For expedience, the Federation of Aboriginal Nations of the Americas will be addressed as FANA, and the Sand Hill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians (NY, NJ, PA) will be addressed as The Sand Hill.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over the years, the member tribes of FANA have assisted other tribes in formulating Constitutions, writing treaties, assisting with legal matters, and addressing other Tribal needs.
The Sand Hill Tribe is a founding member of the Federation. Principal Chief Dr. Ronald Yonaguska Holloway asked me to publish the Sand Hill Constitution's preamble and first amendment.
Therefore below is the aforementioned document
*************************************************************************************
Whereas The Sand Hill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians (NY, NJ, PA) are the heirs, inheritors, upholders, possessors, protectors, and sovereigns of the inalienable, inherent, natural, and sovereign rights, laws, spiritual systems, customs, traditions, lands, territories, and resources that The Great Spirit, The Almighty God, The Most High, The Creator of All Living Things- In infinite wisdom, knowledge, power, and authority- accorded to their ancestors, clans, clan mothers, great warriors, principal chiefs, and spiritual leaders who have previously walked the earth;
Whereas in infinite wisdom, knowledge, power, and authority, and intending that The Sand Hill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians (NY, NJ, PA) perpetually possess, protect, and uphold the inalienable, inherent, natural, and sovereign rights, laws, spiritual belief systems, customs, traditions, lands, territories, and resources it has been accorded, The Great Spirit, The Almighty God, The Most High, The Creator of All Living Things conferred into the trust of The Sand Hill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians (NY, NJ, PA), as an individual sovereign, the responsibilities and duties of self-governance, self-provision, and self-protection;
Whereas The Sand Hill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians (NY, NJ, PA) retain inherent rights to ancestral knowledge, heritage practices, Traditional ecological knowledge, Traditional environmental knowledge, intellectual property, cultural property, customs, spiritual belief systems, knowledge systems, traditions, lands, and resources;
Whereas naturally occurring botanicals are a genetic resource, a plant, part of a plant, the genetic expression of a plant, or the biochemical structure related to the specific species, genus, phylum, and class of the plant kingdom that retain particular ethnobotanical importance to the heritage practices and the combined traditional ecological knowledge of The Sand Hill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians (NY, NJ, PA);
Whereas all Tribal Citizens retain the inherent rights to practice ethnobotanical knowledge and heritages with medicinal, spiritual, religious, recreational, and personal uses as they emerge from naturally occurring botanicals throughout all Tribal Lands and Territories, be they biotechnologies, including and not limited to tinctures, decoctions, salves, topicals, and other derivatives that emerge from ethnobotanical knowledge, traditional environmental knowledge, and traditional ecological knowledge of naturally occurring botanicals.
*************************************************************************************************
Whereas
Intellectual & cultural properties (TEK)
AMENDMENT # 1 TO SANDHILL BAND OF INDIANS CONSTITUTION:
By unanimous vote of The Sand Hill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians (NY, NJ, PA) (SHBI) Council, and in agreement with and assented to by the Principal Blood Chief Ronald Yonaguska Holloway, the SHBI Tribal Constitution is hereby amended and the following law is added to the constitutional body.
By virtue of Sovereign Rights, Ancestral Rights, Ancestral Tradition, Human Rights, and Treaty Rights, this codification of and documentation of the Tribe's Historical and current position on the use of Natural Ethno-Botanicals in the course of a tribal National’s life while being a citizen in good standing is a right enshrined in our history, and hereby enshrined in our Tribal Constitution.
As our peoples traditionally undertook vision quests as directed by OUR Medicine/ Spiritual Leadership Clan Heads, Parents, and those attempting to form a closer relationship with the Living Planet, the Tribal Council felt that it was in the best interest of the tribe for future generations to understand, clarify, and uphold our traditional, and current position on Naturally Occurring Ethno-Botanicals usage.
It is the tribe's position that naturally occurring ethno botanicals are best for the human body and should be considered predating and having a more predictable outcome than the comparatively newer pharmaceuticals. They have a longer track record of usage and fewer side effects.
Be it known that throughout all the tribal lands, be they Historical, current, or future, the following law shall hold sway: All Tribal Citizens have the right to use All Naturally Occurring Botanicals for Spiritual, Religious, Medicinal, and or Personal use. This includes but is not limited to all Naturally Occurring Tinctures, Decoctions, extracts, salves, and the like. E. g. Be they Cannabis, ayahuasca, Skullcap, and Naturally occurring Mushrooms of all sorts.
