ITHACA, N.Y. – A panel of speakers will offer an indigenous-centered theory of peace and climate justice at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 14 at Cornell University.
The event, titled “Practicing Peace for Climate Justice: Haudenosaunee Knowledge in Global Context,” will consider how the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace can address current political and environmental crises.
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is among the world’s longest standing participatory democracies. Speakers will discuss how the Great Law offers an alternative to “racial capitalism, accumulation by dispossession, and endless war,” according to an event flyer.
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“The Great Law inspired the formation of liberal democracy, anchors Haudenosaunee peoples as they maintain a land base in the most powerful countries in the world, and can guide the pursuit of justice within an increasingly militarized climate crisis. The Great Law attests that peace means striving for climate justice,” the event page reads.
“Practicing Peace for Climate Justice” will be held in Cornell’s Biotechnology Building, 215 Tower Rd., room G10M. A livestream will be available through the event page for those who are unable to join.
Speakers include:
- Kayenesenh Paul Williams, Esq., Onondaga, of Six Nations, legal scholar and Indigenous rights advocate, the author of Kayanerenkó:wa: The Great Law of Peace (2018).
- Agnes F. Williams, MSW, Seneca of Cattaraugus Territory, peace and environmental justice advocate, founder of the Indigenous Women’s Network and Indigenous Women’s Initiatives.
- Atsenhaieton Kenneth Deer, Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake, journalist and educator, Haudenosaunee representative on the Long March to Rome, a delegation and movement seeking the revocation of the Doctrine of Discovery.
- Iakoiane Wakerahkats:teh, Louise McDonald, Condoled Bear Clan Mother of the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) Nation at Akwsasne, founding member of the Konon:kwe Council, a grassroots organization that develops and advances policies to end domestic violence.
The event is presented by the Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies and the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program, and is co-sponsored by American Studies, Anthropology, the Cornell Office of Engagement Initiatives, CIAMS, Performing and Media Arts, Institute for Comparative Modernities, Development Sociology, and Government.