What can I do?

Join WISH. Contact us if you have any questions and are interested.

 

These resources begin to share information about opportunities for personal involvement and activism.

Native Sovereignty

The Latest from Support Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ Sovereignty & Rematriation

 

Since May 2021, people have given over $20,000 to assist the traditional community in continuing their rematriation efforts. Given that there is still a legal team fighting to keep elders and children in housing through this winter, the fundraising need has increased to $80,000. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Tribal Representative Clint Halftown and his employees continue to harass the traditional people and threaten eviction. To learn more, visit gayogohono.org. Supporters are invited to donate by clicking the "give" button on the website. 
International donations are accepted!


The HalftownMustGo campaign, initiated by non-Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ people living on Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ land, is organizing public pressure and calling on the BIA to honor Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ sovereignty and recognize the traditional and rightful governing authority of clan mothers and chiefs. The movement is growing, with New York state residents, town boards, and activist groups denouncing the aggressions against the traditional people perpetrated by the BIA-recognized Nation representative, Clint Halftown.

The aim of HalftownMustGo is for the BIA to cease violating the principles of the Two Row Wampum Treaty by ending its recognition of Halftown, so that traditional Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ people can live and carry their values and governance into the future without danger of being attacked. Unfortunately, we can't predict when the BIA will right its past wrongs and help make that happen.

HalftownMustGo has a social media presence on Facebook and InstagramClick here to sign their petition to the BIA, to help reach and surpass the goal of 800 signatures. This fundraiser’s fiscal sponsor is Tiny Seed Project. Tiny Seed is a 501c3 not for profit organization. Your donation to support Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ rematriation and sovereignty is tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. Follow, like, and share posts from Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ Sovereignty and Rematriation on Facebook ,Instagram, and Twitter

 

Act Now to Support Indigenous Schools Reach Out to NYS Legislators for Full Funding

Thanks to the efforts of many hundreds of New Yorkers across the state, Governor Cathy Hochul included a significant increase in funding for three Indigenous schools in her Executive budget. We need your assistance to convince the New York State Legislature to increase the $35.7 million to the full $60million requested by the schools and Superintendents of these districts.

Use Our Easy Online Letter Writing Tool: https://actionnetwork.org/.../nys-legislature-increase...

As part of the historic treaty relationship between the Haudenosaunee and the United States, the US is responsible for providing healthcare and education to Indigenous communities. Unfortunately, these treaties have been repeatedly ignored and broken. This history includes the appalling boarding school era which Indigenous communities survived. Almost every public school building in New York New York State is owned by the School District in that community, except for three schools on Indigenous Nations – the Onondaga Nation School (Lafayette School District), the Tuscarora Nation School (Niagara Wheatfield School District) and the St. Regis Mohawk School (Salmon River School District).

NYS is responsible for maintaining the buildings which house these three schools. They have been terribly underfunded for decades – leaving them with major facilities problems – crumbling brick walls, poorly functioning heating and cooling systems, dangerously degraded concrete, inadequate security and fire protection, insufficient space for full programming and much more. The superintendents of those districts describe them as among “the worst school building conditions in NYS.”

New York’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan, approved in January 2018, emphasizes fostering equity in education for all students and ensuring that all students succeed and thrive in school no matter who they are, where they live, where they go to school, or where they come from. It specifically mentions historically disadvantaged students.

Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON) is joining with others across NYS in calling for the New York State Legislature to increase Governor Cathy Hochul's funding to $60 million in the 2022-23 NYS Budget, $20 million for each of these three schools.

A sample letter, which we encourage you to customize, is included with additional information at www.peacecouncil.net/FundONS.

If you'd rather contact your legislators directly, you can find their contact information here: https://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/

 

We were honored to have "Rematriation's Indigenous Women's Voices Series: Marion Delaronde" featured in the 2022 Mother Tongue Film Festival hosted by the Smithsonian.

The Mother Tongue Film Festival returned online from February 17 to March 4, 2022. The festival reflected the legacies of our ancestors as foundations for the futures.

Rematriation's short docu-film highlights Marion Delaronde's creative use of puppets to promote the use of the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk) language in her home community of Kahnawake near Montreal, Canada.

Directed by Katsitsionni Fox (Mohawk), Produced by Michelle Schenandoah (Oneida) and Cinematographer, Marie-Cecile Dietlin. This is one of 10 films in the Rematriation Indigenous Women's Voices series.

All Mother Tongue screenings and events are free and open to the public. #MotherTongue2022

Learn more: mothertongue.si.edu

Recovering Voices
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

LEARN MORE ABOUT MONUMENTS.

Watch the videos of these two NOON and WISH workshops on our home page.

Local Events and Needs

If you are a New York State resident, we needed you to contact the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation!

NYS DEC has released their 2020-2022 List of Impaired Waters (water bodies damaged by human activity). The details of the changes are complicated and throw out analysis using fish tissue sampling, with no further data to support the decision to remove nearly twenty percent (20%) of polluted water bodies from this list. This includes Onondaga Lake- a closed industrial landfill- which should continue to be listed for dangerous levels of mercury, PCB’S, and dioxins present in the Onondaga Lake ecosystem.

Onondaga Lake is sacred to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Onondaga.

The DEC did not consult with the Onondaga Nation: DEC has an obligation to consult with the Nation regarding Onondaga Lake, among other water bodies on their traditional territory.