Tribal Nations of the Ohio River
The word “Ohio” comes from the Seneca name for the Ohio River, Ohiyo, which means “it is beautiful.”
Native inhabitants of the Ohio River (Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio,
Illinois and Indiana) included the Lenape, Erie, Shawnee, Munsee, Susquehannock,
Cherokee, Chickasaw, Yuchi, Tutelo/Saponi, Illini, Miami, Kickapoo, Wyndot, Wea, Eel
River, and the Seneca of the Haudenosaune (Iroquois) Confederacy.
The story of Native peoples along the Ohio River and within its bordering states is filled
with sadness, loss and devastation. Smallpox and other European diseases decimated
many of the Native peoples of the Ohio River – some nations experienced massive
illness before Europeans had even met them. During the Indian Removals of the 1800s,
many nations were forcibly uprooted and compelled to leave their homeland. They were
marched to Oklahoma and other “Indian” territories. Many of the original tribes of the
Ohio River live in Oklahoma today. A few tribes, like the Lenape, while not federally
recognized, remain in their original homelands and are working to renew their way of
life. Today, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians the only federally recognized tribe
in the 6 state region of the Ohio River.
While treaties made with the original inhabitants of the Ohio River were abrogated
unilaterally, and most Native peoples were murdered or moved out of the region, it is
important to remember that Indigenous peoples entered into treaties to ensure the survival
of future generations and protect the earth. Today, the treaties can still accomplish those
goals.
Treaty Rights
“Our right to water is an inherent right arising from our existence as Peoples and
includes a right of self-determination with the power to make decisions, based upon
our laws, customs, and traditional knowledge to sustain our waters for all life and
future generations.” – Ardith Macklem and Nicole Schabus, Indigenous Water Rights
One of the most important truths to remember is that Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island
(North America) were here occupying the lands, implementing their laws, and governing
themselves prior to contact with the settlers, and were never conquered by the settlers or
their imported governments. The treaties and the treaty making process (negotiated by
the Crown in Canada and the federal government in the U.S.) codify the sovereignty of
independent Indigenous Nations. Recent international resolutions affirm the distinct and
inherent cultural, spiritual, political and legal rights of Indigenous peoples and the right to
self-determination.
First Nations and Tribal Treaty Rights
Treaties are more than agreements; they are laws between two Sovereigns that specify
certain rights Indigenous peoples retained in exchange for ceding or consenting to share
land. In the United States, treaty rights safeguard cultural and sustenance practices not
only within the reservation boundaries, but also within the ceded territory. In Canada,
Indigenous peoples never ceded land. Instead, the treaties articulate how the land is to be
harmoniously shared between the newcomers and the original peoples; some land was not
to be shared and was ‘reserved’ specifically for Indigenous use.
The United States constitution explicitly states that treaties are the supreme law of the
land. And yet, each and every one of the 566 treaties made with Native Nations has been
unilaterally abrogated. In Canada, there is currently a deliberate effort to weaken treaty
rights and further violate the sovereignty of First Nations. Neither the United States nor
Canada can claim to be a Nation of Laws if they do not honor the treaties made with
Indigenous Nations.
Upholding treaty law is not only a means to uphold the rights of Indigenous peoples.
Treaties are also a way to protect the environment for all of us. Case precedent
demonstrates how Tribes have defeated mines and other polluting development
projects by asserting how these projects infringe on treaty rights and by establishing
environmental codes that prohibit excessive damage to air, water, and land. In Canada,
treaties are also the first line of defense against unsound development. The current
assimilation agenda of the government in Canada is a means to break down this defense
to gain further access to land, resources and the waters.
A key treaty rights victory in the US was the defeat of multi-national corporations
seeking to build a copper-zinc mine in northern Wisconsin. The battle to defeat the mine
waged for decades, but in the end, two tribes ended up purchasing the mine site and the
land and waters of this region are now protected. A new mining battle has erupted over a
proposed mine for the Penokee Hills, near the Bad River Reservation in Wisconsin and
again, treaty rights are playing a pivotal legal role in resistance to this mine. The same is
true for sulphide mining proposals in northern Minnesota. Learn more about the Crandon
Mine victory at:
http://www.culturalsurvival.org/ourpublications/csq/article/native-resistance-
multinational-mining-corporations-wisconsin
http://wxpr.org/term/crandon-mine
In Canada, the Beaver Lake Cree Nation is asserting treaty rights as a legal strategy to
stop Tar Sands development in their territory. This is a precedent setting case. To learn
more, see:
www.tarsandstrial.ca
http://tarsandssolutions.org/member-blogs/stand-with-the-beaver-lake-cree-nation
www.beaverlakecreenation.ca
Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign: Honor the Treaties, Protect the Earth
The Two Row Wampum is the historical record of the very first agreement made
between Europeans and Native Nations on Turtle Island. This treaty was made
with the Dutch is 1613 – four hundred years ago. To this day, the Haudenosaune
retain the Two Row Wampum belt on which the treaty was originally recorded.
The belt illustrates the covenant made by both parties to friendship, peace and
living in parallel in perpetuity. This treaty forms the basis for all subsequent treaty
relationships made by the Haudenosaune and other Native Nations with settler
governments on the continent.
The Onondaga Nation and Neighbors of the Onondaga (NOON) launched a campaign
to commemorate the 400th anniversary of this first treaty in 2013. This campaign
calls on all concerned human beings in North America to work for treaty justice with
Native peoples and environmental responsibility with our shared Earth.
Throughout the centuries, the Haudenosaunee have sought to honor the mutual
vision of the Two Row Wampum and have increasingly emphasized that ecological
stewardship is a fundamental prerequisite for this continuing friendship. It is now
time for the newcomers and those of settler descent to renew the commitments
made in this treaty and live by them.
For more information: www.honorthetworow.org