SPEAKING NOTES FOR JOYCE KING

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My name is Joyce King. I am the Acting Director for the Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force (HETF).

HETF has a mandate from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy through a formal resolution by the Grand Council and is included in the United Nations document, we refer to as the “Blue Book” entitled: Haudenosaunee Environmental Restoration: An Indigenous Strategy to Human Sustainability” (1992).

From the Haudenosaunee comes a Traditional Knowledge System – an actual Science being explored only recently. It is a holistic approach to the ever-encompassing Natural World. Our Traditional Knowledge System is so imbedded in us that our philosophy and cultural lifeways are perpetuated in our actions despite the policies of the governments that surround us.

Our culture is nature based. The Haudenosaunee have been given instructions from the Creator to give thanks. The same words you heard this morning from Jake Swamp.

What does that mean? Give Thanks? If you thank every part of Creation for sustaining humankind, you and I, overuse and waste is not part of our lifestyle. If you thank every part of Creation, you begin to realize Onkwehonwe have an intricate connection in this web or Creation. It is so intricate, you become a voice, an advocate for the parts of creation that cannot defend themselves from the abuse of mankind.

By using the framework within that Thanksgiving Address, we start with the people.

The impacts on the people have been addressed in this public hearing today.

Mother Earth: Destruction of the shoreline

The Grasses: a very important part of the filtration system in wetland management, food and home to many creatures in the water.

The Medicinal Plants: A vital component of Haudenosaunee well being and health, destroyed in places, by shoreline erosion.

The Fish: The drastic decline of eel populations – a medicine and a food to us.

Sturgeon disruption by filling their spawning beds with dredged material from the Seaway. My dad is a fisherman and over 6 feet tall. We have pictures of the sturgeon being taller than the fishermen. Today, the sturgeon is approximately 3 feet tall. That is one foot for every ten years and recovering from the last grand plan of the Seaway. Where have they gone? From the St. Lawrence River to the St. Regis River. And you are talking about dredging again?

The Waters: Ship spills are not acceptable. You can’t guarantee that inspections in Montreal will avoid a disaster in the St. Lawrence. It was apparent in the spill occurring at 1000 Islands area. Luckily the spill was not caustic. But a spill is inevitable. There is enough pollution from the Industrial plants. Controlled water levels are unnatural and a detriment to aquatic life.

The Birds: Our islands are protected nesting sites. Birds tend to naturally habitat in an area that is safe, undisturbed. We seen endangered species nesting in the territory. The birds didn’t need a Federal Protection Law to realize that Akwesasne is a safe haven for them. What will the added shipping bring?

The Trees: Also a medicine, source of food and resource to us. It is a habitat for so many creatures. Shoreline erosion will harm trees in their path.

Since time immemorial, the Mohawk people have occupied this area as hunting/fishing/gathering stronghold. In 1755, it became a permanent settlement. As you see, we have the knowledge of this area. Certainly we knew this area long before the winds carried Jacques Cartier to Hochelaga (Montreal) in 1634. We have a lot to offer. We know this place. This is our Territory.

In 1957, the Seaway began construction. Mohawk lands were expropriated for NYPA dam and the Seaway. Our lands and burial sites were inundated. Other lands became unusable, fish habitat and navigational/migratory patterns destroyed.

So what were the benefits of the Seaway?

Easy transportation to and from Cornwall
Employment of local Akwesasronen

What are the negative effects of the Seaway to the Mohawks?

Port of Entry by U.S. and Canadian officials on our Territory. We have to go through two ports of entry on our land.
Environmental destruction of fish and wildlife
Change of waterways (routes) used by our people
Severing of access to traditional waterways by the lock system and interconnecting dams
Invasive species
Unregulated water withdrawals
Water level fluctuations

The Winter’s Doctrine has been upheld in the U.S. Supreme Court giving Tribes water rights and resources from water. It is an area that has yet to be explored within the Mohawk communities along the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes Basin.

Setting the Winter’s Doctrine aside, you are dealing with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. These are not your lands. We have jurisdiction over this area, as a Nation. When Quebec talked about separation, Grand Council wrote to the Prime Minister of Canada and said that if Quebec wants to separate, they can’t take the land with them. It was never theirs to take, never Quebec’s to begin with. The land belongs to the Haudenosaunee and the other indigenous people of that provincial area. We never gave up this land. If you look at the Tonawanda Senecas, the Onondagas, the Mohawks, the land has never been placed in Federal Trust. It’s still part of the Nation Territory. (Department of the Interior summarizes this as ‘tribal trust’.)

We are also concerned about Homeland Security. We are not terrorists: we are protecting our land, our environment – something the Seaway has not done in the past. We have Akwesasne Homeland Security issues. The ship manifests are not public information. We have no idea what shipments are coming through our Territory.

The St. Lawrence Seaway is protected by Treaties: The Boundary Waters Treaty of 1908, then the subsequent IJC Engineer Notes that become agreements between Canada and the United States to charge tariffs and tolls at the locks. But there is a Treaty that you are currently disregarding: The Jay treaty – the Treaty of Amityville and Commerce which gives Haudenosaunee Nations the right of free passage, free from tolls along waterways and highways in our traditional territory. This has never been abrogated, although some officials would like to tell you otherwise. But it is not so.

So why didn’t we come forward during the early years of the Seaway. We did. The problem was a language barrier. To speak with a translator between you limits and misconstrues the issues you are trying to address. It didn’t work in the 1957. But we know the English language, we have scientists, engineers, environmentalists, we have command of your language.

How can we work together?

Don’t bring us in when the final draft is done as in the Great Lakes Annex of 2001. Don’t have a meeting with us when all ink is dried and call it consultation.

We can live side by side in this river of life. Your forefathers agreed to this, so did our forefathers. The United States and the British Empire entered into this protocol called the Two Row Wampum. And in the spirit of the two row, we can meet together and Polish this Silver Covenant Chain of Friendship so we may continue to live responsible and to give thanks to the Natural World.

The solution is to have a tri-national Study Partnership. We can co-exist in this River of Life.

Da nah tho