Onondaga Information - Archive

The following materials are ones I've recieved via email, nothing has been altered or changed.

MNN Mohawk Nation News. 7.Mar.98. The following is taken from the case of the Onondaga Indian Nation, Oliver Hill Jr., Alice Thompson and Ken Papineau vs. The State of New York in the United States District Court, Northern District of New York 97-CV-445 NPM-GJD, pages 17 - 21. This indicates that the conspiracy is being developed by the Indian Law Resource Centre which is funded by various foundation, including the Rockefellers, the Fords and Oren Lyon's organization the Four Directions. Directors include Robert Coulter, Audrey Shenandoah of Onondaga, John Mohawk, a Seneca, Vine Deloria Jr., gaiashkibos formerly of the NCAI.

3. THE CONSPIRACY

The Indian Law Resource Center Annual Report of 1990 reveals their point of view regarding the nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. In particular, the Mohawks are referred to as racketeers, lawless and violent, related to gambling enterprises which threaten to overwhelm some Indian governments (p.10). On other reservations smokeshops and similar businesses are creating real challenges for Indian government that feel the need to regulate and police these businesses. Their coverage of the issues are misleading and one-sided against those who were standing up to the corruption of the tribal councils and Council of Chiefs at Onondaga. "At the request of the traditional chiefs we discussed these problems with the Governor and urged prompt action. We made plans to file suit to compel the State to provide basic law enforcement. After the shooting deaths of two Mohawks, the New York State Police finally moved in to Akwesasne, closed the casinos and established order".

The Report states that the editor of the national Indian news journal, Akwesasne Notes, Doug George, was charged in Canada with the shooting death of one of the Mohawks killed at Akwesasne. Although George was part of the violence that erupted on the territory, the Report states that "Doug had long been the leading opponent of gambling on the reservation". He is described as a "crusading journalist imprisoned on trumped up charges". The Center came to Doug's defense financially and otherwise assisted by the Canadian government.

The Center also "advised the traditional Mohawk and Six Nations Confederacy leaders in their efforts to bring about a peaceful resolution of the crisis that engulfed Oka, Quebec and other Mohawk communities near Montreal in July. The traditional Mohawk leaders asked for our help because the same "warrior" who had caused so much strife at Akwesasne were controlling the violent resistance at Oka and the nearby communities, and there was justifiable fear of a spread of the violence".

"Throughout the many months of this conflict we were deeply involved in consultations with the traditional Mohawk and Six Nations leadership. We worked closely with the Six Nations negotiation team that sought out a peaceful resolution of the crisis. We consulted with Canadian and United States officials about the crisis and urged a peaceful resolution. We accompanied a Six Nations delegation that met personally with Govenor Cuomo and developed the groundwork for a resolution of the law enforcement and gambling issues".

All of this was carried out without consultation with or knowledge and consent of the people affected.

Even with the Tuscarora Nation the Center devised a legal and political strategy to request the assistance of the federal government to stop their illegal businesses. The Center asked the federal government to take action against those individuals who are engaged in business without the license and approval required by Tuscarora law and the federal Indian trader statutes.

The Center also helped the Onondaga with the tax issues and, according to their 1990 report, "were successfully resolved" and were continuing to help the nation institute regulations to control businesses on the reservation. On the other hand, the New York State Supreme Court found on May 14th 1997 that the states actions in forcing Indians to pay sales taxes on fuel and cigarettes was found to be illegal. Judge Hon. Rose H. Sconiers condemned the Council of Chiefs who made deals with New York States. These illegal agreements are "beyond its delegated authority, ultra vires and unlawful". She added that this "Indian Agreement" imposes through economic coercion, a change in the cultural fabric of Reservation Indians by permitting tax free status to only certain designated Tribal members".

The Great Law of Peace, the Constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy, is the law of the Iroquois nations by which the maintain their relationship to the newcomers. The New York State Court is part of the New York State judicial system and the action was between New York State and the Seneca Nation. New York state as a party to the action and sitting in judgment violates the natural law principles of a right to an impartial third party hearing. Any disputes in the future should be on a nation to nation level with an impartial third party mutually acceptable to both parties".

