Tenor and Reality: a Stark Contradiction Throughout

By Robert J. Shenandoah

This thesis summarizes research toward the Master of Arts Degree in American Studies at the SUNY University at Buffalo. It investigates American historical and legal records to determine whether the Haudenosaunee should be required to be registered with the Selective Service System in order to be eligible for United States Student Financial Assistance (USSFA).

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512734102

Robert J. Shenandoah

This Author has lived through the project. His research has shown that he has made the correct choice not to register with the Selective Services System. The act of registration defeats the historical record of the United States of America and the life ways of the Haudenosaunee.

Book preview

Contents

I.    THESIS OVERVIEW

II.    HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

III.    THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SYMBOLOGY AND CULTURAL BACKGROUND

IV.    EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

V.    EXEMPT STATUS OF HAUDENOSAUNEE TO QUALIFY FOR USSFA

A.    Tribal Sovereignty

B.    President Washington’s Instructions to Colonel Pickering, and his conferences with the Six Nations of Indians.

VI.    THE SNYDER ACT

25 United States Code 13 (1921)

VII.    DOCTINE OF DISCOVERY AND ITS CATASTROPHIC IMPACT UPON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF TURTLE ISLAND AND THEIR LANDS

VIIA.    DR. ROBERT MILLER AT LE MOYNE COLLEGE, SYRACUSE RE: DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY.

VIIB.    DR JOHN MOHAWK AT SUNY CORTLAND RE:DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY AND THE ORIGINS OF WHITE SUPREMECY, OCT 30, 2006.

VIIC:    STEVEN T. NEWCOMB AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY RE: DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY EVENT, MARCH 30, 2008

VIII.    GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON ATTEMPTS TO EXTERMINATE THE HAUDENOSAUNEE THROUGH THE SULLIVAN CAMPAIGN

IX.    CHEROKEE NATION V. STATE OF GEORGIA

30 United States Supreme Court 1 (1831)

X.    SAMUEL A. WORCESTER V. STATE OF GEORGIA

31 United States Supreme Court 515 (1832)

XI.    ONCE VALID PRESIDENTIAL ORDERS AND TREATIES RENDERED MOOT AT DISCRETION OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

XII.    1948 INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON GENOCIDE

XIIA:    ROBERT B. PORTER RE: US CITIZENSHIP, OTI’S, AND GENOCIDE

XIIB:    PRESIDENT REGAN’S REMARKS:

XIIC.    WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET:

XIID:    A REMEDY TO ENSURE EXEMPTION FOR THE U.S.A TO THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON GENOCIDE

XIII.    ACTIONS OF AMERICA’S FOUNDING FATHERS AND GOVERNMENTAL LEADERS CONSTITUTE ACTS OF GENOCIDE AGAINST ORIGINAL TURTLE ISLANDERS

XIIIA.    Commander In Chief Of The Continental Army (1775-1781) And 1st President George Washington (1789-1797)

B.    President Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)

C.    4th President James Madison (1809-1817)

D.    7th President Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)

E.    8th President Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)

F.    16th President Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)

G.    21st President Chester Alan Arthur (1881-1885)

H.    23rd President Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)

XIV.    ASSIMILATION OR GENOCIDE AND U.S. CITIZENSHIP

XIVA:    PORTER RE: GENOCIDE, U.S. CITIZENSHIP, AND O.T.I’S

XIVB:    OTHER RE: GENOCIDE AND O.T.I.’S

XV.    AMERICAN INDIAN AS SOLDIER (1890-1909) W. Bruce White

XVI.    Frederick Remington, Indians As Irregular Cavalry, Harpers Weekly, Dec 1890.

XVII.    CONSCRIPTION, CITIZENSHIP AND CIVILIZATION:

WWi And The Eastern Band Of Cherokee. John R. Finger

XVIII.    INDIAN CITIZENSHIP (1924)

XVIIIA:    MOM’S RECOLLECTIONS OF U.S. CITIZENSHIP REVISITED

XVIIIB:    WILLIAM C. CANBY JR. RE: INDIAN CITIZENSHIP

XIX.    NATIONALITY ACT (1940)

XX.    SURVEY ANNOUNCEMENT Re: Nationality and Citizenship (1998)

XX.    SURVEY RE:NATIONALITY AND CITIZENSHIP (1998)

XXA:    SENECA STUDENTS FROM CATTARAGUS-SURVEY

XXB:    STUDENT RESIDENTS FROM ONONDAGA-SURVEY

XXI.    EX PARTE GREEN

123 Federal Reporter 2nd Series 862 (1941)

XXII.    IROQUOIS DECLARATION OF WAR ON GERMANY (1942)

XXIII.    ALBANY V. UNITED STATES

152 Federal Reporter 2nd Series 266 (1945)

XXIV.    UNITED STATES V. CLAUS

63 Federal Supplement 433 (1944)

XXIVA:    JAY TREATY (CIRCA 1794)

XXV.    WILLIAMS V. U.S.A.

406 Federal Reporter 2nd Series 704 (1969)

XXVI.    USA V. NEPTUNE

337 Federal Supplement 1028 (1972)

XXVII.    FROM TREATY POWER AND SOVEREIGN STATUS TO PLENARY POWER AND DOMESTIC DEPENDENT NATION STATUS

XXVIIA.    PLENARY POWER

XXVIIB:    PROFESSOR JEDON EMENHISER RE: TREATY POWER, TRUST RELATIONSHIP AND PLENARY POWER

XXVIII.    CONCLUSION

XXIX.    THANK YOU

XXX.    Special Acknowledgement

Appendix

List Of Works

Robert Shenandoah

Retired Professor Oren Lyons

American Studies Masters Program

Spring 2015.

