Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 16

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member elpasoborn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Posts
    855

    Iroquois Passport Dispute Raises Sovereignty Issue

    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/17/ir ... nty-issue/

    Iroquois Passport Dispute Raises Sovereignty Issue
    Published July 17, 2010
    Associated Press


    FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- An American Indian lacrosse team's refusal to travel on passports not issued by the Iroquois confederacy goes to the heart of one of the most sensitive issues in Indian Country -- sovereignty.

    The rights of Native nations to govern themselves independently has long been recognized by federal treaties, but the extent of that recognition beyond U.S borders is under challenge in a post-Sept. 11 world.

    After initially refusing to accept Iroquois-issued passports because the documents lack security features, the State Department gave the team a one-time waiver.

    The team maintained that traveling on anything other than an Iroquois-issued passport would be a strike against the players' identity. But the British government wouldn't budge in denying team members entry into England without U.S. or Canadian passports, keeping the Iroquois Nationals from competing at the World Lacrosse Championships in Manchester in the sport their ancestors helped create.

    "Any documents or IDs we put forth recognizing our members should also be recognized by the federal government and other governments," argued Sanford Nabahe, a member of the Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone, who -- like many in the American Indian community -- closely followed the Iroquois' passport dispute. "The (federal) government has given us that autonomy."

    The Iroquois, whose members mostly live in New York, Ontario and Quebec, along with the Hopi and Western Shoshone are among the few American Indian nations in which members have had a form of their own passports.

    The understanding that the Iroquois Confederacy's lands are independent from the U.S. is taught early on in school, team member Gewas Schindler said Thursday as the team waited out the dispute in New York.

    "You know that as a young person that you are sovereign, that you are not part of the United States," he said. "We were the first people here."

    But some say the team's adamant position went too far.

    Michael Smith, a Navajo living on the Southwestern reservation, said it's important to note that the Iroquois live in the U.S. on land he and his father fought to protect as Marines.

    The Iroquois land isn't recognized globally as a country, so the team's efforts were almost futile, he said.

    "You're flying overseas," he said. "Get your U.S. passport and go kick some butt."

    Luanna Bear, a member of the Tulsa Creek Indian Community, part of the larger Muscogee Creek Nation in Oklahoma, said anyone who travels abroad should have the proper documents.

    "A lot of tribes don't want to lose their identity, so that's what they're trying to keep," said Bear, 48. "But I believe you have to follow all laws."

    Some Montana and Wyoming tribes have discussed issuing passports, but none have taken that step, said Gordon Belcourt, executive director of the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council.

    "If you're acknowledged as a government-to-government entity, there should be an opportunity for them to issue their own passports and visas," Belcourt said.

    Previously, tribal members who lived near the country's northern border faced no problems when traveling between Canada and the U.S., he said. Now, tribal members, along with other travelers seeking to cross the country's borders, must adhere to stricter security guidelines.

    "With 9/11, everything changed," Belcourt said.

    In recent months, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been working with tribes to develop tribal ID cards with enhanced security features. Those would be good for arrivals in the U.S. only by land or sea but couldn't be used in lieu of a federal passport. Twenty-five tribes already have or are working toward formal agreements.

    Robert Holden, deputy director at the National Congress of American Indians, said the Washington, D.C.-based group is hopeful the use of secured cards could be expanded to allow tribal members to travel abroad.

    "It would have all the secure attributes that a passport would have, certainly a record of membership of that respective nation," Holden said. "So why would it not be accepted beyond the borders of the United States and accepted internationally?"

    Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., also has urged the federal government to work with other countries to develop internationally recognized travel documents for American Indian nations.

    Like the Iroquois' view of lacrosse, Hopi belief is that running is a gift from the creator, said Bucky Preston, a Hopi from the reservation village of Walpi in northeastern Arizona.

    Preston said passports that have been issued by his tribe have represented what it means to be a sovereign people -- being honest and sincere, and having faith and belief in the creator, along with concern for all creation.

    "I can understand why they're standing strong on this," Preston said.

    Among the Hopi, passports in the form of an eagle feather, sometimes tucked in a buckskin-covered pocketbook, have been issued in the past by elders to only a select few. To have one means you've been entrusted to carry messages from the Hopi people to other parts of the world.

    Few have been issued and the man most well-known for having used one for decades to travel internationally died in 1999, said Leigh Kuwanwisiwma, director of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office.

    Preston knows of only one man who still has a so-called Hopi passport. But Preston said he's not physically able to travel anymore, and Kuwanwisiwma doubts access to other countries would be granted given increased security measures.

    "That's the reality of today's situation where the tribes continue to be dealt with on this relegated status and subject to the power of the United States government," Kuwanwisiwma said.

  2. #2
    Senior Member nomas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    NC and Canada. Got a foot in both worlds
    Posts
    3,773
    The Iroquois, whose members mostly live in New York, Ontario and Quebec, along with the Hopi and Western Shoshone are among the few American Indian nations in which members have had a form of their own passports.
    I've been waiting for this to come to light, there are a lot of things I never knew about my heritage until I moved to Canada. I have both passports, one from the Tribe and one from the US. If I cross at Cornwall, I can get by with the tribal passport "cause this is a mostly Indian crossing. But if I cross by Niagara Falls the only one accepted is the US one.
    [/quote]

  3. #3
    Senior Member sarum's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Posts
    1,370
    Nation within a nation? Fully autonomous nation? If the tribes with land contiguous to our borders have this granted through legislation - OMG!
    Restitution to Displaced Citizens First!

