Category Archives: Kahnawake

KAHNAWAKE SEIGNEURY

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MNN. May 13, 2013. Montreal’s South Shore mayors are reeling. Quebec’s Parti Québécois government returned 300 hectares of stolen land to the Kahnawake Mohawks. The mayor of Châteauguay said the land belongs to them as they  stole it twice and expect to be compensated! This is the first time since Confederation that land was returned to us. Coming soon is the 45,000 acre Seigneury of Sault St. Louis land. On it are some of the following cities: Chateauguay, St-Constant, St-Isidore, LaPrairie, Candiac, St-Remi, St. Catherine, Montreal, Lachine, LaSalle and the river bed of the Kaniatarowano/St. Lawrence. pawn shop

The Seigneury claim is based on a 1680 fraudulent land grant to the Jesuits by the French King, Louis XIV. It wasn’t his to give. The Jesuits were sent over to kill off all the Indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere. The French moved onto the Seigneury because the ‘arrogant’ Mohawks wouldn’t work for foreigners plowing their own land. The Jesuits gave it away, leased or sold it, except for 13,000 acres where Kahnawake is located.

Jesuit Wolves: "Louis, those Mohawks just won't plow the land & work for us for nothing"!

Our Kanionkehaka/Mohawk territories includes the island of Montreal and extends south to the Mohawk River Valley, the Finger Lakes west to the Ohio, northerly to Lake Superior and back to Lake St. Louis. Our vast tract is accessible through a wide ring of rivers known as the great rivers of the Iroquois: Great Lakes, St. Lawrence, Richeleiu, Lake Champlain, Hudson, Mohawk. We always occupied our territory and were always governed by our constitution, the Kaianereh’ko:wa/Great Law of Peace. 

Louis XIV: "The Mohawks said there's nothing to negotiate. Just give it back!"

Louis XIV: “The Mohawks said there’s nothing to negotiate. Just give it back and get out!”

The Jesuit corporation, the storm troopers of the Catholic Church, was formed under the Papal Doctrine of Discovery. Fraudulent “Indian Title” was created that we have no sovereign title but a mere use of our land! This formed the basis of their illegal occupancy and theft of our land and resources and their campaign of genocide. 

The 1701 Great Peace of Montreal was not a land surrender. It was a peace treaty giving the French the right to live here as long as they lived by the principles of the Two Row Wampum. They agreed and then breached it, making them illegal occupiers of Onowaregeh/Great Turtle Island. In 1763 the Crown forbade colonial governors from making grants or purchases of Indian lands all over North America. 

The British North America Act 1867, sections 109 and 132 confirm our nation-to-nation relationship with the Crown; and that the Corporation of Canada and its provinces must respect our “prior interests” to our funds, land and resources. Violating international law, the Indian Act 1876 declared we were not “persons”, to steal our ever-growing $80.9 trillion Indian Trust Fund and our resources. The Corporation of Canada masquerades as a constitutional democracy. It is an “autocracy” that changes the rules to suit the business plan of the corporation. 

Seigneury is a small part of the vast unsurrender Kanionkehaka territory.

Seigneury is a small part of the vast unsurrendered Kanionkehaka territory.

The women are the title holders. To be legal all land transactions must be brought to the Mohawk Women’s Fire, not to the band council corporate Injun puppets. As Thin Lizzy sings: “Get out of here. Get out of here. Do I make myself clear. Pack up. Give in. Go home. Get out!”

MNN Mohawk Nation News kahentinetha2@yahoo.com Thahoketoteh@hotmail.com For more news, books, workshops, to donate and sign up for MNN newsletters, go to www.mohawknationnews.com  More stories at MNN Archives.  Address:  Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0

 The Seigneury

 Read more:montreal gazette story

 

 

KILL THE MESSENGER

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MNN. Mar. 28, 2013. On March 26, 2013, the MNN editor was invited to be the opening speaker at Champlain College in Sherbrooke Quebec. The topic was, “A Native Perspective on Canada’s Exploitation of Resources”. Two Mohawks, as is our custom, accompanied the speaker. They sat at a table facing the crowd.

Champlain College students.

Happy Champlain College students!

She did a traditional opening; explained the Seigneury of Sault Louis land,dispute which is returning vast areas to the Mohawk Nation; that Canada is not a state according to the Montevideo Convention of 1933; the genocide committed by the Jesuits, the storm troopers of the Catholic Church; the Great Peace of Montreal 1701 that created the official two row wampum relationship between the Indigenous and the visitors to Great Turtle Island; and Section 109 of the BNA Act 1867 that established the ever growing $50.3 trillion Indian Trust Fund. The presentation was legalistic and cautious. 

