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Sovereign Proclamation

Proclaiming a Sovereign Holiday at Six Nations of Grand River 

October 25, 2024 

The Truths 

Whereas:  the Ǫgewhǫ:weh/Onkwehoweh and Haudenosaunee and their Sacred Clans settled on the Sacred Homelands of the Six Nations, along the Grand River,  in 1784, and was more than 83 years before Canada and her four provinces: (United Canada/Ontario; Quebec; New Brunswick; Nova Scotia), were born as a Country,  in 1867,  and, 

Whereas:  the Genesis of  the Ǫgewhǫ:weh/Onkwehoweh states we are Divine, and Descendants of Shǫgwayadisoh our Creator,  and having descended from the Universe as ‘Star People’ as Ǫgewhǫ:weh/Onkwehoweh, His Real Peoples, Ne: ne’ Ho:weyǫ, as he willed it and, 

Whereas: over millennia We as Ǫgewhǫ:weh/Onkwehoweh along with his love and guidance (Hodęnidaǫshra), We developed a highly sophisticated and far superior Ǫngwehǫ:wweh/Onkwehoweh Civilization of characteristics, traits and systems including:  Languages; Virtues and Ethics; forms of Governance; Earth Sciences; Philosophies;  Prophecies, Emotional Intelligence (EQ-i), Moral Compasses, Moral Imperatives, and Moral Authorities and, 

Whereas:  prior to contact, the Ǫgewhǫ:weh/Onkwehoweh prophesized we would suffer and would  have to endure European white privilege including; ridicule, religious persecution, physical suffering and shame including:   Linguicide and,  

Whereas:  King George III issued a Royal Proclamation on October 7, 1763, as a foundation to govern British Territories and  inspired core principles and values to govern the diplomatic relationships and treaties between all First Nations and the Crown and,  

Whereas: the Ǫgewhǫ:weh/Onkwehoweh and Haudenosaunee and other First Nations established the Covenant Chain Wampum to mark the lustre,  spirit, intent and sanctity of this relationship with the Crown and, 

Whereas:   for generations of British privilege that succeeded,  King George III,  were seen to tarnish the Lustre and Honour of the Crown and the Covenant Chain Wampum leading up to and after,  Confederation in 1867 and,  

Whereas: wherein in the Constitution Act of 1982, First Nations had to advocate and negotiate to be included in the Canadian Constitution,  in a tiny and brief, Section 25 of the Constitution Act,  and reminds Canada of the First Nations rights and freedoms as cited in the Royal Proclamation of 1763, and reminds Canada of its obligation to Honour and recognize the lustre, spirit, intent and sanctity of the Covenant Chain Wampum and,  

Whereas:  after contact, (and the subsequent Seven Years between the British and the French), we Ǫgewhǫ:weh/Onkwehoweh, became Allies and Pawns of the British Crown, in order  to take up arms and to push back,  the new American Colonists whose cry was  “no taxation without representation” during the American Revolution (1773-1783) and,  

Whereas: We had to endure the most racist piece of legislation in the world entitled: the ‘Indian Act’ that stripped us of all our inalienable Human, Linguistic and Civil Rights; Freedoms; and Liberties and,  

Whereas:  We endured the humiliation of uncivilized inhumane practices and procedures and enforcement of an ‘Indian Agent’ acting as a ‘Warden of the Crown’ on our Grand River Reserve, and,  

Whereas: We endured the religious persecution and ridicule of our Longhouse Spirituality and,  

Whereas:  We endured the attempt to educate and remove (abrogate and derogate) within the Spirit of the Ǫgewhǫ:weh/Onkwehoweh Peoples the: principles, rights, liberties and freedoms contained in the Gayęshra’ go:wah the Great Law and the Deyoha: ha: ge: -Two Row Wampum and,   

Whereas: We affirm that the architect of Indian Residential Schools was the  

First Prime Minister of Canada, Sir John A Macdonald on May 9, 1883, to eradicate Canada of its “Indian Problem’ and,  