The Council of Chiefs who signed this agreement with New York State to impose illegal taxation on the Iroquois people, have been continuously involved in a conspiracy to deprive the people of the Iroquois Confederacy of their rights under the Iroquois Constitution, and, in particular, have not represented the best interests of the sovereign rights of the Iroquois people. In the 1992 Indian Law Resource Center Annual Report, the conspiracy continues. "

In 1992, we continued to provide assistance to the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs in its efforts to control illegal gambling and cigarette smuggling on the Akwesasne Reservation on the New York-Canada border. We are assisting with legal efforts to hold New York state officials and others accountable for the violence that plagued the Reservation during the spring of 1990. We helped draft the complaint for a lawsuit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act challenging the State's failure to protect the anti-gambling Mohawks from violence. Although we are not serving as counsel, we provided much of the information that is the foundation of the suit, and we regularly consult with the plaintiffs' counsel". "We advised the Nation about procedures for the county sheriff to obtain permission from the Council of Chiefs to enter Nation territory and arrest persons violating state law". "We prepared an an analysis for our New York Indian clients and advised them on the legal dangers that lay before them should they fail to comply with certain state tax laws and with the federal excise and income tax laws". (p. 13). "At the request of the Six Nations chiefs, we analyzed the decision and analyzed New York's statutes and regulations governing taxation of sales on Indian reservations. We advised the chiefs about political and legal strategies to challenge the taxes". (p. 14).

In the Indian Law Resource Center Annual Report 1993, under the heading "Tribal Regulation of Gaming and Businesses", "One of the most pressing problems facing the Six Nations Confederacy concerns unlawful and unregulated businesses on their reservations. Tribal efforts have been stymied by state criminal prosecutions of chiefs, lack of resources and lack of cooperation and assistance from state and federal authorities. The operation of business in open defiance of Indian law and the Council of Chiefs threatens the peace and security of reservation residents and threatens the institutions of Indian governments. Working with the Six Nations Chiefs, we have devised a strategy to help deal with this problem, including enlisting the cooperation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S./ Attorney, and the Justice Department; administrative proceedings to revoke federal traders licenses, criminal prosecutions; cooperative agreements with local law enforcement authorities, and civil suits to close the businesses".

In the 1994 Report, "We have been working with the traditional chiefs to strengthen the rule of law in their communities, to develop more productive economic activities and to develop new federal regulations which would strengthen the legal authority of the chiefs to regulate business on their territories". P. 12). It was also reported that the Summit of the Americas that took place in December 1994, in Miami, a meeting of all 34 heads of states of the Americas, was attended by the Center's Executive Director as a guest of the White House. (p. 13).

In the 1995 Report, the Center represents the Mohawk Nations in a federal lawsuit to recover thousands of acres of reservation land that was illegally taken by New York State. "New York has greatly complicated these negotiations by insisting that extraneous issues be considered, such as resolution of State demands for tax revenues from Mohawk fuel and cigarette sales". (p. 4). The Center also reported that among the Six Nations Confederacy, "Racketeer businessmen have attempted to overthrow or displace the sovereign Indian governments. Some have instigated violence and other criminal activities and refuse to submit to legal controls and taxation by the Indian governments". (p. 8).

Some of the Directors of the Indian Law Resource Center are Robert T. Coulter, Audrey Shenandoah of Onondaga, John Mohawk, a Seneca, Vine Deloria Jr., gaiashkibos formerly of the National Congress of American Indians. Grantors and contributors include the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Fund of the Four Directions (Oren Lyon's organization).

According to Indian Law Resource Center Annual Reports from 1990 to 1995, they have been helping the Onondaga Nation in recovering their land by planning a legal and political strategy aimed at an agreement between the Onondagas and the State of New York. The Chiefs asked them to proceed with the claim and the Center's historical and legal research is substantially completed. In 1992 the Chiefs decided to move ahead with their historic claim to recover a large area of land that was taken from them by New York State in violation of the federal Trade and Intercourse Acts between 1790 and 1822. The Center developed a public relations and public education strategy by working with a professional firm in Syracuse.