On May 13, 1974 at 4:00 p.m., the vanguard of the Mohawk Nation with the help of traditionals from other Indian nations moved back to the ancient Ganienkeh, lost by fraud almost 200 years ago. The seekers of justice hope to repossess as much of this lost land as possible. Permanent representatives of world nations to the UNITED NATIONS were alerted to the North American Indian move. The action is consistent with human rights as guaranteed by the UNITED NATIONS. Both the State and Federal governments decided to take no action against the Indians as they occupied the Moss Lake area. (Adirondack Park with its 6 million acres is part of the Ganienkeh Territory.) Obviously, the United States expects the Indian action to fall from lack of support.

American Indians everywhere are arising. They are called "militants". A militant is one who is ready and willing to fight. They are fighting for their rights. Many Indians have no wishes to fight for any reason. They do not think they have rights. The natural feeling of having rights was browbeaten out of them. They think only white people have rights. They've been given to understand they are inferior people born to be deprived of their possessions - land, freedom and even their souls. The psychological warfare further reduced the oppressed Red men, herded into reservations which the white man calls "land put aside for future use". Ominous statement. Since the white man calls the Reserves "Crown land" or "Government land", it means that in the white man's opinion, the Indians have no land of their own. Under this oppression, deprivation, racism, discrimination and persecution, the human personality breaks down. Many Indians in reserves or cities live in the advanced stage of poverty and wretchedness. They have no hopes for the future. They have no confidence or faith in humanity. The militant traditional Indians call them "destroyed Indians".

To forget their sorry existence they indulge in alcohol and drugs. Many commit suicide. Many Indian personalities are so broken down they commit treason and espionage against their own people. Renegade Indians are helping to oppress their own people. Traitors run rampant in the land and life of the Red man.

Out of this chaos arose a new breed of American Indians - the militant traditionals. Though militancy is usually associated with the young, the American Indian militants have elderly people within their ranks. Some are very old and wish to see justice, restitutions and restorations for the Red race before they pass on to "the spirit world". The militant traditionals are ready and willing to fight for their right to live according to their customs and traditions.

What are these rights? The most basic right of all is the right to live. In the first 20 years of the white man's advent in America, more than 12 million American Indians were slaughtered (from the records of the Conquistadors). Every one has the right to a nationality. This means that all nations have the right to exist. Canada in 1890 legislated Indian nations out of existence when they established the Indian Act. It's illegal since they did not consult the Indians, who did not know that a nation must make its own law. If a nation accepts a law made by a foreign nation it denationalizes and joins the foreign nation. International law says that if an American Citizen votes in Canada's elections he loses his United States citizenship and becomes a Canadian citizen and British subject.

Indians not knowing international law accepted Canada's Indian Act and the United States Federal Indian Law and so became Canadian or United States citizens, without really becoming so, as they became citizens in a discriminatory sense. All it did was to make Indians lose their nationhood and nationality. They became 3rd class citizens without the benefits, rights and protection of the first and second class citizens. This is the biggest objection to the Indian Act among the knowledgeable white people. It created Indian citizens without any rights. In accepting the Indian Act, the Indian nations were degraded to the "band" status, which is a state lower than even the tribe which at least has its own laws made by itself. In the United States the Indian nations were reduced to the tribe status.

Before Indians accepted these foreign made laws, they were recognized as nations. The Six Nations Confederacy did not accept the Indian Act or the United States Federal Indian Law, and so retained their nationhood. No nation has the right to reduce another nation to the band or tribe status by a trick. Indians have every right to denounce the action. Indians have the right to declare and reaffirm their nationhood. But they must reorganize.

RULES FOR NATIONHOOD. Tribes get together and coalesce into a nation. For example, the Ganienkehaga Nation (Mohawk) is comprised of nine tribes organized into three Clans. There is a Royaner ("Chief") and a Clan Mother for each tribe and all the Rotiyaner (plural for "Chief") are equal in power. There is no king, prime minister, Grand Chief or President. These single individual leadership only affords the occasion for error and corruption. The Mohawk Nation is one of the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy. The nation must make its own law. International law (provisions adopted from the Iroquois Constitution - Gayanerekowa - disqualifies a member or even whole nations from nationhood if they vote in the elections of another nation, or if they accept the national law of another nation. Therefore, a member of a nation must not vote in the elections of another nation because in the act of casting the ballot, he joins that nation. That is what happened to Indians. They voted in elections (Band Council) legislated by another nation, and so joined the Canadian or United States nations in a third class, discriminated, deprived and oppressed citizenship.

The Iroquois Confederacy is the first true nation, a people's government with the world's first national constitution - Gayanerekowa or the Great Law - which is available for study at the Akwesasne Notes. It's the Red man's own. The way to peace and happiness as Deganawida envisioned it. A Huron, he founded the Kanonsonnionwe (Mohawk word for the Six Nations Confederacy), a Union of Indian Nations. He wanted all Indian nations to be members of the Confederacy, which experts of nationhood believe to be the greatest of all political institutions.

Indian nations working to reorganize, cannot go wrong to adopt principles from Gayanerekowa. No one may accuse them of borrowing from the white man, who borrowed from Gayanerekowa for his United States Constitution, League of Nations and the United Nations. All the human rights and freedoms enjoyed by the people of the world today, they may thank the great Peacemaker, Deganawida, a North American Indian.

Seventy four native nations of this world have regained their lands and governments and now control their own destinies. The United States restored Okinawa to Japan. America is a huge land and the Indians should work towards restoration of parts of it where they may reorganize their own traditional governments and society. The government and economic system imposed on Indian reserves by the white people has been a failure. The Indian Reserve political system soon degenerated into corruption. GANIENKEH plans to establish cooperative communities of various traditional Indian nations, self supporting and financially independent, no small benefit to both white people and Indians. The cooperative community system eliminates poverty which alone improves life expectancy and Indians finding themselves on their feet and doing things for themselves shall be greatly rehabilitated. The incidence of destroyed Indian people would be greatly reduced. So many Indians are unable to find employment in cities or on their own reserves and have to go on welfare relief and are called "welfare bums". The governments begrudge the Indians this service and complain of the drain on their economy.

The GANIENKEH INDIAN PROJECT planners realize that the foremost need of the people is to return to the cooperative system of their ancestors. The way to peace and harmony is through cooperation instead of competition which breeds tensions, panic, strife, frenzy, hate and bigotry. It features exploitation and oppression of the people. A study of existing and thriving cooperative communities is very revealing. By implementing this system which eliminates poverty, a situation will be created which insures the peace and happiness of the people. Being members of their own cooperative community will make a big change in the lives of Indians. To ensure complete success, some assistance and support is necessary during the early months in the form of food, materials and people. Any and all contributions, donations and publicity given this great North American Indian project shall be greatly appreciated by all engaged in this timely endeavor.