Two Row Wampum canoe journey ends in New York City
By Glenn CoinThe cornerstone event of the Two Row Wampum Campaign commemoration, a 145-mile canoe trip down the Hudson River, ended today in New York City.
About 100 paddlers arrived at Pier 96, which is at 57th Street, said Andy Mager, one of the organizers.
"They paddled against quite a strong current to arrive in New York to a cheering crowd of 500 to 700 people," he said. After a "spirited march" across Manhattan, he said, about 150 people arrived at the United Nations building to celebrate the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples.
The Two Row campaign marks the 400th anniversary of an agreement between Dutch settlers and the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, people. The wampum, or belt, depicts two parallel rows of beads signifying that the two peoples would co-exist together and not interfere in each other's affairs.Onondaga Leader Oren Lyons, Pete Seeger on International Day of the World’s Indigenous PeoplesHundreds of Native Americans and their allies arrive in New York City today after paddling more than a hundred miles down the Hudson River to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first treaty between Native Americans and the Europeans who traveled here. The event is part of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, first proclaimed by the United Nations 20 years ago. We speak with Oren Lyons, faithkeeper of the Onondaga Nation who helped establish the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Peoples in 1982. "We’re concerned about the future, we’re concerned about the Earth—seven generations hence—and the conduct of people," Oren says. "We wonder, how do you instruct seven billion people as to the relationship to the Earth? Because unless they understand that, and relate the way they should be, the future is pretty dim for the human species." We are also joined by one of their supporters, Pete Seeger, the legendary folk singer, banjo player, storyteller, and activist; and by Andy Mager, project coordinator for the Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign and a member of Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation.Comment: For more on the
Haudenosaunee, see
The Honouring and The Road and
Iroquois Nationals Defeat USA.
Below: "Dutch Consul-General Rob de Vos accepts a peace pipe today made by Haudenosaunne craftsmen from Onondaga Nation Faithkeeper Oren Lyons. The event marked the end of the Two Row Wampum campaign paddle down the Hudson River." (Lindsay Speer)
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For more on the subject, see:
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/08/the-iroquois-are-not-giving-up/278787/
The Iroquois Are Not Giving Up
Confronted with a string of unfavorable court rulings, the Confederacy staged a 13-day demonstration to kickstart a social movement.
The history of Native Americans is still alive and ongoing, and the Iroquois Confederacy, or Haudenosaunee, wants you to remember that. On Friday, August 9 th, their chiefs met with the Dutch Consul General on the 57th Street Pier in Manhattan to honor the 400th Anniversary of their 1613 treaty with the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the culmination of a thirteen-day paddle down the Hudson River, with daily stops where tribe members and supporters held cultural events and lectures, and invited locals to listen to traditional music and dance. The goal: not just to raise consciousness over land rights--suits for which have been uniformly unsuccessful in recent years--but to build support for enforcing treaties between natives and settlers for the purposes of environmental conservation, as well.
"It brings to the public's attention that we have operated on a nation-to-nation level with our European brothers and sisters for four hundred years," said Tonya Gonella Frichner, founder of the American Indian Law Alliance. "It's about extending a hand of friendship to the Netherlands, to all of the member nations of the UN, and to our neighbors."
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