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Building a New Longhouse: the Case for Government Reform Within the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee

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Building a New Longhouse: the Case for Government Reform Within the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee Buffalo Law Review Volume 46 Number 3 Symposium on Law, Sovereignty and Article 6 Tribal Governance: The Iroquois Confederacy 10-1-1998 Building a New Longhouse: The Case for Government Reform within the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee Robert B. Porter University of Kansas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/buffalolawreview Part of the Indian and Aboriginal Law Commons Recommended Citation Robert B. Porter, Building a New Longhouse: The Case for Government Reform within the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee, 46 Buff. L. Rev. 805 (1998). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/buffalolawreview/vol46/iss3/6 This Symposium Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Buffalo Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ARTICLE Building a New Longhouse: The Case for Government Reform within the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee ROBERT B. PORTERt Introduction ........................................................................ 806 I. What is the Current State of HaudenosauneeGov- ernance? ..................................... ... ... .. ... ... ... .. ... ... ... ... 814 A. Acceptance of the Gayanashagowa and Estab- lishment of the Confederacy ................................ 814 B. Transformation and Americanization ................. 821 C. Dysfunction and the Modern Era.: ...................... 844 II. What are the Reasons for Haudenosaunee Govern- mental Dysfunction? .................................................. 889 A. The Change in Haudenosaunee Society and Identity ................................................................. 890 B. The Transformation of Haudenosaunee Eco- t © Robert B. Porter 1999. Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Tribal Law and Government Center at the University of Kansas. Chief Justice of the Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri. Member (Heron Clan) and former Attorney General of the Seneca Nation of Indians. A.B., Syracuse University; J.D., Harvard Law School. I would like to thank my colleagues Richard Del Guidice, Robert Glicksman and Mike Kautsch for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this Article. I would also like to give special thanks to my wife, Odie Brant Porter, for her comments on this Article and for her continued support throughout the long and often difficult process of trying to help our people and revitalize our nations. This Article was made possible with a grant from the General Research Fund of the University of Kansas. Unreferenced observations contained in this Article are reflective of my experiences as a Seneca raised in our community and as a participant in tribal government. They are, as with the entirety of this work, my responsibility alone. 805 806 BUFFALO LAW REVIEW [Vol. 46 nomic Philosophy ................................................. 893 C. The Altering of Haudenosaunee Political Philosophy ............................................................ 899 D. The Corrosive Influence of Modern American Society .................................................................. 905 E. The General Problem of Americanization .......... 910 III. What are the Primary Effects of Haudenosaunee Governmental Dysfunction? ...................................... 912 A. The Erosion of HaudenosauneeLaw ................... 913 B. The Weakening of Government ........................... 916 C. The Loss of Sovereignty ....................................... 921 IV. What is the Case for Reforming Haudenosaunee Governm ent? .............................................................. 927 A. Disorganization and Inaction are Destroying the HaudenosauneeWay of Life .......................... 928 B. Decolonization Through Collective Action is the Only Viable Remedy ...................................... 933 C. Collective Action Can Only Occur if Government is Once Again Made Legitimate ....937 V. What Should be the Fundamental Objective of HaudenosauneeGovernmental Reform? ................... 940 A. The Restoration of Peace ..................................... 940 B. The Case for Restoring Peace .............................. 940 C. The Process of Restoring Peace ........................... 943 Conclusion ........................................................................... 