The Haudenosaunee have a long and rich history in international relations starting with the 2 Row Wampum. The main tenets of this treaty are the protection of Haudenosaunee lands and culture, the principle of non-interference and the maintenance of open dialogue.

Other treaties have been forged between the Haudenosaunee and European Nations since the 2 Row, such as the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua. This treaty, between the newly formed United States and the Haudenosaunee, identifies the boundaries of Haudenosaunee lands and reaffirms a policy of non-interference.

Despite our historical and diplomatic relationship with the United States, the Haudenosaunee have had to continually defend our rights to lands and territories. In the US and Canadian court systems, the Haudenosaunee are at a disadvantage. In 1924, Cayuga Chief Desgahe traveled to Geneva, Switzerland to bring the struggle of Indigenous Rights to the global forum of the League of Nations. This historic trip began a movement to address Indigenous Rights at the international level. In 1977, the Haudenosaunee, along with other Indigenous nations from around the world, traveled to the United Nations in Geneva to start work on what we know today as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Our first challenge was to insist that the UN open its doors to Indigenous Peoples so that we could participate directly in discussions of the Declaration. The Declaration took over 30 years to complete and the Haudenosaunee were active participants throughout. We conducted this work according to our principles, including the principle of non-interference, and our ways.

Although the Haudenosaunee are not parties to the Declaration, the protections outlined in the Declaration benefit us. These protections include the rights to self-determination, lands, territories, and resources and consultation. Many of these protections are already part of the law of the United States, though they have not always been enforced.

Currently, the US Congress is preparing legislation to create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean economy. As a part of this legislation, the United States will help create an international carbon market and offer funding to other countries for projects to reduce deforestation. These measures have worthy goals but they cannot be enacted without provisions to protect Indigenous Peoples' rights to their lands, territories, resources, and self determination, as well as to consultation. Just as the United States recognizes our rights to our lands, territories, resources, and self-determination, it must not allow federal dollars to be used by other countries in ways that violate the rights of Indigenous Peoples elsewhere.

Because of the Haudenosaunee's long history in standing up for Indigenous Rights, and because of the critical importance of protecting these rights while working to combat climate change, we stand ready to work with other Indigenous Peoples and with the nations of the world on these issues. We do so in accordance with the principles of noninterference and open dialogue confirmed by the 2 Row and handed down to us in our Great Law.