Canku Ota

(Many Paths)

An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America

November 15, 2003 - Issue 100

Iroquois Salute Treaty; See Freedom

(November 12, 2003) — CANANDAIGUA — For non-Native Americans, the treaties that were signed with the original occupants of North America are a fascinating part of history.

For the Haudenosaunee people, they're the foundation of cultural freedom.

"Our boundaries, our land rights — all our rights are based on these treaties," said Tadodaho, a member of the Onondaga Nation and leader of the Haudenosaunee.

"Everything that native people call our own is based on these treaty obligations," he said. "I don't see why we, as a people, should have to give up our freedoms so that other people can pursue theirs."

Tadodaho remarked Tuesday during a brief interview on the importance of the annual observance of the 1794 Canandaigua Treaty after he addressed a crowd of about 300 area residents and Native Americans who attended the annual ceremony at Council Rock in front of the Ontario County Court House.

The Canandaigua Treaty, invoked as recently as 1997 to thwart attempts by Gov. George Pataki to levy state tax on the sale of tobacco and gasoline on Native American reservations, is the legal document signed by Timothy Pickering, an emissary of President George Washington, and by Native American leaders. It established peace more than two centuries ago between European settlers and the Six Nations of the Iroquois, called Haudenosaunee.

Assemblyman David Koon, D-Perinton, the only federal or state representative who attended on Tuesday said the treaty is as important as the legal document that became the basis of freedom for all American citizens.

"It was something that was put in place more than 200 years ago, just like our Constitution," said Koon. "It's something that should be honored."

David Bruinix, who teaches history in the Williamson Central School District in Wayne County, said he has attended the ceremony annually "for at least 10 years" because of the importance of the treaty to local history.

"This ceremony is proof that the treaty is not just history," Bruinix said.

Jay Claus, a Tuscarora elder, said such commemorations are especially important to native people "because a lot of our history isn't written."

During the ceremony, Native American elders from various tribes, including Chester Mahooty, a visiting Pueblo from New Mexico, offered prayers and blessings on behalf of native and non-native people alike.

"Some people say we are the lost tribe," Mahooty said. "We're not. We're still here."

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