Iroquois March to Renew Canandaigua Treaty

Submitted by Doug George – Kanentiio

A group of over 200 Iroquois and their friends marched down Main Street in the town of Canandaigua on November 11th to mark the 219th anniversary of the signing of the one treaty between the Six Nations Iroquois and the United States.

Led by US commissioner Timothy Pickering and under orders from US President George Washington the treaty was signed by representatives from the Six Nations with the exception of the Mohawks who had been driven into Canada as the result of their support for the British during the American Revolution.  Mohawk were witnesses to the negotiations, which attracted as many as 1500 Iroquois during a cool and cloudy November in Seneca Territory.

Each year the Iroquois hold the renewal event by walking through Canandaigua to a boulder located at the treaty site. Speakers are selected to recite parts of the treaty while representatives from the US are joined by local politicians to acknowledge that the treaty was not only historical but must be, as one speaker noted, considered the supreme law of the land under the US Constitution.

Pete Jemison, the Seneca manager of the nearby Ganondagan historic site, acted as coordinator of the event.

As part of the celebration a crafts fair, dinner and social dance are held with formal presentations on topics ranging from the War of 1812 to the Two Row Wampum in Iroquois history.

Rotianne from the Cayuga, Onondaga and Seneca nations were at this year's event.