Akwesasane

[Okwes]

My friends,
I am always SO very grateful when those who receive my updates, take time out of their busy lives to share more wisdom or their opinions. This has proved out again with the messages below, shared with me after I had asked for support in regards to the media response in the New York news press to the People at Akwesasane. I asked Doug if I might share his viewpoints on these issues. With his permission, and my gratitude for his sharing his insights, I now share this message with all of you.
Blessings to all of you,
Bluejay


Greetings,

As an Akwesasne Mohawk, and former editor of the news journal Akwesasne Notes, I appreciate your concern about the biased reporting in the NY Post regarding my home community. I do, however, take strong exception to the mistakes made in Indian Country Today's response. As you may know, ICT is owned by a casino cartel called the Oneida Nation of New York, an entity with no connection with the anti-gambling Haudenosaunee Confederacy of which the Mohawk Nation is a part. Second, the St. Regis Tribal Council was created by New York in 1892 and imposed upon Akwesasne-it is an organization existing in direct contrast with our ancestral customs and government. Third, the Catskills region is outside of our boundaries-that region is more rightly within the traditional territory of the Leni Lenapi. We have no legitimate business there. Fourth, it is reprehensible for ICT, a gambling advocate 'newspaper", to use our traditional teachings to justify casino gambling. The editors of
ICT, decided opponents of Haudenosaunee law, should be ashamed for their actions and must apologize to the Mohawk Nation. Their comments are as misleading and mistaken as those of the NY Post.
Sincerely,
Doug George-Kanentiio


(his second email to me, shared with his permission)

Greetings Ms. Pierce,

Thank you for the kind words. I get rather worked up by this issue because I see the schemes set into motion by New York state to undermine, corrupt and destroy our people by promoting factionalism and an alien way of walking about the earth. The contradictions at Akwesasne cannot be sustained. I live here in Oneida Castle with my wife the singer Joanne Shenandoah. We have carried on a long humans rights struggle here-check out her web site for background information (www.joanneshenandoah.com) and the official Haudenosaunee web site: www.sixnations.org. If you think my comments have merit please share them with whomever you think would find them of interest. If I can be of any assistance please let me know.

Skennen,
Doug George-Kanentiio

[Okwes]

My friends,
This piece is shared with permission from our Akwesasne friend, Doug George-Kanentiio. He shares some wonderful wisdom.
Blessings to you all,
Wahela Bluejay


Analysis of Tribe's Tax Agreement with New York State

©by Doug George-Kanentiio

In January, 1976 the New York State devoted an edition of its "Conservationist" magazine to examine the then status of the Iroquois. One chapter was authored by Dale White, a student at Princeton University at the time and now one of the lawyers for the St. Regis Tribal Council. Mr. White elected to entitle his chapter "We Can Never Go Back to the Woods Again". I read his piece 30 years ago and it has never ceased to disturb me. Its clear rejection of our ancestral teachings and ecological spirituality, in effect the essence of our identity as aboriginal people, was stunning since it was written by a highly educated Mohawk and one who was unaffected by the great social changes which were sweeping through indigenous communities everywhere.

Mr. White and I are of the same age, ours was a generation which experienced the most profound challenges to our existence as Mohawks since Akwesasne was reestablished in the 1740's. Throughout the late 1960's and most of the 70's Akwesasne was a major center for Native people seeking to establish contact with each other and relearn how they might exercise their power as distinct nations. The Haudenosaunee, and in particular the Mohawks, were at the front of this powerful action as we travelled the world to promote the idea that we are separate from Canada and the US and that we must preserve our heritage by sustaining our Native governments, our culture and our spirituality. If we were to survive we would have no choice but to "go back to the woods". If we rejected our duties as custodians of a living earth then we would condemn the next generation to an era of catastrophic climatic, social and political changes, all of which are now coming to pass.

