Revisiting the New York State Troopers’ May, 1997 Invasion at Onondaga where the Longhouse was used against the people:
May 2002 will mark the fifth anniversary of the New York Troopers Invasion at Onondaga and the senseless beating of women and children during a peaceful ceremony around a spiritual fire. As the case against the State Police slowly winds its way through the Federal Court system hampered by the delaying tactics of the Defendants, we revisit the events of that day with this radio recap:
Thomas Sullivan: Hello, dear friends. This is the Blue-Eyed Mohawk with one of the most important programs of the year. I hope the people of the nation are listening because something big is happening here. In a calm and deliberate manner, we need to think about what’s going on, and it’s probably not the obvious. You look at the obvious, and everybody thinks that it’s about this tax issue with New York State. But there must be something that is even deeper than that. What is really going on in Indian country?
Ethel Fine: I’m professor Fine from Mohawk Valley Community College Criminal Justice Department.
Tom Sullivan: Criminal Justice--interesting. We are also joined by Kakwirakeron (Art Montour) and Takarontake (Paul Delarone). Let me ask our guests, what do you think is going on here? What is really behind it? I mean, I know the tax issue seems to be the thing on the surface, but when I think about the tax issue and what’s going on, you know, Pataki says that New York State is losing some astronomical number of millions of dollars, but yet he turns around on the same hand and tries to oppress the Native people with this tax and invasion of the territories by state troopers. Then he says he’s going to let the Indians keep the taxes. So, no matter what , it isn’t making sense. What do you think is going on here? I mean, after this weekend, this chaos that went on there at Onondaga , it’s crazy.
Ethel Fine: Yesterday, I saw something that reminded me of a scene that I saw when I lived in Africa. I saw people attacked; I saw the government go wild. The military were no different from what I saw in a revolution in a coup in Africa than what I saw with the troops from the State, from the county, attacking people, innocent people. This wasn’t Africa; this was on the edge of Onondaga territory. There were one hundred troopers, at least. I’m ashamed to say I teach in the Criminal Justice Department, where they produce these men.
Tom Sullivan: I think it was apparent from the news coverage out there, and I’ve got to say the Channel Three news was right in there. They got a lot of that coverage; they showed the brutality that was going on there. The children, the young people and the old people were getting beat up and clubbed.
Ethel Fine: Now I ask, do people just run in and start doing this by themselves? If I give somebody a gun and that’s their job to carry a gun, is the gun responsible, or is it the person carrying the gun responsible? Which one?
Tom Sullivan: Well, what do our other guests think is going on here?
Takarontake: Well, we have a formula that could help all of our people. It’s something that has been brought to our People over a thousand years ago. It is something that is applicable today. That is our Constitution. Our Constitution was able to unite what was considered the five fierce Nations in the Americas: the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas, and later on, the Tuscaroras. This Constitution was able to unify five of what were considered very fierce war-like people. The fact is that the Five Nations were able to unify under this (Great Law of Peace) Gayanerekowa, it shows us how to resolve disputes. It teaches us how to resolve problems and calls for the participation of all of the people, not only Chiefs, but all of the people. It has in there the duties of important positions such as Clan Mothers; it talks about a Clan system and how the people can use this Clan system to address the issues and to make things so that everything could be at peace.
Tom Sullivan: You mean the responsibilities of everybody within the Nation are outlined in this Great Law?
Takarontake: That’s correct. It outlines everything for the families, the clans, how the men must work together, their duties and responsibilities, how the women must work to gather, their duties and responsibilities, how men and women work together to make all things good, and the functions and duties of clan mothers, the responsibilities and duties of chiefs, it’s all there, nothing lacking. It’s all there. The formula to a peace is there in our constitution.
Takarontake: Well, the big problem and the big reason for our People not being able to understand this is because people who profess to know of this law have continuously confused the People. One of the things that are constantly said to our People is that our Law is not written. That is one of the most ridiculous things that can be said. The fact of the matter is that the (Great Law of Peace) Gayanerekowa is written. It is in three of our languages. It’s in Mohawk, it’s in Onondaga, and it’s also in Seneca. Also, it is in English. So, there is no excuse for someone not to be able to read this.
