THE MOHAWK NATION AS AN

Usually it’s not good to look back in the past, but in this case I felt it would be necessary to shed some light on past events that people forget or else never had the information. You see, I was a member of the leadership of the traditional council of chiefs for thirty seven years. Going back to the early years of my involvement with the nation council gives me many fond memories of those people who gave me so much in teachings whether it was spiritual or political. I remember the excitement of the late sixties when our elders said it was time to wake up the people to take their places once again. People who brought us to that point in time believed that it could be done and it was done. Chief’s Alex Gray, George Terrance, Ira Benedict, Louis Thompson, Moses David, James Thompson, Ross David, Joe Mitchell and Sonny Terrance. The helpers of the council and runners were people like Standing Arrow, Joe White, Donald Richmond and many others that would cause a list to grow long. These are the people who stand out in my mind as the ones who laid out the foundation for our future development as a people. Of course there were outstanding clan mother’s who kept watch over their leaders to make sure everything was handled carefully. Of course there were many bumps and bruises along the way, but with belief and determination we now have many things to be thankful for. Take for instance, our tax exemption from State taxes was reafftrmed as a right when the Onondagas with support of the confederate nations worked on our behalf. Our border rights are secure today because people were willing to stand up for their rights in 1968 here at Akwesasne. After the famous bridge blockade of 1968, the Onkwehonwe people did indeed wake up again after years of abuse by U.S. and Canada Governments. Alcatraz was occupied, the B.LA. building in Washington was taken over, Wounded Knee was occupied, Ganienkeh reclamation of land, Longest walk to prevent the U.S. to abbrogate treaty’s made with Onkwehonwe people, Raquet Point standoff. There

were many other political movements that contributed to what we sometimes take for granted. Health service for instance was a direct effort of community people in Akwesasne, remember Mrs. Nesbitt from U.S. health services that used to meet with our people at the Mohawk Nation Offtce in Hogan? Do you remember when the Longhouse people initiated a ftght against Niagara Mohawk power and the telephone company’s for charging taxes on our bills? Do you remember when the Longhouse people secured free passage over the Cornwall bridge for the American portion of the reserve? Yes, these are only some of the events that shaped Akwesasne beyond 1970. Here it is, 2008 and we can reflect on all of the good that has happened as a result of people working together. In my view there needs to be some adjusting done in order that the good fortune will continue. We are at a crossroads where people are expressing a change in this and that. What kind of structure can be put together to beneftt the needs of the people and future generations. We are the Haudenosaunee people and talking the language of the Haudenosaunee. Weare Haudenosaunee and we are practicing the ways of life given to us like handling marriage, funerals, and governance. The way of the Haudenosaunee is being a free and collective people who beneftt from one another’s gifts in many shapes and forms. One thing for certain is that we have a collective right to our tax exemption and that at this time we have not been deriving each persons share.

The ones that reap the beneftts the most are individuals and transient non residents. The peacemaker gave to the original Haudenosaunee the one dish law, this means that all the forests, land, animals, ftsh were to be shared with the law that no one individual would take more than is needed. This law was made to make sure the resources are protected for future generations. From this you can get a good picture of what needs to be done to make some adjustments, for the greed that’s taking place here and other haudenosaunee communities will surely destroy what little we have left.

By Jake Swamp

I would like to also shed some light on the past because as a young boy, I was inspired by the elders of the past and their efforts to stand up for what they valued and for something that could benefit the needs of the people. There was a picture last week in the article of Indian Time- Blast from the Past, and I remember some of these elders that were responsible for waking up the people and shaping our future as a Mohawk Nation. Today, if these Mohawk Nation Council elders didn’t stand up and fight the U.S. and Canadian Governments we probably would not have a Nation and our cultural identity intact. What is important to remember and to know was that it was the clan families and most of the community that were behind to support them 100%. That was strength and unity in action! Our young people need to know and understand what the elders gave and how they laid out the foundation for their future and so on. The young people also need to be like the roots that will support and stand up the pine trees (Chiefs) once again! Any day now, we could be forced to be taxed by the government, because we don’t really believe we have a right to choose not to. We are also being defined as an American or Canadian citizen to cross their International Border Line. In all, we the people, as a Nation have many issues to deal with. We have to protect and value what little we have left. Look in a child’s eyes and ask yourself: will there be any inherent collective rights left for our future generations? What are we going to do about it and how are we going to respond to our problems with grief in our hearts? –“Teho’ron: io” Joey David

The elder who wrote this article –“The Mohawk Nation as an Unsung Hero” was the late Jake Swamp kaon’ha. Jake preserved our language and culture and maintained our native spirituality after the older ones left us. Now, he had joined the elders that have been no longer with us and to me he was my hero. I considered him my uncle because he was married to my aunt Judy. Jake had greatly inspired me, because of the character of gentleness and compassion he had to help anybody. For those of you that don’t know, he had dedicated his life to his people and educated the people locally within our community as well other communities and internationally to promote “Peace”. Over 30 years he had been a wolf clan sub-chief for the Mohawk Nation and presided over ceremonies in the longhouse. He was directly involved in the creation of the Akwesasne Freedom School-a Mohawk language immersion school. He also traveled around internationally to plant trees in other countries for those who wanted to know where democracy came from and to address environmental issues.

“We have gifts and knowledge to share with the world, but we can’t do this if we have not been healed of our anger from the stories of grief told to us by our ancestors. That will be the purpose of the gathering of condolence”-Jake Swamp, Wolf Clan, October 2010

He left us behind to fulfill the instructions of our ancestors. In honor of Jake Swamp’s dream and vision, the Gathering of Condolence, Strength and Peace will take place at the Mississippi Headwaters from June 18-23, 2012. Reviving Indigenous Spirit Everywhere. For more information and registration log on http://www.rise2012.com or on R.I.S.E. on twitter/face book. Make a Donation. Please come and join and heal together.