Cartoons were inserted in the power point presentation to help them understand the basics. They were carefully taken step by step through the legal maze of their settlement history here on our land and their legal position today. 

Debating with the speaker.

Champlain College debater.

The speaker received an ovation. Then the questions and comments began. Some in tears, said, “What happens to us?” “I came here because I love the Indians. After listening to you, now I hate them and I hate you!”  “I didn’t do anything. My ancestors did.” “Why? Why are you telling us this?” “You have no feelings for us!” I instructed them to study the Great Law of Peace to help them understand our position.    

The speaker, a 73-year old elder of the Mohawk Nation, tried to make light of the provocative jibes to calm them down. This made them madder. The discussion became more and more heated. Some students stomped out. Others heckled and smirked. The air became static with anger and threats. The speaker remarked, “The truth hurts”. Almost the entire student body jeered in astonishment. The three Mohawks could feel intense anger and were ready to deal with it. And they did.   

Julian Assange: "Happens to me all the time".

Julian Assange: “Happens to me all the time”.

For a moment the crowd calmed down. Then the insults started again. The speaker was accused of “having no feelings”. The speaker answered, “Yes, the we have strong feelings about the genocide of 100 million people and the murder of half our children placed in your church run residential schools. No one has been charged or punished for this.” More angry words flew. None addressed the legitimate issues. The sound arguments backed them into a corner. It was like they were standing on their hind legs and were ready to jump the Mohawks.  

Suddenly a teacher rose up. She reminded them that, “We wanted to hear the Indigenous side. You have to listen even if she turns it inside out”.  The confrontation ended. They formed groups and began talking, some giving the Mohawks dirty looks.   

"I don't agree with your point of view".

“I don’t agree with your point of view”.

A native speaker should take at least three people security when they go into a potential hostile situation. Because of the rampant spread of the Owistah disease throughout the settler population, an adverse side affect is, when they don’t like the message, they might kill the messenger. As the Guess Who sang:Guns Guns Guns “You be the Red King and I’ll be the Yellow Pawn. Guns, guns, guns! Eagle all gone and no more caribou. God speed mother nature. Never really wanted to say good-bye”.

MNN Mohawk Nation News kahentinetha2@yahoo.com  For more news, books, workshops, to donate and sign up for MNN newsletters, go to www.mohawknationnews.com  More stories at MNN Archives.  Address:  Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0

 

 

 

MNN: IMAGINARY LINE [Reprint]

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MNN. Feb. 25, 2013. Kanen:to Paul Diabo was a very important man in Indigenous history. He made it possible for ironworkers and all other Iroquois and Indigenous to cross the border to the Unite States freely. 

Problems began when the US Congress instituted the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. The Haudenosaunee [Iroquois] people refused to accept US citizenship when they realized that they would lose their treaty status and all claims to be a distinct nation. It seems that the American government didn’t like that and decided to make an example of one young ironworker who still dared to cross that [Canada-US] border to work. 

Lunch break!

Lunch break!

 

Diabo was an iron-worker from Kahnawa:ke. He was arrested in 1926. In 1927 at age 36, he appeared in court to discuss his deportation to Canada as he was considered an illegal immigrant because of the new act. 

Ben Franklin Bridge, Philadelphia, 1927.

Ben Franklin Bridge, Philadelphia, 1927.

Although Kanen:to faced trials and the possibility of going to prison yet another time [he had been in prison for getting caught in Philadelphia before, working on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge], he did not give up. He argued that it was his right to cross the border without interference, according to the Jay Treaty of 1794. He said that since he was a citizen of the Haudenosaunee Six Nations Confederacy he was able to cross the border without anyone stopping him. During his time in court, the people in Kanawa:ke were helping Diabo and his family by providing both financial and moral support. 

Finally in 1928, he did win his case and the right to cross the border freely, a victory for him and all his people. The court later deemed in 1952 that any person who had at least 50% Native blood could have these rights. 

This was an amazing success. And this all happened because one of our Indigenous men risked his freedom to fight for the rights of his people.  

As Johnny Cash sang in: “As long as the moon shall rise, as long as the rivers flow, as long as the sun will shine, as long as the grass shall grow.” As long as the grass shall grow

Story by Celeste Groux, Vision Feb-March 2013 Celeste Groux in Vision

The United States vs. Kenen:to Paul Diabo:U.S. vs. Kanento Paul Diabo

MNN Mohawk Nation News kahentinetha2@yahoo.com  For more news, books, workshops, to donate and sign up for MNN newsletters, go to www.mohawknationnews.com  More stories at MNN Archives.  Address:  Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0 WHERE EAGLES DARE TO SOAR available from MNN.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SOMETHING FOR NOTHING

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 SOMETHING FOR NOTHING
 
MNN. APRIL 10, 2012.
 
