(Letterhead of the Haudenosaunee - Onondaga Nation)
(Hemlock Rd. - Box 319B - Via Nedrow, N.Y. 13120)
Press Release
For Immediate Release July 2, 1994
ONONDAGA NATION BANISHES THREE LAW VIOLATORS
Council of Chiefs offers cooperation to state officials
Onondaga Nation-In a democratic process more ancient than the
U.S. Bill of Rights, the Council of Chiefs on the Onondaga
Nation banished three members of the Nation for gross
violation of Indian laws, and for jeopardizing the Nation's
working relationships with County and New York State
officials.
The three defiant would-be business owners: Kenneth
Papineau, Veronica Beckman, proprietors of Smoke Signals,
and, Oliver Hill, Jr., of OR's Fuel; were formally stripped
of their membership or citizenship of the Nation. Their
rights, property and protection under the ancient
Haudenosaunee ( Iroquois ) Law of Onondaga territory are gone
forever. They have been permanently severed from their
community and families. Meanwhile, however, they have
stashed away millions of dollars in hidden funds without
being held accountable to the nation or to government
authorities. A fourth person, Donald Rockwell, of Drive In
Cigarettes, could not be found to be served and his
banishment proceedings remain pending.
Over the past six years the four have defied the Council
and the people of the Onondaga Nation by setting up
businesses on Indian land claiming exemption from Federal and
New York State laws and taxes. The four sought to avoid New
York State laws and taxes by hiding behind the Onondaga
National sovereignty. When the Council initiated the lengthy
Indian judicial process to impose discipline on these errant
members, the four responded with violence against Council
Chiefs and Clan mothers, destruction of Indian property,
defiance of tribal customs and authority, and numerous legal
actions-all to overturn the Onondaga traditional system of
rule.
The sovereign authority of the Onondaga to operate as a
nation stems form the Constitution of the Haudenosaunee
called the Gaiannenh sa go:nah, the Great law of Peace, circa
1,000 AD. The United States recognized their independent
national status in the Canandaigua Treaty of November 11,
1794, signed by President George Washington with the Onondaga
and their six neighboring nations composing the famed Six
Nation Iroquois Confederacy. Article 7 of this Treaty
provides the process for dealing with this issue. The
Confederacy and its customs and laws were cited as examples
of sophisticated governmental practices by Benjamin Franklin
during the early debates of the American Continental
Congress. The power of the Treaty has been upheld by Federal
and state courts, and laws for nearly two centuries. The
White House is planning a recognition of the bicentennial of
the Treaty this coming fall.
The centuries old practice of the Onondaga require
extensive face to face consultation, counseling, negotiation,
open discussion, fair notification, offers of reconciliation
and finally consensus of the whole community before taking
the extreme step of total banishment. Even parents and
members of their own families supported the Council of Chiefs
in its final action of removing the lawbreakers from their
midst.
Without the protection of Onondaga sovereignty Papineau,
Beckman, and Hill, fall into the hands of county, state and
federal criminal investigators who will be investigation
numerous violations of business, environmental, criminal, and
tax laws.
Federal and State law has long recognized the exemption
of Indian territory from taxation and has endorsed this
practice as a means of providing economic incentives for
development of environmentally compatible business and
industry on Native American lands. The business must be
operated according to recognized Indian customs and
authority, and profits are to be shared with whole Indian
community-a practice consistent with Native American culture.
In recent years, however, the possibility of enormous
profits from tax free sales of cigarettes, fuels and other
products, and from the opening of gambling casinos, has
created open rebellion by certain greedy Indians who are
willing to deny their own families and culture to make a fast
buck. With the Onondagas and their compatriots in the
Confederation, the decision to enter these businesses is
democratically decided by a consensus vote of the whole
Indian community. Unfortunately, unscrupulous politicians,
and "businessmen" with questionable connections, smelling the
possibility of new revenues get into the act and seek to make
deals with Indians willing to sell out their own people. The
Onondagas have watched with dismay as states exert great
leverage by using gaming compacts to breach Indian
sovereignty. Some native American groups have seen their
culture and social structure destroyed with the introduction
of casino gambling.
Governor Mario Cuomo, acting under his interpretation of
provisions of the federal Indian Gaming Act of 1986, has
sought to force Indian nations to enter into negotiations
with him to open casinos. He has stated that his intent is
to gain control over Indian life and the revenues from
gambling. In spite of his commitment to the diverse and
multicultural community of New York State, Cuomo seems eager
to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors by violating
Indian rights in pursuit of the almighty dollar-the same
dollar which bears the image of the signer of the Treaty of
1794.