By TRISTAN STEWART-ROBERTSON
March 6, 2007
CNEWS
LONDON (CP) - Natives from Canada called on the British Crown to remind the Canadian government about indigenous "sovereignty" at the Tuesday night opening of a major exhibit of historical portraits in London.
Representatives of the Haudenosaunee - or Iroquois - Confederacy Council urged a renewal of the original agreement made almost 300 years ago when four indigenous envoys, whom the British at the time called "kings," were brought to England to meet Queen Anne.
The men were portrayed in four famous oil paintings by the Dutch-trained artist John Verelst.
The paintings were later bought by the Library and Archives Canada in 1977. Now the "Four Indian Kings," as the paintings are collectively known, are on display at London's National Portrait Gallery where a private opening was held Tuesday night.
The public will get to see them from March 8 to June 15 as part of an exhibition called "Between Worlds: Voyagers to Britain 1700-1850."
Keith Jamieson, a historian and curator from the Six Nations of the Grand River community, presented a formal statement from the confederacy, approved after several meetings in recent weeks. It calls for the renewal of agreements that recognized the Haudenosaunee as equal nations and partners as Britain fought to defeat the French in North America.
"We, the chiefs of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council in a full session at the Onondaga Council House, Grand River, would like to take this opportunity to remind our English allies that these portraits are an expression of our sovereignty as nations and that we ask the Crown in Britain to remind their representatives in Canada of the commitments that we have together," the statement reads.
The statement was made as tension continued between the Six Nations community at Caledonia in Ontario over land developments.
Three hundred years ago, the deal with the British eventually led to the Haudenosaunee leaving New York state as the United States declared independence, and their settlement in Ontario.
The "Four Kings" are complemented by a major display across the street at Canada House of contemporary Haudenosaunee artists depicting their views of native communities and the original portraits.
Canada House is the building housing the Canadian High Commission in London.
Artists Shelley Niro and Jeff Thomas said both shows and the presentation made at their openings are extremely important to indigenous communities in Canada.
"We are in a stage just on the verge of making some important roads of how well we survive as a people into the future with a distinct identity," Thomas said. "These exhibits have a very important political and cultural element. It's the coming together of historical paintings with the voice of First Nations artists. We come from the same Iroquois people. We are still here."
Niro said: "It's really easy to forget those obligations and liaisons made. But there is still definitely a connection there."
"I'm just creating images of native people that are strong and positive - something that people in my community can look at an reflect on.
"It means a lot to us being here. It reaffirms the existence of Six Nations peoples in Canada and reiterates historical facts, about why we had to leave New York State and come to Brantford."
Jamieson told the small crowd at the exhibit opening about the importance of the original diplomatic mission.
"These portraits remind us of the commitments made between the Crown and the Haudenosaunee and that these have endured for centuries," he said. "We must see they endure in the future."
Lilly Koltun, director general of the Portrait Gallery of Canada, said the two exhibitions would tour Canada after London.
"Both the Four Kings and contemporary work by Shelley Niro and Jeff Thomas will be combining in Canada and sent on a travelling itinerary so they have a future, as well as a past," she said.