Is Kahnawake Mohawk Community being Las Vegas’ized? Who’s trying to eat our brains, to get us to produce a get-something-for-nothing society?
 
A casino will affect almost every aspect of our lives. Jealousy, competition and gluttony should not rule our culture or economy. Why live unnaturally and unequally, beyond our means?
 
We should be strengthening our family and community ties, producing our own energy and food and keeping the soon-to-be desperate foreign interests out. Coming is hunger instead of plenty, cold instead of warmth, violence instead of peace. To survive we have to take care of each other.
 
Many of us elders remember the modest and meaningful life we once had. The men went away to do ironwork and the women and children stayed home and took care of our community.
 
Having worked in an Indian casino, the harm is easy to see. The house always wins. The work force will be mostly non-natives. Many of us don’t qualify for jobs due to our backgrounds, non-criminal records and not speaking French.
 
A larger police force is being trained, armed to the teeth, directed from the outside. Their main job is to protect the casino, employees, management, patrons and financial interests and to keep us quiet. Disputes will be decided in colonial courts.
 
What are we giving up? Our children’s birthright? The Seigneury lands for a casino?
 
 
 
Whose nest is being feathered? We need complete honest answers now about how the palms of Quebec, Ottawa, outsiders and their nominees in our community are being greased.
 
No doubt our income and winnings will be taxed.
What kinds of people will be traversing our lands, looking for who and bringing in what? The worst of society shall come.
 
We are promised $1000 a year. Once we take this, we are agreeing to this invasion. There is no accountability. Who are the financiers? What collateral or property are we putting up for the loan? Those of our grandchildren who will be born into the debt and turned into corporate Indians of Canada.
 
This venture doesn’t make sense. The demographics don’t add up.
 
Worse, our people could become habitual gamblers, gambling our lives away. It’s part of the Indian Affairs 100-year plan to get “rid of the Indian problem”, to enrich a few and keep the rest poor. The divide and conquer card is still in play since 1609 when Champlain dealt it from the bottom of the deck.

MNN: Mohawks have Nothing to Negotiate! Renters have to pay

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MNN.  June 8, 2011.   Kahnawake is a Mohawk community on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River across from Montreal.  This tract is part of the greater Rotino’shonni:onwe/Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy territory, which is the unsurrendered eastern half of Onowaregeh, Great Turtle Island.  

In 1680 French King Louis XIV illegally gave 45 thousand acres of our land to the Jesuits to turn us into Catholics.  They named Kahnawake, our home, the Seigneury of Sault St. Louis.  

The account, not the title to our land, needs settling.  Canada and Quebec’s demand to settle is an admission of our position that the land is ours and always will be.  

Kahnawake Is a Kanienkehaka and Ongwehonwe issue.  None of Great Turtle Island is for sale.  

After the French and Indian disputes, the French sued for peace and a return of their prisoners that we held.  The Peace of Montreal in 1701 brought peace between the French and the Iroquois and 39 of our Indian allies who signed onto the treaty.  This treaty remains active.  

Then the Jesuits illegally gave away two-thirds of Kahnawake to their settlers.  Only 13,000 acres was left for us.    

We always lodged complaints against the Jesuits, Governors and the French King.  In 1754 Governor Duquesne came to Kahnawake to confirm that the Jesuits had no right to give away our land.   In 1762 after the French and British stopped fighting with each other, British General Gage also affirmed that the Mohawks own Kahnawake.  He appointed a receiver to collect the rent.  Some rent was paid.  

In 1854 Quebec illegally passed a law abolishing the seigneury land system and our interest to Kahnawake.  In 1935 another illegal law abolished the rents payable to us.  

Today Kahnawake includes eight immigrant communities:  LaPrairie, Candiac, Delson, Saint Catherine, Saint-Constant and Chateauguay; parts of Lachine and Lasalle on the island of Montreal.  Also included is the St. Lawrence River bed. 

There’s nothing to negotiate.  Canada and Quebec have no jurisdiction.  Canada wants to offer us a few dollars.  They know that Rotino’shonni:onwe can’t be tricked into giving up our birthright. 

The band councils have no right to settle anything, especially land issues.  They speak for the Canadian government, which says:  “if we don’t settle, this land will remain in dispute”.  

Title to our territories did not begin when the Europeans arrived.  The land was and must be governed by the applicable law, the Kaianerekowa, our constitution. 

Our land cannot remain under colonial fraud. The women inherently hold it on behalf of the future generations. Canada is always trying to legitimize their occupation of our land, which we never relinquished since the beginning of time.

  

Those settlers who do not want to live under Kaianerehkowa can chose to leave.  We certainly will not force death and violence on them they did to us.     

