A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
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I remember looking through a book on Massena (Akwesasne Mohawk Territory) history, studying the pictures and seeing my uncle, Noah Cook. It was 1922. Uncle Noah had to have been 18 or so years old at the time. He was pictured in a blacksmith shop with a very old sod that was showing Noah the ropes. How young Noah looked. He worked many years at the “plant” and, as many did then, also worked the family farm. He retired decades later, when there were no more horses or metal wheels to maintain. It was the industrial age and Massena and Akw...
June 18, 2012 marked the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, a war all but forgotten in American history books. But what did that war mean for this country’s Indigenous Peoples? The War of 1812 formally began on June 18, 1812 when President James Madison signed the Declaration of War against the United Kingdom. The war was fought for a number of reasons including trade restrictions, the impressment of American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy, the United States trying to annex Canada, but also because the British were supporting Native A...
Senator Jon Kyl (R-Arizona) recently issued a statement after the passage of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, in which he argued that tribal governments (and I can only assume that he means governments recognized and organized under the BIA and the IRA), are racist by nature, and “by subjecting individuals to the criminal jurisdiction of a government from which they are excluded on account of race—would quite plainly violate the Constitution’s guarantees of Equal Protection and Due Process.” This is his argument for rea...
I was watching SportsCenter the other day and some news hit me right between the eyes: Junior Seau, Samoan phenom, committed suicide. Seau was always one of my favorite players for a few different reasons: 1) Seau was Samoan, and I consider all Polynesians to be Indigenous brothers and sisters, having had similar experiences to many Native people here on the mainland, 2) He was a grown man named “Junior,” and I always thought that only happened in Indian communities, so I appreciated his Ind...
When I sat down to write this column, I wanted to tell you about how well ICTMN is doing in promoting our (Indigenous) interpretation of the world through presenting our view of news, events and thoughts. But that will have to take a back seat. Richard Milanovich passed away. The Onondaga nation lost a Clan Mother of Clan Mothers. And a handful of grannies and grandpas did their part out in Lakota country, slowing the progression of the Killer Pipe Line that the Americans call Keystone Pipeline XL. First, I want to clarify my ethnicity. My...
The following is the opinion of Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) Montana’s Indian Country is sacred ground for all of the Big Sky’s tribes. Tribal lands safeguard and preserve ceremonial sites from the Great Plains to the Rocky Mountains. Each site deserves our everlasting respect and protection. But the U.S. House of Representatives is currently considering a bill that undermines the sanctity of these places, and the sovereignty of Montana’s tribes. As Montana’s only member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, I want all Montanans to underst...
A Haudenosaunee orator and representative to Nations has said that, “Sovereignty is the act thereof.” Sovereignty is action, and it’s through our actions that people come to understand our sovereignty (our original free and independent existence). In a state of liberty, individuals choose what actions will define their personal existence. But, governments do not have that luxury. Governments are not free, nor endowed with liberty and are not individuals. They make way for freedom and clear the way for individual liberty… or, they get in the... Full story
The children of the West (Americans) are fighting amongst themselves (again) over distribution of a wealth that does not belong to them, a wealth derived from Indigenous lands. The opportunity to redefine wealth based on a more realistic view of the earth and an understanding of man’s place may be now. There is a very old Iroquois prophecy called the The Two-Headed Serpent. Stuart Myiow of the Mohawk Traditional Council of Kahnawakeh told this prophecy, as did our ancestors. He’d say, “This is the Two-Headed Serpent Prophecy. We must remem...
When I sat down to write this column, I wanted to tell you about how well ICTMN is doing in promoting our (Indigenous) interpretation of the world through presenting our view of news, events and thoughts. But that will have to take a back seat. Richard Milanovich passed away. The Onondaga nation lost a Clan Mother of Clan Mothers. And a handful of grannies and grandpas did their part out in Lakota country, slowing the progression of the Killer Pipe Line that the Americans call Keystone Pipeline XL. First, I want to clarify my ethnicity. My...
The week of April 1st, nine weeks before the Tribal elections, we have yet to hear who is going to run for Chief and Sub-Chief though the rumor mill and its legions of lackey’s never failing to disappoint, has been relentlessly churning out names. Now is the time to define the issues from a voter’s point of view. Let’s create our own vision and see if the candidates can embrace them. There is much to say when it comes to describing what it is we want in our elected officials...sure, sure we want them to be exemplary in every way. To be gods...
Tribal members are at a crucial cross-roads in the way you are allowed to govern yourselves. Not long ago, in February, the Tribal officials (Trustees) testified before the House Resources Committee and among the many things that were said for the record, were accusations that the DOI/BIA have acted towards the Mohawk people in a paternalistic manner that borders on racist. Could our Tribal Trustees be guilty of the same paternalism towards Tribal members? Council refuses to allow the Tribal membership to lead the Council on important issues,...
