VERONA, N.Y. – On Tuesday, Oct. 12 the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians and the United South and Eastern Tribes signed a Covenant of Friendship, Cooperation, Solidarity and Trust.

Before the official signing, Brian Cladoosby, ATNI president, said he is “looking forward to a productive future together based on unity and cooperation.”

A pipe ceremony was performed by Hiawatha Brown, a tribal council member of the Narragansett Indian Tribe.

Before the presidents of the two organizations signed the covenant, Brian Patterson, USET president, read the preamble of the document and presented a string of wampum for each of eight sections to “signify the sustainability of our word.”

“Acknowledging that Indian country demands a louder and more unified voice, heard from coast-to-coast to carry out the advocacy responsibilities with the highest level of efficiency, USET and ATNI agree and set forth in this Covenant to operate in unison and utilize their collective knowledge, experience, political strength, and administrative capacity specifically on the initiatives set forth herein, and generally whenever Indian country as a whole would be strengthened thereby, or would benefit therefrom.”

The preamble also notes that the similarities between USET and ATNI outweigh the differences but it is the differences that “will serve to provide the fertile ground for the future opportunity embodied in this Covenant that can benefit both organizations, into perpetuity.”

The organizations intend to strengthen sovereignty by “acting in unison with one head, one heart, and one vision on identified initiatives of shared concern.”

The Covenant lists 17 objectives which Cladoosby reviewed before the signing. The initiatives include maximizing sovereignty; increasing inter-tribal communication and communication technology; economic development and job creation; taxation challenges and opportunities; inter-tribal emergency mutual aid/relief and disaster preparedness; tribal health program support and preventive health issues such as diabetes and substance abuse; trust reform; Native voting; cultural preservation, language initiatives, cultural exchange and sacred site protection; protection of natural resources and safe drinking water; climate change impacts; Indian child welfare; cross-mentoring opportunities for Indian youth; cross-promotion of events/initiatives; implementing joint studies on these initiatives; and other matters as USET and ATNI see fit.

After the signing, Cladoosby presented a drum representing both organizations to Patterson, and Chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Cedric Cromwell sang an honor song to recognize the union.