Canada should honourably sit with us and take responsibility for their people’s actions.  Indigenous people should be compensated fairly.  

Recently Prime Minister Harper apologized to some of those native people who were put into residential schools to be abused and killed.  In our culture, an apology means taking responsibility.  Words cannot fix the wrongs.  You must make it right.    All settlers have to make things right.  They came here to benefit from our land and resources, while the owners suffer. 

This is a Kaianerehowa/Great Law issue, which involves all Indigenous people.  

MNN Mohawk Nation News Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com  For more news, books, to donate to help pay legal fees and to sign up for MNN newsletters go towww.mohawknationnews.com  More stories at MNN Category “Kahnawake”.  Address:  Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0 

Store:  Indigenous authors – Kahnawake books – Mohawk Warriors Three – Warriors Hand Book – Rebuilding the Iroquois Confederacy.

 


 

 

 

ARABS: POWER OF INDIGENOUS CONSCIOUSNESS

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ARABS:  POWER OF INDIGENOUS CONSCIOUSNESS

MNN.  19 FEB 2011.  The Kaianerekowa is the Great Law of Peace.  It is not a religion.  It is a philosophy of freedom meant for all.  Over 100 million Indigenous people in the Western Hemisphere were killed in the biggest holocaust in all humanity.  The Mohawks always peacefully resisted Canada and US colonialism and international bank directed dictatorship because we remember the genocide.

According to our birthright we can never relinquish our lands and resources.  We never have.

In the past when the colonial entities murdered our chiefs, the people took over.  The power is in the people.  The leader is the spirit within the people.

In 1990 our burial grounds and ceremonial site at Kanehsatake were going to become part of the Oka Golf Course in Quebec without our knowledge or consent.  Two Mohawk communities, Kahnawake and Akwesasne, stood up immediately to support the resistance of our brothers and sisters.

Early on the morning of July 11th 1990 Quebec sent in a para military SWAT team.  They opened fire on the men, women and children who were camping and peacefully protesting.

A 78-day siege began.  In August 5,000 Canadian soldiers surrounded three of our Mohawk communities, with tanks, snipers, lethal weaponry and top generals.  They had orders to massacre us if we fired one shot.

The world watched in horror as a few of us stood nose to nose with the military forces.  We women stopped shots from being fired by anyone.  Supporters stood ready to defend us.

International pressure forced the military to pull back. On September 26th we came out to go home.  The soldiers and cops beat us up.  One child was bayoneted in the chest.  We were arrested and charged.  In the end three of our men served sentences.

Afterwards we were hunted down like criminals.  We were called “terrorists” and insurgents for defending ourselves.  The Canadian government bombarded us with pacification brainwashing programs to help us get over or forget their brutality.

Historically we Mohawks never cooperated with the corporations and bankers who invaded us.  We constantly point out the illegitimacy of their existence on our land that wants to steal our birthright.

Like us, the Wisconsin protesters who are being fleeced by the government, want to keep what they have.  The government wants to bust the unions because they are a non-government alternative source of the peoples’ power.

A public increasingly unemployed, broke and homeless is told to obey while trillions are spent on the military complex, wars, no fly lists, spying, neighbors reporting them, scanning everything or being falsely charged with treason for uttering the truth.

Our Indigenous communities are, in effect, concentration camps.  They are controlled and protected by foreign colonists and entities through their highly paid band and tribal councils.  We, the landowners, are the poorest of the poor.  We never resisted for money.

Tyrants are foolish to rule by fear.  There comes a time when uncompromising anger dissolves fear.  These disposable dictators and their puppets will all be gone.

Tyranny is being challenged everywhere.  The dictators using mercenaries to protect them and enforce their will further weakens the decaying empire.  Their high tech death squads guard them and brutalize their people for money, not loyalty.

Our philosophy instructs us to fight until we win.  When the black belt falls and hits the ground, we must begin the resistance.  We cannot stop until we win or we can’t fight any longer because we are all dead.  We have stood up to overwhelming odds and held them off many times.

Our struggle empowered us.  We exposed the truth, stood defiantly and maintained independence.  We never relinquished anything above and below the ground.

There were risks.  We protected our people under the guidance of the Great Law of Peace.

We never gave the dictators what they craved:  obedience, cooperation and submission.  We cannot because submission to anyone violates the Great Law.  We are equal and have a voice.

In the end the thugs couldn’t overcome our lack of fear.

The Arabs lived under the gun and are now removing their terrorists.  They know that no one will free you but yourself.  No one can tell the Arab tribes they cannot help each other.

Awareness brought down their tyrants.  Here on Turtle Island, the people don’t see the gun yet.  Tyrants know we have a right to freedom.

