For the Iroquios tribes who lived along the St. Lawrence Seaway, the
establishment of a border between the United States and Canada was a
particularly sensitive issue:  were they citizens of both countries, or of
neither?  Each July, members of the Indian Defense League of America march
across this bridge on the border to commemorate an important victory.  The
Indian Defense League was founded in 1926 by Chief Clinton Rickard, a
Tuscarora.  In 1928, the league, based primarily within the Six Iroquios
Nations of New York and Canada, established unrestricted rights for
Indians to trade and travel across the U.S./Canadian border.  The league
argued that these rights were already guaranteed by the Jay Treaty of 1794
and the Treaty of Ghent in 1814.  But it was not until 1969 that the
Canadian government recognized these rights and allowed Indians to
exchange goods across the border duty-free.