Iroquois Confederacy

“You’ve heard it said that somehow privatization makes things better. But it does not!” thundered State Senator Gustavo Rivera to loud applause from 100 or so activists in attendance. Rivera, chair of the Health Committee continued, “This is a failed experiment. One we have to do away with, and the way we’ll do it is to pass this bill.” Alongside Rivera were some of New York’s most prominent legislators who were there to introduce The Home Care Savings & Reinvestment Act.

His concerns were not surprising given the fact that each year, U.S. industrial-scale feeding facilities—the standard for American meat and dairy production—generate, store, and spread millions of gallons of untreated liquid feces and urine across farmland. Mammoth dairy, hog, poultry and beef cattle operations are known across Corn Belt states for fouling the air with rank odors and contaminating surface and groundwater with toxic nitrates, phosphorus and bacteria.

The Six Nations include: the Mohawk (MO-hawk) or Kanien’kehaka, which means “People of the Flint;” Oneida (o-NY-da) or Onayotekaono, which means “People of the Standing Stone;” Onondaga (on-nen-DA-ga) or Onundagaono, which means “People of the Hills.” The Onondaga are also called “Keepers of the Central Fire” since the Onondaga Nation is considered the capital of the Iroquois Confederacy.