Whereas: We recognize the attempts to take the’ Indian out of the child’,  characterized by the Crown and Duncan Campbell Scott, as  a ‘Crime against Humanity’ and as prophesied by the Ǫgewhǫ:weh/Onkwehoweh prior to contact and,  

Whereas: We acknowledge the Indian Residential School experiment to take the ‘Indian out of the Child’ lasted some 150 years or 7 Generations of our histories and,  

Whereas: We Honour the founder of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (2007) as Deskaheh (Levi General 1873-1925), who perished while in self-imposed exile, in the United States of America and,  

Whereas: We consider the lands and waters of the Six Nations of Grand River, six miles on each side of the Grand River, and all lands in Canada, as  Sacred and Spiritual and, 

Whereas: our Longhouse Grandfathers from Six Nations, who enlisted and volunteered for military service, as Allys to the Crown, during WW 1, were deemed to be mere ‘Pagans’ (as having no religious beliefs), under the Crown’s ‘Religious Affiliation’  and, 

Whereas: despite all these attempts at:  humiliation; ridicule; shaming; Religious Persecution; the myriad of social and legal injustices, We remain resilient, and filled with Pride, to be Ǫgewhǫ:weh/Onkwehoweh -Haudenosaunee to this day and forever, and 

Whereas: We as Ǫgewhǫ:weh/Onkwehoweh -Haudenosaunee possess: inalienable,  inextinguishable inherent; Human, Spiritual, Legal and Treaty Rights and, 

Whereas: it was discovered in our research that, the Six Nations Confederacy, on September 2, 1924, cited October 25th, as “a ‘National Day’, being the date of which ‘The Grant’ was executed by Sir Frederick Haldimand on behalf of His Majesty King George the Third, granting to them six miles on each side of the Grand River, from its mouth to its source”  which they and in their posterity are to enjoy forever… 

The Reconciliation 

Be it Resolved:  the 59th  Elected Council of Six Nations of the Grand River, after 240 Years on the Grand River, celebrates the Resilience, Spirit, Gratitude and  Pride of the Ǫgewhǫ:weh/Onkwehoweh Haudenosaunee, at Six Nations of Grand River, by Honouring all Hyei Niyowęja:ge: / Six Nations:  Gayogo:honǫ / Cayuga;  Gayę’geho;no /Mohawk; Ohnyahęho:nǫ’ /  Oneida; Onǫdageho:nǫ’/Onondaga, Onǫdowa;ga:’/Seneca and Dahsgaowę’ / Tuscarora and the Dewa’ganha’ / Delaware and, 

Further be it Resolved: the 59th  Elected Council of Six Nations of the Grand River hereby:  

Proclaims that, from this day forward into perpetuity, on each October 25th,  the date of the Haldimand Treaty,  shall be celebrated and commemorated as a Sovereign  Holiday of the Ǫgewhǫ:weh/Onkwehoweh Haudenosaunee, at  Six Nations of Grand River, to recognize the Haldimand  Treaty of 1784, establishing the Six Nations of Grand River Territory  ( 240 years ago today) and,  

Further be it Resolved:  the 59th  Elected Council of Six Nations of the Grand River, reaffirms  this Haldimand Treaty, is between the Six Nations of Grand River and the British Crown and the Crown’s agents and successors and, 

Further be it Resolved:  we invite all to celebrate and commemorate this  Sovereign Holiday, including all local businesses; local governments; all local government agencies; institutions and civil services; in whatever way you chose.  

Proclaimed on October 25, 2024, Under the Hand, of the 59th Elected Council, (2024-2028), (Amended  by SNEC,  September 09, 2025).  

Moved by:  Dehaeho:węhs, Amos Key Jr. : Mohawk / Turtle Clan  

Seconded by:  C. Lesley Green                             Carried by Consensus 

Under the Seal of Six Nations of Grand River:   

Elected Council Chief:  Sheri Lynn Hill, October 25, 2024