Tom Sullivan: So, our listeners out there, if you haven’t read the (Great Law of Peace) Gayanerekowa, get a copy of it and get familiar with it.
Takarontake: Yes, and one of the things is there’s a lot of symbolic language in there. Some of the books written about the (Great Law of Peace) Gayanerekowa, give explanations to what these things mean. One of the last ones written was done by some Mohawk People. It is written both in English and it is in Mohawk. It has notes at the bottom to help people understand the symbolism in this Constitution. It is available for everyone. But , some people have constantly told other people the laws and our ways are not written. This is something very bad.
Tom Sullivan: That is what I have always heard, that we are an oral tradition and therefore haven’t had it in writing.
Takarontake: Yes that’s right.
Tom Sullivan: We have been able to write for two hundred years.
Takarontake: Today we can read and write. There is no excuse for this. We can read and write and the thing is if our people had a written language in the past, we would have written it down.
Tom Sullivan: The Mohawk language is written down.
Takarontake: If you stop to think about it, in history, when people wanted to control others, in Europe they had an era called the Dark Ages, where the Monarchy and the church forbid people to be able to read and write. This is why it was called the dark ages because people were not able to learn about what was going on throughout the world. They were kept in the dark, and it was easy to control these people.
Tom Sullivan: It was during that period of time that they would use tradition, culture, and religion to oppress the people. So, the politicians were able to further their political ideologies by disguising traditional values and belief systems.
Takarontake: And, also it was done here in the Americas when the colonists came to this land they did everything they could to prevent our people from learning how to read and write. They also did this to the Blacks. It was forbidden to teach the Black slaves to read and write because this would help them to start to learn and to become aware and to recognize and understand what their human rights are.
Ethel Fine: If you want to compare the law of the Haudenosaunee with the Great Torah of Judaism, which Christianity is based upon, you’re going to find that it was not written down in the beginning. Eventually it got codified and put down, and they go to the extreme, about twenty-five hundred years ago, that it must be written down. You can’t make a mistake when you recite it. But, many of the principles that are in the (Great Law of Peace) Gayanerekowa, are in the Torah Great Law of the Jews and Christianity was based on it. Judaism was based on knowledge just the way your Great Law was based on knowledge, regardless if it was written down or not.
Tom Sullivan: How do you enforce this (Great Law?) I mean, you’ve got all these articles and they are in there telling you what you are supposed to do. In the United States they have laws and they have police to enforce them.
Takarontake: Well, it states clearly in the Constitution that all the people working together, men and women, clan mothers and chiefs, everybody working together to make sure this law is carried out is a duty and responsibility of everyone. The thing is that it states very clearly in the Constitution that if the law had to be enforced then it is put as the responsibility of the men’s council with their war chiefs to make sure that these laws are implemented throughout our territories.
Takarontake: Well, we believe so. We believe that there are people out there that are supposedly holding positions in the confederacy and it’s not any single Nation, it goes right across the confederacy. There are individuals out there who have been acting on their own, who have not been working for the betterment of our People, but have actually committed treason according to the Constitution, where they have gone and reached out and brought outside forces in to implement their wishes and their will upon the people. They have not brought any of these issues to the People and these issues have to be brought to then people for them to make decisions upon. To give you an example, everyone knows the seriousness of what’s facing us today. The thing is that in our Constitution it says that when an issue of great importance is facing the people of the Five Nations, or today we say the Six Nations, such as sovereignty and the issue of a foreign government trying to implement a tax scheme, that it must be brought to the people . It’s something that faces the utter ruin of our Confederacy. Therefore, these issues need to be brought to the people. The people must make the decision on this. But yet, we see that this is not being done. It’s a handful of men who have been meeting with the State of New York and have been dealing with this on their own and have gone as far as to ask the State not to reveal their names as to who signed this agreement. If you represent a people, why do you hide facts from the people?
