In
a letter sent to President George W. Bush on September
14, the Chief of New York's Onondaga Nation, Sidney
Hill, expressed his dismay at the terrorist attacks
on America and urged the President to use peaceful
alternatives to warfare.
Calling
the attacks an "assault on world peace," the
letter says "reason must balance reaction" and
said that peace is "dynamic" and "requires
perseverance, compassion and a visionary commitment
to future generations."
Chief
Hill's letter addressed
the President
as a "brother" and
although it was sent
to the White House,
it was also addressed
as an open letter to
the American people.
The letter goes on
to say that the Onondaga
(Iroquois) men helped
build the Twin Towers
and the Pentagon.
"So they had
a special attachment
to the World Trade
Center," said
Joseph Heath, General
Council of the Onondaga
Nation, a six-nation
confederacy also called
the Haudenosaunee.
According to Heath,
almost all the skyscrapers
in the country had
a large number of Iroquois
because they are specialized
in high steel working.
The
short letter calls
the terrorist attacks
a "heinous strike." The
letter then goes on
to plead with world
leaders to be "resolute" and "resourceful" in
order to preserve peace.
Addressing
the president as "brother" for
a third time, the last
paragraph of the four-paragraph
letter read, "In
the spirit of the Covenant
Chair of Friendship
between our two peoples,
our leaders offer you
and your fellow leaders
our hand to stand with
you in compassion and
sympathy in this great
tragedy that affects
us all and may change
the course of history."
According
to Heath, the Onondaga
Nation
developed peaceful
means to dispute as
a means of self preservation. "The
Onondaga Nation was
founded 1,000 years
ago," Heath said. "They
used to fight all the
time until a peacemaker
initiated the Great
Law of Peace."
And that law, Heath
said, is a commitment
to finding peaceful
solutions to disputes
no matter what the
circumstances. Heath
said that the Great
Law of Peace is what
kept the Onondaga Nation
alive throughout the
years, preserving their
language and their
land.
"They have a
saying called, 'Use
the good mind,'" Heath
said.
The Onondaga Nation
is located on a 6,100
acre reservation near
Syracuse, New York.
It is the central member
of the Haudenosaunee.
No confirmation was
given to the Onondaga
Nation that the White
House had read the
letter.
"I don't think
it's high on their
list right now," Heath
said.
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