Watch out!  Indigenous consciousness is transcending military might.

kahentinetha2@yahoo.com www.mohawknationnews.com

SQ CORPORAL LEMAY’S DEATH IN OKA IN 1990

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MNN. Sept. 18, 2006. In 1991, a year after the 1990 Mohawk Oka Crisis, a reporter from the Montreal Mirror met with some Rotiskenrakete at the Mohawk Nation Office in Kahnawake. He had information about the death of SQ Surete du Quebec Corporal Marcel Lemay during the para-military attack on the Mohawks of Kanehsatake on July 11, 1990.

In early 1990 there had been a so-called “civil war” stirred up between the Rotiskenrakete and anti-warriors in Akwesasne. The anti-warriors were supported by the US and Canada.

SQ Internal Affairs had launched an investigation into illegal sales of weapons to the anti’s without proper permits by a shop in Valleyfield, Quebec, west of Montreal.

It appears that the SQ had given the Akwesasne Tribal Police a check to buy guns. They went to Valleyfield with some anti-warriors. Instead of cashing it beforehand, they gave the check to the storeowner to pay for the guns. Several days later two Mohawk men were shot and killed. These killings remain unresolved.

SQ Internal Affairs found information about the financing and supply of weapons to the anti-warriors in Akwesasne to destroy the Rotiskenrakete.

Corporal Lemay was in charge of the internal investigation. He went to the gun store in Valleyfield. The books showed an SQ check had paid for the guns. Lemay was ready to report his findings.

On the morning of July 11th, 1990, three of the four SWAT units in the Montreal district were assigned to the Oka region. They were to launch a para-military attack on the Mohawks in the ceremonial grounds known as the Pines. The SQ has never told who issued this order.

Corporal Lemay worked behind the desk investigating police misconduct. On this day he was ordered to suit up with a bullet-proof vest, helmet and M-16 to take part in a military style attack on Mohawk men, women and children. Minutes after the attack, Lemay lay dead.

A bullet had entered his left side just below his armpit between the unprotected area of the vest and his body. Lemay never got beyond Mohawk lines and never had any Rotiskenrakere behind or beside him. They had retreated into the woods for better defensive positions. The SQ had tried to attack from the front and side to catch Rotiskenrakete in the crossfire in a “flanking maneuver”.

Lemay was on the main front assault line. He was killed outright. The reporter questioned the SQ’s investigation into Lemay ’s death. Normally when an officer is killed in the line of duty, someone must pay the price. The SQ treated the death as a civilian casualty.

Immediately following the attack SQ Internal Affairs descended on Lemay’s home and seized all his documents. Mrs. Lemay told the media, “I don’t hold the Mohawks responsible for the death of my husband”.

The reporter concluded that the incident was a setup and cover up. Along with disposing of Lemay, the assault on our people was the “final push” by the Quebec, Canada and US governments to choke the Mohawk people into submission and to criminalize us. They were trying to destroy our economic independence.

The reporter was discredited and threatened to “leave well enough alone”. Lemay’s discovery of SQ involvement in Akwesasne’s so-called “civil war” would have implicated the SQ top brass and brought down high government officials.

Kahentinetha MNN Mohawk Nation News, www.mohawknationnews.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com For more news, books, to donate and to sign up for MNN newsletters go to www.mohawknationnews.com See Categories “Kanehsatake” & “Akwesasne”.

Store: Indigenous author – Kahnawake books – Mohawk Warriors Three – Warriors Hand Book – rebuilding the Iroquois Confederacy – Where Eagles Dare to Soar.

Category: Kanehsatake – Kahnawake – Akwesasne – Courts/Police – Colonialism – Economics/Trade/Commerce –Turtle Island – History – Land/Environment – NWO/corporations/military – World.

Tags: North American Indians – Turtle Island – Indian holocaust/genocide – History Canada/US – Mohawk/Kanienkehaka – Indigenous sovereignty – Aboriginal rights – Racism –Two Row Wampum – NAFTA – native-to-native businesses – Indigenous trade & commerce.

 

20 YEARS AFTER MOHAWK OKA CRISIS

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20 YEARS LATER

MNN. Sep. 15, 2009. July 11, 2010, will be twenty years since the Canadian military attacked the Mohawk Nation at Kanehsatake, Kahnawake and Akwesasne. We did not want the nearby town of Oka to extend its golf course over our ceremonial site and burial grounds. The Quebec police opened fire with automatic guns and tear gas on Mohawk men, women and children. For 78 days we faced the combined firepower of the Canadian Armed Forces, the Quebec Police and the RCMP.

We found ourselves fighting for our identity and defending ourselves against oppression by Canada and Quebec. The Mohawk defenders were brought to trial on criminal charges.