Tom Sullivan: Do you or anyone else know who these people are?
Takarontake: I’m not going to say for sure, because I haven’t seen the signatures of any of these people but we have heard rumors as to who and we don’t want to go on rumors.
Ethel Fine: You’ve explained this before, but can I ask you to do it again? The outsider is always looking for a Chief. They can’t tell chiefs from faithkeepers. They look at them as authority figures. They don’t look at it as an obligation. Could you again explain to the audience this obligation and what does it mean by saying Chief and what does it mean by saying faithkeeper? That’s what the newspaper looks for all the time.
Takarontake: Well, when we talk about our way, we don’t say Chief, we say Rolaner. Rolaner means to have a path. That path is the (Great Law of Peace) Gayanerekowa. That’s Rolaner. That’s the men, what’s referred to as chiefs. What’s referred to as Clan Mothers, Iolaner, is the female. They have a path to follow. That’s the (Great Law of Peace) Gayanerekowa.
Ethel Fine: So, why do you have to have these people there called adopted Chiefs who come from other places and take great responsibilities?
Takarontake: People from other Nations like Mohawks, Senecas, and Oneidas cannot hold title in another Nation. They talk about adoptions, but we don’t adopt each other within the Six Nations. That adoption is meant for people from other Nations. If people from Nashnobi, Lakota, or somewhere else came, those would be the people we would adopt. We don’t adopt our family because we are already family. We are already in the house together. The only thing about this is that people from different Nations can live in other people’s territories, but they cannot hold title.
Tom Sullivan: I want to read an article from a Buffalo newspaper dated April 13. It says, “Oren Lyons is no newcomer to the political battles of Indian territories. Even with a time-withered face, he still doesn’t look his age, 67. For thirty years he has sat as the Chief of the Onondaga Nation. A University at Buffalo Professor, he remains a highly respected figure in Native American circles, and has served on the U.S. Commission and committees of the United Nations as a representative of Indigenous Peoples. He has heard all the criticism lobbied at traditional Chiefs like himself, yet he insists the interim agreement hammered out by the Chiefs and the State over tax-free sales on Indian lands represents and important victory for the Indians and their economy.” It says he is a Chief and it says the Chief had hammered this agreement out. How could this be?
Takarontake: Well, first of all, let’s stop fooling ourselves. The man is not a Chief. He never has been a Chief. He’s referred to as a Faithkeeper.
Tom Sullivan: What’s a Faithkeeper?
Takarontake: I guess it’s someone who’s supposed to keep the faith. But, nowhere in Ganagoweh does it mention Faithkeepers. It’s the duty and responsibility of all the People to protect that Constitution. It’s a combined effort. There are no individuals who are given that responsibility just to take this upon themselves. It’s something that has to be shared by everyone. The Faithkeeper terminology only came after the arrival of the Europeans.
Art Montour: I’d like to jump in here if I could. Going back to the events that happened yesterday, where men, women, elderly people, and children were injured by the brutality and savage response of the New York State Troopers, Garundah and myself were two of the twenty-four people that were arrested. We were taken before a judge. What was interesting is that the State Troopers themselves and the Sheriffs Department and the Judge all said that the Onondaga Council of Chiefs requested and gave them permission to come in and do what they did. What’s sad about it is that what happened on Interstate 81, this is not the first time. In 1971, and I’m quoting from and article of the National Geographic of September, 1987. It states that Chief Shanendoah announced to State authorities during a 1971 confrontation over widening of Interstate 81, which passed right through Onondaga. We refused to give up one more inch of Indian land and the Onondaga traditionalists were joined by other members of the confederacy and staged a two-month sit down on the construction site staring down the bloody riot at Attica. Then it goes on to say that in 1983, Dennis Banks, an American Indian Movement Activist, and also Nojibwe, came and sought refuge at Onondaga. Once again, the line of sovereignty was drawn at the Nation’s border and Federal authorities elected not to cross the line. Oren Lyons was asked by National Geographic what would happen if the FBI did come in. I asked Oren Lyons at the time knowing that the Confederacy’s Grand Council had to reach a unanimous agreement on all decisions, “Would the Grand Council have time to meet and reach a consensus on what to do?” His reply was that the decision was already made. If they cross the line, it is out of our hands and the warriors take over.
