1927 "There is no such thing as an "alien" Iroquois."

So think about this:

Indigenous people lived in the Americas for millennia, and yet the current border between the United States and Canada wasn't fully defined until The Treaty of 1908. But, the Iroquois Confederacy - like many other Nations - first held land in both countries. They didn't draw the line or have title removed, it was drawn, and removed, for them. So what happens when a tribal member feels entitled to citizenship in both homelands? 

This happened in 1927. 

Court to Decide Whether Iroquois Indian is Alien

                                                   1927, Jan 8   Great Falls Tribune
         Philadelphia, Jan 7 - A legal battle to determine whether North American Indians are to be treated as aliens when entering the United States from Canada or accorded the rights under treaties nearly 200 years old, opened in federal district court...

          Paul Diabo, a full-blooded Iroquois, is the central figure in the test case, which, eventually may reach the United States supreme court. The principal question involved is whether the immigration act of 1924 can "by implication" repeal the treaty of 1794. Standing staunchly behind Diabl is the Six Nations, a confederation of the big Indian tribes of North America, the most powerful of which is the Iroquois.

          Diabo, a skilled mechanic, was ordered deported last March [by] the immigration authorities because he came into the country from Canada without a passport. When deported he said he had planned to let the matter drop, but the Six Nations took the position that, should the immigration authorities ruling be allowed to stand, it would place American Indians in the classification of "aliens."

          The Six Nations induced Diabo to make a test of the matter by returning to the United States, so the case would be brought before the courts. This he did and .. he was surrendered to the immigration authorities by his counsel. Adrian Bonnelly, supposedly to be deported again, but Mr Bonnelly immediately filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the federal district court. 

"The fundamental question, Mr Bonnelly said, was whether the treaty giving the Indians the right to pass across the Canadian border from either side at will could be abrogated by a law "only by implication." "While the immigration law," added the attorney, "describes all persons born in other countries as "alien," it does not mention Indians specifically, which the act would have done if Congress meant to include the aborigines."  - Source: Democrat and Chronicle, January 8, 1927

1927, Jan 8  The Philadelphia Inquirer 

1927, Jan 8  The Philadelphia Inquirer:  Mr Bonnnelley contend that any act affecting Indians must specifically mention them and that no act of Congress can invalidate treaty rights unless the act clearly outlines the intention to do so.
          Diabo asserts his home lies in territory of this country, which is bounded by Lake Erie and runs from the State of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York through Canada to Labrador.

1927, Jan 22, Star Tribune: The burden of proof that an American Indian, born outside the confines of the United States, is an alien, was placed on the shoulders of Uncle Sam today when a member of the Iroquois tribe fought deportation t Canada. ...
                                                         Indian Rights Acknowledged
          Judge Dickinson said that the United States is "as much the country of the Indian as it is ours," and that he would "be very surprised if the immigration law affected the aborigines."
          The Indian is Paul Diabo, who lives on a reservation at Quebec, on which he was born. His exclusion is sought on the ground that, having been born outside the United States, he is an alien and cannot enter this country without a visa, despite the Jay treaty of 1794. between the United States and England giving all Indians the right to cross and re-cross the Canadian border at will. The federal authorities claim the treaty was abrogated by the War of 1812.
                                                                   Test Case Staged
          Diabo was deported to Canada last March. The Six Nations, the confederation of the six big Indian tribes of North America, induced him to come back to the United States to be re-arrested so that a test case could be made. "Why, the effect of that law would be to make this man a Bristish subject," Judge Dickinson remarked. "An Indian is a member of the Indian nation, and is a ward of this country. No matter where he lives, the law considers his home to be territory of the United States."

1927, Jan 26     The Scanton Republican 

1927, Jan 26, The Scranton Republican - ... Since the Western Indian wars ceased, the Indian has advanced rapidly in all the arts of civilization. It is a race that seems to mix easily with the White Race. Slowly departing from tribal life, the Indian engaged in agriculture or business seems no different from the rest of us. The time is not many generations away when as a separate people the Indian will have been lost. Certainly it seems proper, just, equitable, that every law for Whites of America should be law for the Indians of America.
        There is no such thing as an "alien" Iroquois.

What was the ruling?

On March 18th, Judge Oliver B. Dickinson ruled that for the American Indian, no boundary line exists. "This does not mean that the United States could not exclude him," the decision read, "but it does mean that the United States having recognized his right to go from one part of his country to another unobstructed by a boundary line, which as to him does not exist, will not be taken to have denied this right unless the clear intention so to do appears. We do not find such denial in any of the cited exclusion acts of Congress."

1927, March 19  The Wilkes Barre Record 

Paul Diabo - second from right 

Up Next: It happened again in 1940

For more information please visit:
The Paul Diabo case affects us all
Paul Diabo Case Affects Us All
U.S. VS. KANENTO PAUL DIABO
Do The Right Thing: an unofficial history of Mohawk rights