poorest in the community as they were always giving of themselves to the People. We were the first and last thing on his mind at all times; for that I am fiercely proud of him and deeply grateful.
It has truly been an honour to stand up and take my place among the members of this great league as your Miss IDLA. Your new representative is Miss Jessie Anthony. She is Onondaga Beaver Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River. She is also the reigning Miss Six Nations and will be assuming her duties as Miss IDLA upon passing on the Six Nations title in September. In the interim she is educating herself extensively on the IDLA and you can get a chance to know her soon at the Miss IDLA Myspace. Check it out at www.myspace.com/indiandefenceleague. I thank all of my peoples for the lessons they have imparted with me, I will continue to listen. I look forward to the time I have left in this world, and using it to continue our struggle for our liberty and identity. If identity wasn’t important, the Canadian government would not be at the table with our True Leadership today. Identity is the only thing any of us truly have. I hope one day our white brothers will finally learn that.
]]> Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:52:00 EDT http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/434503 44.3 -78.333333344.3-78.3333333 http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/397647 My own mother tried her best to raise me with a traditional lifestyle. I grew up in a home without electricity, and even to this day my childhood bedroom is lit only by a kerosene lantern. My favourite memories in life are waking up go get the morning water out at the well (not so much fun at the time as the well was uphill!). My favourite time of year is late winter when the sap is running in our family’s sugar bush; the sweet syrupy smell of Hard Maple burning in the woodstove, and the knowledge that those very ashes will be used to lye our corn. I’m only 20 years old; these are not the memories of any of our grandparents, though they may understand the life I come from. My mother has passed along stories to me of her uncles, all pure bred farmers. I’ve learned from hearing these stories of my great-uncles that sovereignty is found in your garden. Our sovereignty has always been in the fact that we can care for ourselves. I’ve heard stories of my great grandfather planting extra corn fields “for the People”, whom ever was hungry, regardless of who you were. From these teachings my Mother taught me that a Nation is not a Nation until it can feed itself; and we can assure our neighbours that we can take good care of one another.


Despite Iowne’s attempts at slowly becoming low profile and retiring from her huge undertaking of revitalizing horticulture in Six Nations, she has many projects on the go. Most admirably she is working with the Kanyen’kehá:ka Kanónhses (Mohawk Longhouse) based language nest. This nest is largely a language based program for Parents and children being raised Mohawk speaking together; but is developing much more in the process. The hope is to focus on building families and living together in the original family structures; people like Iowne will take a major role in teaching medicines, planting, hunting and ceremonies. “I just hope I am helping them eat good food and keep seeds. We are all seed keepers.”
Spending time with Iowne gave me a chance to reflect on those teachings that have been relayed to me thus far in my life. Haudenosaunee since time immemorial have been farmers. In spite of what we have gone through as a people it is extraordinary that we can continue to find our hope and responsibility in the land. We are keepers of the Earth and despite this responsibility our actions in maintaining our stewardship has lead to the incarceration of many in the foreign Canadian system. In one of the wealthiest free countries in the world people are experiencing persecution based entirely on race; anywhere else this would be regarded as genocide. In light of persecution, Our people have an extraordinary ability to remain empowered despite massive losses that none of us can admit to being exempt from. The land is us; and We begin with the land. I am a strong advocate of what those old timers have been placing before us all this time. Our gardens will never cease to empower us. Try putting your bare feet on the ground today; that is empowerment. Eating our own food is empowerment. If you want to feel good today try lying with your back on the ground and look at the sky, the formation of the clouds. Take it all in; it’s all ours.


