Category Archives: Resistance

MNN Series. THE PATH HOME: 1. “Warriors”: (Tekarontakeh)

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MNN Series. THE PATH HOME: 1. “Warriors”: (Tekarontakeh)MNN. June 28, 2006. What is a warrior? One does not become a warrior because he is a young person. Creation mandated this as a duty and responsibility. It is the most natural part of nature. It is based on the instinct to survive. All species, humans, insects, animals, birds and every species of life has this instinct. Without it, there would be no life. Spirituality is the natural spirit to live. It is not man-made.

Where is this reinforced in our culture? A warrior has to know our laws and ways. When he is asked, “Who are you?” Can he answer in his language? A warrior is brought to the people during one of the four appropriate traditional festivals. He receives his name through the naming ceremony. When his name is announced to the people, then he becomes part of the community. This is the political side of it. This is the first step in becoming a warrior.

Then he remembers how he was raised by his mother after his birth. How his relatives took care of him until his voice changed. Until that time he always had his grandmothers and grandfathers around him. They brought the philosophy and principles of our culture to him. The women fed him, clothed him and made him comfortable, strong and healthy.

As his voice began to change, it was a sign to the old ones that it was time to start the next phase of his education. His uncles on his mother’s side took him. He went through a fast to seek his protection and medicine. When he received it, then his medicine bag was made for him. After he receives it, this is his protection. His umbilical cord, which has been saved since his birth, is returned to him by his grandmother and placed in his medicine bag. Through his woman relatives, the soil of the earth is put into his medicine bag by his mother or grandmother. He always wears it to remind him of who he is and what is his protection.

Now he is ready to learn his duties, responsibilities and obligations to his people.

He begins his physical training. He trains before sunrise every morning. His uncles awaken him to start running in the forest as far and as hard as he can. He stops at high noon. His stamina increases every day. Finally he is able to run from sunrise until high noon without stopping. During that time he sees something different within nature around him. He sees the night creatures as they go to get their rest. He sees the flowers open up, the birds start to sing and the day insects come out. Every day he sees and learns something new. All the while he is building his body and developing his mind.

Once he does this, he is taken into other advanced areas of learning. He is taught how to defend himself, to wrestle and other endurance building sports and activities. For example, our people had a highly developed knowledge of the science of physical development. Our ancestors knew how to pass down this knowledge. The early Europeans were amazed at the highly advanced physical and mental development of our people.

The grandfathers and uncles teach him more about his responsibilities under the Kaianereh’ko:wa/Great Law of Peace. Prior to this it was explained to him by his women relatives in a symbolic way. The men then help him put the laws, culture and traditions into actual practice. As he gets older, he starts learning the adult version and its realities. Our people knew that our young people had to learn in stages.

Symbolism is deciphered and applied to his every day life, in governance, responsibilities and his continuing development. This is the path to becoming a warrior.

Each man is different. Each is an individual. Each has to learn how to work with others. The formula for working together has always been in the Kaianereh’ko:wa. When a young man proclaims he is a warrior, he must have this knowledge. He can’t go by assumptions. He has to learn and accept the truth and the reality of his responsibility. This is the most difficult part for people – to accept and apply the truth.

The Kaianereh’ko:wa is based on truth and nature. It is skenna, kariwiio and kastatsensera (peace, righteousness and power).

The thousands of years of knowledge, experience and answers are all there in the Kaianereh’ko:wa. It has traveled the proven path and retraces the steps of our ancestors. It doesn’t matter the time in history. Truths never change. One has to begin by respecting ourselves and knowing what respect is. All can learn to treat everyone with respect. But true respect is given to those who earn it. Respect can be shown to everyone no matter what opinion they hold. It is the respectable thing to do.

Today we have people who criticize the warriors. For most it is simply because they weren’t raised this way. For some critics it’s a political agenda. Circumstances have made it so our young and older men were not raised in the traditional way. It doesn’t mean they can’t learn these teachings. We shouldn’t criticize the warriors of today because they did not grow up with this knowledge. Even though some of the elders failed to teach them, they are doing the best they can to carry out their duties and responsibilities. They are putting their lives and safety on the line on behalf of our people. This criticism could cause great disillusionment.

In many of our struggles the warriors have lost their families, jobs, careers, and sometimes even their life. Remember Dudley George and all those AIM warriors who were killed, many through the agencies of the United States government. They were without exception doing what they could for the future survival of our people. They fought for our lands and our natural human rights. They did everything they could to protect us. We have to admire and respect these men and women, even though the colonist have labeled them as thugs, goons and terrorists. Our warriors have worked very hard to maintain peace. They have never gone out to kill or hurt anybody. They never caused the harm they’ve been labeled with.

We are being made ashamed of those of our young men who would actually stand and defend our nation, our government and our people. We are told to be look away from all those sacred values that were passed down to us by our ancestors. We should not turn our backs on those who stand for those values that were given to us thousands of years ago.