  4. #4
    Senior Member USPatriot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    SW Florida
    Posts
    3,827
    I believe in autonomy for our Indian Nations however now that ID theft is soaring it is best everyone living within the borders of the USA,even the sovereign Indian Nations,must have protected Identification.It is a sad reality resulting from the 9/11 attacks and the Illegal Alien ID theft/invasion.
    "A Government big enough to give you everything you want,is strong enough to take everything you have"* Thomas Jefferson

  5. #5
    Senior Member nomas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    NC and Canada. Got a foot in both worlds
    Posts
    3,773
    Quote Originally Posted by USPatriot
    I believe in autonomy for our Indian Nations however now that ID theft is soaring it is best everyone living within the borders of the USA,even the sovereign Indian Nations,must have protected Identification.It is a sad reality resulting from the 9/11 attacks and the Illegal Alien ID theft/invasion.
    I can't begin to tell you how right you are on the ID theft! I work with race horses, and there are so many illegals that work on the backstretch. I have been approached time and time again about letting one of them "borrow" my Status Card! I have been questioned on how they can go about getting one, I explain if you can PROVE you are at least 50% Native you are entitled to one but it comes from the TRIBE. YOU HAVE TO BE RECOGNIZED BY THE TRIBE.

    The Canadian Government does play a role in this if you were NOT born on a Rez. They go thru your family tree, and they go back FIVE Generations. They require all kinds of family documentation.

    These illegals want to start cranking out fake Indian Status Cards up here. It is a form of ID, but not as much as it used to be. I can't use just that to cross anymore, it used to be accepted at any crossing into Canada or the US... but not anymore.

  6. #6
    Senior Member elpasoborn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Posts
    855
    NOMAS....are you saying that Mexican illegals are attempting to get a fake Indian ID?

  7. #7
    Senior Member nomas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    NC and Canada. Got a foot in both worlds
    Posts
    3,773
    You betcha! I have been offered money, one guy said "well you can just tell them you lost yours and get a new one".I completely blew up at him!

    I went thru so much to get mine. My Dad was born on the Rez in Quebec (Kahnawake), but he became an American citizen after serving in the US Navy during WWII. And in all honesty he never looked back, he married an American born Mohawk (Akwesasne or St Regis as it's known in NY). Neither of my parents were particularly proud of being Indian, it was almost a stigma in their generation. My brothers and I were raised knowing we were Indian, but we knew nothing of being Indian.

    It wasn't until I married a Canadian that I immersed myself ( literally, I went to a Mohawk Immersion School at Six Nations) in my heritage. But getting my Status Card took over 2 years! I had to provide the Gov't with all kinds of stuff, my Dad never registered his children with the Tribe, and his Status had lapsed by many years...LOL! By the time it was all said and done they went back FIVE Generations!

    After all of that, do you think I'd sell my heritage? NOT A CHANCE! They are trying desperately to convince me that we are one people, and to that my reply has been... Mexico treats Indigneous People like Crap, yet you want to come here and play that card? Bug off... ( this is mild language compared to what I used with him, we were in a barn afterall)

  8. #8
    Senior Member elpasoborn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Posts
    855
    That is disgusting and despicable. Just more proof that Mexicans will try to turn ANYTHING into a scam for themselves.

    Out of curiosity, what do Native Americans say about illegals and specifically Mexican illegals? I don't think I've ever seen much of anything about the opinions of Native Americans when it comes to this kind of issue.

  9. #9
    Senior Member nomas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    NC and Canada. Got a foot in both worlds
    Posts
    3,773
    There are two camps on the illegal situation. THIS Indian is totally against any kind of illegal immigration. I jumped thru hoops to become a landed immigrant in Canada, I went thru Immigration though technically I shouldn't have had to. But I would have been totally dependant on my husband for the 2 years+ it took to get my Status.

    Most of the Elders are against it too. I know they (illegals) came to the cigarette factory located at Akwesasne (NY) looking for work, they got chased out PRONTO! They were chased right off of the Rez by the Tribal Police.

    SOME of the younger generation are buying into that "we are one people". Some are just plain making money off the drug pushers, and those ones don't give a hoot how they get the money. You have to understand, on any Rez there are the "haves and the have nots", so easy money will always be a lure. These are pretty much the same ones who "get" people across the border or smuggle cigarettes across into Canada. There is a lot of easy money in it, and depending on WHO catches you sometimes not so much risk.

    I have reported the fact that I was approached about my card to my Tribal Police, my Elders and people with the Ont. Jockey Club. Personally I would love to see them go after all the illegals on the backstretch. Both here and in the US. I go nowhere alone on the backstretch in the US.

  10. #10
    Senior Member elpasoborn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Posts
    855
    I can believe that about the "younger" generation. I've seen those things with Alaskan natives.
    Good that the Rez police saw fit to chase the illegals off the Rez. They'd better continue to do it or before they know it, the Mexican illegals will take over. I don't get the "we are one people" concept. They aren't ONE people.
    Mexican Indians were not and are not the same as American Indians and I'm sure also not the same as Canadian Indians. The only thing that is "one" is the term "native". As a matter of fact...didn't American Indians always refer to all people as "human beings"?

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •