HAZEL'S UPDATES April 23, 2007

[Blackbear]

HAZEL'S UPDATES April 23, 2007

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April 23, 2007

I've held off writing this update because for one, I didn't know whether I should or not. My concern was putting out there what one would call the 'dirty laundry'. Then I thought about how I started, and what my intent was. To put out the Truth. There will be some who will argue with me. So let's be clear. This is the truth of how I see it. From my eye's. From one, who sitting where I've been sitting in this past year, see's things. The biggest reason I didn't want to put it out there because I didn't want to give the Crown the satisfaction of seeing what's happening. But the more I think about it, the more I feel that because they are responsible, they are going to hear it too. Right now, I'm shaking so much even trying to type is a problem for me. My words a jumbled up so much and my heart is ready to explode. I don't know whether I'm having a breakdown or whether I'm scared of the repercussions, but I'm going to say what I've got to say and face the consequences. What I feel and what I see is what everyone has been dancing around a whole year about within the Six Nations Community. I'm talking about the division and factionalism that exists.

I have spent sleepless nights trying to figure out what to do. How can I help. I've worked hard, as many have this past year, to help the people at the camp, as well as at the negotiating table. Doing what I thought best to keep the Peace, to keep things moving, and to keep fighting for our collective rights. Our Sovereignty, our inherent rights, to honour and uphold the responsibilities to our Treaties. To stand in defense of our lands, our people, and mostly the Kairenekowah, the Great Law, the Great Peace, whatever you choose to call it. These past few months have been the most trying and the most difficult because it has not been the Crown who has been our worst enemy, it has not been the OPP who has been challenging, it is us.

First you have the elected band council. Not all of them, but a few. A few who feel the need to hold onto the purported power that they have been given through a system who's only intent was to destroy the Onkwehonweh and destroy any semblance of Nationhood, of Soveriegnty, and to take away any rights that were given not only through the Treaties that our ancestors put in place for our safekeeping and welfare, but to truly destroy and eliminate the very existance of who we are as a people. A people distinct from any other Nations because quite honestly, the Creator made us that way. The Law which we stand behind is one given to us through a divine entity. Not something that was man made to control the people and gain wealth for a few. These individuals who claim to represent the people are not listening to the people. They are listening to a few who believe in them as a person, who have families who love and support them, but who aren't seeing the big picture. Who aren't looking at it as Onkwehonweh, but who are looking at it only from the eye's of one who has been brought up only knowing and understanding how the government of Canada thinks. What the government of Canada wants. In a system that the government of Canada created. They are not trying to understand how the Confederacy Council works, let alone what it truly means. They are stuck in that box just as much as Canada is, because they are afraid to step outside of it, and look at the beauty and freedom that exists by living according to the traditional laws and customs that have been handed down, generation after generation.

Then you have the trustees of the Mohawk Nation. Individuals of a few families who truly believe only the Mohawks have a say in what happens here at Grand River because the Haldimand Deed says 'Mohawks and such others of the Six Nations as wish to settle there...'. My husband and I were accused of turning our backs on the people because we have been working and supporting the Confederacy throughout this reclamation, and throughout this negotiation process. We are doing what we believe is right and for the highest good of all concerned. I was reminded of all the meetings that we had in our own home, throughout the past twenty years, and how it was always about the people. I told that person that it still is. It was always about the people, ALL the people. Throughout all of our involvement, and all of our efforts to assert the jurisdiction in the past, it was always about the whole. It might have been mostly the Mohawks who took action, because that is the nature of our Nation, but it was never just about the Mohawks. When we took back the Glebe Lands, from the elected council, it was the Mohawks who initiated it, but it was also Onondaga's, Cayuga's, Oneida's, Seneca's, many other people of the other nations that stood with us. When we took over the Eagles Nest Complex in an attempt to rid our community of the Indian Act System in 1995, again it was the Mohawks who initiated it, but again it was all those same people of the other nations that stood with us. Who believed in the power of the people. Who belived in the Great Law and our responsibilites to it. Who believed that the enemy was the Canadian Government on behalf of the Crown, not each other. Dick and I have worked on behalf of the Mohawk Nation because that is the Nation which we were born into, but the Mohawk Nation is not just Grand River. It is ALL of the Mohawks who are spread out all across Turtle Island. We have worked with many of our brothers and sisters of all the Mohawk Territories to try and unite, to strengthen one and other, to try and work toward building and supporting our Nation the way it should be. So that the voices of all of the Mohawks are being heard. Whether or not that will ever happen in my life time I don't know. What I do know and believe is that if the Mohawks ever did get together, and stand together as one, what a powerful Nation we would have, but more importantly, how that would strengthen and empower the Confederacy as a whole. We do take that responsiblity seriously and we continue to support that effort. And to those who believe it's only the Mohawks who have a say, I ask you to look within your own families. Look at your son's who have married and look at the fact that many of them have married into one of the other Six Nations. Are you now going to tell me that their children, your grandchildren, do not have a voice or do not have a say in what the future of our people will be. Not only do they carry that voice, but they too shoulder the responsiblity of upholding and protecting what is the collective rights of all, for their own future generations. Is this what you are leaving them?

