The land on which Academy for Human Rights carries out its work is the homeland of the Hodinöhsö:ni’ (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy.The Hodinöhsö:ni’ Confederacy is comprised of the Six Nations:
Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk) — "People of the Flint”
Onᐱyoteʔa∙ká (Oneida) — "People of the Standing Stone"
Onoñdaʼgega (Onondaga) —ʼ"People of the Hills"
Onödowaʼga (Seneca) — "People of the Great Hill"
Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ (Cayuga) — ʼ"People of the Great Swamp"
Skarù∙ręʔ (Tuscarora) — "People of the Shirt"
The disruption of Onöndowa’g:a’ stewardship over these lands is rooted in U.S. settler colonialism.During the American Revolutionary War, Generals John Sullivan and James Clinton led a campaign of military violence, forced displacement, and intentional starvation against the Hodinöhsö:ni’, including the Onöndowa’ga:’, in Western New York.
The Academy for Human Rights’s base of operations is located on lands that the Onöndowa’ga:’ Nation was compelled to cede in 1788 under the inequitable Phelps-Gorham Purchase, a transaction whose injustices remain unaddressed.
In 1794, the Canandaigua Treaty established peace between the Hodinöhsö:ni’ nations and the United States while affirming Hodinöhsö:ni’ land rights and sovereignty. Despite ongoing land seizures by New York State lawmakers and business interests in violation of this treaty, the Hodinöhsö:ni’ continue to observe and commemorate the Canandaigua Treaty annually.
Today, Hodinöhsö:ni’ people live throughout Western New York.
Decolonizing education requires prioritizing Native voices.For further reading, the Academy recommends:
Ganondagan State Historic Site Youtube Channel - Educational videos from Ganondagan State Historic Site.
Native-Land.ca - Interactive digital map of Indigenous territories, languages, and treaties globally.
National Indigenous Women's Resource Center - Providing national leadership to end violence against American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian women and communities by lifting up the collective voices of grassroots advocates and offering culturally grounded resources, technical assistance and training, and policy development to strengthen Tribal sovereignty.
The American Indian Digital History Project - Digital History Cooperative founded to recover and preserve rare Indigenous newspapers, photographs, and archival materials from all across Native North America.