Feds screw Iroquois Indian Nation passports

  Feds screw Iroquois Indian Nation on their passports

American Empire tells Iroquois Indian Nation that their passports are not valid because they don't meet the standards created by the thugs in Homeland Security!

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Iroquois lacrosse team hoping for ID resolution

AP

By SAMANTHA GROSS, Associated Press Writer Samantha Gross, Associated Press Writer – 34 mins ago

NEW YORK – Members of an Iroquois lacrosse team who refuse to travel on U.S. passports were barred from getting on a flight Tuesday to the sport's world championship tournament.

The 23 members of the New York-based squad arrived at a Delta terminal at Kennedy International Airport wearing team jackets and shirts. Their manager, Ansley Jemison, didn't expect to be allowed to board their flight to Amsterdam and wasn't surprised to be turned away at the check-in desk.

U.S. officials previously informed the team that new security rules for international travelers meant that their old passports — low-tech, partly handwritten documents issued by a tribal authority — wouldn't be honored.

But by showing up, the team avoided forfeiting its tickets. Airline officials said they would allow the squad to rebook its flight for Wednesday without penalty if it secured the proper documents, according to Jemison. Team officials remained hopeful that a last-minute diplomatic intervention would allow them to attend the World Lacrosse Championship, which is taking place in England.

Jemison said he was confident tribal leaders could work out an arrangement with the U.S. State Department, get the necessary visas from the United Kingdom and make it in time for their first game, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Manchester.

"Things are looking very good," he said, although he added, "We are on a crunch deadline."

The Iroquois previously have traveled using passports issued by the Iroquois Confederacy. But the U.S. government says that, unlike U.S. passports, the Iroquois passports aren't acceptable under new, stricter immigration rules. The players won't accept U.S. government-issued documents because they see them as an attack on their identity.

The British government, meanwhile, won't give the players visas if they cannot guarantee they'll be allowed to go home.

Several lawmakers have urged the State Department to find a way to allow the team to travel but the department said there had not yet been a resolution to the case.

Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said he was unsure if U.S. officials had been in touch with the team or its representatives on Tuesday. He said the government has offered team members U.S. passports if they want them.

"The decision as to whether they accept that offer of assistance remains up to the team," he told reporters.

Crowley said providing letters guaranteeing their readmission to the United States was not an option in the case of the team. Such letters are provided usually only in the case of emergency.

"We are trying to see if there's a way to help them," he said. "The easiest way to accomplish what they want to accomplish is to get them a U.S. passport. We've been willing to do that, you know, for a number of days and we stand ready to do that today."

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Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. 夫女人石 Man Woman People Rock

 

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Are Indian tribes allowed to issue passports?

If your an American Indian all your need is a handwritten passport to travel aboard! This is based on the fact that many years ago the American government signed treaties with many Indian Tribes that made the tribes sovereign nations and gave the tribes the right to do anything a sovereign nation does including issue passports.

Of course now the police state thugs in the FBI, Homeland Security and TSA want to flush those treaties down the toilet in the name of protecting us from imaginary terrorists.

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US allowing Iroquois lacrosse team to travel to UK

AP

By SAMANTHA GROSS, Associated Press Writer Samantha Gross, Associated Press Writer – 2 mins ago

NEW YORK – The U.S. government, at Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's behest, agreed to allow a Native American lacrosse team to travel to England for a world championship competition under passports issued by the Iroquois Confederacy.

Clinton determined that the Iroquois team members did not need U.S. passports to make the trip and granted the players a "one-time-only waiver" to travel on their Iroquois Confederation passports, said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. The team members regard U.S. government-issued documents as an attack on their identity.

Asked why the department had dropped its opposition, he said, "There was flexibility there to grant this kind of one-time waiver given the unique circumstances of this particular trip."

The team still needs British visas to attend the Lacrosse World Championship in Manchester, England. The British government said previously it wouldn't give the players visas if they could not guarantee they'd be allowed to go home.

A British Consulate spokeswoman couldn't immediately say whether the visas were forthcoming.

U.S. officials previously informed the team that new security rules for international travelers meant that their old passports — low-tech, partly handwritten documents issued by the Iroquois Confederacy of six Indian nations — wouldn't be honored.

The team needs to get on a Wednesday flight to make a Thursday evening game.

"I am relieved that this bureaucratic technicality has been papered over and these young men can go and do what they have trained to do: play lacrosse and compete on the international scene," Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., said Wednesday.

The Iroquois Confederacy oversees land that stretches from upstate New York into Ontario, Canada.

The Iroquois helped invent lacrosse, perhaps as early as 1,000 years ago. Their participation in the once-every-four-year world championship tournament is a rare example of international recognition of their sovereignty.

On Tuesday, the 23 members of the squad arrived at a Delta terminal at Kennedy International Airport wearing team jackets and shirts. Their manager, Ansley Jemison, didn't expect to be allowed to board their flight to Amsterdam and wasn't surprised to be turned away at the check-in desk.

