The Last Speech of Deskaheh
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Levi Grand was selected in 1917 to fill one of the positions on
the traditional Cayuga council and given the ancient title name of
Deskaheh. After WWI, he journeyed to the League of Nations in Geneva to
file the grievances of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people. The following
is the text of his last speech.
(On the evening of March 10, 1925, suffering from a serious attack of
pleurisy and pneumonia, he made his last speech. It was before a radio
microphone in Rochester. Once more, and more forcefully than ever,
he hurled defiance at big nations who disregard the claims of smaller
peoples.)
