In 2001, Herbert C. Kraft authored a comprehensive history of the Delaware Nation that covers a 12,000 year period extending from 10,000 BC to AD 2000. Over his ethnohistorical account, Kraft cites tension and frictions manifest between the neighboring Haudenosaunee Confederacy, also known as the Iroquois, and their Grandfathers, the Delaware Nation. It is well known that the onset of European colonialism to the lands that became known as the United States exacerbated the discord between these two Indigenous political systems.
However, different Delaware Sachems exercised tremendous efforts to help guide the healing process between particular lines of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Delaware Nation. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Sachem James Lone Bear Reevy frequented the Central Fire held at the Grand Council of the Onondoga- a Member Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. And still, his efforts did not quite drive the unification he sought. Although, seeds of reunification were watered as he attempted to polish the chains of relations that became tarnished over centuries.
Through a fortunate and strategic use of social media platforms, Sand Hill Band of Raritan Lenape and Cherokee Indians Red Chief Lance Red Hawk Shauger became acquainted with Sonohse:’s Turtle Clan member Lalol^ks also known as John Skenandore of the Wisconsin Oneida Nation. In dialogue regarding the Great Law of Peace, also commonly referred to as the Kayanlaˀ Kówa, Red Chief Lance Red Hawk Shauger and Lalol^ks advanced their discussions to encompass strategies for the reunification of their sovereign systems. The strategies they discussed include areas of inter-Nation coordination such as cultural revitalization, educational attainment and development, economic initiatives, as well as other institutional arrangements that would simultaneously mend the schisms between their polities and help drive their engagement on global stages.
In the process, two Mohawk Clans also became participants in the accumulation of these shared labors. As an outcome of these synchronized efforts, Principal Sachem Dr. Ronald Yonaguska Holloway, Minister of International Affairs for the Federation, personally extended the Sand Hill Band of Raritan Lenape and Cherokee Indians official Sponsorship to the Latiskalaketi, Sonohse:’s Turtle Clan of the Oneida as well as Kawenniiosta Jock of the Orenrenhkowa or Wolf Clan Family and Kanerahtiio, also known as Roger Jock, of the Rahstawenserontha or Bear Clan Family to begin the process of FANA Nation on-boarding. These actions help to evolve the essence of the Great Law of Peace as the Haudenosaunee contribute towards Wunnandry, or the Federations Law, that acts as a site to propel Laws of Continuity forward.
Written by Dr. Kevin Inglesby