Deskaheh, 1921 (Millbay)

Deskaheh, also known as Levi General, was born on the Six Nations reserve in Ontario, Canada in 1873. An activist and Cayuga chief, he served as deputy speaker of the Confederacy Council beginning in 1918. A few years later, Deskaheh "pressured the government to review the Six Nations’ historical status, specifically their right to recognition as allies, not subjects, of the British crown, and hence to immunity from federal control." When the Canadian government did not agree to this, the Council hired a new lawyer, George Decker, and raised funds to send a delegate to England to plead their case to the Colonial Office.

Deskaheh and Decker arrived in Plymouth on the SS Ryndam on 15 August 1921. From there, they made their way to London to hand their "Petition and Case of the Six Nations of the Grand River" to the King.

Having been unsuccessful in his efforts, Deskaheh returned to the United States. He took the case to the League of Nations in Geneva in 1923, lobbying for the League to recognize the Six Nations as sovereign. He stayed there for a year but did not succeed in his goals.