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Tadodaho: An uncompromising leader.
Leon Shenandoah, the late Tadodaho of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, commanded the respect of everyone he met, even those who actively sought his removal from power.
Shenandoah was returned to the embrace of Earth July 24 before the largest assembly of Iroquois in modern times. Many of those who went to Onondaga to pay homage to the Tadodaho were opponents of the Confederacy and had defied the principles which he held sacred.
Gathered at the Onondaga longhouse were the traditional Haudenosaunee clanmothers, faithkeepers and chiefs Shenandoah had worked with for most of his adult life. As the chairman of the Confederacy he had also taken an active role in supporting legitimate leadership against those who placed the sovereign rights of the Iroquois at risk.
Shenandoah opposed the exploitation of the collective rights of the Iroquois for individual profit. He clearly saw the dangers in the development of a economic class system dominated by an elite few.
He stood against gambling, tobacco smuggling, gun running and so-called "warrior" societies. He made many statements condemning the greed which had taken over the...