]]> Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:42:00 EDT http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/397647 44.3 -78.333333344.3-78.3333333 http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/392903 In my short time on this Earth, I have learned that it is the duty of Clans to hold Clan meetings, and afterwards offer their Voice to their Chief who ultimately takes it to Council. HDI does reports every single Confederacy Council meeting; if ONLY our Chiefs had a constituency to which to relay the information to! I am not saying that the HDI is off the hook when it comes to informing the public as an Institution; this is a part of their ultimate mandate. What I am saying is, if we stuck to Original teachings of holding Clan gatherings; maybe we could go to these Community- wide gatherings armed with Clan assessed solutions and not broken records. In the interim of the negotiations adjournment the Confederacy has pledged an information campaign, with Thursday’s meeting being a fresh start. Perhaps ideas can now start to flow from the community as to what WE can do to pass along information and better yet solutions to all of our immediate concerns; those being support for the present court proceedings and our incarcerated brothers and sisters, a renewed negotiation strategy with the full backing of the community, and among many other things is easy access information ( I will take the time to mention that the Haudenosaunee Development Institute has an office conveniently located in the GREAT building in Ohsweken, all are welcome to drop by and the HDI will do what it can to see your questions and concerns are addressed). We can’t all be everywhere at once; that has been the major issue with this huge undertaking. Reclamation is hard; but life is best lived by doing what is right, not what is easy. Maybe the best solution is not those astronomical tasks we usually set out for ourselves for the Confederacy, but how Our clan families can begin to gather together, do a little of this and a little of that. Many hands make light work. At this point about 80% of Our People in this Community are simply surviving; not concerned (and in far too many cases too disempowered to be concerned) with what is happening to Our inherent lands and Rights beyond our reserve borders. We need to reach a hand out to those People; they are our allies and Clan families too. Let us see what our Clan families can do to support each other. So let’s do what needs to be done to fill those empty seats, the benches are getting cold!

]]> Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:08:00 EDT http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/392903 44.3 -78.333333344.3-78.3333333 http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/392901
The battle is on to push the Conservative government to redress itsfailure to recognize aborginal rights at the international level. InSeptember, 2007, Canada stood with only the United States, Australia andNew Zealand in opposition to 144 proud countries who overwhelmingly passedthe UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. History was madeon a day that ensured 370 million indigenous peoples in 70 countries havea comprehensive universal framework to address human rights violations. In Australia, new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will soon change the country'sposition and officially endorse the General Assembly's Declaration,according to a recent report in The Australian. The Rudd government waslauded for its apology earlier this year to the "Stolen Generations" ofits own residential school system. So first Australia, can Canada be far behind? There was a brief respite from this fight last week in Canada. There weretears, joy and celebration after Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologizedin the House of Commons to Canada's First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoplesfor the system of residential schools. The triumph belongs to theestimated 90,000 who still survive, among 150,000 aboriginal people who,as children, were snatched from their parents and sent to be educated inresidential schools, under legislated federal policy now recognized ascruel and wrong-thinking. Many waited last week for Harper to talk about human rights. "The issue ofresidential schools is primarily a human rights tragedy and atrocity,"lawyer Paul Joffe told this blog. A 30-year veteran of cases involving therights of indigenous peoples, he added: "Yet, in the Prime Minister'sapology, no mention is made of 'human rights' or the UN Declaration on theRights of Indigenous Peoples." The omission wasn't lost on Phil Fontaine. The national chief of theAssembly of First Nations underscored its importance, but recognized June11, 2008, was the day to mark the official ending of the sad chapter inCanadian history. That was last week. Yesterday, in the House of Commons, Liberal MP Tina Keeper, an aborginalactivist from the Manitoba riding of Churchill, introduced Bill C-659 toensure the laws of Canada are consistent with the UN Declaration.Moreover, 101 of Canada's most respected academics, lawyers and socialadvocates, among them former cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats,recently sent an open letter urging the government to reverse its decisionon the UN Declaration. Whatever their professions, all have been strongsupporters of the tenets of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.Signatories to the petition include Warren Allmand, Paul Copeland,Professor Shin Imai, Barbara Jackman, Chief Wilton Littlechild, Akex Neve,Allan Rock, Maxwell Yalden and many other illustrious names. The letter pulls no punches: "September 13 , 2007 was a shameful day for Canada, but a tremendousachievement for the world's indigenous peoples and the internationalsystem. It is time for the government of Canada to cease publicizing itsmisleading claims and, together with indigenous peoples, activelyimplement this new human rights instrument."

