Onondaga Information - Archive
The following materials are ones I've recieved via email, nothing has been altered or changed.
> <<<----- previously howled ------->>>
> *Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 18:22:02 -0800 (PST)
> *From: John Shafer <wy430@victoria.tc.ca
> > *X-Sender: wy430@vtn1
> *cc: Mohawk Nation News <mohawkns@cyberglobe.net
>
> *Subject: "TORCHING OF MY NATION" ONONDAGA (fwd)
> *
> *MNN forwards this letter which is written with heartfelt respect by
> *Paula Hemlock of the Snipe Clan of the Onondaga Nation and speaks for
> *itself.
> *
> *Letters to the Editor
> *Eastern Door
> *Kahnawake Nation
> *
> *Dear Editor:
> *
> *Words, thoughts and concerns I express are my own. My oratory ramblings
> *are armament nor apologia for no one individual, faction, cult,
> *anti-or-pro gaming group, band council, or longhouse (padlocked or
> *not). My heart and colonized mind struggles to comprehend the madness
> *surrounding the "Torching of My Nation".
> *
> *The smoke rising from the smoldering embers and charred remains
> *representing the end of "illegal business" in the good minds and hearts
> *of those carrying out the mandates of the Great Binding Peace lays like
> *a cloud of lazy innocence over the hills of the Onondaga Nation. The
> *charred embers are residuals of a courageous victory, a triumphant
> *conquest, the strengthening of the Longhouse supremacy, and coercive
> *subjugation at it’s very finest, skillfully planned and executived by
> *Chiefs, Clan Mothers, and People of the Onondaga Nation.
> *
> *The Onondaga’s stand tall as the victory is completed without the aid of
> *"outside" forces. As fate would have it, there are always exceptions to
> *the rules. Exception to the preeminence was the presence of Nation
> *spokesman and lawyer, Joseph Heath, Esquire. Heath, who is sworn to an
> *oath of allegiance to uphold and protect the laws of the US government
> *as licensed by the NYS Bar Association, is also commissioned by the
> *State of NY, Town of Onondaga as evidenced by his notary public seal.
> *Acceptance of his presence and legal instruments abrogates all Indian
> *Treaties and firmly establishes plenary powers and right of indenture
> *upon our People. Oren Lyons’ endorsement of this type of diplomacy gave
> *me an idea. I turned to Lyons for answers via his book, "Exiled In The
> *Land Of The Free".
> *
> *My qualms regarding diplomacy versus violence and vigilantism Lyons
> *writes, "the central story recounts his (The Peacemaker) relentless
> *efforts to persuade men who had been dedicated to a life of revenge and
> *blood feuds to abandon that path and to bring peace to the land. The
> *Maker of Life could not have intended that humans would kill one another
> *and that violence, especially organized violence, must be contradictory
> *to the purposes of life. The true purpose of human political
> *organization… must be to oppose violence. The Peacemaker proposed that
> *a council be formed to provide a forum in which violence would
> *henceforth be replaced with thinking, and disputes would be settled with
> *words."
> *
> *My qualms regarding democracy versus totalitarianism arise from the
> *Council’s decision to abolish controlled, licensed, free enterprise by
> *embracing socialistic economic principles by enacting sole authoritarian
> *entrepreneurship Lyons writes, "Among the Haudenosaunee participatory
> *democracy meant that on some level every individual had a right to voice
> *an opinion and to agree or disagree on actions to be taken. Because the
> *Confederacy was organized to meet external threats and not an organ of
> *internal control, it had no organs of repression. In fact, the
> *Confederacy Council had no coercive power whatever over its people.
> *This meant that communities were free to disagree with the decisions of
> *the Confederacy Council, especially on trade issues."
> *
> *My qualms regarding loyalty and commitment to the Confederacy versus
> *allegiance to "outside" forces were heightened when a condoled Chief of
> *the Onondagas quelled fears. He recited the list of support which did
> *not include our brothers or sisters of the Mohawks, Senecas, Cayugas,
> *Oneidas nor Tuscaroroas, rather assurances that sheriffs and troopers
> *are on standby from Nedrow to Albany. Disturbing patterns evolve when
> *events of the past are reviewed. The Council proudly proclaims "it was
> *the decision of the Onondaga People" whenever violence is involved.
> *Unfortunately, negotiations with state and federal officials behind
> *closed doors regarding the People’s sovereignty, jurisdiction, taxation,
> *rights of indenture, and plenary powers apparently are not worthy of the
> *respect and integrity of the People and our collective and inherent
> *rights.
> *
> *Families of the businesses must also step back and examine their
> *behavior and actions. Taking a stand for accountability, honesty,
> *fairness, and sovereignty does not exempt or excuse anyone from
> *following the code of moral conduct, The Great Law of Peace. Protests
> *and cries against injustices and oppression must be executed and
> *negotiated with the same amount of respect and humility that is
> *solicited. It does not take a hero to die. It takes a hero to live in
> *peace.
> *
> *As mother and grandmother, I refuse to have my name included as an
> *accessory or proponent of the Torching of My Nation. I refuse to stand
> *in defense of the actions taken by leaders and role models of my
> *Nation. I refuse to stand in defense of the continued arguing and
> *ugliness and continuance of divisive factors played out by each and
> *everyone of us in this Nation whether we are active participants or
> *silent observers. I refuse to let my children believe that diplomacy
> *replaced with violence, pillaging and burning, regardless of all the
> *rights or wrongs committed by either side, is acceptable behavior. I
> *refuse to admit that the Confederacy is dead, for when a Nation cannot
> *secure a peaceful resolution with the consensus of the People, the
> *discord will be placed in the hands of the Confederacy Council for
> *unbiased resolve. I refuse to believe that my vision for our children,
> *the future of Onondaga, the coming together of the Confederacy, the
> *Seven Generations, upon whose faces we tread - went up in smoke - the
> *day my Nation was torched.
> *
> *I remain committed to my belief that apathy, hopelessness, conflict of
> *interest, nepotism, and corruption will not survive the honesty and
> *integrity of proud and righteous Onondagas. I remain dedicated to
> *compassion and thoughtfulness so we may become the owners of humanity,
> *humility, peace, faith, hope. My vision is for autonomous sovereignty
> *procured upon the backs of all Onondagas as one, tenaciously entwined in
> *unity, harmony, humbleness, honesty, integrity, virtue, respect and
> *unruffled peace in a circle escorted by our moral code of conduct, The
> *Great Binding Peace, and guided by an honest, entrusted, and fair
> *governance committed to ensuring and protecting Nation freedoms,
> *Confederacy freedoms, individual freedoms, peace and harmony conceived
> *from the "will of the People" through our Clans, without outside
> *intervention and heterodoxy, in order that we Onondaga’s may be a
> *healthy, proud, prosperous, productive, flourishing, and peaceful
> *society, presently, and for generations to come…
> *
> *Written with heartfelt respect,
> *
> *Paul Hemlock
> *Snipe Clan
> *Onondaga Nation
> *