Mr. White was not a part of the generation which turned towards an affirmation of our culture as the only viable way we could preserve Akwesasne as a Mohawk community, best expressed by our traditional teachings. We were instructed by longhouse people that it was how one thought which was important, that a person had to have values of such depth and strength they could never be compromised. We were students not of college professors but learned by listening, truly listening, to the words of teachers such as Ray Fadden, Jake Thomas, Leon Shenandoah, Ron Lafrance Sr., Jake Swamp, Tom Porter, Ira Benedict and many others. It made a great difference in how we saw ourselves, how we viewed our history and which principles we would embrace as we walked through this life.

This is a preliminary to an analysis of the Tribe's latest venture into the murky waters of New York State politics. It has everything to do with the thinking which is guiding the current Tribal trustees and how they have secured an admirable level of formal education but lack any kind of balance because they have little or no understanding of the Mohawk Nation. Without having a truly Mohawk perspective they find it easy to make the serious compromises in the February 17th agreement and are mystified as to why the Mohawk people are so upset.

But the trustees are only partially to blame. They may well believe that the agreement will make the Tribe rich since the acquisition of material wealth is what they have been told by the external elements is most important in life. More money, more fame, more power versus the Mohawk values of simplicity, humility, generosity. The people of Akwesasne permitted the trustees to create a fantasy world in which the Tribe runs a string of casinos, pays New York taxes, abides by all State laws and somehow lays claim to Mohawk sovereignty. This agreement is a warning to Akwesasne that it is time to bring the trustees back to reality beginning with the harsh truth that these servants of the people, these trustees, are about to effect their own destruction should they go down this dangerous path.

The February 17 agreement is one big compromise in our collective rights. It begins with a lie, that the Tribe is on an equal legal footing with New York. It is not. The Tribe is a state agency created by New York in 1892 to undermine and destroy the Mohawk Nation. It does not have the authority under Mohawk law to enter into contracts with New York.

The agreement binds the Tribe to accept State authority over all trade and commerce at Akwesasne, not just tobacco. Is there anyone foolish enough to believe that a US court will rule that this only applies to cigarettes? Once a cession as to regulation is made on one product it must be applied to everything sold to anyone not a member of the Tribe. Sorry, you "Canadian" Mohawks-you will have to pay the same taxes as any non-Native. Got a problem with that? This agreement takes away the rights of the Mohawk people to resolve disputes which occur on our land and places it in the hands of state officials. Now who is dumb enough to believe Governor Spitzer will endorse anything which will actually strengthen Mohawk sovereignty? Is there anyone, outside of the Tribe's lawyers, who thinks a US or State court would rule in our favour? Check out Oneida Nation of New York v. the City of Sherrill for a hard dose of judicial reality.

The agreement will require the wholesalers to collect state taxes prior to delivery of products to Akwesasne. That tax will then be paid by the retailer or manufacturer before they get their order. This way, the State tax collectors don't have to enter the mean roads of Akwesasne with their calculators and state trooper escorts. We should also acknowledge that what the Tribe is planning to do will be applied to every Iroquois community-it is a repeat of the 'divide and conquer" tactics of the US-let the Tribe take the heat for this tax deal while Spitzer says he was only doing what is right by him.

The agreement extends the jurisdiction of the US courts into Akwesasne. Whatever "courts" the Tribe is creating (and in New York State's image) will have nothing to say about this compact; any disputes will be taken to the US District Court. Despite a cadre of Mohawk lawyers now working for "their" community the Tribe failed to find a way to make our traditional conflict resolution methods work. Their attitude is what they have been taught: adversarial, winner take all, let the no-Native judge decide.

The agreement is being pressed upon by Governor Spitzer because he wants all the Iroquois nations to pay state taxes and is using the weakest link among us to secure a deal. The Tribal trustees know they must agree to his terms if they want the Monticello casino but what they are not admitting is that such an operation will be managed, operated and controlled by non-Natives-whether it is the manager who pays himself a million dollars a year or the state taxation officials keeping track of every penny. It is illogical to expect the Tribe, operating at a huge financial deficit, to be able to control the Monticello casino. The trustees will have no choice but to sign virtually every vital element of the casino operation over to an entity such as Empire Resorts which will, in turn, cut huge chunks of cash from the profits for various "operating" expenses.