Tom Sullivan: Wow, that’s exactly what’s going on right now.
Kakwirakeron: This is quoted by Oren Lyons.
Tom Sullivan: He’s really causing this pain.
Kakwirakeron: Well, here’s another interesting thing. The Indian Law Resource Center out of Washington, D.C., with Tim Quortor, he puts down that in 1993, the end of the year book, stating what they have done during the year. They talk in there that one of the problems the Confederacy has is unregulated businesses in their territories. It says here, and I’m quoting this, it is written in black and white, ”Working with the Six Nation Chiefs, we have devised a strategy to help deal with the problem including and listing the cooperation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U. S. Attorney, the Justice Department, Administrator proceedings, to revoke Federal traders licenses, criminal prosecutions, cooperative agreements with local law enforcement authorities, civil suits, and civil suits to close the businesses.” So, this did not just happen in the last year or so. This didn’t just happen with Pataki. Before Pataki was even governor there was already a plan. It says we have devised a strategy. To make it worse is that when we talk about Oren Lyons being a trader, committing treason against his people, he was part of the people that requested that the N.Y.S. Troopers come in. They didn’t show any compassion for the people. I mean, you could see it on national T.V. that the State Troopers kid not discriminate against the warriors. They did not discriminate against the men, women, elderly, and the children. All were knocked down. All were beaten. All were arrested.
Tom Sullivan: Sounds to me like these State Troopers are really so hateful.
Kakwirakeron: They’re revengeful.
Tom Sullivan: They’re revengeful, yeah. But, they are supposed to be upholding the State law.
Kakwirakeron: But these Chiefs are giving them permission to and we were told that it was confirmed. Listen to this listener. The State Troopers themselves confirmed it. It was confirmed by the Sheriff’s Department; it was confirmed by the Judge himself that they were given permission to come in and do this. Where it is so sad and why these Chiefs have got to be removed by the law, our law, the(Great Law of Peace) Gayanerekowa is because this is what they are violating. They are violating their responsibility to the People. What I’m reading to you or explaining to you I’ve got it in black and white right in front of me so no one can say you are lying or making this up. For instance, in black and white from the Indian roots of American Democracy, special Constitution of Bicentennial edition of 1988, Land of the Free, Home of the Brave by Oren Lyons of Onondaga says he eloquently demonstrated his deep knowledge of the Iroquois origins of the U.S. Constitution. What we’re saying here is that Oren Lyons and the other people that are following him, these so called Chiefs, do know their history. They do know their law.
Tom Sullivan: It’s not out of ignorance, it’s obviously deliberate.
Kakwirakeron: It’s deliberate because it says here that when the Peace Maker came and he brought his good message of how to live, because that had been cast aside. That’s what these people are exercising right now. Make it power, fueled by vengeance and blood loss. I am quoting Oren Lyons himself, “And then a Great War of attrition engulfs the lands and women and children cowered in fear of their own men. The leaders were fierce and merciless.” This is what we experienced yesterday. They were fighting in a blind rage. Nations, homes, and families were destroyed and the People were scattered. It was a dismal world of dark disaster..
Tom Sullivan: That is exactly what has happened over the last few years here.