But by showing up, the team avoided forfeiting its tickets. Airline officials said they would allow the squad to rebook its flight for Wednesday without penalty if it secured the proper documents, according to Jemison.

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Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.


British tyrants say no to hand written Iroquois passports

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Iroquois lacrosse team not allowed into U.K. for tourney

by Samantha Gross - Jul. 15, 2010 12:00 AM

Associated Press

NEW YORK - An American Indian lacrosse team will not be allowed entry into England for the world championship of the sport the Iroquois helped invent unless members accept U.S. or Canadian passports, the British government said Wednesday.

The Iroquois Nationals won't be attending the tournament in Manchester unless the British government reverses its decision and allows them to use passports issued by the Iroquois Confederacy, said Tonya Gonnella Frichner, a lawyer for the team.

"They're telling us: 'Go get U.S. passports or Canadian passports,' " Frichner said Wednesday shortly after getting the news. "It's pretty devastating."

The team's 23 players - who are all eligible for passports issued by those nations - say that accepting them would be a strike against their identity.

In a statement, the U.K. Borders Agency said: "Like all those seeking entry into the U.K., they must present a document that we recognise as valid to enable us to complete our immigration and other checks."

The British government's decision was announced hours after the U.S. cleared the team for travel on a one-time waiver at the behest of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. U.S. authorities initially had refused to accept the passports issued by the Iroquois Confederacy, which lack new security features now required for border crossings because of post-Sept. 11 crackdowns on document fraud and illegal immigration.

Asked why the State Department had dropped its opposition, spokesman P.J. Crowley said: "There was flexibility there to grant this kind of one-time waiver given the unique circumstances of this particular trip."

U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei, D-N.Y., urged the British to reconsider their decision.

"If the British or any national entity seeks to sever this Iroquois Nationals team from their own national identity, then they're asking them to not be the athletes that they are," he said in a statement, calling it an "international embarrassment" if they're not allowed to compete.

Federation of International Lacrosse spokesman Ron Balls said in a statement on the championship website that the Iroquois team would forfeit the opening game against England tonight if it didn't arrive on time.

The Iroquois helped invent lacrosse, perhaps as early as 1,000 years ago. Their participation in the once-every-four-year world championship tournament is a rare example of international recognition of their sovereignty.


Feds screw Iroquois Indian Nation on their passports

American Empire tells Iroquois Indian Nation that their passports are not valid because they don't meet the standards created by the thugs in Homeland Security!

Source

Iroquois lacrosse team hoping for ID resolution

AP

By SAMANTHA GROSS, Associated Press Writer Samantha Gross, Associated Press Writer – 34 mins ago

NEW YORK – Members of an Iroquois lacrosse team who refuse to travel on U.S. passports were barred from getting on a flight Tuesday to the sport's world championship tournament.

The 23 members of the New York-based squad arrived at a Delta terminal at Kennedy International Airport wearing team jackets and shirts. Their manager, Ansley Jemison, didn't expect to be allowed to board their flight to Amsterdam and wasn't surprised to be turned away at the check-in desk.

U.S. officials previously informed the team that new security rules for international travelers meant that their old passports — low-tech, partly handwritten documents issued by a tribal authority — wouldn't be honored.

But by showing up, the team avoided forfeiting its tickets. Airline officials said they would allow the squad to rebook its flight for Wednesday without penalty if it secured the proper documents, according to Jemison. Team officials remained hopeful that a last-minute diplomatic intervention would allow them to attend the World Lacrosse Championship, which is taking place in England.

Jemison said he was confident tribal leaders could work out an arrangement with the U.S. State Department, get the necessary visas from the United Kingdom and make it in time for their first game, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Manchester.

"Things are looking very good," he said, although he added, "We are on a crunch deadline."

The Iroquois previously have traveled using passports issued by the Iroquois Confederacy. But the U.S. government says that, unlike U.S. passports, the Iroquois passports aren't acceptable under new, stricter immigration rules. The players won't accept U.S. government-issued documents because they see them as an attack on their identity.

The British government, meanwhile, won't give the players visas if they cannot guarantee they'll be allowed to go home.

Several lawmakers have urged the State Department to find a way to allow the team to travel but the department said there had not yet been a resolution to the case.

Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said he was unsure if U.S. officials had been in touch with the team or its representatives on Tuesday. He said the government has offered team members U.S. passports if they want them.

"The decision as to whether they accept that offer of assistance remains up to the team," he told reporters.

Crowley said providing letters guaranteeing their readmission to the United States was not an option in the case of the team. Such letters are provided usually only in the case of emergency.

"We are trying to see if there's a way to help them," he said. "The easiest way to accomplish what they want to accomplish is to get them a U.S. passport. We've been willing to do that, you know, for a number of days and we stand ready to do that today."

