Many times, I begin my articles by expressing my honor to write about a particular topic, or by stating, “The Federation of Aboriginal Nations of the Americas is pleased to announce,” etc.

I have known Principal Chief Dr. Ronald Yonaguska Holloway for almost 20 years.  I am going to break with a tradition that has become familiar to me, where I address the chiefs by their titles.  I am going to call Principal Chief Dr. Holloway by his name- Yonaguska.

Yonaguksa is my brother of the heart, as I am his sister.  He and I have gone through so much together.  We have gone through questionable deaths, break-ins to our homes, tampering with cars, wire taps, all in an attempt to stop the SandHill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians (NY, NJ, PA) from proceeding forward to join together with other first contact tribes to form what is now known as The Federation of Aboriginal Nations of the Americas (FANA).

Yonaguska has relentlessly worked towards the vision we had discussed at the beginning of our friendship and later with FANA.

We have been to the Senior Staff room in the West Wing of the White House four times over the years.  In order for the SandHill to become a Sovereign Nation, the Secretary of the Interior at that time provided us with a list of achievements we needed to accomplish.

Amongst the list was:

1. To get recognized by other recognized Tribes/Nations - Accomplished

2. To come up with a plan as to how we would be able to be financially independent from th     the U.S Government – Accomplished

3. To become internationally recognized-- Accomplished

4. To have all the blood lines recorded – Accomplished

5. To have a constitution, tribal Council, etc.  – Accomplished

We did exactly what the Obama Administration had demanded, and we are beginning to see the fruits of our labor come into fruition.  However, with the formation of FANA, we took the action onto the global stage, not just domestically.

Last week, Yonaguska called me and informed me that he had just received a letter from the Prime Minister of the SOAD, stating that he had been granted honorary citizenship to the State of African Diaspora.

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs for FANA, he worked tirelessly to establish relationships with the State of African Diaspora (SOAD).  He was the architect of all treaties signed between the SOAD and FANA.

For those unfamiliar with the global stage’s politics, being recognized and awarded honorary citizenship by an international Nation is the most outstanding achievement an indigenous person or group can receive.

This action goes beyond anything we had imagined for the SandHill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians (NY, NJ, PA) and for FANA

Attached to this article are the Certificate of Honorary Citizenship (above) and the Letter of Honorary Citizenship for Chief Dr Holloway.

All I can add is “Well done, Brother!  Well done!”

, Below is the letter of the Award of Honorary Citizenship from the Prime Minister of the State of African Diaspora and the Certificate Honorary Citizenship