The agreement is a preliminary to the final Monticello deal. Remember your Mohawk history tribal trustees. Sullivan County, where Monticello is located, was never a part of Mohawk territory. We have no claim whatsoever to the region. Our southern boundary was the East Branch of the Delaware River. Yes, there are speculators from Akwesasne and elsewhere buying up tracts of land around Monticello but they can never claim it is Mohawk territory. All US and state laws, from taxes to environmental regulations, will be harshly imposed upon by the Tribe. No exception.

There are other faults with the agreement. It is a waiver of Native sovereignty. It strengthens the power of the US courts on Mohawk land. It restricts what minor tax exemption status we have to our existing borders. It requires a complex system of record keeping, vouchers, and "rebates". It gives the Tribe the power to decide who is Mohawk and who is not. It has no allowances for expiration. It is permanent and cannot be revoked. It gives the Tribe the power to bind all Mohawks to the State.

And most, alarmingly, it cedes Akwesasne to New York by acknowledging our sacred lands now lie "within the State of New York".

And we can't go back to the woods? If the Tribe has its way that may be all we have left-minus the trees.

[blackcrowheart]

Good morning everyone! This piece below was sent to me by friend, Doug G.-Kanentiio. Thanks Doug!!

Bluejay

THE POWER TO TAX IS THE POWER TO DESTROY

by Barbara Gray

In McCulloch v. Maryland, a law case from 1819, the Court said the "The power to tax involves the power to destroy", this still remains true today. The State has worked hard to take Mohawk lands, to remove the traditional government, to impose a trustee system in 1802, to mandate in 1892 an elective form of government in an effort to have control within our lands, to change our traditional ways of life, and now they want to take our customers who come freely into our lands to trade and purchase goods.

What is wrong with the Tax Agreement signed by the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe on February 17, 2007? In this agreement, the Tribe allows the State to impose a tax collecting system within the Akwesasne Mohawk territory, which is a regulatory right the State does not inherently possess. What makes the matter worse is that this power is being traded for a Casino, to take land into trust.

The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe is the elective government. There are two other governments in Akwesasne (The Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs and the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne) who were not a part of the discussions concerning this tax agreement. The people of Akwesasne, too, were not consulted to ensure that their interests are addressed and protected. Thus, the agreement should be null and void because all the parties were not included.

Below is a breakdown of concerns within the agreement:

In the first paragraph:

This agreement assumes that Akwesasne is located within the State of New York. This is an important assertion, which the State is using to not only chip away at Indian sovereignty, but to seize it and impose their laws and culture within our territory. The traditional longhouse people, who have maintained their traditional form of government, under the Great Law of Peace, since time immemorial understand that New York State ceases to exist at the boundaries of our aboriginal lands, which reaches further than the artificial boundaries of the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation.

In the second paragraph:

The Tribe has opened the door for the State to impose New York State taxes within our lands. The Tribe has agreed to "all cigarettes sold or offered for sale on or from the Reservation will be purchased in accordance with New York State law from a wholesaler or stamping agent licensed by the State of New York." This does not specifically say "National Brands." It is ambiguous and also means that the Tribe has given up the power to license a Mohawk wholesaler, to sell Mohawk manufactured products off the reservation unless that wholesaler is also State licensed.

In this paragraph the Tribe also agrees to accept "a mechanism established by New York State Law" to make sure that no taxes are imposed on tribal members. This does not ensure that all Mohawks will remain untaxed on Mohawk lands. It is possible that Mohawks living in the northern portion or in other territories would still be taxed. In addition, Mohawks living in the southern portion of Akwesasne, on the reservation, may still have to pay the taxes. In the old scheme, Indians would be charged the tax and given coupons that had to be submitted to recover the State tax paid. This is what was suggested the last time Akwesasne went through the State cigarette tax imposition.

In the third paragraph:

As long as the Mohawk Manufactured cigarettes are sold on the reservation, in person, it remains tax-free. The term, in person, could be interrupted to be an attempt to stop Internet and mail order sales of tax-free cigarettes. This might also preclude tax free to Mohawks living outside the boundaries of the reservation. What happens if the manufacturer is not a retailer? In an older version of Tribe's Cigarette policy, it stated that tribally licensed retailers had to buy from tribally licensed wholesalers/manufacturers. But, it is not clear how the Mohawk manufactured cigarettes would remain untaxed if all wholesalers have to be State licensed. This paragraph conflicts with the second.

