Levi General | |
|---|---|
| Deskaheha | |
 Photograph of Chief Deskaheh appearing in 'The Graphic', 1922 | |
| Cayuga statesman | |
| In office 1917–1925 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Levi General (1873-03-15)March 15, 1873 Tuscarora Township, Ontario |
| Died | June 27, 1925(1925-06-27) (aged 52) Tuscarora Reservation, New York |
| Spouse | Mary Bergen |
| Relations | Seven brothers and sisters,[citation needed] including Alex General[1] |
| Children | Four daughters, including Rachel General[2] |
| Parents | |
Levi General (March 15, 1873 – June 27, 1925), commonly known asDeskaheh,a was aHaudenosaunee (Iroquois) hereditary chief and appointed speaker noted for his persistent efforts to get recognition for his people. He is most famous for bringing Iroquois concerns before theLeague of Nations in the 1920s.[3]
Levi General was raised and educated as a traditionalCayuga, participating actively inlonghouse ceremonies.[4] In addition to his first language,Cayuga, he also spoke the other Iroquoian languages.[4] He worked as alumberjack in theAllegheny Mountains in westernNew York andPennsylvania. An accident forced him to return and he began to farm near Millpond, in the vicinity ofOhsweken on theSix Nations Reserve,[4] where he married and had four daughters.[5]
In 1917, General became a hereditaryRoyaner of the Cayuga with the title "'Desgahe'",[6] meaning "more than eleven".[2] Deskaheh travelled to London in August, 1921 with attorney George P. Decker, who was hired by the Six Nations as counsel. Because the Canadian government would have denied him permission to travel, the Six Nations Confederacy issued theirown passport for Deskaheh at the advice of Decker. Deskaheh appeared at theHippodrome "in full regalia" and also distributed a pamphlet entitled "Petition and Case of the Six Nations of the Grand River".[7]Winston Churchill, British undersecretary for the colonies at the time, stated the petition should be returned to the Canadian government, so Decker and Deskaheh returned to the United States.[7]
In 1922, the two men went toWashington, DC and gained the support of theNetherlands' minister of foreign affairs,H. A. van Karnebeck, who sent their petition to the League of Nations' Secretary-General's office. They also gained the support of the SwissBureau International pour la Défense des Indigènes.
In 1923, Canadian officials builtRoyal Canadian Mounted Police barracks on Six Nations Grand River lands, conducted searches of private homes, and prohibited the Indians from cutting wood for fuel (while allowing others to do so), intensifying the Indians' desire to seek protection from the British crown.[8] Deskaheh travelled toRochester, New York and began strategizing with Decker to ask the League of Nations to place sanctions on Canada.[9]
On July 14, 1923, Deskaheh and Decker sailed toGeneva, Switzerland. Decker returned to the U.S. after a brief time but communicated with Deskaheh frequently by mail.[10] Meanwhile, Deskaheh remained in Switzerland for eighteen months, lecturing before large audiences in Geneva,Bern,Lausanne,Lucerne,Winterthur, andZurich.[11] In his lectures, he reminded European colonizers of the new world of their obligations under the two row wampum, the most significant pact made between the Iroquois and Europeans. His eloquence, persistence, and ability to speakFrench helped win the support of some nations, including Ireland, Panama, Persia, Japan, and Estonia.[12] Modern historianLaurence Hauptman wrote that while Deskaheh's lectures generated a warm reception by the Swiss people, they were not effective in changing British or Canadian positions.[13]
On September 17, 1924, Governor-GeneralJulian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy mandated the Six Nations Confederacy Council at Ohsweken be replaced with an elected council as described by Canada'sIndian Act.[14] On October 7, as the result of a report byAndrew Thorburn Thompson who had been asked by theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police to investigate the situation, the RCMP dissolved the traditional government of the Six Nations, stealing important documents andwampums and declaring an immediate election to displace the traditional government.[citation needed] Although Deskaheh became even more outspoken as a result of these events, even writing toKing George V directly, he was unable to make headway and was never able to meet his original goal of speaking to the League of Nations, although he left a copy of a proclamation at their offices in Geneva before he left on January 3, 1925.[14]
Deskaheh lived his last six months in Rochester, delivering speeches including his most famous one on March 10, 1925 via the local Rochester radio station.[15] In this speech he made a statement regarding policies of "forced acculturation" that has been much-quoted since:
"Over in Ottawa, they call that policy "Indian Advancement". Over in Washington, they call it "Assimilation." We who would be the helpless victims say it is tyranny. If this must go on to the bitter end, we would rather that you come with your guns and poison gases and get rid of us that way. Do it openly and above board."[16]
Deskaheh was staying at the home of ChiefClinton Rickard on theTuscarora Reservation during the final months of pneumonia that followed a bad cold he had contracted in Europe.[15] "He sent for his traditionalmedicine man from theSix Nations Reserve in Canada. But the medicine man was not allowed across the border. The U.S. had just passed theImmigration Law of 1924, which denied entry to anyone who did not speak English." On his deathbed, "Deskaheh told Rickard to 'Fight for the line.'" Chief Rickard went on to found the Indian Defense League in 1925, to defend "the right of free passage for Aboriginal people".[17]
Deskaheh was buried on June 30 on the Six Nations Reserve, with two thousand mourners accompanying his casket to the cemetery after a ceremony at Sour Spring Longhouse.[15] Modern Iroquois consider Deskaheh a great patriot, but some also hold him responsible for the later retaliation of the Canadian government against the tribe.[2]
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