Deskaheh in Geneva 1923-2023: Defending Haudenosaunee Sovereignty

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, City of Geneva, and Docip observe the centenary of Deskaheh Levi General’s intervention at the League of Nations in 1923. He was sent as a spokesperson for the Haudenosaunee Confederacy representing six sovereign nations: the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora. His petition is recognized as the catalyst for the international Indigenous sovereignty movement against ongoing structural inequities globally. This exhibition aims to celebrate his work in favor of Indigenous Peoples and the role that Geneva has played and still plays in this fi eld. It expresses the voices of the Haudenosaunee and Geneva allies. 

Deskaheh called for justice long denied to an Indigenous Nation. His call carried to nations across all Earth because the people and City of Geneva, Switzerland supported the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) cause. 

This exhibition gathers our minds together, as many streams join to make a river. The first stream carries the fundamental knowledge of Haudenosaunee Principles, Hodino̱hsó:nih Odrihwagwáisǫh. The next tells a story of Justice Denied, Tęʔdeʔhodi:yęʔ Gaihwaʔsrǫ́:nih. Another honors 100 years of friendship with International Allies, Heyǫhwęjagwé:gǫh Degaihwakáhǫʔ. The last shows the distance between — and the path of reconciling — Indigenous and Western legal systems by anticipating Indigenous International Law, Ǫgwehǫ́weh Gayę́nsraʔ Ohę́:do