When I sat at a recent meeting of the Main Table the other day, and I was witness to the elected Chief making a statement to the Crown representatives of how he has to go back to his council and get an expanded mandate before the Confederacy could proceed with discussion on other lands within the tract that Canada is making a claim to, I thought to myself...........does he really understand who we are as a people. Does he really understand the policies and system that he is supporting and what it has done to us as a Nation. Does he really understand the whole intent of that system was not to help, but to support the genocide of us as a race on this planet. What he obviously doesn't understand is that the Confederacy doesn't get its mandate from the elected council. What he doesn't understand is that when the Crown, through its agents of Canada announced it had an expanded mandate to deal with the Confederacy on all the lands within the Haldimand Tract, his mandate just got expanded. That decision was made for him by those who he takes direction from. There is nothing for the elected council to discuss. My heart really hurts for those who don't understand that, and who refuse to acknowledge it, but instead choose to continue to promote and support the divisions that the Crown has created.

Then I listened as some of the Mohawks made their presentation to the Chiefs and those that have been given the lead in these negotiations, and to the people who were there. How they told us that we had no business negotiating, that they were the rightful titleholders and how they will decide who sits at the negotiating table. Totally missing the fact that there were four other Nations included in that Confederacy, but more importantly, totally ignoring the fact that so many other nations out there, who recognize and support the Confederacy, and who take shelter under that tree with the long leaves that is talked about, are included in there too. And those other Nations are counting on us. To protect not only our future, but they too recognize that we are fighting for the rights of all the Onkwehonweh because whatever happens here, directly impacts them and everything that they are fighting for too. I listened as they said that nothing supercedes the Haldimand, and was amazed that they missed the point that one of the Chiefs made when he reminded them that yes, there was something that superceded the Haldimand. There was the Two Row Wampum, there was the League of Nations set up by the Peacemaker, and it was pointed out that the Condolence Cane signifies that. cont...

[Blackbear]

I listened as they spoke about the Handsome Lake Code and how they didn't support or follow it, but again missing the point when they were told it was simply a way of life, that it was something like a code of ethics, a manner in which we conduct ourselves, you live by it by choice. They forget that even those who were brought up in the church, some of those same families who stood there, were taught that there is a way in which you live your life that is consistent with the Great Law. I listened as they said they didn't want to talk to all of the Mohawks, just some of them, and I wondered almost hysterically, if they really thought about what they were saying and how ridiculous that statement was. And beyond the Haldimand, beyond the Two Row, beyond the many many treaties that existed prior to our arrival here at Grand River, including those treaties that were made and that included the four races of mankind, the Camel's eye and the Treaty of Isis/Osiris, the ones that helped us to live together in Peace and Harmony, that beyond those, there is the Kaierenekowah. It has been in existance since the beginning of Creation, so yes, there is something that supercedes the Haldimand. I have said it before, the Haldimand is probably one of the worst deals our ancestors ever made, because it negates from the rest of the North American Continent to which we maintain our rightful title to, and maintain our responsiblity to. It is ultimately what gave the Crown it's foothold here, and it is obviously that which they continue to use to manipulate and undermine the authority of the Onkwehonweh. We have so many treaties and agreements that we worked out with the settlers in our lands because we were a generours people who truly believed in the concept of sharing, who believed in the dish with one spoon. But people look at the Haldimand today and believe that is where our history begins. They forget to go back beyond that. The worst part in all of this, is I had to look at myself and face the fact that not long ago, the rest of this community probably looked at me the same way as I was looking at them at that very moment, and I felt remorse for that. I know in my heart that I was not saying what they are saying, but I also know in my heart that people probably didn't know or understand that. I know that Dick and I have always been fighting for all the people of Six Nations, but more than that, we have always fought for the Onkwehonweh. For ALL the Onkwehonweh of the World. We look at the world and how the Crown has created its own entity, its own league of nations, and how this littles boys club has set out to destroy the Onkwehonweh of these lands, to steal every ounce of earth from this planet and lay claim to it. Who has gone out and committed acts of genocide against those indigenous nations, who have murdered raped and pillaged every Onkwehonweh Nation in Creation, all in the name of progress, and who knowingly continues in it's plan of complete and total domain over the entire world, and we have fought against that throughout most of our life. We fought for the future of our people. All of our people because in spite of everything that has happend to us in our history, in spite of the differences in our beliefs and in spite of the geographical and political barriers that exist between us, we are all one.

