Currently the Chiefs, clanmothers and their supporters are using bulldozersto eliminate any evidence of the destruction of the smokeshops owned by thePeople of Onondaga that occurred on Monday March 2, 1998, "they want tohide the mess that they've done then they want to tear up the trailer hereat the Sacred Fire." This trailer is not a smokeshop, it is just a traileron private property.
As of today at 11:00 a.m. the Onondaga Reservation was closed off to anyincoming or outgoing traffic and the heavy equipment located at theOnondaga Firehall was started up. Currently the machines are being used toclean up the evidence of the destruction of the smokeshops. They arepurported to be heading up to the Sacred Fire which has been burning sinceMay 1997, and intend to destroy the fire itself and any surroundingbuildings. On Monday the business people who owned the People's OwnedSmokeshops were threatened with two weeks to get off the territory. Thiswarning has been recanted and they are purported to be going next on ahouse to house destruction rampage where the homes of those who owned thesmokeshops and the homes of their supporters will be destroyed regardlessof whether or not there are individuals inside. The people intend to meetthis invasion with resistance.
The New York State Police, when questioned about what they can do in asituation where the human rights of an individual or individuals is beingviolated replied that they could not go onto the Onondaga Territory withoutpermission from the Chiefs. They said that they were respecting thesovereignty of the Onondaga Nation. When asked what they would do if theywitnessed the violation of fundamental human rights such as the right tolive, replied at first that they could not do anything without thepermission of the chiefs, then recanted and said that they didn't knowexactly what they could do.
How is it that the New York State Police and Governor Pataki can stand byand throw sovereignty in the face of the individuals whose human rights arebeing violated? New York State is using sovereignty as an excuse not to doanything about human rights violations on the Onondaga Territory. TheState of New York and the Onondaga Council of Chiefs headed by Oren Lyonsis playing a political wargame with Onondaga Nation Citizens as theirpawns.