The following is a synopsis of the first day of the first year-long trial after the crisis. [MOHAWK WARRIORS THREE – The Trial of Lasagna, Noriega & 20-20]. This was followed by another year long trial of over 50 other Mohawks and our allies. We were all acquitted.

The trial started on Monday, October 21, 1991, in the St. Jerome Court, north of Montreal.

Our 3 Warriors/Rotiskenrakete faced 59 charges: assaults, mischief, mischief and theft, beating and mischief, and mischief against the Canadian Army. Generally, they were mischievous.

The 12 all-white English jury sat silent. The crown’s lies were totally confusing. The Quebec cops refused to speak English and had a squad of translators. Oui! Oui!

The screaming racist Crown prosecutor, Francois [Petticoat] Briere, opened the trial by saying, “I will prove that these three are criminals against everybody [in the world]!”

The first witness for Canada, Evergreen, was a short portly middle-aged Mohawk woman with a pug nose. She wore a brown leather full length coat. Her husband was Chief Jungle Jim of Kanehsatake. She was known as Woodpecker because, as a kid, she jumped other kids and beat them on the back, tah-tah-tah-tah!.

On July 31st she drove through the warrior checkpoint with a pizza and some videos to spend a quiet evening in the “war zone”. As she came through, a Warrior suddenly jumped on top of her car and disappeared!

On August 1, 1990, her husband, Jungle Jim, went to Ottawa with fellow councilor, Buddy Elm. They met with George Erasmus and Ovide Mercredi, of the Assembly of First Nations AFN [collaborators of Canada], and Tom Porter, a snitch from Akwesasne, to get instructions from their colonial masters.

As they were returning home, Evergreen heard on the scanner, “Chief Jungle is coming with Buddy”. A few minutes after they got home, four Rotiskenrakere in full fatigue showed up at her house.

One Rotiskenrakete yelled, “Buddy Elm, get your fat ass out here. We want you!”

The next one repeated, “Buddy Elm, get your fat ass out here. We want you!”

Evergreen declared, “No one is going out there.”

Two warriors broke the front door window. One got in and slapped Buddy Elm while another said, “Why can’t you be reasonable. Why don’t you resign?” Then they left.

Evergreen said that “honestly” she never once discussed this incident since then to this day. She admitted Crown Prosecutor Briere had given her some papers to study before testifying.

She became confused about the many conflicting declarations she had signed, “because the SQ officer did not speak English”.

On August 1, 1990, the Canadian Army had closed in on Kanehsatake. She left the next day. The police wrote out the statements which she signed. They put her, her husband and Buddy Elm in a motel all expenses paid.

When asked how her husband was selected to be Grand Chief, she admitted they were colonial government supporters.

Buddy Elm, a former councilor, was the next witness. He was wearing a brown leather jacket and sunglasses in the windowless court.

During the incident, Chief Jungle was in the bathroom, Evergreen was moving around and Buddy Elm did not see who was at the door.

Someone yelled, “Where’s Buddy? We want to talk to him!” Then the window was smashed and the door was kicked open. A warrior apparently kicked Buddy Elm on his ample left thigh and tapped him on the left side of his head.

The trial continued for almost a year with an army of army, police and snitch witnesses. The 3 Warriors did not put in a defense. All charges were dropped except for minor ones on Lasagna.

The trial shows how the Canadian political and legal systems are stacked against us. The Three did not recognize the jurisdiction of the white man ‘s court and remained silent. After the verdict one of the Three said, “I would do it again” [defend the People, Pines and burial grounds].

Kahentinetha MNN Mohawk Nation News, kahentinetha2@yahoo.com For more news, books, to donate and to sign up for MNN newsletters, go to www.mohawknationnews.com See Category “Kanehsatake”.

 

QUEBEC BRIDGE DISASTER AT KAHNAWAKE? Urgent Action Needed!

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QUEBEC BRIDGE DISASTER AT KAHNAWAKE? Urgent Action Needed!

MNN. Nov. 15, 2009. The Mercier Bridge is 1.4 kilometers long, spans the St. Lawrence River and Seaway between Montreal and Kahnawake on the south shore. It was built in 1932 beside the CPR Bridge which was built in 1885. www.pjcci.ca

Mohawk Nation, Quebec and Canada contracted the Mohawks to strengthen the steel structure and replace the reinforced concrete bridge deck of three access ramps on Mohawk Territory. It is the largest bridge repair project in Canadian history. Canada is paying $57 million and Quebec $9 million. Over 1000 direct and indirect jobs are being created per year. Work started on April 25, 2008.

The Montreal Iron Workers Union Local 711 is trying to kick the Mohawks out because they don’t have the CCQ cards. Commission de la construction du Quebec cards are issued by the government which controls the union.

