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St. Thomas Law Review

First Page

19

Document Type

Article

Abstract

I was pleased to come down here for several reasons: one being that my son is down here and I get a chance to say hello to him, and the other, to talk about the importance of not only sacred sites but the term sovereignty; tribal sovereignty. We know that sovereignty is an English term, a European term. It deals with sovereigns; it deals with kings; it deals with those who control everything. Sovereignty is something we learn from being in contact with these nations for so long, I think that the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois by the French, and the Six Nations by the English, have been in contact with our White brothers for the longest, most consistent time notwithstanding the Wanpanoasg, the Micmacs, the Malaseets, and all the peoples in the East. We have had a long dialogue with them, sometimes it was verbal, and sometimes it took the form of treaties. We have had struggles, we have had fights, and we have bad a continuous history. We have seen a pristine land change and we have maintained ourselves as nations over all these times and over all these years. I often wondered why it was that we were able to sustain ourselves on at least a part of our lands, not all of our territories but some of them. How did we survive? I asked my uncle, Chief Leon Shenandoah, one day: "How come we are here? How come we did not get washed away, sent across the Mississippi to disappear?" He said, "We had strong leaders, we had good leaders, and we had the Great Law of Peace. We had instruction, and we followed it; we maintained the principles of our Confederation." As long as we follow it now, today, we will survive.

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