Mike Myers: Historic ties between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Sioux Nation


The flag of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy flies at a #NoDAPL rally in Washington, D.C., on August 24, 2016. Photo by Indianz.Com

In light of the #NoDAPL resistance movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline, Mike Myers (Seneca Nation) of the Network for Native Futures is exploring the historic, treaty relationship between the Haudenosaunee people and the Sioux Nation. Here is his second installment:
After we arrived home we had to report to Grand Council and our respective national councils on all that we had seen and been a part of while we were assisting the Lakota. I had the opportunity to recount my encounter with the elder at Rosebud and ask if we knew about this and what was our understanding of this piece of history.

For a few months no one seemed to remember this piece of history until we were having a discussion with Oneida elder Dennison Elijah. He listened intently and then said to us, “I think I remember something about this.”

He went on to tell us, “This happened at the time we were bringing the Great Peace to the other nations. As I remember it we encountered those people out past the Mississippi.”

“When we met them they were led by a man who carried a spear. So when our people began telling them about the Great Peace he held that spear out in front of him and our speaker laid each wampum string on it as he finished the words.”

“When they had finished the message that man shook his spear and threw the wampum on to the ground. He told our people, ‘This spear is what we believe in, not those words!’”

Read More:
Mike Myers: The Ties That Bind, Part 2: The Story of a Oceti Sakowin and Haudenosaunee Treaty (Indian Country Today 9/7)

Relevant Documents:
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's Emergency Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order | Declaration of Tim Mentz, Sr. | Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe's Emergency Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Response | Dakota Access Response

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