Tag Archives: Poospatuck

Poospatuck attacked by NY state

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Poospatuck attacked by NY state

Here are the emails that someone sent along to us. Nia:wen. Kahentinetha
Email can be sent to Gov. Pataki at
http://161.11.3.75 there’s a webform to email him
Email Eliot Spitzer via Webform at
http://www.oag.state.ny.us/online_forms/email_ag.jsp Prez Bush at president@whitehouse.gov, Vice Prez Cheney vicepresident@whitehouse.gov
Once again, New York State is knocking Indigenous nations to our knees by killing our economy. Protest by going on their website. Giving them a piece of your mind would help. Their constant bashing has got to stop. cc me your comments. Nia:wen – Kahentinetha
Kahentinetha Horn
P.O. Box 966, Akwesasne (New York 13655
Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com

MNN.Dec. 8, 2005.

Mr. George W. Bush
President, United States
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D.C.

Mr. George Pataki , Governor, New York State
The Capitol, Albany, N.Y. 12224

Mr. Elliott Spitzer
New York State Attorney General
The Capitol, Albany, N.Y. 12224

She:kon

It has come to our attention that the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance started on December 8th to place an illegal and unconstitutional embargo on businesses conducted by Indian nations. It is a blatant attempt to economically strangle our economy. You are criminalizing customers who purchase products from us by threatening to prosecute, jail, fine and seize their cars. Even internet and mail order sales have been criminalized. This is a small remaining part of our economy that survived your appropriation of the land and resources that sustained our ancestors from time immemorial.

Throughout the territory claimed by New York State, Indigenous people are governed by our constitution, the Kaianereh?ko:wa/Great Law of Peace. As a Woman Title Holder, it is my duty to inform you that you are violating the Two Row Wampum Agreement, which governs our relationship. You have no jurisdiction over Indigenous people. All of New York State is unsurrendered Indigenous land. According to our constitution, we can only deal with the President of the United States as set out in the U.S. Constitution.

New York State is not only breaching the two constitutions by invading our jurisdiction, but they are attacking our economy. Your embargo is meant to strangle our nation economically in order to topple our government. According to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, all Peoples have a right to freely assure their economic, social and cultural development. This obvious attempt to strangle us economically is a violation of the duty to promote international cooperation between nations. It?s an attempt to stop the creation of equal opportunities for employment and economic development for our people. It?s interfering with our social security and represents a new variation on the ongoing attempt to commit cultural, social and economic genocide.

Because of the economic stranglehold that the colonial states exercised over our people, cigarette manufacturing has become the largest employer of our people on our territories. No attempts have been made to negotiate alternate economic arrangements with our traditional constitutional governments. We have a right to conduct tax free commercial enterprises. Your attempt to stop people from buying products on our territories makes it obvious that you do not want to accord us the same rights that you assume you have on territories you claim to govern. Moreover, you are occupying our land for which you have not paid us any taxes whatsoever for your use of our land and resources. Whatever makes you think that we do not have the same right as anyone else to support our families?

You are the visitors on our land who stole everything from us. You impoverished us. Now you want to kill our means of livelihood. Everyone has a right make a living – individuals, states, nations. So do we, internationally and locally.

The Haudenosaunee and New York State have no treaty. A ?treaty? is ?a compact made between two or more ?independent? nations. New York State is not a nation. It cannot conclude treaties with Indigenous nations nor invade our jurisdiction. If you want to alter current relations you should send an emissary to our constitutional governments through the President of the United States. Your attempt to impose your will by force is a violation of international law and a throwback to the old days of colonialism and piracy. Only the President of the United can deal with us. Even in this case, a neutral arbitrator agreeable to both parties must help with the negotiations between us and the United States. Using the police and courts of the usurping party to threaten the other party is not legal.

We have never submitted to American sovereignty. According to the U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, Paragraph 1, our relationship is nation-to-nation. The Poospatuck Nation is one of our allied nations whom we have agreed to protect under our Constitution of the Haudenosaunee. It is not legal for New York State to deal in anyway with the Poospatuck Nation of Long Island. New York State cannot invade this nation?s jurisdiction. There are no agreements with the United States for the Poospatuck to submit themselves to the jurisdiction of any foreign government such as the United States, or to any federal, state or local government without our participation and consent. The Poospatuck cannot gain federal law recognition without our permission.

In 1918, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson spoke for the world when he declared that the era of conquest and aggrandizement was gone. Everybody realized that you can?t have peace so long as strong nations continued to force their will on smaller ones. Not content to have driven us to the bottom rungs of the economy, you are continuing to search for new ways to squeeze the last drop of life blood from us.

New York State is an invading colonial society which is located on unsurrendered Indigenous land. New York State is committing a crime when it coerces customers to pay them taxes for purchasing cigarettes, tobacco, gas or any product from Indigenous nations. New York State is illegally invading the sovereign jurisdiction of the Poospatuck Nation who never gave their informed consent to give up their land, sovereignty and tax free rights.

Your illegal imposition of taxes to attack our economic base, to end our custodial responsibility for our land, to limit our rights in all the communities of the friends and allies of the Kanion?ke:haka/Mohawk Nation, to extend New York State and federal jurisdiction over us, or to otherwise compromise our inherent sovereignty is a crime.

Onen

/s/_______________
Kahentinetha Horn

cc. UN Office of High Commission for Human Rights, UN Plaza, S.2914, New York 10017; St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, Route 37, Akwesasne (NYS) 13655; Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, P.O. Box 579, Cornwall, Ont. Canada K6H 5V5; Kanion?ke:haka Kaianereh?ko:wa Kanon?ses:neh; Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington DC; Ganiengeh Mohawk Territory; Haudenosaunee On-Line.
poster: Thahoketoteh