Jan. 9, 2008
Tekewannake News
On February 8, 2008 our "negotiating team" is supposed to respond to Canada and Ontario's $26 million offer for "loss of use of land and damage to land caused by flooding".
For the next few weeks our clanmothers, chiefs and women and men (who have legitimate voices under the Great Law) have a process to follow and a decision to make. Under the decision making process of the Great Law there are only 3 criteria to consider.
1. How will this decision affect peace amongst our people?
2. What affect will this decision have on our mother earth or the environment?
3. How will this decision affect our future generations, our existence?
If the Great Law is followed it would mean there is no room for personal agendas. I have the understanding the Great Law is still the governing and supreme law of this land.
We once were a very strong system of governance, boasting several nations, cultures and languages. We were and still are housed on one land under the same sky. Meaning we are all within the same longhouse (where the sunrises to where the sunsets, as I was told). Despite differences, our ancestors were unified with our existence constantly in mind.
Are we now becoming too divided and too weak from pettiness and personal agendas to re-establish who the creator intended us to be? We were intended to be real human beings forever, the caretakers and protectors of our mother, the earth.
Does the Crown, Canada and Ontario finally get what they've been after since their arrival here? Will they gain title to the land belonging to our future generations? Will we give them the land title they need to finally be "true sovereigns" as we ogwehowe were since creation
If we accept money, whether it's $10 or $26 million, how will that affect the the existence of the faces yet to come? Are we condoning the flooding and destruction of our lands? Are we going to fight over the money?
Do we verify what the early Christian occupiers claimed when they said we, Ogwehowe, were not Christians, therefore we are only entitled to land use not ownership? In my opinion accepting money for loss of use does just that.
If accepted is the $26 million to be funneled to the Haudenosaunee Development Institute? What is HDI? The name implies it is an agent for ALL Haudenosaunee. Very misleading.
Who is Aaoron Detlor, head of HDI? He is not a Six Nations of the Grand community member, yet he has so much voice and influence regarding our future generations.
My husband and I were recently told the land issue happening now at Six Nations is a Grand River Issue and does not concern other Ogwehowe territories. Yet, this Institute calls itself Haudenosaunee.
The name Haudenosaunee Development Institute itself is an oxymoron. When did our people, the Haudenosaunee agree to become institutionalized to develop land? A total contradiction. According to our Great Law, being Ogwehowe or Haudenosaunee is about land protection and land preservation, not land development.
A kanienkehaka man hit the nail on the head when he asked, "What other nation in the world sells their land to other nations? That is so true. When have you seen nations up for sale? I mean really what's the likelihood of North Korea or Cuba selling land to Britain or France? When has Britain or France offered money for damaging foreign soil? The whole negotiating process, in my opinion, seems unbalanced and does not seem just or reasonable or beneficial to our people or our future generations.
In the meantime, February 6 is fast approaching. If this is indeed a "Six Nations of the Grand land issue" how prepared is Six Nations of the Grand (without the influence of the Indian Act or a Canadian Lawyer) to make a knowledgeable response to our own law?
niawen
Janie Jamieson