Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation

First Onondaga land rights action talk gathers a crowd
By: Charles J. Reith
City Eagle

It was a packed house at Syracuse Stage Monday Feb. 27, but drama wasn't the order of the evening; the Onondaga Land Rights Action was. People filed in and filled in the seats, awaiting the first in a yearlong series of public presentations entitled "Onondaga Land Rights and Our common Future." Folks from all backgrounds gathered to learn about a way of life that has endured against all odds. The initial talk was subtitled "The Nation in our Midst: Onondaga History, Culture and Spirituality."

Sid Hill, the Tadadaho, or spiritual leader, of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, was the first speaker. His jet black hair neatly arranged in two inconspicuous braids, Hill began reciting traditional thanksgiving. He thanked Mother Nature for her bounty, the protectors who watch over and guide us and the creator for all the things he's given us.
"He still loves us," said Hill, who translated the ceremony after delivering it in his native tongue. He thanked everyone for coming and said the prayer was on behalf of us all.

Syracuse University religion professor Phil Arnold and SUNY ESF's Andy Mager provided short introductions to the series, which was originally slated to run for a only a few months. So many speakers joined the program, however, that the series has been stretched to a year. Arnold and Mager urged the Syracuse community to embrace the welcoming hand the Onondaga.

"Only three Indian nations [in the US] are still governed by sacred means," said Arnold. "Onondaga is one of them."
According to Arnold, the land rights action goes far beyond federal and state regulations.
"The Onondaga people are one with and stewards of the land and wish to protect it and pass it on," he said.
The two academic speakers quickly turned the program over to Monday night's special guests: Sid Hill and Onondaga Clan Mother Audrey Shenandoah.

Hill recalled that ever since he was a child, he heard murmurs of seeking justice from a system that neither provides much justice or instills the faith of the Onondaga people.

"[It's] a big decision. I've heard about it all my life," he said.

Hill decided it was time to file suit. He said the action is "not for damages," but based on deteriorating environmental conditions and a desire for inclusion in the Onondaga Lake clean up. After all, Hill said, "we are Onondagas."
With education through the program, Sid Hill believes he will be successful.

"We want to do this in a good way. We can't undo the past, but we can do better," said Hill.

Audrey Shenandoah captured the heart and imagination of the audience with simple statements and vivid stories. She started by thanking Hill for saying thanks, because "this is the way we would begin a gathering."

"Everything takes more time when we do things the old way," Shenandoah said. "Some of our people use the newer machinery; for our people, there's always been that battle."

Those who chose to carry on the old ways hid even from their own people, who were brainwashed into believing the old ways were inferior, said Shenandoah. "We honor those who hid in the bush so our traditions could endure, those who stood against evil."

Shenandoah has known about the coming land rights action for 70 years. She remembered hearing that the land would be dealt with in a fair and just way, "without hostility." She recalled the effort during her youth to raise enough loose change to bring about change. In those days it was tough to collect money so the Onondaga claim would ring loud enough to be heard.

"I remember one chief especially; his voice would just boom. `No,' he would say, 'you cannot do this.'"
He thought the Onondaga nation was putting too low a price on its heritage.

"Once a lawyer came," Shenandoah said, "and we were almost ready to settle for a major part of New York State. He [the chief] got up and went right up to the lawyer and asked him if we signed, would we still be the titleholders of our lands? The lawyer could not answer 'yes.' And that was the end of that."

Now the Onondaga Nation has a voice, thanks to members like Hill and Shenandoah.
"This has been many, many years in the making, and it's just about time before all creation falls into oblivion and extinction," Shenandoah said.

We must give thanks and give back, she continued; we are the only component of the cycle who keeps taking.
After the conclusion of the talks, members of the community gathered to discuss the existence of the series.

"This is an exciting beginning," said Diana Brownlie from SU. "[We've been] waiting for this for a long time. It was very intense and heartfelt." She marveled at the way the speakers could talk for so long and intently without losing the thread or the audience.

ESF professor Robin Kimmerer, who co-teaches a class that shares the name of the lecture series, said she was moved by the presence of the community. She admired the speakers for "seeking justice for all creation" and not being adversarial. About her course at ESF, Kimmerer said that "a lot of creative brainstorming went into the curriculum."

David Yarrow, friend of the Onondaga Nation for 30 years and founder of On the Rise Bakery, said, "Indigenous people have an important message and perspective." Yarrow is organizing an international peace festival on Onondaga Lake, which he calls "the Jerusalem of the 'new world.'" It's a holy place, he said, but it's lost on us. We don't have the words to describe such sacred places. You can't find them in the English dictionary, Yarrow said.

Next Tuesday, March 7, the series continues; speakers Jeanne Shenandoah and Sally Roesch Wagner will present "Visionary Women: The Haudenosaunee and the US Women's Rights Movement."