The Haudenosaunee nor any other Original Turtle Islanders should not be required to register with the Selective Service System in order to receive United States Student Financial Assistance.

I.    THESIS OVERVIEW

This thesis summarizes research toward the Master of Arts Degree in American Studies at the SUNY University at Buffalo. It investigates American historical and legal records to determine whether the Haudenosaunee should be required to be registered with the Selective Service System in order to be eligible for United States Student Financial Assistance (USSFA).

II.    HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• Haudenosaunee means The People of the Longhouse.

• Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy is the name given the Haudenosaunee by the English in the 1700s.

• Iroquois is the name given the Haudenosaunee by the French.

• Iroquois Confederacy is the name given the Haudenosaunee by the early American leaders.

• Turtle Island is the Haudenosaunee name given the entire geography presently known as North America: the contiguous 48 states, Canada and Alaska.

Our name for ourselves translates to: The People of the Longhouse. The Haudenosaunee were originally five Nations: Mohawk, Seneca, Onondaga, Cayuga and Oneida.

Our original home lies within what is now the State of New York and beyond.

The Mohawks’ original homeland was and still is in the Mohawk Valley, east of Syracuse. The Seneca are in the territory to the west, including Allegheny and extending into the Ohio Valley. The Onondaga are the People of the Hills with the original homeland still being the hilly central New York area.

The Cayugas are the People of the Muck-land. Their original homeland is the territory in the Finger Lakes area. The Oneidas are east of Syracuse and between the Onondaga and Mohawk people.

In the 1700s, a sixth Nation joined the Haudenosaunee. They are the Tuscarora. After they were forcibly removed from their original homeland of North Carolina, they were allowed to establish a Home amongst the Haudenosaunee. Presently their home territory is in the Niagara Falls area.

Turtle Island is the Haudenosaunee name given to the geography presently known as North America: the contiguous 48 states, Alaska, and Canada. Turtle Island is the name used by this Student of American Studies (hereinafter referred to as SoAS) to identify the entire geography of the Original Peoples from Turtle Island. I have also used Original Turtle Islanders to designate the indigenous peoples who inhabit and continue to inhabit the entire northern continent, Turtle Island(O.T.I.).

III.    THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SYMBOLOGY AND CULTURAL BACKGROUND

The image that we have in our minds of the Haudenosaunee Nations is a Longhouse. It is a study in symbols. The Longhouse is a long building with a smoke hole on each end. There are two doors, one on each end of the Longhouse, for all Nations of the Haudenosaunee except for the Onondaga. They have two doors in the center of the building. There is a dual duty to physically keep and protect the western and eastern doors of the Longhouse. The functions of the Keepers of the Doors are to protect, greet and warn of anything coming to and from the western and/or eastern doors. To protect includes being guardians of the natural environment, rivers, mountains, animals, and those Native American citizens and non-citizens residing in those areas. The Keepers of the Western Door are the Seneca. The Keepers of the Eastern Door are the Mohawk.

The Onondaga are the Keepers of the Central Fire. They are the most central nation of this Union of Nations. They keep the Haudenosaunee’s central Fire going. The term Fire represents the life force of the Haudenosaunee Nations. This encompasses the central meeting point of the governing bodies of the Haudenosaunee Nations.

The Cayuga and Oneida are the younger brothers of this Union of Nations. The role of the Elder and Younger Brother Nations is to take care of one another. The Brothers exist in a reciprocal existence/relationship.

The political affairs and the Grand Council of this Union of Nations are held at Onondaga. The Grand Council is a meeting of all the Nations of the Haudenosaunee. Citizens of the Haudenosaunee Nations may attend. Issues that arise within and without the Haudenosaunee Nations could constitute a gathering of the Grand Council.

Since I was a young boy and became aware of many things, it was told to me and reinforced in me that I was not an American citizen. I was Oñgwehoñwe’ which means Real People. It was something that I learned throughout my daily and ceremonial life as a Haudenosaunee. I have heard stories from both male and female elders that they never viewed themselves as United States citizens.

For thousands of years and into the 1700s, my forefathers were viewed as members of a sovereign nation. The status of an independent sovereign nation meant, among other things, that my forefathers retained the right to engage in or abstain from any military activity. This sovereign nation status was later recognized and enforced by the United States Constitution which called treaties between the United States government and the various Nations of indigenous peoples the supreme law of the land (Reno 1).

Just as my forefathers viewed themselves as members of an independent and sovereign nation, that mindset has continued from our earliest culture and into the young generations of the Haudenosaunee today. This mindset speaks to the Haudenosaunee.

IV.    EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

I was the first from my immediate family to attend a university directly after high school, entering into the fall semester. I opened a new door. In my first year at SUNY – Oswego, I was eligible for federal student aid. I applied for and received financial aid. The funding was the result of a Pell Grant. In addition, I applied for and received financial funding from New York State Indian Aid and a Bureau of Indian Affairs Grant. With aid from these three financial sources, I was able to complete my first year of undergraduate studies. I was an undergraduate student in American History and Secondary Education. In my first year, I was completing the general college requirements. In order to continue with my education, it was essential that I receive financial assistance. In my second year as an undergraduate, I applied for, but was denied Federal Student Aid.

As a result of the 1980 Presidential Proclamation 4771 by Jimmy Carter, all:

. . . male citizens of the United States and other male persons residing in the United States who are between the ages of 18 and 26, except those exempted by Sections 3 and 6(a) of the Military Selective Service Act [50 USCA App. §§ 453 and 456(a)], must present