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Canada's Forgotten Founders: The Modern Signifance of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Application for Membership in the League of Nations

Most Canadians do not understand the reasons for the land reclamation at the Douglas Creek Estates site by members of Six Nations near Caledonia, on the Haldimand Tract. The following article by Grace Li Xiu Woo -- which originally appeared in the electronic law journal Law, Social Justice & Global Development in April 2003 -- is enlightening and a definite 'must read' for anyone wishing to learn about this issue and comprehend its complex realities.

It is a résumé of research conducted for a Masters in International Law at the University of Quebec in Montreal. It documents the history of the Six Nations with Britain and Canada. This article is dynamite. It shows the total 'justness' of the cause of the Six Nations and the filthy role played by Indian Affairs. It has several pages of endnotes and references at the end to validate her research. If anyone reads this they will understand why the people at the site keep saying; sit down at the table, we'll bring our documents, the federal government can bring theirs. As Ms. Woo points out in her paper: "Yet, the perspective of the colonised is confirmed by the coloniser's archival records."

Her conclusion raises the issue that had the Six Nations' application for membership in the League of Nations been considered and the people's traditional means of goverance been given respect, we may be living in a different world where differences are resolved peacefully. Please take the time to read it.

Abstract

In the 1920's the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, also known as the Iroquois Six Nations from Grand River Ontario, applied for membership in the League of Nations. They maintained that they were independent allies, not subjects, of Britain. In their view, Canada's Department of Indian Affairs was exceeding its jurisdiction under section.91(24) of the British North America Act when it tried to enforce its laws on their territory and the use of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police against them was an invasion. The international response to this incident set a significant precedent whose effects are felt to this day in the complaints of unrepresented peoples at the United Nations and in the constitutional dilemmas confronted by Canada concerning the political status of Aboriginal nations. This paper suggests that the final colonisation of the Haudenosaunee was the product of a malfunction during the decolonisation of Canada. Procedural decision-making was shielded from public scrutiny and left in the control of unelected officials, both within the British Empire and at the League. As a consequence, Duncan Campbell Scott, the Deputy-Superintendent of Indian Affairs whose policies were at issue, was able to manipulate elected representatives and avoid public accountability. The Haudenosaunee were never given an opportunity to formally present their case or to respond to Scott's allegations that were put forward as the official Canadian position. This left Scott free to depose their traditional government without raising the suspicions of a bewildered and misinformed public. The experience of the Six Nations Haudenosaunee impugns the integrity of the historical process through which Canada was defined as a modern state and raises serious questions concerning the need for reform, both internally, and at the international level.

'England conquered half the world in successive fits of absence of mind.'
Sir John Seeley, Professor of History
Cambridge University 1869 - 1895
- Dawson (1937: 196) -

1. Introduction

Countries like Canada that are a product of the colonial process, are faced with a paradox. We have been attempting to reorient our laws to accord with modern equality rights without bothering to reevaluate the way our history was constructed during the age of imperial expansion and aggression. This paper seeks to address some of the resulting ambiguity by raising awareness of one pivotal event. Though omitted from most accounts of the 20th century, it deserves a prominent place in our collective memory, not only because of the light it casts on the development of Canada's national identity, but also because it provides a key to understanding why success eludes our well-meaning attempts to achieve both international peace and a solution for complex Indigenous rights issues.

In 1923 the Haudenosaunee Confederacy applied for membership in the League of Nations1 . Better known to the English as the 'Iroquois Six Nations of Grand River' (now in Ontario), they were driven to take this initiative out of exasperation with the intrusive policies of Canada's Department of Indian Affairs. The Netherlands, Persia, Panama, Estonia and the Republic of Ireland all supported formal consideration of their application - or at least of the issue of whether or not it was receivable. However, Canadian officials did not want their actions subjected to external review. They were already facing court action for losing over CAD160, 000 of Six Nations trust funds through unauthorized investments2 and they had difficulty finding the evidence they needed to defend the legality of their policies, so they played on popular stereotypes to ridicule the Haudenosaunee claims. Through these means, they were able to engage the intervention of Britain, which was also potentially liable for financial mismanagement . The international dominance enjoyed by the British Empire at that time gave it the power needed to pressure Haudenosaunee supporters and prevent formal presentation of the evidence and legal arguments that favoured their claims. As a result, both the Canadian public and the international community were excluded from the decision-making process and this influential Indigenous confederation was denied the opportunity to participate in world affairs on parity with other nations.
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Read rest of this article here.

Tags for this entry: British Empire, Canada, Haudenosaunee.

posted by Annamarie at 8:07 PM