I have been told that I don't have a voice because my mother is non-native. Because I don't have a clan. I have lived practically my whole life as one who was never really accepted in either world because I was too white to fit in growing up on the reserve, and then had to face the outside world going off to highschool where being native was a dirty word. I seen how as long as you agree with someone they support and accept you, but the moment you don't, they will use that against you. I had to fight my whole life to try and feel accepted, to try and fit in, until finally one day I realized, I don't get my acceptance from any other human being. I am who I am because that is what the Creator made me, and I am accepted and loved through the Creators eyes, and I was given my spirit and my voice through Creation, and just like anyone else, I have the same responsiblities as the next, and I have been trying my best to uphold and respect those responsiblities and carry them through. I am not ashamed of either of my heritages, but I am Kanienkehaka. I was told once by one of the Grandfathers that 'it is not the blood that is in your nation, but the nation that is in your blood'. How true of a statement that is. I am proud of who I am. I was brought under the wing of one of the Wolf Clan Families of the Kanienkehaka, and have been sitting there ever since, doing what I believe is best, for the good of all. I work with all of the Nations, and support all of the Nations. I listen to the Clanmothers and Chiefs, to the Faithkeepers and all of the people of all the Nations and respect and appreciate all of the teachings that they have willingly shared, and gain strength in the knowledge that I have obtained because of it. I remain in contact with my wolf clan family, and even in spite of differences we may have had in the past, and distances that separates us, my wolf clan brother who lives in Arizona, continues to work and support everyone here, he continues to uphold his responsibility as Onkwehonweh against our oppressors, and he continually gives strength and encouragement to those of us here to continue.

Recently we've had many instances of individuals within our own nations who have refused to keep the Peace, who feel strongly about defending our land and our nationhood, but in a way that is destructive and dangerous. The people at the camp have had many councils where we have discussed this. We have spoken to those individuals, to their families, and have tried our best within the Kaierenekowah to deal with those situations. We have set rules and regulations based on what was determined at the beginning by the Clanmothers. It would work for a while and then it would go right back to the way it was, only worse. We finally turned to the Clanmothers and Chiefs for help. A statement was made about behaviors at the camp, what was acceptable and what was not. Rules were set into place for us to uphold and to help manage the camp as we held onto our lands, not for ourselves, but for our future. To maintain our peaceful position in our reclamation of those lands against the outside forces who want nothing more than to get those lands back and continue with the assimilation and destruction of our nations. Now we are facing each other. Those of us who choose to follow the Law and to follow the direction of the Clanmothers and Chiefs are now being criticized and condemned for our actions. We are being called traitors and are facing remarks such as 'who the hell do they think they are'. Well, in my view, its not who we think we are, but it is more of what is our responsibility. I've thought about what has happened, and I've looked back throughout this past year and all I can ask of those who think we are wrong is, who stood by you when the injunction was served last March and the Chiefs had to step back........it was the Clanmothers. They stood in face of ridicule and condemnation by many of our own. They were even scolded by some of their own clans because it was felt that they should have stepped back with the Chiefs. They stood behind the people because they believed in what the people were doing. They believed in who we are, and they knew that this might be the last stand that we as a Confederacy, that we as Onkwehonweh might have, against all of the outside forces who are determined to eliminate us. They stood with the people because they believed in the people. They told us if that fire goes out, we are done. That fire is the spirit within us. It is the fire that exists in the hearts of the Confederacy as a whole, in our wampum, in our teachings, and it is what keeps us strengthened, keeps us together, as One. Are the people now going to say that they don't care what the Clanmothers have to say. Are we now going to refuse to uphold the simple rules of behaviour on the camp because we're afraid to discipline one and other, because we can't face the fear in our own heart of taking the responsibility seriously and standing up to the negativity and darkness that exists among a few. It is in no way turning our backs on our own people, it is standing up and showing that there is honour in doing what we are doing, and there is great strength and courage in upholding the Peace. If it comes a time when we have to stand and fight again, I'm sure every one of us will do so with the same pride and dignity that we stand there today, but we have to choose our battles carefully, and in my mind, our battles are not with each other.

