The Grand River Cayugas and International Arbitration, 1910–1926

Abstract

For too long scholars have ignored the origins, deliberations, findings and overall significance of the American-British Claims Arbitration Tribunal that operated from 1910 to 1926, which heard a longstanding case involving New York State treaty obligations to the Grand River Cayugas. Also at this time Deskaheh, a Grand River Cayuga sachem, was bringing Hodinöhsö:ni’ (Haudenosaunee/Iroquois Confederacy/Six Nations) grievances to the League of Nations. This article traces the connections between these two cases, part of a larger Hodinöhsö:ni’ effort over the last century to assert sovereignty and gain international recognition for their nationhood as transnational peoples.