Onondaga Nation Brings George Washington's Wampum Belt to Washington D.C.

Onondaga Nation seeks justice and honoring of treaties despite courts, Doctrine of Discovery

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On February 28, 2012, Onondaga Nation and other Haudenosaunee leaders will bring to Washington D.C. the wampum belt U.S. President George Washington commissioned for the Haudenosaunee to commemorate the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua.  They will use it to remind the American government and people of their treaty obligations, which have yet to find justice in the U.S. courts.  The Onondaga Nation will announce the appeal of their Land Rights Action to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.  A press conference with the wampum belt will be held at 9:30 am in the Murrow Room at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.   It will be webcast live at http://www.visualwebcaster.com/OnondagaNation. 

The Onondaga Nation's Land Rights Action was dismissed on October 23, 2010 by the Northern District of New York, citing the dismissals of the Oneida and Cayuga land claims, which in turn were based on the 2005 Sherrill v. Oneida Supreme Court decision. 

The Doctrine of Discovery was cited in the first footnote of the Sherrill decision.  The Doctrine of Discovery's lasting international impact will be investigated by the upcoming United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in May 2012.

The filings and other background material concerning the Land Rights Action – including affidavits and primary documents from prominent historians – is available at www.onondaganation.org.

It is hoped that by bringing the history to the attention of the public, healing and justice may be found.

WHO:  Onondaga Nation Tadodaho Sidney Hill, Faithkeeper Oren Lyons, Clanmother Freida Jacques, the Onondaga Nation's General Counsel Joseph Heath, Jeanne Shenandoah of the Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, and other Chiefs, Clanmothers, and Faithkeepers of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

WHEN:  9:30 AM Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

WHERE:   Murrow Room, National Press Club, Washington D.C.

VISUALS: Onondaga and other Haudenosaunee leaders in traditional dress, ceremonially displaying the original 1794 wampum belt commissioned by President George Washington.

The Onondaga Nation is one of the six nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy. Onondaga Nation survives as a sovereign, independent nation, living on a portion of its ancestral territory and maintaining its own distinct government, laws, language, customs, and culture. Today, the Onondaga Nation consists of a 7,300-acre territory just south of Syracuse, NY.

Contact:
Jeanne Shenandoah, Onondaga Nation Communications Office, 315-952-0467
Lindsay Speer, M+R Strategic Services, 315-383-7210, [email protected]

SOURCE Onondaga Nation