Kakwirakeron: A quote in here is, “the laws and principles of life are thrown away.” And then it goes on to say that Lyons knows the Iroquois structure of government very well. By the way, one of the eleven or twelve year old children that were injured and arrested and carted away was a Lyon’s child, a relative of his. He explains that the power of those in office comes from the people. Now listen to this. All of the listeners that are part of the Ongwehonweh People, I( want you to listen to what Oren Lyons in 1988 put in black and white in a book. He says that when he is going to become a leader of the People, before that he is turned back to the People and they are asked if they know a reason why this man should not be a leader and hold title, thus the process is full circle back to the people. You people know , right now within the whole confederacy, including Onondaga, that you are not being able to exercise that right. Oren Lyons goes on to say the Peace Maker established the process of raising leaders for governments and by this process a leader cannot be self-proclaimed. We know we have the right to remove him for malfeasance (misconduct by a public official) of office (quotations by Oren Lyons.) Lyons understood very well that the leader has no authority. Listen to this, people, you are oppressed and you have been selected by Oren Lyons and others for beatings by the New York State Troopers. Oren Lyons understood very well that the leader has no authority, but what the People give him in respect. How many people within the Confederacy today can honestly say that they respect Oren Lyons. It also says here he has no force of arms to demand that people obey his orders. He shall lead by example and his family shall not influence his judgment. He goes on to say sovereignty was explained as beginning with the individual. All people were recognized to be free, from the very youngest to the eldest. It was recognized and provided for in the Great Law of Peace. All violations, right now, yesterday, and last several years, it’s been all violations by Oren Lyons and by Irving Powless, Jr. And by Paul Waterman and then a violation by Virgil Thomas, but a terrible violation just yesterday. I was one of the people arrested. In front of me I have my charges. In here it says that I was trespassing and remained unlawfully upon premises. It says a person is guilty of trespass when he knowingly enters or remains unlawfully upon premises. That the defendant did enter on and remain unlawfully upon lands of the Onondaga Nation. But it doesn’t say in here is that we were invited. There are flyers that went around.
Tom Sullivan: Who’s home was that there?
Kakwirakeron: The property belonged to Andy Jones.
Tom Sullivan: Wasn’t he arrested too?
Kakwirakeron: That’s what was so ironic. He was arrested for trespassing on his own property.
Tom Sullivan: Ah, they knew who they were coming after and who they were beating.
Kakwirakeron: Exactly. Those people that were not arrested say that they were pushed aside and that the State troopers singled out certain individuals. When you read the names, and it’s in the newspaper, the Herald Journal today, of all the people arrested you will see, of the twenty-four people that were arrested, you could see that people were selected that were there. The Gardeweneweh was selected and Ken Papineau, two of his sons were selected. Kenny and Veronica were not there.
Tom Sullivan: So this is the vengeance that you were talking about. Revenge, it is coming from Oren Lyons.
Kakwirakeron: And if you really want to see how crazy this gets, is that of the twenty-four people arrested, my son was arrested, his girlfriend was arrested, and get this, his girlfriend is pregnant. Our future grandchild is being carried in her stomach and she was pushed to the ground on her stomach, slammed to the ground They didn’t stop there. My granddaughter, the fourteen-year-old girl that they don’t mention the name in the newspaper, was my granddaughter. Six out of twenty-four people, one is unborn, were my family.
Tom Sullivan: This was deliberate. They knew exactly what they were doing.
Kakwirakeron: Here, I have in front of me Ollie Gibson signed an affidavit allowing the State Police to make arrests, but to make it worse, it was all pre-done and it says at 1P.M. because that’s when the event was scheduled, but it didn’t happen until 2 P.M., so everything had to be crossed out and retyped.
Tom Sullivan: Oh, so they already had this written up and everything.
Kakwirakeron: Here’s another thing for you listeners out there, whether you’re Onondaga or any other member of the Haudenosaunee, one of our arrests included Andy Jones, the property owner.
Tom Sullivan: Andy. He’s the one who invited you out there. You were one of his guests!
Kakwirakeron: Exactly. It says here, we committed the crime of unlawful assembly. A person is guilty of the crime of unlawful assembly when he assembles with four or more other persons.
Tom Sullivan: In his own home? It’s not only that it is Indian Territory, but also what about Americans what do Americans think? How can they let their government do this because if it happens to Indians, it’s only a matter of time before it happens to Americans.
Kakwirakeron: It already did. One of the bystanders, a truly innocent bystander, a man of fifty-two years, his name is Andrew Clock, just within the last two weeks he started reading about what’s happened to the Natives, the sovereignty, the tax issue, so he came to lend support to the protest. He was one of the people arrested. Thirteen men arrested; he was one of them.
Tom Sullivan: Wasn’t the guy from Channel Three arrested too?
Kakwirakeron: Yeah, he was arrested, but when they realized who he was, he was just a few feet from me, and they set him free, hoping that he wouldn’t tell anybody.
Tom Sullivan: We have some callers calling in, maybe we can find out what’s going on out there. Go ahead.
Caller: I think so. It’s coming down to that. Because the way I see it, the State nor the Federal government didn’t recognize this Counsel when they pulled Ray Halbritter out. Now, they want to recognize our Counsel when it comes to hurting our own People. They need to make up their mind what they want to do.
Tom Sullivan: Well, what are the thoughts of the People now after what happened yesterday? Are they going to stand up?
Caller: Well, the ones that don’t need to wake up. I know I’m not going to stand by and watch them bring the Sheriff’s Department in or anybody else in to attack our People again.
Tom Sullivan: I don’t know how Ongwehonweh anywhere could stand by and watch what took place, even though with TV everybody knows what took place there, I don’t know how any Indian could stand by now.
Kakwirakeron: Yeah. I’d like to add something to this. I was watching the news this evening and the thing that shocked me was I saw State Police women, women who were kicking the people that were there. I said to myself, these are not women. Look at all the children that are around who are terrified. These women showed no compassion for children.
Tom Sullivan: I think these State Troopers are somewhere being brainwashed and trained in a violent manner. I think that it’s being directed toward Indians. That’s what I’m saying, why would these troopers have so much revenge in their hearts for Indians.
Kakwirakeron: They were carefully selected. Those one hundred troopers that were there weren’t picked at random. They were picked because of their particular animosity toward Native People. They were selected because of the racism toward Indian People, and they were selected because they have a superiority attitude. They were selected because our so-called Chiefs, our treasonous people, gave them permission. They were given permission to come in and club their own People with no regard to elderly, no regard to women, no regard to children. That’s why a baby that unfortunately, the baby had suffered a previous injury and was in a body cast. Those State Troopers, including the women, they call themselves women, trampled that child. The only reason that child wasn’t killed or more seriously injured, is because it already had a body cast. Somehow the Creator protected that child.
Caller: Well, the way things stand down here, before any of the protesting went on the Sheriff’s already had a grudge, already had revenge going. The People would not let them go into their houses or pick people up that they wanted. We had a couple guys out here that just violated probation. We had ten or fifteen cops from the Sheriff’s Department and detectives just coming onto their land. You got one Chief with them saying that it’s Nation land, it’s not your land. What happened? I’m not the Nation?
Kakwirakeron: Well, the Chiefs better start to learn and I think the people should start to learn and recognize what the law says.
Tom Sullivan: What does the law say about treason?
Takarontake: The law about the land says that the land is vested in our women. They are the owners, the title holders to the land. The women own it. The Chiefs do not own it. It is the women who own the land.
Kakwirakeron: Okay, Tom, we have another caller. Caller, we have our own traitors and that they have sold out to the State, but also thanks for the information that they have been swiftly dealt with and that they had been removed from the territory. We hope that future news will be telling us that the traitors in Onondaga, the so-called Chiefs, had been removed from their territory, and hopefully the treasonous ones from Onondaga, Tonowanda, Tuscarora, and any other Haudenosaunee community that has traitorous people, we hope that the people stand up and particularly the women stand up and remove these traitors, these people that send State Troopers against women, and children. We hope that they are removed from their communities as they very well deserve to be, as they should be as they would be anywhere else in the world, and as they would be under our law.