We had a situation occur at the camp that some believe I compromised the jurisdiction of the camp by making a decision that I was called in to make. I didn't go there under some presumption of authority, I went because I was called. I went because my heart and my mind is still on the protection of the people, and in protection of the stand that we took in asserting our responsiblity over our lands and in accordance with the Kairenekowah. I did my best to dissolve an explosive situation that could have ultimately destroyed everything we all worked hard to protect throughout this past year. I am only one person. And I am a woman. I was called in to deal with a situation that ultimately is the responsibility of the men, and I did the best I could. I now stand before the people and face condemnation for the decision I made. I admitted my wrong on the part when it comes to the over-all jurisdiction of the camp, but I will not apologize for defusing the situation and doing the best that I could under the circumstances. It wasn't me who ultimately compromised the jurisdiction of the camp, that responsiblity lies on the shoulders of the one who created the situation in the first place. I only upheld my responsibilities to our Law. If people believe I have overstepped my responsiblity, all I can ask of those who are judging me and being critical of the decision I made under the pressure of the circumstance is, why did I have to? Why didn't any one of you who were there when it happened, not take that responsiblity yourselves. We all have the same responsibilities, and we all know the underlying rules of the camp and in upholding the Peace. Why am I being called to task for my actions, when the one's who caused the situation to escalate, the one's who continually refuse to take responsiblity for their own actions and who continue to compromise the safety of everyone, are being sheltered and protected. I was called in that night by the camp because they trusted me and my judgement, and I won't apologize for that. I have shouldered my responsibility, accepted what I believe was wrong on my part, and have taken steps to correct it. But lets remember, this isn't about me, it isn't about anyone as individuals, it is about who we are as a whole, and about the safety and well-being of everyone. More importantly, it is about who we are as Onkwehonweh and every single one of us have to take that responsiblity seriously, and do the best that we can under the circumstances that we are in.

Now whether its the Elected Council, the few Mohawks, or a few individuals who refuse to acknowledge and support what was given to us in the establishment of that Great Peace; amongst one and other, and in accordance to the very basic principals within the Kairenekowah, the simple laws of behaviour and conduct that we know is within that, it is still a battle amongst ourselves. Is that what we are going to continue? Is that all we think of the future generations? Or are we going to gather our Nations together, strengthen each other and stand together as one, like we did on April 20th, just over a year ago. I can't make that call. It isn't my will. It is the will of the Creator and the spirit that is within each and every one of us. I know where my heart is. I know where my battles are, and I know how to defend them. What I don't know, is what anyone else will choose to do. But I can tell you one thing, if we don't stand together, if we don't truly unite, and if we continue to allow some ficticious power and division that exists only in the minds of a few, what will happen to the future of our people, is there will be none.............. And that people, is the ultimate goal of the Crown.

In Love, Light and Peace Hazel

[LB1]

Thank you for posting these writings from Hazel- the more the word gets around, the more people will know what is going on and that is good!

Keep up the good work... both of you!
LB1

[ketageshik/sag.chip]

you have my respect for saying and standing up for what is best for your people. i am an anishnabe from michigan. stay strong and ask the creator to give your people the strength and the wisdom to stick together as a people. to stand up for the life blood of your next 7 generations and beyond so that your whole nation florishes and gets stronger for all time. i have read up and studied your nations ways a little bit. it is sad that some of your people are straying away from your old ways and ways of governing yourselfs i believe you guys call it the big long house. i could be wrong it's been awhile. but i know each nation has it's chief and they all must agree on the same thing before the clan mothers go over the options and they must all agree before the choice is maid. i don't mean any disrespect if i am wrong about any of this. i am extremely interested in the way your nation govern it's self. i pray to the creator that in your nations time of need your people will fall back on your old teachings. i'm sorry for rambling on but i feel i must give my support for i believe that all of us natives must stick together at some point. that time i believe is know before are people, traditions, and culture are wiped from the bossom of are mother earth. it is a struggle daily for my tribe to keep fighting for are soverighnity. which seems to evaporate by the day. if all native people don't stand together. soon we will not have an identity and are people and way of life will be no more! which makes me fear for my daughter and my son the language is almost gone already. stay strong and god bless please keep updated on your nations situation.

ketageshik

[ketageshik/sag.chip]

i am new to this site didn't realize it was old thread. but hope you will still update me to your situation