This agreement might be used by the State to create a higher hurdle for the Mohawk Nation to become involved in Nation-to-Nation trade. The State could try to use paragraph two and three of the agreement to say that Nation-to-Nation sales of cigarettes must be licensed by the State even though they are Mohawk manufactured.

In summary, the agreement is too ambiguous. It gives power to the State that it does not have, nor has it ever had, within our territory. The agreement contains general concepts that the other governments, within Akwesasne, and the community do not agree with or authorize. It is quite possible that once some of the generalized terms are defined, they may prove, even to the elective chiefs, to be unacceptable, yet it might be too late to stop the imposition of the State tax scheme if the bargain is completed and Sullivan County land is taken into trust.

The agreement did not include all the necessary parties, who govern Akwesasne, and does not have the backing of the people. Thus, the agreement should be considered by New York State to be null and void.

---------------------------------
Don't pick lemons.
See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[blackcrowheart]

Dear ones,

One of my 6Nations sisters has created a most amazing "Youtube" video.
Please, if you do nothing else tonight? Please go to this link. Turn your
speakers up loud and rejoice. All I can say is that I had tears running down
my face...watching the images from 6Nations and hearing the songs and the
language. Truly, please....go listen with your heart. And lift more prayers
for 6Nations?
I thank you,
and Cris? My sister?? GREAT WORK!!! thanks for the songs that lift our
hearts. Bless you..

Bluejay

> i have a video posted on youtube it has 3 songs altogether and lots of
> cool pictures to go with it.
> (i thought the pictures suited the songs, especially the ones in Our
> Mother earth and the guys protecting it... and the other nations pics too)
>
> www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7_qsywsVVI
>
> heres the song titles
>
> KANONHSEHSNE YETSITEWE ( LETS ALL GO BACK TO THE LONGHOUSE )
> YETHNI'NISTENHA OHWENTSYA ( OUR MOTHER EARTH )
> TEWATHAHITHA NE YOHAHI:YO ( LETS ALL WALK ON A GOOD PATH )
>
>
> enjoy.....and if your Kanien'keha:ka........ learn those songs!!!! lol

[Okwes]

Was Akwesasne’s “Burnt Church” a Sacrifice to Peace?

In his discussion of the founding of the St. Regis Mission in his A History of Franklin and St. Lawrence Counties, New York (1853), historian Franklin B. Hough presented some of the oral traditions he gathered during several visits he made to Akwesasne. One concerned the fate of the first church established here by Father Antoine Gordon, S. J.:


Among the first duties of Gordon was the erection of a church, which was built of logs and covered with barks.
This humble and primitive temple of worship, was made to serve the double purpose of a church and a dwelling, and one end of the hut was partitioned off for the residence of their priest.
There being no bell, when the hour of worship arrived, an Indian went through the village from hut to hut, and announced with a loud voice the hour that they might assemble for prayer. . .
In about two years, this church was burned, and with it the first two years of the parish records.
The first record extant, bears the date Feb. 2, 1762, when Margarita Theretia an Abenaki woman, married, and of unknown parentage, was baptized.
Since that date, the parish records are very perfect, they have been kept in the Latin and French languages.
Soon afterwards a small wooden church was erected on the ground now occupied by the priest’s garden, which was furnished with a small cupola, and contained a bell.