Caller: Hello, Tom! This is Ron Jones. This thing about treason seems to be kind of serious. We had a flyer out during this uprising and it said, “ This is the most serious crime to ever be charged with. In the fifties, the Rosenbergs were put to death after being found guilty of treason. This recent scenario involving the illegal tax pact being forced down our throat by the iron power of the city, town, county, state, Federal Marshals, and the National Guard, is a declaration of war. Quite a few state and federal officials are involved.. The tribal sellouts have most to lose. Their lives. It is alleged by a reliable source that several pacts, totaling ten million, have been sent to the Onondaga Nation. Accepting bribes is also serious as well as those paid with tax money. The Supreme Court ruled this pact illegal, but Governor Pataki refuses to comply while we are prosecuted and persecuted for doing in kind. You see, the whole thing is Pataki is trying to force the law upon us. It has been used against him and he ignores it. It’s a double standard what’s happening here. So, you guys go with that for a while, okay? Thank you.
Tom Sullivan: We’re talking about war here. Is there going to be or has there been a declaration of war declared by the People of the Haudenosaunee? Is that something that is called for in the Great Law?
Kakwirakeron: War has been declared upon us by the United States via New York State. New York State has declared this war and has sent their armed forces. Their armed forces at this point are the New York State Police and they also have a plan that’s on hold. Its called gallant piper where they send in the National Guard and ten thousand troops against our people. But, to make it worse, they feel that they get the authority to do this because they have collaborators. These collaborators are these treasonous men that dare in our face call themselves Chief. They are not. They are absolutely not that. We have another call here, so, let’s take it now.
Caller: Sago! Hey, I’d like to talk to the guy from Akwesasne. I feel kind of bad that your son’s girlfriend got beat up. That’s not right! The State Troopers had no business going on Indian land.
Tom Sullivan: But, they had permission of so-called Chiefs.
Kakwirakeron: Okay, let’s address that, about these Chiefs, how terrible it is that they had given permission to do this, twenty-eight, when a chief is installed and he is given words and he is told what his responsibilities are, and you will see as I recite this part of the (Great Law) Gayanerekowa, you’ll see how Oren Lyons and these other traitors are not following their instruction. “We now do crown you with the sacred emblem of the deer’s antlers, the emblem of your chiefmanship You shall now become a mentor of the people of the Six Nations the thickness of your skin shall be seven spans, which is to say you shall be proof against anger, offensive action, and criticism. Your heart shall be filled with a yearning for the welfare of the people of the league. With endless patience you shall carry out your duty and your firmness shall be tempered with tenderness for your people. Neither anger nor fury shall find lodging in your mind. All your words and actions shall be marked with calm deliberation. In all your deliberations in the Counsel of the League, in your efforts at lawmaking, in all your official acts, self-interest shall be cast away. Do not cast over your shoulder behind you the warnings of your nephews and nieces should they try you for any error or wrong doing you may do, but return to the (Great Law) Gayanerekowa, which is right and just. Look and listen for the welfare of the whole People and have always in view not only the present, but also the coming generations, even those whose faces are yet beneath the surface of the ground, the unborn of the future generations.” Every instruction that is given to these People has been, right now in 1997, right at the present, has been violated by these treasonous men that have the gall to call themselves Chiefs, and to say they are working in the interests of the people.
Caller: Well, I know all this because my father was a Chief from Akwesasne. He’s got a lot of books on this and I know how the Indian law works and I think it’s wrong and terrible the way things are going for either reservation. The Onondagas, Mohawks, and Senecas. I wish somebody would straighten up and fly right. Leave us People alone! (crying)
Tom Sullivan: Barbara, take it easy. We are all feeling this. We all feel this. Just calmly sit by the radio and listen to what we’re saying. We’ve got other callers. Barbara, just be calm and in a deliberate manner, listen to what we’re trying to say tonight.
Kakwirakeron: Okay, now we’d like Paul to go ahead.
