Iroquois Passport returned to Mohawk Nation

The Iroquois/Haudenosaunee Passport that had been seized at the Cornwall Port of Entry on June 18, 2011 was returned to the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs last Thursday morning. This occurred after the Mohawk Nation had sent a letter requesting the return of the document, along with any others that might have also been seized at the Port. The CBSA Aboriginal Liaison James D. Marchand had been sent a letter from Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs dated July 7, 2011; a letter that once again claims validity over the Haudenosaunee passport that has gone under intense scrutiny both this past month and a year ago when England would not recognize the document for the Iroquois Nationals’ Men’s Lacrosse team to travel for the 2010 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship.

Officer Marchand, whose job includes assisting in resolving Akwesasne community issues, complaints and concerns; delivered the passport in person to the Mohawk Nation Office here in Akwesasne. Bula Hill, Mohawk Nation Administrator, signed for the document on behalf of Tekahnawiiaks and explained that this would have happened sooner but vacation schedules from head offices caused a delay in the processing of the paperwork.

According to the Notice of Seizure document provided to Tekahnawiiaks the day of the incident, steps for the return of the document included, “a person who claims to be the lawful owner of a seized thing may apply in writing for its return within 60 days after the seizure.” The letter addressed to Officer Marchand met the time requirement and listed that, “the passport is the cultural and political property of the Haudenosaunee and as a Haudenosaunee citizen, [Tekahnawiiaks] has the right to carry and use this passport.”

The Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs acting on behalf of Tekahnawiiaks followed through with their letter of request for this identification to be returned. In this regard Officer Marchand also fulfilled his duty to help resolve such matters by bringing the document to the Mohawk Nation Office directly to expedite the return to the Haudenosaunee. Privacy legislation prevents CBSA officials from commenting on individual cases such as this.

With further exploration of this topic of validating the Haudenosaunee Passport with Canada, CBSA officials have stated that, “under Subsection 140(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA)”, CBSA officers are allowed to seize these “fantasy documents”. Tekahnawiiaks had asked for documentation relating to this policy and was provided with a printout of an excerpt from the Canadian and Immigration Canada’s Operation manuals and bulletins Section 16 out of the Overseas Processing (OP) section. This printout in question has the Haudenosaunee and Iroquois Nation on the list of fantasy passports/travel documents, stating that the list is not exhaustive and new documents emerge regularly. When a search is done for this section within publicly available resources on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website this specific section is unavailable; however, anS Operational Bulletin 190 dated March 12, 2010 instructs officers to refer to it for a list of documents under this classification.

Although there is a note acknowledging that these sections are under development, requests for copies of this section were then referred back to CBSA from the Ontario Regional Headquarters for Citizen and Immigration. Other requests for information pertaining to criteria that a document must meet to gain recognition as an acceptable form of identification under the eyes of Canada have also gone unanswered from the Ontario Regional Headquarters. While CBSA must enforce the Section 140(1) of the IRPA, it is the Citizen and Immigration Canada who holds the key to bridging the gap between being a “fantasy” and “reality” of the Iroquois/Haudenosaunee Passport under Canada law.

Canada’s other neighbors, the United States, has chosen to take the path of least resistance by working with Native American communities to develop acceptable forms of identification. Through the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), which went into effect in 2009, both U.S. tribally enrolled members’ identification cards and INAC status cards are acceptable for land and sea crossings. This is a battle that had been waged by Tribes who cross both the Canadian and Mexican border regularly, and a win-win scenario was established through this eventual cooperation.

Just this year on June 6 the U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced the first Enhanced Tribal Card issued by the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona as a WHTI compliant document was approved as a travel document.

In the WHTI Land/Sea Final Rule, published April 3, 2008, DHS began allowing all U.S. federally recognized tribes to work with CBP to produce an ETC denoting both citizenship and identity. Under this provision, each interested U.S. federally recognized tribe is allowed to enhance its own tribal specific photo identification document to be distributed to qualifying tribal members in order to comply with WHTI document requirements.

In July 2010, the Department of Homeland Security and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe announced the production of the first ever ETC, which utilizes radio frequency identification technology enabling the electronic verification of the member’s identity, tribal membership, and U.S. citizenship. This technology is the same used for NEXUS cards and NYS Enhanced Drivers License.

Since 2009, CBP has also signed Memorandums of Agreement with the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, the Seneca of New York, the Tohono O’odham of Arizona, the Coquille of Oregon, and the Hydaburg of Alaska to develop WHTI-compliant ETCs. CBP is currently working with approximately 15 additional tribes across the country on the ETC initiative.

With this effort made by the U.S. to help Native Nations identify themselves, Akwesasne is in a waiting game to see what Canada will do next.