Land Rights Need to be Open to the People

By Doug George-Kanentiio.

The people of Akwesasne will be deeply affected by the current, secret negotiations regarding New York State’s theft of Mohawk territory. But just as with the Dundee deal, the plan is to present to the community a settlement proposal after a compromise has been reached and it will then become an “all or nothing” feared based cession.

This is coercion, a trap set by the US and New York State to compel the three councils to concede on the most vital elements of our ancestral land rights-specifically jurisdiction, land usage and fair damages for the loss of our territory from the time of our active possession to the present.

The deal will only require the signatures of the representatives of the councils regardless of the results of any public referendum. Protests by any segment of the people will mean nothing: should the Bear clan elect not to participate this will in no way prevent the deal from becoming reality since the agreement of anyone connected with the Mohawk Nation Council will be sufficient for the US to enforce the contract. Whatever action the Bears take must be direct and immediate; its faithkeepers, single rotiane and iakoiane must compel the Nation to refute the deal if there is no unanimity among the clans (including the Snipe, Deer and Beavers) with the specific endorsement of the women of the Nation-those who, by traditional law, are the custodians of the earth.

But the Bears withdrawal without these conditions will be futile. Any individual from the other clans may sign and enact the settlement,

Without specific knowledge as to the content of the proposals the people can only speculate as to what the councils are actually negotiating about. But past proposals provide a clue.

Missing from those plans was any mention of exclusive jurisdiction. This is of critical importance to anyone who earns wages on our territory and any owners of the hundreds of businesses which current operates on Akwesasne. Failure to specifically and clearly exempt our people from New York State regulations means we are open to those attachments. The Internal Revenue Service and the State may then intrude and tax whatever they please. They may also enforce State and Federal laws on any area of our lives since the negotiators failed to cite this right of exemption in their negotiations. This can include things such as traffic laws, housing, medical care, economic development, commerce, social services, and education besides criminal and civil regulations.

The St. Regis Tribal Council and the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne are alien entities both of which assume they are the rightful heirs of the Seven Nations of Canada. Neither is. The Tribe did not exist under New York State statute until 1892 and the MCA (St. Regis Band Council) was imposed in 1899. The governing council throughout most of the 19th century were based upon traditional customs who contested the legitimacy of the Seven Nations cession.

The only entity which can demonstrate governing continuance from time immemorial is the Mohawk Nation Council, yet it has been forced into a corner and refuses to take the lead in the negotiations. Its refusal to do so amounts to, as one tribal official has said, silence which means compliance.

This holds true for the most lucrative part of the land deals-the islands. No mention is made of Oswegatchie, an actual member of the Seven Nations (unlike Akwesasne which was under Kahnawake’s wing) and the State’s 1806 eviction in blatant breach of US federal law. But those refugees found a home here and brought their land titles with them. We own those islands from Lancaster to the Thousand Islands. This is why the “long hairs” had twelve “life chiefs” to include the Snipes, Beavers and Deers.

The Islands are in no way mentioned or inferred in the Seven Nations treaty. They remained north of the international border until the Treaty of Ghent in 1814 ending the War of 1812 followed by the Webster-Ashburton treaty of 1842. It was only then that some of the islands were placed south of the border and the traditional council lost jurisdiction. Neither the Tribe or MCA has any legal or logical right to lay claim to the islands or to in any way negotiate usage.

Of these islands Barnhart has the most value according to the Americans. The massive dam is on our territory and the waters are ours as well. There is no need whatsoever to beg New York State for hydroelectricity for the power we need for our homes – it is insane to plead for “reduced rates” when we are within our rights to compel the Power Authority to direct this resource to us without charge of any kind.

It is also an omission to refrain from reading the Seven Nations document. What exactly was meant by “six miles square” around St. Regis Village? Did not the State know this area intruded north into what the British defined as Upper Canada? It would also include the entire city of Cornwall as well as Summerstown, Glen Walter and Lancaster. Yet no one seems to consider this, nor has there been any definition of the “grassy meadows” from Massena to the St. Lawrence. It must certainly be far larger than has been cited so far.

Also omitted is the mysterious “Crawford Purchase”. This was supposed to be the singular document Canada uses to claim the Mohawks gave up the islands and the mainlands from the Quebec border to Ogdensburg. There is nothing-no treaty, lease or sale. It is why we can make a rightful move to take back all of the islands including Barnhart. Yet I doubt any of the negotiators know anything about Crawford.

It is time to come clean – for the negotiators to consult with the people, to break the bounds of confidentially. It is time for those who use our medicines, harvest our plants, fish our waters, and hunt our forests to also make a stand and demand these ancestral rights are protected. It is time for the people to demand the negotiations be suspended until the people have unrestricted access to the State and Federal governments proposals.

This is the most important issue of our time – we must not let destroy the rights of those yet unborn.