The community members who lived at Kanonhstaton before the OPP raid of April 20th remember a skinny young activist who went by the name Jeex. This guy carried around a big camera and lived at the site and basically hung out day after day video journaling the events and learning about his people and government.
He later recorded the violent confrontation and called it Day Zero – this film will be released on YouTube for the 10th anniversary of Kanonhstaton (Douglas Creek Estates). Two years ago this young man formed the news organization known to us as the Two Row Times as a sole proprietor.
Although the times have changed, my love for the community and for the people still motivates me. I’ve gotten older and my face has earned a few more wrinkles and scars but my commitment is unchanged.
In the years following Kanonhstaton I have watched as our negotiators have sat with Canada as they attempted to be recognized internationally. I have attended Chiefs Council to show support for our government and attended Sour Springs for ceremony. I’ve enjoyed many discussions with elders and our knowledge keepers to continue growing as an individual and as a community member.
One thing I was taught was that we used to have War Chiefs who would usually be a brother or cousin to the Peace Chief. The War Chief would double as a security guard and also as an accountability partner for the Peace Chief. He would make sure that a Chief would say what his clan mother instructed him to say during political discussions. But here in Grand River, the Code of Handsome Lake gradually phased out the role of War Chief and today that place sits vacant.
So this summer it became the responsibility of the Two Row Times to inform the community members of agreements and dealings that were being carried out on their behalf by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council (HCCC) via the Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI) including the Samsung Engagement Agreement. Some have said we become a whistle blower or a crying eagle at that time and since then there has been a disinformation campaign against us to discredit our journalists and question our motives and integrity as a company.
It just so happens that the official media advisor of the HCCC and the HDI media director is Turtle Island News publisher Lynda Powless. At Chiefs Council sessions I am usually overlooked and skipped when packages of information is being handed out and I have grown accustomed to being left out of the loop when it comes to HDI business.
But this month matters were taken a step further when HCCC’s media adviser took to the floor and said “To prevent disruptions in the future, I propose a Reporters Policy. One issue we have is strangers coming into council.
In the past it hasn’t been an issue because it has been our own people who understand our council and protocols but in the summer this hasn’t been the case. We have people who haven’t covered council, haven’t been to longhouse before and as a result of that some issues are getting disrupted and misunderstood.” In addition to these comments, my journalist who accompanied me to Chiefs Council this week to report on the items discussed was also asked to stop taking notes, which we did.
The proposal was approved and Ms. Powless is currently devising a Reporters Policy and we are very interested in what she will come up with. Although I did not have the privilege of being raised in longhouse like her or having matrilineal Mohawk blood like Lynda does (My mother was Potawatomi), I nevertheless grew up in this Six Nations community my entire life and am adequately familiar with the protocols of the Gayanasrakowa the Great Law of Peace.
Because of our long and glorious history as a people I believe that the HCCC and the HDI should be held accountable to Six Nations. Part of the accountability process includes allowing press into council and/or public meetings to take note of and report on the discussions that occur there for community members who are unable to attend.
It has been insinuated by certain agitators that the Two Row Times is aligned with the Elected Council and has an anti-Confederacy agenda. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Two Row Times is proudly independent and we are controlled by no government, corporation or body.
We believe in freedom of the press, and that out of all democracies in the world our government should be the most transparent and open of them all. The HCCC’s media director believes so as well and has stated in the July 22, 2015 edition of the Turtle Island News “It is in fact a government that is inclusive and gives weight to all voices, supportive or critical.”
Implementing restrictive policies against the Two Row Times could be perceived as either censorship at best, or at worst – a cut-throat business attempt to maintain a monopoly on Confederacy related news. It makes me wonder how much longer this conflict of interest will continue.
So today I would gladly like to announce that regardless of what this Reporter’s Policy may be; the Two Row Times will be at every single Chiefs Council not just as the only independent media organization on Six Nations but also as concerned community members who truly care for the well-being of all the nations represented.
