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Land
Claim News Haudenosaunee Land Claim Every Thing You Need to Know  |
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Land Claims
Newsletter issued by the |
Fall 1999 |
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| Introduction
The Haudenosaunee or Six Nations Confederacy was founded over one thousand years, pre-dating the establishment of the United States and Canada. The Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk and Tuscarora Nations that make up the Haudenosaunee existed for countless generations. Each nation has an aboriginal right to its territory, governance on that territory, as well as a distinctive way of life within its territory. From the earliest contacts and relationships with the Europeans, the Haudenosaunee nations negotiated on issues of trade and political alliances. These agreements were recorded in sacred wampum belts, many of which the Haudenosaunee still possess. These wampum belts provide us with a historical framework for the generations of discussions, agreements and promises made regarding land. Our ancestors had been willing to share this land, and, they put faith in the words, promises and treaties made in the early days of the formation of the United States. "The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and, in their property, rights and liberty, they never shall be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity shall, from time to time, be made, for preventing wrongs being done to them and for preserving peace and friendship with them," stated the Northwest Ordinance (1 Stat. |
50,52.), passed by the
United States Congress in 1789. The federal government tried to
provide assurances to the Indian Nations that they would not be
cheated. There was a reason why such a promise was made. Many states,
including New York, and private land speculators
had begun to defraud Indians, cheating them out of their land.
In anticipation of these kinds of abuses, the Continental Congress developed a section of Article IX in the Articles of Confederation which governed the United States at that time: "The United States in Congress assembled shall ... have the sole and exclusive right and power of. . . regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians, not members of any of the states, provided that the legislative right of any state within its own limits not be infringed or violated...." New York tried to exploit the ambiguity of that last part, arguing that it had the sovereign right to make treaties with Indians, without federal oversight. In their interpretation of this section, the negotiators at Fort Stanwix, where the second treaty was made between the United States and the Haudenosaunee, set a precedent which outlived the Articles of Confederation and was continued by the state and federal governments. The precedent was that the national Congress would negotiate with Indians residing on lands outside state boundaries. Each state, independent of the national government, would have complete power to deal with Indians living within its own boundaries. |
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