Deskaheh -- 1873-1925, Iroquois -- Biography, Iroquois -- Government relations, Iroquois 

"Deskaheh was a descendent of Mary Jimerson. He was born in Grand River Land in 1872 which is now Canada. After Deskaheh finished grammar school he crossed the border into the U.S.A. to become a lumberjack in the Allegheny Mountains. He had an accident and returned to Grand River to become a farmer. He married the daughter of a Cayuga mother and white father and together they had four daughters and five sons.In 1914, because of his honesty, sincerity, and his ability as an orator in Cayuga language he was appointed as head speaker when the Canadian Government decided on the grounds of expediency to disregard the old treaties and assimilate the Indians, by force, if necessary. Deskaheh was the leader of the delegation that patiently explained in Ottawa that the Canadian Government had no jurisdiction over the little Iroquois nation and that since the Indians had already volunteered in proportionately greater numbers than the people of any other nation in the world.

The Iroquois won this argument, however, after the end of the war the Canadian Government wanted again to assimilate the Iroquois. In 1921, Deskaheh was appointed "Speaker of the Six Nations Council". He was authorized a passport by his nation to cross the Atlantic to seek British aid. The British authorities refused his request. Deskaheh, along with George P. Decker, traveled to Geneva to bring the case before the League of Nations. He arrived in 1923 and began to work toward presenting to the Council of the League the petition of the Iroquois. He fought, but it was not successful. He spent a generous amount of time. Deskaheh then started to travel home. He arrived at the border, but the Canadian Government stopped him. He then was forced to go to a friend's house on the Tuscarora Reservation. Deskaheh became physically ill, but the colony refused him a doctor. Deskaheh died on June 25, 1925 in the Tuscarora Reservation. His last words were, 'fight for the line.'""--WorldCat.org. 

20 pages ; 22 cm.