Leon Shenandoah was an Onondaga politician who headed the Haudenosaunee Confederacy from 1968 to his death.
18 Facts About Leon Shenandoah
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Leon Shenandoah was born on May 18,1915, in a cabin on Hemlock Creek, New York.
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Leon Shenandoah belonged to the Eel Clan of the Onondaga.
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On December 7,1968, Shenandoah became the 235th Tadodaho of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
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Leon Shenandoah mainly lived on the Onondaga Reservation near Syracuse, New York.
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Near death, Leon Shenandoah was brought to a Seneca medicine man to be healed.
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Leon Shenandoah practiced the Longhouse Religion, and as Tadodaho, he was instrumental in its revival among the Haudenosaunee.
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Dennis Banks 8.
Leon Shenandoah believed that in the future, American Indian culture and society would rise to strength once more, and Western society, having ruined itself with pollution and insatiable greed, would be forced to turn to Indians for salvation.
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Leon Shenandoah was publicly elevated to Tadodaho on December 7,1968.
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Leon Shenandoah kept casinos off the Onondaga reservation and encouraged the leaders of the other Haudenosaunee tribes to do the same.
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In 1983, Leon Shenandoah directly defied the US federal government by providing sanctuary to Dennis Banks, who had been convicted in South Dakota of riot and assault with a deadly weapon.
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Leon Shenandoah attended the United Nations General Assembly in 1985 and presented a speech calling for a global ceasefire and general worldwide peace.
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At the 1992 Earth Summit, Leon Shenandoah met with Indigenous Amazon leaders, burning tobacco, giving corn, and sharing a prayer with them.
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Leon Shenandoah shared advice on how to deal with white politicians, which led to the tribes demanding that Brazilian museums return their sacred religious artifacts.
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Leon Shenandoah was succeeded as Tadodaho by Sidney Hill, another Onondaga Eel Clan member, who currently holds the position.
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Leon Shenandoah's funeral was held on the Onondaga reservation on July 24,1996.
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Leon Shenandoah was already Tadodaho by the time of a Washington Post Article on December 10,1968.
18.
Different obituaries report Leon Shenandoah as having died either at his home or at Syracuse University Hospital.