Susan M. Hill (Grand River Haudenosaunee/Mohawk Nation)
University of Toronto
Image: inside cover of the author’s personal Haudenosaunee passport
In August of 1921 Deskaheh (Levi General), a Cayuga Nation Chief, travelled to London, England on behalf of the Six Nations/Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council of Chiefs to carry forward their grievances against the Dominion of Canada to the attention of King George V. The Canadian government had increased their efforts to undermine the traditional government of the Six Nations by imposing aspects of federal legislation that abrogated their rights to govern their own affairs, people, and lands/waters. The Haudenosaunee saw this as a violation of historic treaties made with Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries and determined the Crown needed to be made aware so they could take responsibility for upholding the promises of their ancestors. In order to make this trans-Atlantic journey, Deskaheh travelled with a document sanctioned by the Six Nations Council to certify his standing as speaker of the “Ho-De-No-Sau-Nees Confederation of Grand River (North America)”. His identification paperwork is considered by many to be the first example of an Indigenous passport document and was certainly the first example of a Haudenosaunee passport. While this trip to England proved unsuccessful – the King refused to meet with him – his use of a Haudenosaunee-generated travel document was an important assertion of sovereignty that continues to be taken up by Haudenosaunee citizens in the 21st century and one that members of other Indigenous nations have also utilized for their own international diplomatic travel.
On July 14, 1923, Deskaheh set sail for Geneva, Switzerland along with lawyer George P. Decker. They were sent by the Six Nations/Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council of Chiefs to carry forward their grievances against the Dominion of Canada to the Council of the League of Nations in light of Britain’s failure to intervene. Deskaheh again travelled on his Haudenosaunee-issued passport. While he was ultimately unsuccessful in getting permission to address the League, he made many connections with people in the City of Geneva, including their Mayor who hosted him for several months while Deskaheh sought to raise awareness of the plight of his people.
The spirit and intention of Deskaheh’s passport was resurrected in 1977 when the Haudenosaunee sent a 21-person delegation to the Non-Governmental Organizations conference on “Discrimination Against the Indigenous Populations of the Americas” gathering in Geneva, Switzerland. (This gathering was the precursor to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.) Rather than travel on documents issued by the settler governments of Canada or the United States, the Haudenosaunee delegation travelled on passports issued under the authority of the Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee, just as Deskaheh Levi General had done over five decades prior.
Since that time, the Haudenosaunee have travelled to many international diplomatic gatherings using passports issued by the Haudenosaunee Grand Council. In light of the challenges of 21st century global travel, issues often arise for Haudenosaunee representatives, but they continue to push for international recognition of their sovereign rights, including the right to authenticate their own citizens with passports they issue. This was again the case in July 2023 when the current Deskaheh, Chief Steven Jacobs, travelled to Geneva at the invitation of the Mayor to renew relations between the city that serves as a home of the United Nations and the Haudenosaunee people.
To learn more, about Haudenosaunee passports and the ongoing relationship with the City of Geneva, please see:
Akwesasne Notes. Basic Call to Consciousness. Summertown, Tenn: Native Voices, 2005.
Antonacci, J.P. “Six Nations goes to the UN” Spectator [Hamilton, Ontario], 15 July 2023. See also “Six Nations Goes to the UN,” Brantford Expositor, 17 July 2023. https://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/news/local-news/six-nations-goes-to-the-un Accessed 14 June 2025.
Blackburn, Mark. “Haudenosaunee passport confiscated” 19 July 2011. APTN. https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/haudenosaunee-passport-confiscated/ (Accessed 14 June, 2025).
Brachmann, Steve. Tribal Passports Often Accepted for Official Travel. McClatchy – Tribune Business News. Washington: Tribune Content Agency LLC, 2010.
Deer, Ka’nhehsí:io. “Haudenosaunee mark 100th anniversary of Deskaheh’s attempt to speak to League of Nations.” The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 24 July 2023. https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/deskaheh-100-haudenosaunee-geneva-1.6913959 Accessed 14 June 2025.
Hill, Sid. “My Six Nation Haudenosaunee Passport is Not a ‘Fantasy Document.’” The Guardian, 30 October 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/30/my-six-nation-haudenosaunee-passport-not-fantasy-document-indigenous-nations Accessed 14 June 2025.
Horn, Greg. “Geneva Celebrate 100th Anniversary of Dekaheh’s Journey to the League of Nations”, Iorí:Wase, July 11, 2023. https://kahnawakenews.com/geneva-celebrate-100th-anniversary-of-deskaheh%E2%80%99s-journey-to-the-league-of-n-p4470-1.htm#google_vignette
Keeler, Jacqueline. “Oren Lyons, Oren Lyons, Onondaga: Conversation.” Earth Island Journal. Vol. 30 (Autumn 2015). https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/magazine/entry/oren_lyons_onondaga/## Accessed 14 June 2025
Lightfoot, Sheryl R. “Decolonizing Self-Determination: Haudenosaunee Passports and Negotiated Sovereignty.” European Journal of International Relations 27, no. 4 (2021): 971–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/13540661211024713.
Lightfoot, Sheryl and Elsa Stamatopoulou. “Haudenosaunee Passports and Decolonizing Borders.” In Indigenous Peoples and Borders, 332–50. New York, USA: Duke University Press, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478027607-015.