Takarontake: I’d like to remind the People throughout Haudenosaunee country and also to enlighten the people who may not have known of this, back in 1976, there was a Rolaner from the Mohawk Nation who had gone to the outside of the confederacy and brought police into our Longhouse. They beat up our young people and dragged them off to jail. This really caused an outrage among the People of that Nation. So, the Mohawk Nation got together and looked at the violations that man has committed which was that he had gone to the outside and brought outside police into our Longhouse and used them against our children because he believed that he was a person of authority. This issue was brought to the Grand Counsel and every one of the Nations, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora, every one of these Counsels put a letter out notifying all the people in the world that this man was no longer to be looked at as Rolaner, that he had forfeited his birthright. He alienated himself by going to the outside and try to establish an outside law in our territory. Every one of these men today who sit on this Counsel were present and were the ones who no longer would recognize this Rolaner who had gone to the outside. They all put letters out. We have those letters. We can get copies of those letters with their signatures on there no longer recognizing this man because he had gone to the outside and brought outside law into our territories. These guys are doing the exact same thing today. They did it 1989, 1990, Mohawks Chiefs from the Longhouse did this. They did this here in Onondaga, they did it in Tonawanda. They did it in Tuscarora, and they brought outside police into our territories, which is a clear violation of the constitution.
Tom Sullivan: Well, we have another caller. Why don’t we take it?
Caller: Hey, Tommy, this is Ricardo from Rainbow City. I’ve seen what happened yesterday. It reminded me of Kent State. I had a cousin who was there and the People there had a peaceful demonstration and were walking away when both of the people were shot in the back at Kent State. That’s all I could think about when here all these people were sitting around a bon fire and these are supposed to be our representatives wherever the white world is supposed to be, which we have no control over either. They went and did that to all the women and children, and we are supposed to be proud to be an American. They show their colors, you know.
Tom Sullivan: Ricardo, we need people like you to contact their State Representatives and let them know that these human rights violations need to stop. We as a people should even go to the United Nations.
Kakwirakeron: I’d like to add something, Tom and Ricardo. That fire was not just a bon fire. The fire that the people were sitting around had been transferred over to a sacred fire, a ceremonial fire. The fire that the people were sitting around had been transferred over to a sacred fire, a ceremonial fire. There was a separate fire made beside the big fire and Gusaneyu, who was regarded as a well-known medicine person from the Mohawk Nation, agreed to put on a spiritual ceremony for the People. She was just beginning that ceremony, in fact she asked me to stand beside her and to assist her. She also asked another man, in fact the man that was severely beaten, Robert Bucktooth, whose probably getting medical attention now that he is released, and we think he’s got a broken arm and broken ribs, and they gave him no medical attention whatsoever, anyway, she asked him to fan the fire with Eagle Feathers. So, that was to us is a sacred, spiritual fire. But, within the United States, that is known as religious rights, and those religious rights were trampled upon and the people performing them were brutally beaten. This woman was dragged away. They hurt her . She has black and blue marks on her arms, her shoulders, her chest, and everywhere else where they manhandled her. She said, “you know, if I were a priest or a minister I would be given the royal treatment. But, because I am and Indian and I am the equivalent of those pople, I am beaten and taken to jail.” She was one of the last to be given any good attention or treatment in there because of that. I’d also like to add before we have to go here, is that people, listeners, Ongwehonweh of the Haudenosaunee, if you do not want this to continue, we have got to depose all of these traitorous leaders from within the Confederacy. Then New York State will leave us alone. But right now, because they have the support, they are going to keep attacking us.
Tom Sullivan: Well, we still have one more minute here. Maybe we can sum it up with some final thoughts.
Takarontake: Well, I’d like to say to the people, the Ongwehonweh People out there, and also to our friends and allies is that in history it has shown to us how great empires, great nations had become extinct, such as the Roman Empire. Today there is no more Roman Empire. The Persians were another great people. No longer do they exist today. Today they are known as the Arabians. The Persian Empire fell apart because of spies and traitors. History keeps going on and showing us these examples. Even as far as the Haudenosaunee people, this has been our downfall is that we do not deal with our traitors and spies.
Tom Sullivan: Okay, Professor Fine, final word.
Ethel Fine: Three hundred years ago a great Onondaga left you with these words. Remember what’s happening today. It’s going to happen again. Remember who you are. Ongwehonweh.
Tom Sullivan: So it continues to happen. This program will happen next week too. They haven’t taken us off the air. This is Tom Sullivan , the Blue-eyed Mohawk.