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Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.


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Indian passports raise sovereignty issue

by Felicia Fonseca - Jul. 17, 2010 04:00 PM

Associated Press

FLAGSTAFF — An American Indian lacrosse team's refusal to travel on passports not issued by the Iroquois confederacy goes to the heart of one of the most sensitive issues in Indian Country — sovereignty.

The rights of Native nations to govern themselves independently has long been recognized by federal treaties, but the extent of that recognition beyond U.S borders is under challenge in a post-Sept. 11 world.

After initially refusing to accept Iroquois-issued passports because the documents lack security features, the State Department gave the team a one-time waiver.

But leaders of the Iroquois Nationals squad announced Saturday that a last-ditch attempt to persuade British officials to recognize their passports had failed, meaning the team wouldn't play in its last scheduled game.

The team has maintained that traveling on anything other than an Iroquois-issued passport would be a strike against the players' identity. But the British government wouldn't budge in denying team members entry into England without U.S. or Canadian passports, keeping the Iroquois Nationals from competing at the World Lacrosse Championships in Manchester in the sport their ancestors helped create.

"Any documents or IDs we put forth recognizing our members should also be recognized by the federal government and other governments," argued Sanford Nabahe, a member of the Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone, who — like many in the American Indian community — closely followed the Iroquois' passport dispute. "The (federal) government has given us that autonomy."

The Iroquois, whose members mostly live in New York, Ontario and Quebec, along with the Hopi and Western Shoshone are among the few American Indian nations in which members have had a form of their own passports.

The understanding that the Iroquois Confederacy's lands are independent from the U.S. is taught early on in school, team member Gewas Schindler said Thursday as the team waited out the dispute in New York. "You know that as a young person that you are sovereign, that you are not part of the United States," he said. "We were the first people here." The National Congress of American Indians, based in Washington, D.C., has advocated on behalf of the lacrosse team, urging British officials to allow the members entry into England on their Iroquois-issued passports.

But some say the team's adamant position has gone too far.

Michael Smith, a Navajo living on the Southwestern reservation, said it's important to note that the Iroquois live in the U.S. on land he and his father fought to protect as Marines.

The Iroquois land isn't recognized globally as a country, so the team's efforts have been almost futile, he said. "You're flying overseas," he said. "Get your U.S. passport and go kick some butt."

Luanna Bear, a member of the Tulsa Creek Indian Community, part of the larger Muscogee Creek Nation in Oklahoma, said anyone who travels abroad should have the proper documents.

"A lot of tribes don't want to lose their identity, so that's what they're trying to keep," said Bear, 48. "But I believe you have to follow all laws."

Some Montana and Wyoming tribes have discussed issuing passports, but none has taken that step, said Gordon Belcourt, executive director of the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council.

"If you're acknowledged as a government-to-government entity, there should be an opportunity for them to issue their own passports and visas," Belcourt said.

Previously, tribal members who lived near the country's northern border faced no problems when traveling between Canada and the U.S., he said. Now, tribal members, along with other travelers seeking to cross the country's borders, must adhere to stricter security guidelines.

"With 9/11, everything changed," Belcourt said.

In recent months, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been working with tribes to develop tribal ID cards with enhanced security features. Those would be good for arrivals in the U.S. only by land or sea but couldn't be used in lieu of a federal passport. Twenty-five tribes already have or are working toward formal agreements.

Robert Holden, deputy director at the National Congress of American Indians, said the Washington, D.C.-based group is hopeful the use of secured cards could be expanded to allow tribal members to travel abroad. "It would have all the secure attributes that a passport would have, certainly a record of membership of that respective nation," Holden said. "So why would it not be accepted beyond the borders of the United States and accepted internationally?"

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., also has urged the federal government to work with other countries to develop internationally recognized travel documents for American Indian nations.

Like the Iroquois' view of lacrosse, Hopi belief is that running is a gift from the creator, said Bucky Preston, a Hopi from the reservation village of Walpi in northeastern Arizona.

Preston said passports that have been issued by his tribe have represented what it means to be a sovereign people — being honest and sincere, and having faith and belief in the creator, along with concern for all creation. "I can understand why they're standing strong on this," Preston said.

Among the Hopi, passports in the form of an eagle feather, sometimes tucked in a buckskin-covered pocketbook, have been issued in the past by elders to only a select few. To have one means you've been entrusted to carry messages from the Hopi people to other parts of the world.

Few have been issued and the man most well-known for having used one for decades to travel internationally died in 1999, said Leigh Kuwanwisiwma, director of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office.

Preston knows of only one man who still has a so-called Hopi passport. But Preston said he is not physically able to travel anymore, and Kuwanwisiwma doubts access to other countries would be granted given increased security measures.

"That's the reality of today's situation where the tribes continue to be dealt with on this relegated status and subject to the power of the United States government," Kuwanwisiwma said.

 

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