I’m happy to say, I uploaded the intro to the Oneidas For Democracy video to Youtube… It’s not the greatest quality, but it gets the job done…
Background: As you may know, the Oneidas are one of Six Nations that make up the Haudenosaunee Confederacy….
Ray Halbritter, the CEO of TurningStone Casino and Indian Country Today — and one of the richest people in New York State, unilaterally assumed power over what’s often called the “Oneida Nation of New York” (but it’s not really a Nation. The Oneida People are the Nation. This is a community) and began doing things the way he wanted, against the Confederacy and against Oneida Tradition. For example he created a non-native police force, and instituted a Men’s Council which was previously unheard of.
In 1995 ” the Wolf Clan members of the Oneida Nation gathered to meet at their Longhouse to find the locks had been changed. The non-Native police officers were instructed to arrest anyone trying to enter. They moved the meeting to the Wolf Clan Mother’s log cabin (Maisie Shenandoah) where the Wolf Clan members decided to remove Ray Halbritter as their Representative due to the numerous injustices done against the Oneida people.
The Halbritter regime responded by stripping the “dissidents” of their status as Oneidas resulting in a loss of employment, health insurance, educational allowances, quarterly stipends and all other Oneida Nation services.” (source)
For a few years now, he’s been slowly removing all the houses on the 32 acre Territory (which is how much land the Oneida at New York were able to hold through a treaty signed with the US). He demolished Maisie’s house (see the cover of the Oneidas for democracy website) and others - including Danielle Shenandoah’s (the house being broken into, in the video)
Just a short while ago, after stripping her of her status, Ray had Danielle arrested, then called child and family services - losing her three children. The weird thing though — instead of Danielle going to the local jail, Ray had her put on his personal plane, and sent to a US Jail. If I recall correctly, she told me that once she arrived, she learned that the charge against her was “being Indian.” She actually saw this written. After she returned home she was able to get full custody of two of her children, but not her youngest daughter.
Well, this is only a brief overview, but there’s a great deal more that’s happened. You can go to http://oneidasfordemocracy.org for more info.