Today we are having difficulty dealing with those who have turned their backs on us. These people are like a disease, such as one that is causing so much wrong and harm to our people. They are like the diabetes that has affected 80% of the Onkwehonwe people. We know the cause of diabetes. Very few change their eating habits which would start the process to recovery. It’s the same with our spies and traitors. We know how they are killing and hurting our nations. Just like diabetes, we know the cure. Yet we are not taking the time to rid ourselves of these diseases.

Something is holding us back. It is a germ that was implanted in our minds by those who came here from across the ocean. They knew that anybody who had a healthy mind could not be controlled. They needed to weaken our minds. We have to look at what we call the “brain”. It’s called “o-ni-gon-ra” meaning “it takes care of you”, “it watches over you”. The brain is the center of our survival. It controls everything. If our mind is strong, everything about us will become strong. Our ancestors knew that. Our mind should always be used to do what is good for all.

Due to this lack of knowledge among our people about our ways, we are encouraged to make decisions based on our emotions. The colonists have sent people among us who tell us, “Listen to our heart”, go on emotion, rather than using our brain. He doesn’t want us to exercise our brain. He wants us to think with our heart which is not an organ that is made to think. It is our mind that is made for thinking. Elders say, “Let us gather our minds together and become one mind”. They never say, “Let us gather our hearts together”. They know that is not the purpose of the heart. We use our mind to help us survive. Thinking is the traditional foundation of being a warrior.

(Part II – continuation: “warriors”)

Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News
http://www.mohawknationnews.com
kahetinetha@mohawknationnews.com

poster: Thahoketoteh

 

A-B-C OF ?FEDERAL INDIAN LAW?

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ANYTHING BUT THE CONSTITUTION!?

Stoney Point invaded by Ontario and Canada.
Dudley George gunned down for being on his land! 

MNN. JULY 17, 2005. Ipperwash Inquiry Commissioner, Sidney B. Linden, has again misled the public on the legal basis for the constitutional jurisdiction challenge brought against him by Pierre George. (Divisional Court suit number 05-DV 001117, June 28, 2005). Linden does not want anyone to know what Dudley’s brother was asking.

Commission lawyer, Susan Vella, misstated to Peter Edwards, (Toronto Star, Tuesday, July 12, 2005):

“The act of a public investigation into the shooting death of an aboriginal person is not an act of aiding and abetting genocide?hopefully, it’s the opposite.”

Her reference to “genocide” is in the preceding paragraph:

? she doesn’t feel the inquiry has been undermined because one of George’s siblings has launched a court challenge claiming the probe should be shut down as it as no legitimacy.

Pierre George ? [says] the yearlong inquiry aids and abets “treason and fraud? and genocide” and that the probe judge Linden is acting like “the Great White Father.”

The Inquiry has two parts.

Part i is an inquiry into the FACTS.

PART ii concerns the underlying LAW.

Facts. Part I. Pierre George wants to know who gave the order, not just who pulled the trigger.

Also, Pierre George was guarding the gate when his brother, Dudley, was gunned down on the night of September 6, 1995. The Ontario Provincial Police OPP refused to help get him to a hospital in one of their nearby ambulances. So Pierre and others had to load Dudley into his white Impala car and drove him to the Strathroy-Middlesex General, a 30 minute drive. Outside the hospital he pleaded with officers to help. His brother was bleeding to death in his car. He was charged with murdering his brother, arrested, jailed. He was officially told the next morning in his cell that his brother had died.

Dudley George was murdered in Ontario. Neil Stonechild was murdered in Saskatchewan. Over 500 native women are missing. Hundreds of indigenous young people have taken their lives in despair, far above the national average. We?re
talking about events within the last ten years. Canada pretends it doesn?t have a genocide problem!

Law. Part II. Pierre George has asked a constitutional question. How did Linden get judicial jurisdiction? What law applies? What is the constitutional legislation and precedents that regulate the relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous societies?

Linden’s response has been willful blindness to the Canadian constitution. This violation constitutes genocide.

The indigenous sovereign interest was here before Canada ever existed. The whole of Canada is still unsurrendered Indigenous land. Our title can never be extinguished. We can?t and will not sell our land. Our constitution, Kaianereh?ko:wa/Great Law does not allow it. We hold it in trust for our future generations. The Constitutions of both the USA and Canada protect the indigenous sovereign interest. Our constitutions are in harmony. Constitutions are the law of the land.

The only deal our ancestors made with the British is for them to live here beside us. We did not open up this land for the ?peanut scramble? that we?ve been witnessing. We did not invite colonists to trample and pollute the environment and kill our people. These visitors have overstayed their welcome and over stepped the agreements. The ignorance of the children of the visitors is now generations deep.

