Style D 36 by 54

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Suzy Englot, Gettysburg College Anth 223
Indigenous People, The Environment, and the
Economy
For the Love of the Game The Struggle of the
Haudenosaunee For Recognized Autonomy
Credit to The Wampum Chronicles for this picture
In the News
Background
Threats They Face
This section cites material exclusively from
Timeline of the Onondaga Nation-People of the
Hills, Encyclopedia of the Haudenosaunee, A Brief
History of Haudenosaunee-US Relations, and The
Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and also draws from
personal experience (I live in Syracuse, NY).
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The greatest threat to the Haudenosaunee has
always been the lack of recognition of their
sovereignty. This has led to many setbacks,
including a period of time when the state of New
York tried (and in many cases, succeeded in)
taking their land away from them through
underhanded deals. They lost massive amounts of
territory, and as recently as 2005 have been
appealing decisions with land claims
(History-Timeline, 2009). Locals who now live on
the disputed land voice concerns that they would
have to move, but the Haudenosaunee acknowledge
now that all they want from the government at
this point is admission that what they did was
morally wrong and illegal. Another setback that
has recently resurfaced in the public eye
internationally is that of the the Iroquois
Nationals being denied entry to England for the
World Lacrosse Championships in the summer of
2010 because the British government decided that
the Haudenosaunee passports the men and their
coaches carried were not sufficient forms of
identification for entering the country (BBC
News, 2010). They argued that because the
documents are partially handwritten and do not
contain the chips or holographic detailing that
make US passports so secure, it is a safety
hazard (Kaplan, 2010). The US also waited until
the last minute to agree that they would let the
team back into the country with those passports,
but they eventually said it was permissible this
time. New York State Department
spokesperson PJ Crowley said later that
weve done what we can doIt would appear to us
at this point that the U.K. has made their
final determination (Kaplan,
2010). This is the first time in decades that
this has been an issue for the
Haudenosaunee. Their first use of these
passports dates back to 1977, when they were used
by Onondaga delegates to travel to
Switzerland (History- Timeline, 2009)..
They are recognized in the US and Canada
and seen as no problem, and Haudenosaunee
have traveled to places like Japan and Australia
without any issues. The fact that the
Nationals were ranked fourth in the world
coming into the tournament makes the
matter all the more interesting.
This issue was very widely publicized on both
sides of the Atlantic ocean, and most people
agreed that justice was not served. However,
because of the great amount of international
attention that this matter received, the
Haudenosaunee felt that they had achieved
something greater than performance on the
lacrosse field. Said Marty Ward, the goalie of
the Nationals,
The Haudenosaunee (Ho-deh-no-shaw-nee), a phrase
meaning people of the longhouse, are a group of
six Native American tribes in the Northeastern
United States, mostly residing in New York and
Canada. Also known as the Six Nations
Confederacy, the original five tribes formed this
union around 1142, before the creation of either
the US or Canada. The nations who are a part of
it are the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida,
Mohawk, and Tuscarora. The Tuscarora were
formally added to the confederacy in the 1700s
when they migrated to New York from the area now
known as North Carolina. The Haudenosaunee have
a matrilineal society, and tribes are divided by
families, each with a different animal name.
Traditionally, they live off the land and believe
in giving thanks for everything nature provides
for us. Now, in a more modern world, some have
adapted to the times and the technology and
Western lifestyle. But some do stick to
traditional ways, or at least live in the spirit
of tradition. Children are still taught ancestral
songs and dances, and learn the story of their
people. There is an immense amount of pride
about their nation as a separate entity from the
US or Canada. Besides their aboriginal right to
reside in the area, there are numerous treaties
dating back to when Europeans were first settling
that prove that for centuries, the Haudenosaunee
have been recognized as their own autonomous
nation with territory that belongs to only them.
As Europeans explored, they would make treaties
with the Haudenosaunee to ease their journeys and
promote good relations, which could lead to
survival due to the natives expertise about
where food and water was located. The French
referred to them as the Iroquois, a name that has
stuck throughout the years, though they prefer
the name created from their own language. In the
Treaty of Utrecht, which in 1713 stopped a war
between the French and the English, they
recognized and respected the Haudenosaunees
aboriginal right to move freely and engage in
trade throughout their territories. Other
important treaties signed were the Fort Stanwix
treaties, setting the boundaries for both the US
and Haudenosaunee nations, and the Trade and
Intercouse Act, proclaiming that no legal
transactions could take place on their land
without a present Federal agent and the approval
of Congress, to prevent any shady deals. These
legal documents should have protected them from
any sort of incident. As Oren Lyons, the current
faithkeeper of the Onondaga Nation, said, These
treaties are clear evidence that we are a
separate sovereign and that our people are
citizens of the Haudenosaunee (Lyons, p.5).