944 INTRODUCTION The Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy,1 have existed as separate sovereign nations for hundreds of years2 despite the perpetual efforts by Euro- American peoples to colonize Haudenosaunee aboriginal territory and destroy their political, social, economic and cultural existence. However, as the twentieth century of the 1. Haudenosaunee means "people of the Long House." See Haudenosaunee Homepage, Oct. 8, 1998 <http://sixnations.buffnet.net/CulturefWelcome.htnil? article=who_weare> (on ifie with author and the Buffalo Law Review); LEWIs H. MORGAN, LEAGUE OF THE IROQUOIS 51 (1962). See generally A Basic Call to Consciousness:The Hau De No Sau Nee Address to the Western World, in BASIc CALL TO CONSCIOUSNESS 65, 66 (Akwesasne Notes ed., 6th ed. 1995); Elisabeth Tooker, The League of the Iroquois: Its History, Politics, and Ritual, in 15 HANDBOOK OF NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS 418, 418-41 (William C. Sturdevant ed., 1978) [hereinafter HANDBOOK]. 2. It is estimated that the Confederacy is at least 400 years old. See PAUL A.W. WALLACE, THE WHITE ROOTS OF PEACE 3 (1946). 1998] BUILDING A NEWLONGHOUSE 807 colonizing nation's history draws to a close, there is strong indication that the forces promoting Haudenosaunee destruction, which have long caused internal fragmentation within Haudenosaunee society, may finally be having their ultimate effect. Established sometime before the arrival of Christopher Columbus, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy was founded upon the concept of maintaining universal peace amongst its component nations-the Mohawk,3 the Oneida,4 the 3. The Mohawks' name for themselves is Kanienkahagen, meaning 'The People of the Flint." See Haudenosaunee Homepage, Oct. 9, 1998 <http: //sixnations.buffnet.net/Culture/Welcome.html?article=who-we-are (on file with author and the Buffalo, Law Review). They are also known as the "Keepers of the Eastern Door" and as an "Older Brother." Originally from what is now much of Montgomery County, New York (the so-called Mohawk Valley), the Mohawks live on several different territories in the. United States and Canada. See William N. Fenton & Elisabeth Tooker, Mohawk, in HANDBOOK, supra note 1, at 466, 478. These territories include: Akwesasne, which straddles the U.S.- Canada boundary along the Saint Lawrence River, Kahnawake, Kanesatake, Tyendinega, Wahta and the Six Nations Reserve. See Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs Homepage, Oct. 9, 1998 <http'/wNvww. slic.com/-mohwkna/mncc.htm> (on file with author and the Buffalo Law Review). There are also Mohawks living at a settlement in New York, Ganienkeh, that arose out of an armed takeover of Adirondack land in 1974. See Robert. L. Smith, Ganienkeh Territory After Nearly 20 Years, New York Officials Remain FrustratedBy A Mohawk Settlement that Stirs Debate, Defies Definition, POST-STANDARD (Syracuse), Nov. 8, 1993, at Al. Moreover, a new Mohawk settlement, Kanatsiohareke, was recently established in aboriginal lands in the Mohawk Valley in New York State. See The Mohawk Valley Project: Kanatsiohareke, Oct. 9, 1998 <http://www.atsrc.com/des-site/ mohawk.htm> (on file with author and the Buffalo Law Review). The analysis in this paper is limited to discussion of the Mohawks at Akwesasne, a territory comprising approximately 23,000 acres (with 14,000 acres on the American "side") with a total Mohawk enrollment of 3100. See LAURENCE M. HAUPTMAN, FORMULATING AMERICAN INDIAN POLICY IN NEW YORK STATE, 1970-1986 app. at 164-65 (1988) [hereinafter HAUPTMAN, AMERICAN INDIAN POLICY]. There are three different groups claiming governing authority at Akwesasne. They include the Canadian recognized Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, see Mohawk Council of Akwesasne Homepage, Oct. 8, 1998 <http//www.glen-net.ca/> (on file with author and the Buffalo Law Review), the American recognized Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Council, see Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible to Receive Services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, 60 Fed. Reg. 9250, 9253 (1995), and the traditional government which traces its roots to the Gayanashagowa,the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs, see William N. Fenton & Elisabeth Tooker, Mohawk, in HANDBOOK, supra note 1, at 477-78. 4. The Oneida name for themselves is Onyotaaka, meaning '"The People of the Standing Stone." See Oneida Indian Nation Homepage, Oct. 8, 1998 <http://one-web.org/oneida> (on file with author and the Buffalo Law Review). They are also known as a "Younger Brother." See infra note 38. The Oneidas 808 B UFFALO LAW REVIEW [Vol. 46 Onondaga,5 the Cayuga,6 the Seneca7 and the Tuscarora 8- now live on three different territories in New York, Wisconsin and Ontario. See Jack Campisi, Oneida, in HANDBOOK, supra note 1, at 485-89. The Oneida Indian Nation of New York is located on approximately 7000 acres, see Paul Lipkowitz, Oneida Nation's Holdings Grow; The Tribe Buys 1,000 Acres Across Route 46 From the 32-Acre Territory the Oneidas Have Lived on For Centuries, POST-STANDARD (Syracuse), Sept. 4, 1998, at B3, with a total enrollment of approximately 620 people. See
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