Section 109 of the Canadian Constitution places Indian “Interest” before that of Canada and its provinces. It stipulates that until a treaty has been made with the constitutional indigenous Nations, the Nations’ constitutional ?Interest? is
above the Crown?s. Section 132 of the Canadian Constitution stipulates that only Canada can make ?treaties?. No valid treaties have ever been made on a nation-to-nation constitution-to-constitution basis.

The provincial, federal and Indian ?band? governments illegally created by Parliament and their courts read only Section 91(24) of the Canadian Constitution. This Section merely granted authority to ?negotiate? with Indians concerning the use of our lands and corresponding treaty obligations. They misinterpret this Section as constitutionally giving them never-ending and unlimited power of life and death over Indians. The Indian Act is illegal and was forced on Indigenous nations.

The judges use federal Indian law to destroy us on our land through their criminal blindness to the Constitution. Linden ruled that a mere Ontario Order-in-Council preempts the need for him, or the Judiciary, to obey the Constitution of Canada.

Why Dudley George Died! Dudley George was killed for defending his rights. The Canadian judiciary has led all the Premiers and Prime Ministers since 1876 into believing Indians who are on their ancestral land since time immemorial are trespassing on private property!

Ontario and Canada invaded unsurrendered land. They had no constitutional jurisdiction there. 

The judiciary and politicians are trying to cover up their breaking their own laws with circuses like the Ipperwash Inquiry. They aren?t digging deeper than the political level.

The uprising at Ipperwash happened while the Indians were asserting Indigenous constitutional law and defending the rule of law. He died for all the ordinary folk who sometimes feel they just can?t take it anymore. He died for all constitutionally sovereign Indigenous Nations who continue to resist genocide. We are defending the Great Law of Peace, the constitution of Northeastern Turtle Island. Linden and the Ipperwash Inquiry produced a smokescreen to cover up the underlying constitutional question of legitimate jurisdiction. They don?t want to talk about the law underlying the conflict.

Court obstruction is how they violate the rights of Indigenous people in Canada. When Indigenous people object, we are threatened or gunned down. Linden’s official response to Pierre?s question is to stall. Every day he stalls is another day of unconstitutional judicial genocide from coast to coast to coast in Canada.

Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News

poster: Thahoketoteh

 

Judicial chicanery in Ontario and New York State.

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MNN. July 6, 2005. Could judiciaries in Ontario and New York State be collaborating? We wouldn?t be surprised!

The press release posted on the Ipperwash Inquiry website on July 6, 2005, states in part that:
The Ipperwash Inquiry has received formal notice of legal proceedings against C by Pierre George, one of the brothers of the late Dudley George. Pierre George is claiming Commissioner Linden and the Ipperwash Inquiry have no jurisdiction ?under the laws? of Canada to hold an inquiry into the death of his brother, Dudley, who was shot by an Ontario provincial Police Officer in 1995 during a protest by aboriginal people at the Ipperwash provincial park and later died.

?The Ipperwash Inquiry was established by the Government of Ontario on November 12, 2003, under the Public Inquiries Act. Its mandate is to inquire and report on events surrounding the death ? and to make recommendations that would avoid violence in similar circumstances in the future. ? The Commission plans to respond in due course to the action commenced by Pierre George.?

This press release is meant to mislead the public. After Pierre?s first objection, Linden informed us that his jurisdiction comes from an ?Ontario Order in Council?. In effect, Linden said that Section 109 of the Constitution of Canada 1867 has been repealed by a ?provincial? Order in Council. This is legally impossible. The Constitution sets out an amendment formula by which changes in the constitutional relationship between Canada and the Indigenous nations can be given legal force and effect. A very broad base of support of the sovereign peoples involved is essential. Section 109 constitutionally prohibits the application of the laws of Canada, including federal Indian law, and provincial law, to unsurrendered Indigenous territory.

Pierre?s constitutional question is not based on the ?Laws of Canada?. This press release is a smoke screen. On July 18th, 2005, Linden must prove to Pierre that Section 109 was repealed by the provincial Order in Council. There is no repeal. He has no jurisdiction.

ONEIDA INJUNCTION

We put the same objection to jurisdiction before Judge Hurd of New York State. The Oneidas wanted to stop the enforcement of the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States. In a press release, Hurd informed the public that he granted the injunction to the Oneidas in the case of the County of Sherill v. The Oneida Indian Nation of New York Inc. He can?t do this without considering our objection to his usurping the jurisdiction of the Kanion?ke:haka and the U.S. Constitution.

Judicial chicanery is happening in both places at the same time.

This judicial blindness to the constitution and to the rule of law has been the criminal modus operandi of the judiciary since the 1870?s to the present time. Today Commissioner Linden and Judge Hurd carry out the judicial fraud in public, not behind court house doors.

