Harry Belafonte and Claude Paradise Gray 'They gave us the Bible and took our land. The Pope declared if the people are not Christian they have no title to land by God?s law (the law of nations). So they took our land by declaration; in 1496, King James also declared the land free to take if there were no Christian owners.' -Chief Oren of The Onondaga Nation

“The Gathering” was a three-day retreat in June organized by Elder Harry Belafonte and hosted by The Council of Chiefs, The Elders and Clan Mothers of the Onondaga Nation on sovereign land just south of Syracuse. The Onondaga people adhere to a time-honored democratic system and have a deep respect for cultural and spiritual traditions.

The meetings were opened and closed in Onondaga tradition with a thanksgiving prayer giving thanks and respect to all beings in Gods creation and was well attended by young energetic Black and Brown leaders from many cities including New York, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee.

Mr. Belafonte explained that this was the third such gathering whose purpose is not for the elders to tell young people what to do or how to do it, but to officially pass the torch from the elders of the Civil Rights movement to the next generation of prepared young leaders.

Mr. Belafonte spoke of the importance of patience and non-violent action by saying, “Preach to the choir, if you don’t they may stop singing, and if the sermon is good they will be inspired to sing louder and better.” He also asked us not to be intolerant of redundancy, because the first time it was said or done the goal was not achieved. “In a participatory democracy all voices must be heard. The struggle is universal. We need to speak to the global community. We must reach for a universal solution to dealing with a common oppressor. The gathering is bigger than the small issues that face each of us daily. You have to see beyond the fight you’re in,” said Mr. Belafonte.

Chief Oren gave us an historical view of his people and told us how they were robbed of 95 percent of their land by New York State.

“The ruling power in 1492 was the Roman Catholic Church, 2 flags—Roman/Catholic and Spanish—came with Columbus. They gave us the Bible and took our land. The Pope declared if the people are not Christian they have no title to land by God’s law (the law of nations).  So they took our land by declaration; in 1496, King James also declared the land free to take if there were no Christian owners.”

Chief Oren also explained that The Onondaga Nation is an independent, sovereign government that does not accept federal money from the U.S. government, nor do they pay taxes to the U.S. government. They also honorably are not involved in the casino business or any other gambling ventures and do not allow alcohol to be sold on their land. He told us of the importance of our Elders and the importance of knowing our history: “Elders are important, there is no shortcut to experience. The more you know about history the better you can prepare, if you don’t know how they did it, they can do it again.”

Many of the young leaders representing diverse organizations spoke and explained the work that their organizations were doing on the grassroots level in local neighborhoods around the country. Khari Mosley, Luqman Abdul Salaam and the brothers from Milwaukee (all representing The League of Young Voters) gave the most spirited presentation of the conference. “It was critical for us to tie in ex-offender voting participation with criminal justice reform issues. If ex-offenders become a voting block, allied with other supporters I think that we will begin to see changes within the prison industrial complex. It was incredible to have legends of the civil rights movement such as Harry Belafonte and Ivanhoe Donaldson to share ideas and strategies for movement building with young organizers who appear ready to receive the torch and carry on the works of our Ancestors and Elders,” said Mr. Mosley.

“It was an enlightening experience. I was amazed by the similarities between The Onondaga Nation and the Nation of Islam. I thank the Onondaga people and Mr. Belafonte for their hospitality,” said Min. Jasiri.

“We were encouraged to reach out to other disenfranchised people, to learn their struggles, and to be the keepers of the peace as in the ways of The Onondaga Nation: The tree of peace is the spiritual law, if you abandon the law you cannot win,” said Chief Oren.