VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: THE ONONDAGA NATION IS PROUD TO RECLAIM 1,000 ACRES OF ANCESTRAL LAND
BROOKE VACCARO: STANDING ON THE EDGE OF ONONDAGA CREEK, BRAD POWLESS SMILES KNOWING THAT THE CREEK AND THE LAND AROUND IT HAVE BEEN RETURNED TO HIS PEOPLE.
BRAD POWLESS: “Being on this land feels great. My father was a fisherman and my grandfather was a fisherman and he used to tell stories about fishing on this creek.”
BROOKE VACCARO: MORE THAN JUST A FAMILY CONNECTION, THE CREEK WAS PART OF THE 1,000 ACRES RECLAIMED BY THE ONONDAGA NATION IN LATE SEPTEMBER. POWLESS SAYS HAVING LAND AND FRESH-WATER FOR THE ONONDAGA PEOPLE IS A BEST-CASE SCENARIO AND A SIGN OF PROGRESS.
POWLESS: “This is our home and having this land come back to us, it’s always been our goal and having places to reclaim that’s ours.”
BROOKE VACCARO:THE LAND WAS TRANSFERRED FROM HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL.
IT IS JUST PART OF THE 2.5 MILLION ACRES PROMISED TO THE ONONDAGA NATION THROUGH GOVERNMENT TREATIES GOING ALL THE WAY BACK TO 1788 WHEN NATIVE LAND WAS UNJUSTLY TAKEN.
EVEN WITH THE LAND RECLAMATION IN LATE SEPTEMBER, THERE IS STILL PROGRESS TO BE MADE FOR THE ONONDAGA NATION AND THEIR LAND HERE IN SYRACUSE.
EMERSON SHENANDOAH: “That land is where they used to dredge salt. So because of that, of the twenty or fourty years they were going through and doing that, the land has fissured and is splitting from itself.”
BROOKE VACCARO: PART OF WHY HONEYWELL TRANSFERRED THE LAND WAS TO AVOID LIABILITY.
DESPITE THIS, ANY LAND RECLAIMED IS MEANINGFUL TO THE ONONDAGA NATION SO THAT THEY CAN CONTINUE THEIR WAY OF LIFE, BEING PART OF THE NATURAL WORLD, AND TAKING CARE OF THEIR HOME.
POWLESS: “This land coming back is such a great first step for everybody involved and making sure that everything is going to be a healthy future for everyone.”
SHENANDOAH: “Of the millions of acres that were taken from us unjustly, 1,000 is a step in the right direction.”
BROOKE VACCARO, N-C-C NEWS
TULLY, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) — November marks the start of Native American Heritage month, a time to honor and recognize Indigenous people. But for the Onondaga Nation, recognition has been ongoing since late September when they reclaimed over 1,000 acres of land.
Onondaga Nation Council Member, Brad Powless, said this marks a step in the right direction.
“This is our home and having this land come back to us, it’s always been our goal and having places to reclaim that’s ours.”
The land, which includes part of Onondaga Lake and the headwaters of Onondaga Creek, is just part of the 2.5 million acres of ancestral land spread across the area. Promised to the Onondaga Nation through government treaties dating back to 1788, the year New York state began taking the land, the journey toward even partial reclamation has been a long one.
Director of the Skä•noñh Great Law Peace Center, Emerson Shenandoah, explained exactly why having land to call their own is so important to the Nation.
“It’s very important to Haudenosaunee people because it allows us to excerpt our sovereignty as well as reclaim the land and take care of our motherly Earth.”
However, not everything is positive. Transferred from Honeywell International, an advanced tech and manufacturing company, the land itself is damaged from years of salt mining. Shenandoah said part of the reason for the transfer was for Honeywell to avoid liability.
“That land is where they used to dredge salt. So because of that, of the twenty or fourty years they were going through and doing that, the land has fissured and is splitting from itself.”
Despite this, every acre reclaimed is meaningful. With ancestral land back in their possessions, the people of the Onondaga Nation can continue their way of life, being part of the natural world and taking care of their home.
For Powless, that is what’s most important.
“This land coming back is such a great first step for everybody involved and making sure that everything is going to be, not just for us but for the people and the animals, a healthy future for everyone.”