MOHAWK+GRAND RIVER

Gazette No. 50 — Assertion of Sovereignty and Establishment of Diplomatic Relations

Be it known and placed on record: That the Mohawk Nation of Grand River hereby formally asserts its sovereignty as a nation whose territorial rights were established by the Haldimand Proclamation of 1784, a Crown-to-Nation instrument of international character, and hereby establishes the diplomatic framework for Nation-to-Nation relations between the Mohawk Nation of Grand River and the Crown.

I. The Assertion of Sovereignty

The sovereignty of the Mohawk Nation of Grand River is grounded in: the bilateral character of the Haldimand covenant; the Two Row Wampum (Kaswentha) governing the Crown-Nation relationship; the international character of the covenant confirmed by the 1897 Settled Accounts Arbitration; and the constitutional recognition of Aboriginal rights in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

II. The Diplomatic Framework

The Secretariat engages with the Crown on a Nation-to-Nation basis. All communications from the Secretariat to Crown institutions are diplomatic communications between a sovereign nation and the Crown. This framework is established by the Two Row Wampum and confirmed by the Formal Offer of Peace (G72) and the Ceremonial Invitation to the Pipe (G73) — both of which were extended and received without acknowledgment.