CCQ rules and regulations violate the Union’s international charter. Quebec is the only place on Great Turtle Island where a union card is worthless.

Local 711 gives Mohawks union books but tells them to work in the US or other provinces. Retired ironworkers say 711 doesn’t let those who have books from locals 40 or 361 from NY City work in Quebec or Kahnawake, even though they are considered to be highly skilled ironworkers.

Wayne Rice, is head of the local Mohawk Bridge Consortium, a group of contractors in Kahnawake. He had a meeting in August 2009 with Pierre Desroche, the 711 business agent.

711 is trying to invade our sovereignty by disqualifying the Mohawks that don’t have CCQ cards. Desroche urged Rice to send his workers without cards home and hire non-natives. This would put 80 Mohawks out of work.

Jacques Dubois, President of the union’s District Council of Eastern Canada, sent letters to certain men threatening loss of their union books and never working again if they work on the Mercier Bridge project. 9 men quit. 8 had cards and one was promised one. None have been provided jobs or a card.

Rice is trying to protect the men, women and the community now and in the future from jurisdictional encroachment by foreigners. Rice sees other trades in the community being forced under Quebec’s control so that jobs will go to non-natives and taxes can be extorted from us.

Quebec is getting caught in a web of lawlessness. Rice is apparently writing to Joseph Hunt, General President, of the AFL-CIO Iron Workers International Union in Washington DC about these racist practices. He is looking into setting up a local in Kahnawake.

MBC continues to put Mohawk workers on the bridge. Union members elsewhere say it is highly unusual to improperly deny jobs and should be investigated at the highest level.

The Mohawk Nation is inherently sovereign. Kahnawake is on unsurrendered Haudenosaunee land. In 1974 Jean Chretien, the Minister of Indian Affairs, illegally signed an Order in Council declaring it a reserve. He violated internationally recognized standards for respecting political, economic and human rights as set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, UN Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other international legal instruments. UN General Assembly Resolution 1541 [XV] requires the informed consent of the people before they are included in another state. We have never legally or voluntarily become part of Canada.

The Mohawks’ position supported by international law is that when anyone comes into our sovereign territory, they must abide by our laws and can’t force their authority on us.

711 recently filed an injunction in Montreal Superior Court to enforce their laws in Kahnawake. As we are a nation, this issue belongs in the International Court.

Supporting this position is the recent ruling in 2008 by the FCC Federal Court of Canada. A Mohawk woman was beaten by Canada Border Services Agents at Akwesasne. She requested an investigation. FCC ruled that the victim must pay for the Crown’s costs because she lives in Kahnwake and is not a resident of Canada. FCC declared that Kahnawake is sovereign and not in Canada.

Based on this ruling, in June 2009 the Maliseet of Tobique in New Brunswick took over and kept the dam and electric generating plant that was built in the middle of their territory.

Dubois tried to unfairly tarnish the reputation of the Mohawks. He prejudiced the Mohawk Bridge Consortium and the workers on the Mercier Bridge Project by stating they are not qualified to do the work and it is a catastrophe.

On August 29, 1907, we lost most of our ironworkers when the Quebec [City] Bridge collapsed into the St. Lawrence River. We later learned this was due to deficiencies in material and construction by the contractors. We don’t want another bridge disaster, especially since we cross it every day. We are a nation and must be legally dealt with as such.

Contact: Wayne Rice, Mohawk Bridge Consortium tel. 450-635-6063 pwrind52@yahoo.ca www.mohawkmbc.com

Kahentinetha MNN Mohawk Nation News, www.mohawknationnews.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com Note: Your financial help is needed and appreciated. Please send your donations by check or money order to “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Or go to PayPal on MNN website. Nia:wen thank you very much. Go to MNN KAHNAWAKE category for more stories; New MNN Books Available now!

FCC Federal Court of Canada Prothonotary Mireille Tabib order, October 23, 2008, Mohawks residing in Akwesasne and Kahnawake are not residents of Canada. Two supporting FCC orders: Judge Francois Lemieux, January 29, 2009; and Claude Morissette, March 16, 2009. [FCA t-1309 and T-288-09].

Iron Workers International Union, % Joseph Hunt, General President, AFL-CIO,400 – 1750 NY Ave. NW, Washington DC 202-383-4810 jhowell@iwintl.org. PRESSURE SHOULD BE PUT ON LOCAL 711 AND QUEBEC TO STAY OUT OF KAHNAWAKE AND LET THE MEN WORK UNMOLESTED ON OUR TERRITORY.

Local 711 Montreal, Ville d’Anjou, QC. H1J 2Y7 514-328-2808 Tollfree 1-800-461-0711 montreal@local711.ca; District Council of Eastern Canada, President Jacques Dubois 514-328-1482.

