Here Come Da Judge

I’LL BE A FOOL FOR YOU [DEVELOPERS]”, SINGS ROGUE JUDGE DAVID MARSHALL REGARDING THE SIX NATIONS ?HALDIMAND TRACT?. HAS HE DECLARED WAR ON US?MNN. Aug. 9, 2006. ?You can?t break my heart anymore?, summarizes Judge David Marshall?s dream to kick the Six Nation people off our reclaimed land. We know you have land on the Haldimand Tract that you want developed, even if it might be in your wife?s name. As a lawyer, Judge Marshall, you should know that the title is not ?free and clear?. That title is with us. You need our permission to do anything with our property. So what gives?

In court on August 8th, one Indigenous man shouted, “You have no jurisdiction,” at which time Marshall ran out of the courtroom with his gown flapping behind him.

Your court has no jurisdiction to rule on Six Nations land and its People because we never gave it to the colonists according to procedures set out in the constitutions of our peoples. Judge, you are refusing to see that your order and proceedings are a nullity. We think you don?t understand your own court system. Or are you not up to it? (Did this guy get one of those 7-day law degrees from the internet?)

The government, Henco Industries, the Attorney General of Ontario, the crown attorney and the Ontario Provincial Police all want your contempt of court order set aside. The government made a settlement with Henco for the land in question. According to the Supreme Court of Canada, the parties are supposed to resolve the problem between themselves. The court only comes in when they can?t be resolved. In this case the parties have settled. So there?s no need for your judicial hysteria.

Judge, are you mad that the ?representatives of the crown and the OPP have declared that this court is now functus or spent?? Does this mean it is defunct as in ?dead?, at least insofar as this particular issue is concerned? It?s ?moot? because the issue has already been settled. The original order was taken on behalf of Henco and they are no longer involved or interested. They?ve requested that these orders be dissolved.

So now you?ve changed the order to ?criminal contempt?. This is ridiculous! Did you have a trial? No. Have you proven things beyond a reasonable doubt and that the people involved have been given an opportunity to make full answer and reply? Of course not!

Your behavior is so irrational that it is bringing your judicial competence into question. Maybe someone should make a complaint to the judicial council. It will raise the question of what standards, if any, govern the actions of a judge.

Judge, your personal opinion is irrelevant. You and your wife should come and talk to us about your plans for developing our land. Because of your personal interest, you should resign. You?re lucky you haven?t been reported to the Judicial Council for conflict of interest. The reason you have escaped such a complaint is because most people at Six Nations do not recognize the jurisdiction of the Canadian Court.

Judge, you said, ?This is a very unique crime?. Here?s one thing we can agree with. It is ?unique?. It might even be the only crime in Canadian history that has come into being by judicial decree instead through the democratic process. You made a decree to declare us all ?Jane and John Doe? criminals so that you can willy-nilly grab any of us.

You have accused us of having, ?contempt for your system of justice?. Judge, you are the one in contempt of the system of justice. You are the one who doesn?t even bother to read or think about your own Supreme Court of Canada reasoning.

In the Supreme Court of Canada in Haida Nation v. British Columbia (Minister of Forestry) 2004, it stated, ?Our task is the modest one of establishing a general framework for the duty to consult and accommodate, where indicated, before Aboriginal title or rights claimed have been decided. As this framework is applied, courts in the age-old tradition of the common law will be called on to fill in the details of the duty to consult and accommodate?. Yep! Judge, you better read up on your own law.

Yeh! You also better talk to us about the fact that Six Nations owns the Haldimand Tract that you?re living on. It is under our jurisdiction. We do agree that you have jurisdiction over your settlers who are squatting on our land. We, the title holders, are still here. So, Judge, are your declaring war against us? Or are you going to be a good boy and talk with us peacefully?

You even mention that, ?It is possible to appeal the order or otherwise legally deal with it?. You know very well that it is treasonous for us to attorn to your foreign colonial court. There is a protocol and procedure we worked out a long time. We cannot deal directly with you. You have to contact the Governor General of Canada who will inform us of your concerns. Your order is a foreign invasion of our jurisdiction. We have every right to defend ourselves against your attacks according to our constitution and the rule of law.

As for this Crown and Queen supremacy stuff, we always knew it was a hoax enforced on us at gunpoint to steal our land and resources. Only Canadians were subjects of Britain. We were never conquered. We never became subjects of Britain and we never swore an oath of allegiance to become citizens of Canada. We are sovereign. We don?t share your medieval heritage. Your attempt to depose our Confederacy government and force the Indian Act band council system on us in 1924 violated international law then just as it does today. The “lawlessness” started right at the beginning when the Ontario government started giving out phony title to our land to the squatters.

We repossessed this one piece of our land at the end of February 2006. 95% of the Haldimand Tract has been stolen. We have been complaining about it for more than 200 years. It is still all ours according to your words in the Haldimand Proclamation of 1784.

Talks aimed at resolving the land theft have, at times, become violent against us. The state has sent skin heads, KKK and other paid instigators to come to the reclamation site and attack our people. Last night choppers were flying over the reclamation site and 60 to 70 Ontario Provincial Police cruisers were swarming around. It was a fine summer evening, so the KKKlanedonians paid us a visit. They arrived by the hundreds last night to attack us. They swore at us and threw rocks at us. Guess they had nothing better to do. Missing were their professionally printed ?Bring in the army? signs.

One of the Woman Title Holders said the ruling was “an act of aggression”. We intend to stay on our land. Why should we leave something that is ours just because the thieves have abandoned their phony claim? We have always protested these thefts of our lands right from the beginning. We cannot allow it to go on any longer. We want Canada, Ontario and local governments to obey their laws and agreements.

Judge, obviously you haven?t kept up on Supreme Court reasoning. Even through the Haida Nation case was decided two years ago, you still haven?t heard of it! You may not have read the Quebec Succession Reference either which was decided over a decade ago. In that case the Supreme Court specifically stated that, ?It is not the role of the judiciary to interpose its own views on the different negotiating parties, even where it is invited to do so.? You are overstepping the role of the court and you are not up on the law. Even David Peterson, the former premier of Ontario, who was negotiating, called your ruling a ?little bizarre?.

Judge, the Women Title Holders asked you to cease and desist issuing ultra vires orders, invading Rotinoshonnion:we/Iroquois jurisdiction, trespassing on Haldimand Tract land and refusing to recognize that both Canada and Ontario have been given notice of your violations on numerous occasions in the past. So, Judge, get real!

Kahentinetha Horn, MNN Mohawk Nation News ? kahentinetha2@yahoo.com ? see daily updates on Mohawk issues at www.mohawknationnews.com

Thanks to our brothers, sisters, friends and allies who have been standing with us. To continue to help us please contact at Six Nations thebasketcase@on.aibn.on

poster: Thahoketoteh