Mid-Hudson Group highlights treaty with Onondaga Nation
The Mid-Hudson Group joined over 80 other community organizations, social justice groups, faith communities, educational institutions and environmental groups as co-sponsors for the Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign—a partnership between the Onondaga Nation (of the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy) and its neighbors.
The educational campaign marks the 400th anniversary of the Two Row Treaty. The treaty, signed in 1613, is understood by the Haudenosaunee to be the foundation of all subsequent treaties. It describes the Haudenosaunee and the Europeans as traveling down the river of life in different vessels, of living in parallel forever, living on and caring for the same land, respecting one another’s sovereignty, and both agreeing not to interfere in the affairs of the other, nor to damage our shared environment, such as by hydrofracking.
For centuries the Haudenosaunee have observed this treaty. The celebration of the 400th anniversary involves working to build public support for the U.S. government and its people to uphold its side of the agreement. The ultimate aim is to achieve social and economic justice for the Haudenosaunee as well as environmental justice for New Yorkers. Environmental cleanup and preservation is a core component of the campaign.
This month, Haudenosaunee and other native people symbolically reenacted the treaty by paddling down the Hudson River, side-by-side with allies, from Albany to NYC, arriving for the UN’s International Day of Indigenous Peoples). Our Group invited members to support the Treaty and participate in the enactment, and festivities.
Joanne Steele, Chair, Mid-Hudson Group