However, this would not always be recognized and
respected.
Credit to Tracy Thomas
We fought a battle that was bigger than
lacrosse. It brought indigenous people back to
the forefront. It let everyone know that were
still herewe havent gone anywhere. -Marty
Ward, goalie for the Iroquois Nationals
Recently the Iroquois Nationals receive good news
from the Czech Republic, the site of this
summers indoor lacrosse world championships, in
that they will be allowed into the country with
their Haudenosaunee passports in a one-time-only
deal similar to the one the US agreed on last
summer (David, 2011). The US has yet to confirm
that it will allow them back into the country
with those passports. For More Information on
the Haudenosaunee, go to www.haudenosauneeconfeder
acy.ca. For Updates on the mens lacrosse team or
to purchase gear (the money goes toward funding
future trips), visit www.iroquoisnationals.org.
Works Cited
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1999 A Brief History of Haudenosaunee-U.S.
Relations. Syracuse Peace Council-Land Claim
News, Fall. 2009 History-Timeline. Onondaga
Nation - People of the Hills. Electronic
document. http//www.onondaganation.org/aboutus/ti
meline.html, accessed April 30,
2011. 2010 Haudenosaunee Documentation Committee
(HDC). Tuscarora Environment. Picture.
http//tuscaroraenvironment.com/oldposts.aspx,
accessed April 30, 2011 2010 UK refuses to grant
visas to Iroquois lacrosse team. BBC News Online.
Electronic document. http//www.bbc.co.uk/news/wor
ld-uscanada-10634044, accessed May 1,
2011. Bonaparte, Darren 2009 The Wampum
Chronicles. Picture. http//www.wampumchronicles.c
om/, accessed May 1, 2011. Crabtree,
Jessica 2010 Iroquois Nationals-Making lemons
into lemonade. Picture. http//www.jessicacrabtre
e.com/journal1/2010/11/iroquois-nationals-making-l
emons-into-lemonade, accessed May 1, 2011 David,
Frank 2011 Czech authorities will allow Iroquois
to participate in WILC in Prague. Iroquois
Nationals Lacrosse. Electronic document.
http//iroquoisnationals.org/index.php?optioncom_
contentviewarticleid138czech-authorities-will
-allow-iroquois-to-participate-at-wilc-in-praguec
atid34iroquois-nationals-program, accessed
April 30, 2011. Fisher, Donald M. 2002 Lacrosse
A History of the Game. Baltimore The Johns
Hopkins University Press. Jekielek,
Jan. 2010 Iroquois Nationals Team Misses First
Day of World Lacrosse Championships. The Epoch
Times. Picture. http//www.theepochtimes.com/n2/c
ontent/view/39249/, accessed April 30,
2011. Johansen, Bruce Elliott and Barbara Alice
Mann 2000 Encyclopedia of the Haudenosaunee
(Iroquois Confederacy). Westport Greenwood
Publishing Group. Kaplan, Thomas 2010 Iroquois
Defeated by Passport Dispute. New York Times,
July 16. Lyons, Oren 2010 The Haudenosaunee
Confederacy Sovereignty, Citizenship and
Passports. Onondaga Nation-People of the Hills.
Electronic document. http//www.onondaganation.or
g/news/2010/2010_0711.html, accessed May 1,
2011. Thomas, Tracy 2010 Reflections of
Injustice Haudenosaunee Lacrosse. Censored News.
Picture. http//bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2010/09/re
flections-of-injustice-haudenosaunee.html,
accessed May 1, 2011.
Credit to Tuscarora Environment
Connection to Lacrosse
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It is widely accepted that the Iroquois, and
more specifically, the Mohawk Nation, were
instrumental in the creation of the sport of
lacrosse. While Canadians are credited with
creating the modern form of lacrosse, they got
the idea for the game from natives. To get the
final product, they adopted and then adapted the
Mohawk ball game tewaarathon (Fisher, 10). In
1980, the Haudenosaunee finally created their own
national mens lacrosse team, called the Iroquois
Nationals (History Timeline, 2009). Their colors
are purple, white, and yellow, and they travel
worldwide to compete with all the best teams.
Conceptual Question
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Is a nation truly autonomous and sovereign if
others do not recognize it to be?
In the example of the Haudenosaunee, we can see
that while a sovereign nation can proclaim itself
to be so by showing proof of treaties that define
boundaries and trade agreements, and have a
unique set of languages and culture, and even
have its own personal documentation system, there
is still another element to being a nation a
majority of countries, especially those closest
to you, must recognize you as such. Without the
validation of bordering countries, a nation looks
less legitimate in the eyes of the world, and
incidents may occur that test and seem to break
their concept of autonomy.
Special Thanks to Professor Donna Perry and the
Gettysburg College Anthropology Department
Credit to Jessica Crabtree
Credit to Jan Jekielek