A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
Deskaheh – Considered First Indigenous Person To Address Indigenous Human Rights
Deskaheh recited the Ohenton Karihwatehkwen at the opening 16th Session Palais des Nations on July 17, 2023. He then removed himself from the dais and would not address the UN until the Haudenosaunee are recognized as a sovereign nation.
Haudenosaunee Delegation listening to delegates speak on the effects and impacts of militarization of their homelands.
Over the generations, our Haudenosaunee people have continued to come to the UN standing up for this status. Kenneth Deer has traveled to UN sessions for the past thirty years, fighting for sovereign nation status.
Deskaheh – Steve Jacobs at the Deskaheh Exhibit, Geneva, Switzerland.
The Haudenosaunee delegation traveled to Switzerland on Haudenosaunee passports, exercising their rights as a nation.
A contingent of Haudenosaunee have arrived in the City of Geneva, Switzerland to mark the 100th anniversary of Cayuga Chief Deskaheh's journey to the League of Nations. Deskaheh – Levi General, is considered the first Indigenous Person to have raised the issue of loss of autonomy and dispossession of First Nations – Indigenous peoples by colonizing states at the international level.
Deskaheh travelled to Geneva on July 14, 1923. He remained in Switzerland for 18 months and held lectures in Bern, Lausanne, Lucerne, Winterhur, and Zurich. During these lectures he reminded the colonial powers of their obligations under the Two Row Wampum Treaty.
Earlier this week, the City of Geneva installed 30 large double-sided photo panels along Lake Geneva telling the story of Deskaheh's journey and the development of relations between the City of Geneva and Indigenous Peoples worldwide. The photo panels include Swiss and North American archival documents illustrating the history and culture of the Haudenosaunee.
The Deskaheh exhibit was directed by Haudenosaunee curator Dr Jolene Rickard, with the support of the Center for Documentation, Research, and Information of Indigenous Peoples (Docip), and the City of Geneva.
Deskaheh has become a symbol of the struggle of Indigenous Peoples for their sovereignty and talks about the development of Indigenous Peoples' rights in Geneva, from the League of Nations to the UN.
This exhibit is part of a series of events celebrating the centenary of Deskaheh's arrival in Geneva. On July 18, the Mayor of Geneva, Alfonso Gomez inaugurated the Deskaheh exhibit at the Quai Wilson with the current holder of the title Deskaheh - Gayogo̱hó:nǫʼ (Cayuga) Bear Clan Steve Jacobs, along with a delegation of representatives from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
The inauguration was preceded by a march with Indigenous delegates from around the world, at the UN for the session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP). The participants assembled at Place des Nations and the procession was at 6:30 pm and arrived at Quai Wilson at 7 pm.
Kenneth Deer, a member of the Haudenosaunee External Relations Committee, said, "There is a lot of symbolism in Deskaheh's journey to Geneva. Six Nations Territory was not satisfied with the treatment of Canada to our sovereign rights. He first went to England to see the King (George V), but he refused to see him. So, the Confederacy sent him to the League of Nations, where sovereign states go. They said that is the proper place of the Haudenosaunee."
Deer added, "He was well treated by the citizens of Geneva, and they supported him. Many dignitaries were on his side, including the Mayor of Geneva. Canada was livid that he was there and, with the support of Great Britain, prevented Deskaheh from addressing the League and, by subterfuge, prevented the Haudenosaunee application to join the League of Nations.
"This effort has become to symbolize the struggle of Indigenous Peoples for recognition in the United Nations today."
100 years later, the Haudenosaunee are still unrecognized as a sovereign nation. The current Deskaheh – Gayogo̱hó:nǫʼ (Cayuga) Bear Clan recited the Ohenton Karihwatehkwen at the opening of the 16th Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday, July 17, 2023. As in our traditions, before all meetings, we give thanks for all of Creation and to bring our minds together as one.
Deskaheh closed by saying "I will not address the United Nations until the Haudenosaunee are recognized as a government."
The UN only recognizes States and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO). As Indigenous Peoples have governments, we are not NGOs. The Haudenosaunee refuses to register in the UN as an NGO and continues the struggle to be recognized as a government. Deskaheh, by entering the UN building, but refusing to speak, is a powerful reminder of the discrimination that Indigenous Peoples still face today.
During the first session, Indigenous representative from virtually every country spoke on behalf of the abuses colonizing countries have imposed on them... Peru, Guatemala, New Zealand,
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