jdmann@mtxinu.COM (08/17/89)
[Email replies to: jdmann@cdp.uucp]
/* Written 1am 8/15/89 by jdmann(David Yarrow) in gen.nativeam */
/* ---------- WAMPUM RETURNED TO ONONDAGA NATION ------------- */
Source: Syr Herald, Monday, July 14 by Gary Gerew staff writer
NYS & ONONDAGAS near pact on return of wampum belts
SYRACUSE,NY - State officials today said they believe the Onondaga
Nation will obtain possession of 12 historic wampum belts next month
after nearly a century of dispute. "If the Onondagas agree to the
proposal, and the Board of Regents agrees to it at their Sept. 15
meeting, it will be over," said Ray Gonyea, a member of the Onondaga
Nation who works as a specialist in Native American culture at the State
Museum in Albany. "But so far, there isn't any agreement."
Gonyea, who worked on the negotiation, said he believes the major
points have been covered, and he expects the belts to be back in Indian
hands by the fall. Irving Powless, the Onondaga chief representing the
nation in negotiations with the state, wasn't available for comment.
The belts haven't been on display in years because of Indian
sensitivity about their ceremonial significance. The state acquired them
between 1898 and 1949 from the Onondagas and private individuals who had
purchased them. But the Onondagas have asserted that the state is the
custodian of the belts, not their owner.
The Board of Regents, which governs the museum, also has said in a
statement that "the Regents and the State Museum became wampum-keepers
because they had the resources to assert preservation of the belts" and
that the belts should be returned to the Iroquois Confederacy.
Gonyea said the sate had previously argued that the belts should
stay in the museum's custody because they were important to all people in
the state. That position, and questions about whether the Indians would
make the belts available for study by scholars, smashed a proposed
agreement in 1971, Gonyea said.
The current proposal being studied by the Onondagas calls for some
display and details security arrangements for the belts, Gonyea said.
Others interested in the disposition of the belts have until Aug. 26 to
contact the museum with proposals.
Gonyea said the belts were not used as currency among the Iroquois
Confederacy, which includes the Onondagas, Mohawks, Oneida, Cayugas,
Senecas, and Tuscaroras. The belts, composed of purple and white beads
strung on deer sinews or fiber threads, tell the confederacy's history,
he said.
The most important of the belts in the museum collection is the
Hiawatha belt, which reflects the formation of the Confederacy in the
1400s. It was named for the great Indian orator who carried the message
of Deganawida, the Peace Maker, who had a speech impediment, Gonyea said.
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COMMENTARY: This is a great historic event not only for Onondaga
Nation, but the whole Confederacy. Wampum IS NOT MONEY. Wampum are the
official and sacred records of government. They are held by a speaker
during orations, and have passed from hand to hand and speaker to speaker
for centuries.
They aren't merely books or journals, they're sacred objects. Made from
shell beads, they absorb the spirit of each holder as he recites and
discusses the Law, and they grow more auspicious with each use. Hence the
Onondagas are reluctant to allow their display in public.
"Hiawatha wampum" referred to above records the Confederacy's founding,
a tale called "The Legend of the Peacemaker." -(See North America's
Oldest Democracy, The Tree of Peace, and Healing Circle of Unity in
gen.nativeam for more on this ancient tale.)- Hiawatha wampum is the
Iroquois equivalent of: Declaration of Independence, Articles of
Confederation, Constitution, Bill of Rights, - AND Bible. For them to be
in NY's hands is as if Soviet Union decided to steal (or buy on the black
market) and keep original copies of USA's founding instruments.
Onondaga Nation is capitol of the Six Nation Confederacy. Return of
these wampum symbolizes return of an essential Spirit - another step in a
events which slowly brings new life and allegiance to an ancient
government.
-*+*- David Yarrow, the turtle, for SOLSTICE magazine.
***** SOLSTICE, devoted to "Perspectives on Health and Environment", is
published bimonthly at 200 E. Main St Suite H, Charlottesville, VA 22901
804-979-0189/4427. Subscriptions: $18/yr.
***** SOLSTICE publisher John David Mann (igc.jdmann) is primarily
concerned with the incipient climate crisis. Solstice publishes a
booklet of reprints entitled: "Perspectives on the Climate Crisis."
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