Hough mistakenly assumed that the mission had been established in 1760, when in fact, it had begun five years earlier, although it may have originally looked more like a French military post at first. Hough also concludes that the first church was destroyed by fire sometime before February 2, 1762...the date of the first surviving entry in the parish records.
Oral traditions tell us that when people first came to Akwesasne from Kahnawake, they brought with them relics of Kateri Tekakwitha, which were lost when fire destroyed the church. Hough tells us that the second church constructed where the priest’s garden now lies (which in 1853 may have covered the entire courtyard next to the rectory) but we do not know if it was constructed where the first “bark chapel” once stood. A broken and scorched part of a ceramic statue was found in the garden not long ago, which may very well have been a fixture in that original church.
Hough says very little about the burning of the church, other than that it happened. Since the priest dwelled in the church itself, one might expect a heightened degree of vigilance in its protection, yet its destruction was so complete that even sacred relics like Kateri Tekakwitha’s remains could not be saved from the inferno. Was it a simple accident, or was the fire deliberately set when the priest wasn’t there? Was it set to get him as he slept? And if so…who would have done such a thing?
To answer such questions require us to examine the historical documentation from that time period to see what was going on back then…and if there was anyone who would have wanted the priest and his church to come to harm.
In a letter to General Jeffrey Amherst dated April 4, 1762, Henry Gladwin of the Indian Department reported that the former native allies of the French were having a council to discuss rising up against the British:


Yesterday a Coghanawaga Indian came here, he has often been of use to the Garrison, in which he always found his account, for this reason I though him a proper hand to question about the practices of our Enemies below, he immediately replied he would tell me all he knew, in Substance as follows, That immediately after the reduction of Canada, the Priest of Aguasasnagh made four very large belts, after the Chiefs of that Village had declared they would have no hand in it; that two of these belts were sent to the Northern Indians by St. Luke LeCorn, the other two came this way, and the meaning of them was, that a French fleet, and Army would come over the ensueing spring to retake Canada, that now was their time, to rise and recover their Country; he likewise says, last fall the priest of Aquasasnagh, made the like number of belts as the year before, which were delivered in the same manner, with this difference only, that the Spaniards would joyn the French, and that they were invited to assemble at Frontenac; these belts were sent off just before St. Luke LeCorn took his departure for France; he has likewise given me the names of all the principal promoters of this affair, who are (he says) all equally concerned, I enclose you herewith their Names; Besides these Belts, and the Grand belt that is to be delivered at D’etroit, I have reason to believe from concurring Circumstances, that the Clergy, and their Agents, have sent Messages or belts to all the Indians with whom the French have ever had any Communication; I have prevailed upon my Informer to go to Montreal to tell General Gage what he knows-
My Informer who went to the five Nations some time ago, sent me a letter from thence which came to hand Yesterday, he says the all the Indians that way will rise to a Man to take Oswegatchy


In his letter, Gladwin listed the names of the conspirators, which included a number of priests. Among them is the priest of “Sainte Registe,” though he did not mention his name. The very next day, Gladwin wrote another letter to Amherst to include additional information from his informer.


…he then said, that last fall, St. Luc LeCorne, and the Priest of Aquasasnagh, delivered seven belts to Mosieur Deroche, known among the Indians by Name of Aagistagese (Just before St. Lukes departure for France) that he and four other Canadians, carried them to the Northern Indians, delivered some belts there, afterwards they returned to Montreal by way of Detroit, and thro’ the five Nations, delivering their belts and Messages by the way, and inviting all the Indians to assemble at Frontenac early in Spring, in order to attack Oswegatchy, and harrass the Communication, That a French, and Spanish fleet was coming to retake Canada, and now was their time to rise and recover their Country, he likewise says, as they passed this way, they delivered three belts one to each of the following Nations, Viz- Misisagaoes, Abanaquis, and Oswegatchys, that these belts were accepted by them, but the Coghnawagas, and Conossadagas refused to receive any, he further says that these belts were not made by the Priest of Aquasasnagh they were made under his Eye, by an Abenaquis woman, and by his direction-


Although the priest at St. Regis may not have directed the making of these latter belts, he definitely had a hand in the plot to encourage an insurrection against the British. According to the Kahnawake informant, the chiefs of Akwesasne, Kahnawake, and Kanehsatake wanted nothing to do with this French conspiracy. How far did they go to make sure it did not destroy the peace they had given their word to uphold?
As is often the case, the historical record offers us few answers, and leaves us with even more questions.

Sources: Franklin B. Hough, A History of St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties, New York. 1853: 114-115.
Sir William Johnson Papers, Volume X:422-425.