The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-07-25
ER0QU0IS WILL PRESS CLAIMS
 AT HAGUE
Grievances of Six Nations May Reach International Tribunal If Arbitration Fails.

Syracuse, N. Y, July 24 - Griev- ances of the Canadian Iroquois In dians, failing of settlement through action of a joint arbitration council. will be aired before The Hague in ternational tribunal. provided the Canadian government accepts the of Ter of the Council Of SIX Nations of which Chief Frank Logan, of the Onondaga tribe. is head chief, by virtue of his office, religious leader
 The offer has been duly forwarded to the Dominion authorities. Accom- panying it is a protest against the Canadian government plan to submit t1e grievances to a three-headed ju- dicia1 commission.
 Six Nations Want Freedom
 The proviso that the differences be referred to The Hague carries with 1 the pronouncement by the Iroquois submission of the right of the Six Nations to full political independence or home rule within reservation tracts.
 For over a year Onondago chief talns have been attending conferences In various places at which the prob lems of the Indians living on the Grand river have been discussed. who established aa separate tribe within the Mohawks when the St Re sis embraced Catholicism.
 All of the Six Nations Indians are theoretically pagans. though many have embraced Christianity and all reservations have Christian mis- sions- The Indians claim their sov- ereiSnty, holding that under the treaties they are separate nations and such are entitled to direct their own destinieS through tribal councils
 When the tribal laws run in con- jet with the white mans law, the In dians hold to the tribal decrees and for years have successfully defended their rights.
 One of the principal foundations of the Six Nations, and which has come. in conflict with Canadian law, is the tribal law of maternal descent and women's control of tribal affairs. In all the Six Nations the mothers of the various clans direct all governmental affairs indirectly in that they select the chiefs.
 This custom, which has come down since the establishment of the Iro- Quois Confectionery, is the very basis of the Six Nations government, and is in constant conflist with the white mans government, where paternal descent is followed.
 The old unsettled claim of tribal autonomy among the Six Nations in their relations to the United States and Canadian governments also is in vo we'd in the Dominion dispute. The Indians also demand an accounting of the money which the Canadian government holds in trust for them
 
 of lands originally allotted to the redskins.
 Indians hold property only as tribes, and the property rights on both sides of the international line are involved in the many complica- tions which maternal descent brings about, in that cousins become broth CTS and sisters, and uncles and aunts become fathers and mothers of chi1- dren of sisters or brothers.
 In this connection the fact that In- dianS take the clan of their mother and not their father, in their relation to the tribe adds to the complfca- tons
 ''The Cantadian government is try ing to initiate the ruthless imperial ism of Congress in it's treatment of American Indians;" declares Attor- ney George Decker, counsel for the Six Nations. Americans at one mo- ment make wonderful phrases about the rights of small nations and jus tice, and at the next totally ignore the wrongs done to small groups of Indians whpse tribal existence is theatened.
 Some tribes allow their rights to be invaded and soon inter-marry with whites and are dispersed, committing race suicide. But the Six Nations do