Haudenosaunee Confederacy News

• The Haudenosaunee Peace and Trade had a meeting on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 at the Onondaga Cook House. In attendance were representatives from each of the nations. There was an agenda with many items however three items were covered:

1. The Cayuga Nation: The internal issue of the recognized leadership continues with the Cayugas. A decision from Franklin Keel at the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the recognition issue should be forthcoming in the next few weeks.

2. The Haudenosaunee leadership will be meeting with Joe Marten, Commissioner from the Department of Environment on Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at the Onondaga Longhouse at 1:00pm.

Three agenda items to be discussed will be:

Hydro tracking

Onondaga Lake

Hunting and fishing

As Mr. Marten is new to the Department and to Indian Country, a selected speaker will give him a brief history of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the relationship of Nation to Nation.

3. The Peace and Trade Committee then listened to a group from New York State who are asking if the Confederacy is interested in celebrating the 400th year anniversary of the Two Row Wampum with the Dutch. An idea the Dutch group has is to have a ship and a canoe move together down the Hudson River. Other ideas were put forth.

There was a lot of discussion and in the end it was recommended to take the idea presented back to the Nation Council, discuss and report back to the Peace and Trade.

The meeting ended after this presentation.

Everyone now knows the history of the two row wampum belt and its significance to the world. The Indian Time gave a description in a previous issue of the Two Row Wampum and its purpose.

• The grand opening of the Tuscarora Nation Community Building will take place on Friday, August 26, 2011 at 1:00pm. The Community Building will be the hub of the Nation and its people.

• The next Haudenosaunee Peace and Trade meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at the Onondaga Cookhouse. Start time is 10:00am.

• The Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force hosted their third annual outdoor camp on Thompson Island from August 8th to August 12th. The students came from the different Haudenosaunee Nations and enjoyed a week of camping out under the stars, eating from a campfire and learning their culture.

The local educators included Bob Stevenson, Dean George, Cece Mitchell, Dave Arquette and others from the community. On Thursday evening Joanne Shenandoah and the Akwesasne Women Singers performed for the youth. They also had a social that evening.

This week the students are at Cranberry Lake learning the science part of water, medicines and the land.

The HETF staff will have a full report with pictures in the next two weeks. You can see it in Indian Time. If interested in this program please go to HETF’s web-site for more info. The cultural camp is open to those interested.

That’s it for this week. Everyone is enjoying the summer and getting ready for the State Fair. Don’t forget Indian Day is Friday, September 2, 2011. Free entrance for Onkwehonwe!