Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

February 8, 2013

Mohawk Nation News 'International Treaties'


INTERNATIONAL TREATIES

mnnlogo1INTERNATIONAL TREATIES 
MNN.  Feb. 8, 2013. We Onkwehonwe are the keepers of the law of peace here on Great Turtle Island. Any valid treaty must have have the principles of the Two Row for all North and South America. The law of the land is Kaianereh’ko:wa. 
1701 Great Peace of Montreal, only valid treaty, rooted in law of the land.
1701 Great Peace of Montreal, only valid treaty, rooted in law of the land.
The Indigenous have treaty-making powers.  The Iroquois call the Two Row Wampum the “Guswentha, which means “Two Roads”, defining the relationship between two sovereigns. It is recorded on a belt made of wampums. 
Two Row. Root of international treaty on Great Turtle Island.
Two Row. Root of international treaty on Great Turtle Island.
The First Iroquois Treaty with a European nation was in 1606 with the Dutch. They called it a “Peace and Friendship” and “Trade and Commerce” treaty, to allow them to trade in our Territory. Similar treaties were made with Great Britain, France, the Thirteen Colonies, and eventually the United States.  These are the “Covenant Chain” treaties. Treaties on behalf of the settlers were made with the Crown. 
The Two Row concept is the basis of the principle of non-interference in international law. Valid international treaties are rooted in the natural law of the land. If not so rooted, they  apply only on the seas. 
Never shall the 2 vessels cross paths.
Never shall the 2 vessels cross paths on the river of life.
The canoe of the Indigenous and sailing vessel of the Europeans travel side by side on the river of life. Each boat symbolically contains their people, language, forms of government, laws, culture, traditions and ceremonies. In the Indigenous canoe are all the lands and resources that the Great Natural Power vested in the Ongwehonwe. The parties agree to not interfere or make war with the other, forever. 
No one can legally put “one foot in the canoe and the other in the Vessel”.  We would be stranded or perish should a storm suddenly arise and the vessels separate. We can only follow one jurisdiction, one law. Otherwise our people will be in  great peril. 
The Two Row is embodied in the Great Peace in the following articles: 
Wampum #78: Whenever a foreign nation enters the League or accepts the Great Peace, the Rotinonshonni’onwe [Iroquois] and the foreign nation enter into an agreement by which the foreign nation persuades other nations to accept the Great Peace. 
Wampum #83: When peace is established by the termination of the war, then the Great Peace comes. 
Wampum #84: Whenever a foreign nation has been conquered or has accepted the Great Peace, their own system of internal government may continue in the territories we have provided for them. They must cease all warfare against other nations. Ceremonies are protected.  
Wampum #87: When the war of the Rotinonshonni’onwe on a foreign nation is ended, peace is restored to that nation.  When all terms of peace have been agreed upon, a state of friendship is established. 
Wampum #97: Before the Great Peace, each nation had its own Council Fire. The Fires  continue as before and they are not quenched. 
Wampum #99: The rites and festivals of each nation remain undisturbed and continue as before. The people of old times retained them as useful and necessary for the good of the people. 
As Morpheus said when talking to Neo the first time in the Matrix: “… most people are not ready to be unplugged and many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependant on the system, that they will fight to protect it”. Anyone still plugged into the system can become an agent of the system at anytime. Use your own mind. Follow the natural law of the land. 
"I will return to you in stone".
“I will return to you in stone”.
As John Trudell sang: “We hear what you say. One Earth, one Mother. One does not sell the earth the people walk upon. We are the land. How do we sell our mother? How do we sell the stars? How do we sell the air? Crazy Horse, we hear what you say.”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku8ga-krBe4
MNN Mohawk Nation News kahentinetha2@yahoo.com  For more news, books, workshops, to donate and sign up for MNN newsletters, go towww.mohawknationnews.com  More stories at MNN Archives.  Address:  Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0

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