Now that the number of UN nay-sayers appears to be being whittled down,Canadian activists hope Stephen Harper will rectify what they see as atragic decision for Canada at the UN. In the spirit of optimism, theybelieve the day will come.]]> Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:54:00 EDT http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/392901 44.3 -78.333333344.3-78.3333333 http://dakotabrant.tigblog.org/post/391375 “Né’e Onkwawénna tsí Onkwasasténhsera”
“Tsí nitewawennò:ten táhnon tsí niyonkwarihò:ten ne:’e aoríhwa tsí Shé:kon tyonnhétye ne Onkwehón:we niyonkyonhwentsyò:ten”
“Our language and cultures are the foundation upon which we thrive as Original Peoples”

Imagine a life where you see a child that has no concept of disrespect. Imagine a life where you know no words to harm one another’s spirit. Imagine a time when even the smallest child can put through a ceremony, and not just think of a ceremony as something his grandfather or perhaps great-grandfather can do. Visualize a person having nothing but deep love and respect for their mother, because in the language the word for mother literally means She Who Gives Me My Life force/Strength. Everything I am speaking about here has its roots, success, and chance for survival in our Indigenous Languages.
My own language is Kanyen’keha, and I am of the Kanyen’kehá:ka People. In English that word bluntly means Mohawk, but in my true language it refers to us as the People of the Diamond, referring to large crystals that grow in our traditional lands. I was not born with my language. About three years ago I had the opportunity to learn it in an immersion program. Before I learned my language I realize I knew very little about myself as an Onkwehón:we, an Original Person. I knew I was Mohawk and Turtle clan, but does that really mean anything when you have no way of applying it to your real life? Every day after immersion school, I came home learning a little more about myself. Wake’nónwara means that I am of the Painted Turtle Clan, not the Snapping Turtle, or the Box Turtle. I learned how important language is to the ceremonies. It is one thing to use the language; it is another to understand it. My People are agricultural, and so our ceremonies deal with the land, the planting seasons, and the harvest. How different they are from mainstream holidays! Christmas, for example deals with the birth of a great man over two thousand years ago. It is a commemoration of a very important time in the Western Worlds history. It is believed He will rise again, but that specific birth over two thousand years ago will never happen again. All modern day holidays are celebrations of an event that only happened one time in the past. You can give Thanks for what happened, but not give Thanks for the continuation of a matter. My own ceremonies are as ancient as time itself but do not apply to an ancient time. Our ceremonies are alive. They celebrate the life of the present plant life, animal life, human life, water, the sky dwellers; those forces in the world that continuously have our survival in the balance. They are to be respected, treasured, and ceremonied for so that they always know that they are still needed.
How beautiful a world that has opened itself to me! I find myself wanting to discuss language further but am found with the constant obstacle of being one of very few my age who has access to the language, or has taken strides to understand it. Né’e Onkwawénna Tsí Onkwasasténhsera means Our Language is Our Strength. We have had our land taken, our Peoples brutalized, our ceremonies outlawed, our ceremonial artefacts put in museums and sold to the highest bidder, and our traditional way of governing ourselves conquered; but in light of all of this, our languages continue to be something that is our own. When we know our languages; we know ourselves. In this day I struggle to understand why we are not fighting as hard as we should be for that which is our birthright. Across Canada and the World we implore governments to give our culture the same status of human rights as any other in the World. We also have it down to a statistic how badly our Languages are doing in terms of continued survival. My question now is what are we as Indigenous Youth doing for the continued survival of those languages? I stand by my belief, from my own personal experience that when you learn your language, half of the culture comes with it, as well as 100% of the understanding. You can only learn so much without it. If we take the steps to learn our languages, the rest of those things that are missing will follow it.

In the Indigenous Youth Declaration: Kindling a Fire presented at the United Nations the summer of 2007 at the Annual UN Day of Worlds Indigenous Peoples, it was declared:

Our languages are our inalienable rights of passage; they are our first language, they are integral to instilling our identity and must be accredited, implemented, and accepted without interference

As Youth who are taking action in instilling sovereignty back in the hands of our People, we must make it our priority to see we make a collective statement across this country and affirm Our demands for those things which are our inherent rights. We cannot wait for our leaders who have so much on their hands already to get to the issue at the pace Canada forces us to work at. While Canada spends millions every year on the promotion of the country’s official languages we are facing a danger of extinction for nearly 50 of Canada’s Original languages within our generation. When will we be a priority? It has to be now. Our People possess a spirituality based on unity, and when we are unified: we are powerful.

