Haudenosaunee Confederacy News

•• The Haudenosaunee Confederacy Nations held a Grand Council meeting on Saturday, May 22nd at the Onondaga Nation longhouse. The agenda items were:

Welcoming of newly condoled chiefs:

The newly condoled Oneida and Onondaga chiefs were stood in the middle of the longhouse floor and everyone shook their hands. Then, Leroy Hill spoke to the chiefs explaining about their duties and how to conduct themselves.

The two Oneida chiefs are Al Day and Howard Elijah. The Onondaga Chief is Arnold Jacobs.

The Haudenosaunee Documentation Committee gave a report and put two items to the Chiefs for approval:

A. The ID cards to be accepted as is. This was accepted with minor changes.

B. The fee for the ID card was presented as $50.00. This was not accepted and the recommendation was for the HDC Committee to go back to the tables and reevaluate.

NOTES: The equipment for processing ID card will arrive in the communities within the next two (2) weeks. Processing should begin shortly thereafter.

Jake Swamp project: Jake gave a report on his project, to have a Condolence Ceremony for Indigenous people of Canada and the USA. The goal is to have the Condolence in 2012 in the Mississippi valley area. The Grand Council approved and supports this project. The Nations will select volunteers to help with this major undertaking.

Lakota Sioux Presentation: Three (3) Lakota Sioux representatives met with the Grand Council Chiefs. They started their presentation with a Pipe ceremony, then sang their traditional songs. After this ceremony the spokesperson talked about how the Iroquois Haudenosaunee came to the Dakota Sioux’s help in the past (Wounded Knee). The Lakota Sioux would like to polish that agreement and also to put forth a request. The Lakota Sioux are in a grave situation what with losing their culture and language, facing a major drug problem and poverty. They have come to the Haudenosaunee to ask for help. The Grand Council listened and agreed to send representatives to the Lakota Sioux territory to meet the community and see what is actually happening.

United Nations Report: Tonya Frichner (Onondaga) gave a report on the work accomplished at the 9th Session of the United Nations on Indigenous issues. This was a productive meeting with Haudenosaunee issues put on the table for review, discussion and action.

Meeting was closed.

•• Haudenosaunee Peace and Trade Committee met on Tuesday, Nay 25th at Onondaga. The meeting was mainly discussion on several issues including the Haudenosaunee ID cards and the MOU with Homeland Security, the United Nations work, the New York State Excise Tax (Cayuga cigarette tax issue), and hunting and fishing problems.

Action to be taken: A meeting is being scheduled with Homeland Security, Department of the Interior and White House aides to discuss the ID cards/passport memorandum of understanding. Legal counsel will do research on the Department of Environment’s concerns about hunting and fishing rights. Meetings will be schedule with DEC and the hunters/fishermen. Meeting ended about 4:00 p.m.

•• There will be a Mohawk Nation Council meeting on Sunday, May 30, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.