HAUDENOSAUNEE GOVERNMENT-TO-GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION POLICY

The Principles of Consultation:

The principle that drives this policy is that the Covenant Chain of Peace is the one political protocol that we share with all European and North American governments. It is a time-honoured tradition that all of our governments have used to address issues of mutual concern. That tradition called for the “repolishing” of the Covenant Chain, which is symbolized as a three-link silver chain. To the Haudenosaunee, the Government-to-Government Consultation Policy is the way by which this repolishing will take place. The causes of hurt will be removed. New aspects of our relationship will be clarified. Our relationship will be renewed.

The Covenant Chain is based upon three principles that our Government-to-Government Consultation Policy must reflect:
1. Peace must be maintained. We will use the power of reason to arrive at peaceful solutions. Our objective is to assure that no one will be harmed by any action to be taken. To us, peace is the result of fairness.

2. Respect must be given to all parties. We will use common respect, encouraging words and find ways that show respect to all parties. To us, respect results from understanding on the importance of maintaining our languages, culture, and way of life and treaty relationships.

3. Friendship must be evident. We will speak honestly and forthright, not attempting to deceive each other. We will find ways to encourage the friendship that has existed between our people since the American and Canadian nations came into existence. To us, friendship results we can trust each other to keep our word and communicate on a regular basis to assure the peace and respect continue.

The Political Protocol of Consultation:

The Haudenosaunee have a treaty relationship with the Crown. That relationship is more than a written document or single wampum belt. The relationship is a commitment to respect our sovereignty, land rights, cultural rights and human rights. It is a commitment to communicate respectfully. At the same time, the relationship is dependent upon timely consultation to address issues that arise from time to time. We commit to the negotiations necessary to resolve the matters peacefully. We view consultation with the Crown to be a nation-to-nation process. The Crown, under its own authority, may delegate its responsibility to various governments under its jurisdiction. By this policy we commit to a government-to-government process, with the understanding that the governments authorized by the Crown thereby represent the Crown in these consultations.

The Reason for Consultation:

Consultation is required when one of three following events occur:

1. When difficulties arise between our people over matters of jurisdiction, land, hunting and gathering, environmental planning, policing etc., we must work at reducing the cause of distress and removing the source of injury.
2. When proposed laws, policies, programs or practices impact on the lands, or may affect the right of our people to maintain their cultural identity, aboriginal rights and treaty rights. We must work cooperatively, in the spirit of the Two Row Wampum, to assure that we respect our jurisdictional responsibilities.
3. When the Haudenosaunee request such consultation due to issues of concern. From time to time, we will initiate a request for consultation by informing the Governor General of the source of our concern and always in which we would like to consultation to proceed.

The Procedures of Consultation:

Consultation is a formal process. Consultation is also meant to better inform all parties as to the nature, dimensions and possible consequences of an action to be addressed. Open and honest communication is key to the entire process.

The first step in consultation is to identify the causes of concern and agree that these are matters of state.

The second step is to formerly convene the consultation. This would be with an exchange of letters to confirm the matters and the appointment of authorized officials to deal with matters.

The third step is to have the authorized officials develop a work plan to address the matters, with concrete mandates, mutually agreed upon strategies and clearly defined expected outcomes.

The fourth step is to conduct the consultation and work at defining solutions. The authorized officials will develop and sign a proposed solution plan – an agreement in principle.

The fifth step will be to have each government review and approve the proposed solution plan, thereby making it the final result of the consultation.

The sixth step would be a plan to implement the approved plan. This may require additional consultation meetings to work out the details.

The seventh step would be to implement and monitor the approved plan. From time to time, adjustments to the plan may be necessary due to changing circumstances or unforeseen consequences. This may require additional consultation meetings to work out the details.

There is no specific timeframe for consultation, as it will vary significantly based upon the nature of the discussion and the cultural and spiritual obligations of the Haudenosaunee from time to time. A word of warning: Our process of consensus building takes time. The earlier that consultation is started the better for all.

Attached Documents

• Consultation Policy pdf (107kb) [ download ]