We must also acknowledge that as Youth we have our own education to receive. We can only protest and advocate foreign Governments for so long for the support needed for the survival of our languages. We must acknowledge that as Indigenous Youth and Guardians of those seven generations to come we have a personal responsibility to make language a priority in our lives. My vision of the future is an Assembly of some 600 powerful Indigenous communities across this country; an assembly that does not need to resort to using English or French to communicate. Is it such a big dream or a fantasy, to think that we could also learn each other’s languages and depend entirely on our own forms of translations just as our Ancestors would have had it? It is no fantasy when you walk into the United Nations and see translators among the delegates. This is exactly what we have here with the Assembly of First Nations; a United Indigenous Nations of Canada with the collective goal of bringing prosperity to our Peoples.
As we reclaim our Languages, there is so much more to be gained. We will gain a commonality with our Ancestors. We will gain those self-determining lifestyles we value so much, as we learn to be healthy in spirit. Our ceremonies will not be foreign to anyone who looks for them. Ancient ties between our Nations will be all the stronger, and our unborn children will have a tie to their Nationhood unlike anything we could understand in our present circumstance; and I feel that is something worth dying for. As we look toward the future collectively; we should use all the imagination we collectively possess. The futures of our Nations are in our hands and it is indeed exciting to see what it is we can come up with. If I could make one small splash in the work that we have ahead of us; I know it will be this. I will raise my children with a firm understanding of who they are; the truth of their origins and of the origins of their Nation. The best way I know to give that kind of power to a person is by giving them the gift of their language, that thing that foreign people should no longer be allowed to take away. For the sake of those unborn faces we protect, we must ensure the survival of our languages today.

Nia:wen ne tyóhtkon skennen ne akwé:kon Onkwehon:we kéntho tsí yohwentsyáte
(Thank you and always in the ways of Peace to all the Original People here on Our Mother the Earth),
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Malgré ceci, je trouve l'espoir dans notre jeunesse. Ils continuent souffrir, ils saisissent l'hasard pour être des dirigeants. Les Premières Nations voient partout ces Jeunesses ils développent et ils font les connexions et les amitiés. L'avenir est brille aux les yeux de ceux-là qui ont été nié cette qualité un temps long. Dans ma ville, nous n'avons pas un centre pour les jeunesses, un lieu où les jeunesses peuvent visiter cela n'est pas dans les rues, et un lieu sûr. Les jeunesses sont prêtes pour ce défi. Ils voient la nécessité dans le lobbying pour ce bâtiment pour notre ville. Nous continuons être négligés par les dirigeants, mais vous pouvez être certain que comme cette génération prépare à accepter ces positions, notre jeunesse qu'ils prévaudront dans leurs objectifs, et se sentir bon de leurs accomplissements. J'espère cette histoire de détermination et de persévérance peux être vu comme un modèle pour toute jeunesse dans ce pays pour continuer à ne pas s'efforcer pour lequel est facile ; mais pour lequel est bon. Je me demande si les jeunesses canadiennes pourraient nous dire partout leurs histoires, parce que dans ce que nous avons en commun, nous trouvons l'encouragement et le confort. Canada, Quel est votre l'histoire ?







My life on the reserve is as typical and yet profound as any native child preceding me. Substance abuse, violence, and death have numbed many of us, and I am saddened to say have become accepted as “a part of life.” Youth are continuing to be put aside, and not seen as a priority by those in the positions to make a difference. While the world around us hopes of progress, liberty, and comfort, many First Nations peoples hopes include basic access to drinking water, jobs, and families not having to be so poor they have to send their children to school without a lunch.

Yet in light of these issues, I have come to find a continuing beacon in our nations, our youth. They who continue to suffer, take the opportunities to rise and shine as leaders. First Nations everywhere are seeing a rise in Youth groups and networking between them, as these youth are hoping to find where their energies can be put to great use. Leadership shines in the eyes of those who were denied that very quality for so long. At my home, we lack even a youth center, a place where youth may convene that is off the streets, and a guaranteed safe haven for all. The youth however, are a testament to trial and challenge. They see the necessity in lobbying for this facility for our community. Though we continue to be pushed back by council and leaders, you can be certain that as this generation prepares to accept those positions of leadership, our youth will begin to prevail in their goals, and feel greatness in their achievements. I hope this story of suffering and perseverance can be seen as a model for all youth in the world to continue to strive not for what is easy; but for what is right. I wonder if Canadian youth everywhere can also share with us their stories, because in finding commonality, we find encouragement and comfort. Tell me Canada, what is your story?


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