Mercier Bridge Deck Replacement Project, 1111 St. Charles St. W, West Tower, Suite 600, Longueuil, Quebec J4K 5G4 450-651-8771, managed by Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridge Inc., Andre Girard, Federal Bridge Corporation Ltd. 450-468-5775 andre.girard@pontsfederaux.ca; Serge Valliers Cell 514-892-7205, Communications 514-849-7000 [230] jvl@agccom.com.

John Baird, Minister, Transport Canada www.tc.gc.ca 613-990-2309 bairdj@parl.gc.ca: Media 613-993-0055; Karine White 613-643-3804, Daniel Desharnois 613-418-643-6980, Natalie Sarafin 613-991-0700 & Danny Kingberry 613-993-0055.

Michael M. Fortier, Public Works, Federick Baril 613-868-1128; Jean Marc Fournier, Quebec Minister of Monteregie Region; Harold Fortin, Revenue Canada 418-643-3804.

 

O KANADA, BEHIND THE LINES IN OKA

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 1990 MOHAWK CRISIS ON YouTubeMNN. Apr. 30, 2009. At dawn on July 11, 1990, the SQ [Quebec Provincial Police] opened fire with automatic guns and threw tear gas on Kanion’ke:haka Mohawk men, women and children of Kanehsatake. One policeman was killed by friendly police fire. We had been protesting the nearby town of Oka’s plans to expand a golf course over our burial ground and common ceremonial site called THE PINES. Nearby Mohawks of Kahnawake quickly responded to fellow Mohawks by blocking the Mercier Bridge, which connects the south shore with the island of Montreal over the St. Lawrence River.

The RCMP and then thousands of Canadian Army with heavy armaments were sent in. The world watched in amazement as a small Indigenous nation faced the combined fire power of these three forces for 78 days.

It was a fight for Mohawk identity and territory against the oppressive designs of the colonial occupants of our land. We found ourselves in the middle of a struggle for identity, respect and resistance to oppression by Canada and Quebec.

Fifty-two men, women, children and 10 journalists held out in the Treatment Center that we called Concentration Camp TC. We were surrounded by razor wire manned by heavily armed soldiers, guns and tanks. We were without communication with the outside world, little food was coming in and the weather was getting cold. The army was stepping up its psychological warfare tactics. The colonists wanted to end the Mohawk Crisis that had plagued the summer of 1990. They wanted us to surrender. No way!

On September 26th 1990, the Ahserakowa gave us a coded message in Mohawk over the Kanehsatake Radio Station. He warned us to immediately vacate Concentration Camp TC because “something was coming down that night”.

We broke into clans – bear, wolf and turtle – to make our final plans. Some felt we should stay until Monday when Parliament would start its fall session. The gravest political confrontation in modern Canadian history could then be debated.

At 5:00 pm our clans convened. We had all decided to leave in an hour. As two army helicopters hovered above us, everybody went into a flurry of preparations. Everything was thrown into a huge bonfire. A final purification ritual was performed before the sacred fire that had never stopped burning throughout the crisis. We said our good-byes to each other. We did not know what was going to happen when we would walk head-on into the Army.

Thousands of people and media had rushed to Kanehsatake. The whole finale was being televised live.

We tried to walk out of Concentration Camp TC to freedom. We crossed over the stretchers that had been placed over the razor wire. Immediately soldiers and cops grabbed us and began to kick, punch and beat us with their fists, guns and stabbed one child with a bayonet. In the end we were all captured.

The colonists maintained their false position that the Indigenous defenders were criminals and terrorists who threatened the public security of all. The colonists quickly brought us to trial on criminal charges. We were all acquitted except for Lasagna who was found guilty of breaking into a non-native home in Kanehsatake. We had transcended the colonial boundaries set up by Quebec, Canada and the U.S. under a European nation-state model on our territory.

Next year it will be 20 years since this attack. The 33 minute film – O Kanada: Behind the lines in Oka – is available on YouTube. It was made by Albert Nurenberg, a reporter who sneaked through the army lines with a camcorder and taped the event from inside:

OKANADA: Behind the lines in OKA
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=okanada&aq=f

For the coming year MNN will publish other stories on this siege leading up to the 20th anniversary.

Kahentinetha MNN Mohawk Nation News www.mohawknationnews.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com katenies20@yahoo.com

Note: At this time your financial help is urgently needed and appreciated. Please send your donations to PayPal at www.mohawknationnews.com, or by check or money order to “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Nia:wen, thank you very much. Go to MNN “World” category for more stories on this; New MNN Books Available now! Purchase t-shirts, mugs and more at our CafePressStore http://www.cafepress.com/mohawknews; Mohawk Warriors Three $20 including postage.
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