ROTINO’SHONNI:ONWE JUSTICE SYSTEM
Mohawk Nation News
http://www.mohawknationnews.comMNN. Nov. 7, 2009. Colonial tyrants are always trying to undermine any nation and peoples who assert inherent sovereignty. They refuse to resolve differences by peaceful and lawful means. Where do we go for protection and intervention? We don’t have military might. We can and must defend our ideas on how we are equal and each has a voice.
Kaianereh’ko:wa provides a formula for peace. Our way is about how we use our mind. We balance out the easy and the difficult, and sort out the real from the make-believe. Stretching our consciousness physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually takes vigilance. [Mann, Barbara Alice. Iroquoian Women, the Gantowisas. Peter Lang. NY. 2000]. Questioning and asking for proof is the basis of our thinking.
We look for an extended meaning to everything. This is almost impossible in a corrupt bureaucracy of privilege, empty rhetoric, tyranny and a system based on military might.
We carry out rightness and fairness with the advice, guidance and wisdom of the people as a whole, keeping in mind the continuity of the genealogical information, history, traditions and values of our people.
We are all legal advocates of peace and morality. In our way the people decide the suitable fate of the accused.
Victims put the case before the people. The families of the accused participate. It is investigated. The accused are heard before the Council fires of the men and women of their clan, the Council of their nation, as well as the Council of the Confederacy. Should a clan feel unable to deal with an issue, they may pass the issue to other clans.
Depending on the issue, the Six Nations Confederacy serves as a forum of appeal from individual and community issues that cannot be resolved at the community level.
A decision is made. Decisions have to be justified, rational and follow the criteria and process of the Kaianereh’ko:wa.
The accused have to answer to the people, their victims and their own families. Depending on the offense, the perpetrators are not jailed or could be banished. The families of the accused are held responsible for the damage they have caused. They help to compensate the injured. The defendant loses their voice only after a final decision.
The four principles of Indigenous conduct are: first is natural law; second is truth as the highest point of being and justice when truth is applied to all matters; third is applying respect to all matters; and fourth is liberty and peace based on the first three principles.
Those who do not follow the Kaianerehkowa have consciously converted to a foreign dogma, like the Camel Toe Treaty cult at Akwesasne or the band/tribal council system. They do not respect the Rotinoshonni:onwe as their political allegiance is to a foreign entity. [Wampum 58]. As aliens, they should be turned over to the colonial system. When Rotinol’shonni:onwe stray from the herd, it is only a matter of time before they are consumed by their colonial predators.
The Kaianereh’ko:wa is scientific, based on our understanding of the natural world. Fascist rules are not legal or natural! They are created by a few to enslave the rest and steal or control all the resources. When people adhere to man-made doctrines based on greed and on illusions that cannot be proven, they are submitting to dishonesty, slavery or death.
We must weigh all the objective realities and collectively become of one mind. [Splitting-the-Sky. Nov. 7, 2009]. We have to stay true to our roots or we will be driven off the path. Unfortunately many of our people have turned their backs on us and given up the struggle for our land which we hold for the future generations. They grab at the pie in the sky instead of remaining true to the Kaianereh’ko:wa.
We have to use the criteria of peace, righteousness and power, to get the full picture. Especially we must listen to those we know and trust, who have extensive experience and who are or have been on the front lines. That's how we stay out of the colonial wilderness.
We should be suspicious of strangers or dogmas asserted without proof that suddenly appear in our midst and offer false hope. They’ll say everything we want to hear and then they’ll stick it to us. They pose as Mohawks but usually answer to some foreign intel agency. These serpents in the grass are among us to divert, confuse and gather information.
Kahentinetha MNN Mohawk Nation News,
www.mohawknationnews.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com Note: Your financial help is needed and appreciated. Please send your donations by check or money order to “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Or go to PayPal on MNN website. Nia:wen thank you very much. Go to MNN CULTURE category for more stories; New MNN Books Available now!
Thanks to Lise Balk King of Native Voice for sharing her great photos. 