On Thursday August 13th a group of community members held an emergency meeting, which was well attended. It was originally intended to be held with the staff of Haudenosaunee Development Institute as many questions have arisen from May of this year to the present.
When we sent an invite to HDI – they did not return phone calls or emails but instead sent word through their media relations director saying, “Unfortunately due to the short notice neither individual, HDI director (Hazel Hill) and HCCC’s legal advisor Aaron Detlor) will be able to attend and as you know their attendance would be entirely dependent on the direction of the HCCC.”
When questioned about why some Chiefs were unaware of the signed Samsung deal until well after it was signed, HDI has previously said during a confederacy council meetings that “time was a factor”. HDI said that these energy agreements had a timeline so they were signed and then brought to HCCC, not for approval, but in a report of what had been done thus far.
So HDI can sign multimillion dollar contracts, be in talks with an energy company for four years before bringing it to council, and sign away our sovereign immunity rights to lands to “prove that we have it” without HCCC approval, but they can’t meet with the people?
I was also advised by their media relations person (Lynda Powless) that the HCCC newsletter could answer most of our questions, yet the newsletter contradicts HDI’s verbal report at August’s Chiefs Council meeting.
After sharing information and gathering even more questions from community members we have decided to call HDI to meet again. The date is tentatively set for Sunday August 23, 2015 at 5:30pm in the Social Services Gym (venue may be subject to change).
We are once again asking HDI to follow our Confederacy’s proper protocol – meet with the people of the Confederacy. As our process works the people who make up the Confederacy meet, take our concerns to our clan mothers who then relate it to our Chiefs who are the collective voices of our families. We cannot properly carry out this process if the people signing contracts on our behalf cannot find importance in following our proper protocols.
Cheyenne Williams