Our ancestors were suppressed and crushed for making the same outcry. Our voice is being heard because of this odd conjunction of historic events. It?s the first step in stopping genocide. The people and their constitutions are against that crime. The tragedy is that the judiciary is for it.

That is why the constitutionally loyal Indigenous people hope that Supreme Court will respect the U.S. Constitution and the Kaianereh?ko:wa/Great Law.

We sought emergency relief from Linden?s genocide in the Ontario Divisional Court. We will also seek emergency relief in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals against Judge Hurd. We will also activate our previous emergency relief application in the Canadian St. Regis v. New York State, which is at the center of the horrendous casino fraud. We?re also going after the equally fraudulent contrived case of the Onondaga Nation v. New York State.

All the players in this gigantic fraud covering the whole Great Lakes drainage basin of Northeast North America is being played out in this three ring circus.

Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News

poster: Thahoketoteh

 

IPPERWASH: JUDGE SLAPS US AND LOSES HIS HAND

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MNN. June 24, 2005. Commissioner Sidney B. Linden of the Ipperwash Inquiry in Forest Ontario just sent Pierre George and the Women Title Holders a letter. He virtually admitted his guilt over what we were accusing him of. He has no jurisdiction to carry on this inquiry and that genocide goes on behind public inquiries.

First we got a letter from Derry Millar, Linden?s Commission lawyer. He made his own decision to block us bureaucratically. This has been their standard ?modus operandi? to never let our constitutional jurisdiction question get past the bureaucracy to the judicial arena. This allows the genocide to go on in a rule of law society.

Bureaucrat, Derry Millar, cranked out an arrogant response to us and we blasted him right in the gut. We told him to get out of the way. He felt the pain. He ran to Sidney Linden. What we were accusing him of was blocking access to Linden, ?Look at what they are saying to me. Waaa Waaa!?

Linden says, ?Don?t worry, Derry, I?ll take care of this?. Linden answers the constitutional question that he does have jurisdiction. The law indicates he doesn?t. He did not identify a single piece of legislation or precedent All he told us was ‘in my view’!

Linden decided he has constitutional jurisdiction on Stoney Point land by an Ontario ?Order in Council?. There are 12 procedural hurdles he could have used to jam up our action. He lost his temper. He decided to put Pierre and the Women Title Holders in their place! We took the stick of judicial genocide and stuck it to him.

Judge Linden?s angry refusal allowed us to go directly to the Supreme Court of Canada via the Divisional Court. Amnesty International should look at this aspect of the Ipperwash Inquiry. Pierre George took it a step further than Dudley.

It is out of the ?political? circus set up to evade the rule of law right into the ?legal? arena. It can?t be swept under the carpet.

Linden showed his guilty mind in relation to the crime of genocide. He is judicially willfully blind to the law. He has no right as ?Commissioner? in the Ipperwash Inquiry to call himself ?The Honourable Justice Sidney B. Linden?. His only capacity legally is Commissioner? through the Order in Council. He answered the question as both a Commissioner and as a ?Judge?. We now have a precedent by a Superior Court of Justice of Ontario. He negate the constitutional question without any basis other than, ?in my view?.

The cause of genocide is the utter breakdown of the rule of law. The rule of law is the basis of our Indigenous constitution, the Kaianereh?ko:wa/Great Law. Their constitution is supposed to be the basis of their society, which they don?t practice.

Linden put our question in the court system. The Divisional Court now have to confirm or deny his decision.

When they gave us a slap in the face, they lost their hand. They better get use to that.

Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News

poster: Thahoketoteh

 

?ONE DEAD INDIAN?

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SHOT BY CONSTITUTIONAL DEATH SQUAD ?
COPS, POLITICIANS AND LAWYERS

MNN. June 16, 2005. To this list add their big helpers, the media. The film, ?One Dead Indian?, is an insult to Dudley George and the ?Nishnawbe? people of Aazhoodena also known as ?Stoney Point?. It does not tell the true story. ?It won?t do us any good,? says Pierre George, brother of Dudley George.

In 1942 the Stoney Point People were kicked off their land by the Canadian government. It was turned into a firing range to train Canadian soldiers during World War II. The land was supposed to be returned to the Stoney Point People after the war. Instead, the Ontario government turned it into a provincial park, known as ?Ipperwash?.

Dudley and Pierre was part of a group of Stoney Point People who returned to their land on June 21, 1993. They planted a tree of peace. Guns were not to be used.

Two years later, on September 6th 1995, Ontario Premier Mike Harris allegedly ordered the heavily armed Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) to kick them off their land once more. It ended in a deadly attack. Dudley George was murdered.

One officer, Acting Sgt. Kenneth Deane, was given a tap on the wrist for the killing. There has been a year long inquiry in Forest Ontario into the murderous attack and Dudley?s death. Hundreds of witnesses have been paraded into the arena – Nishnawbe, police and soon politicians. Hanging around this circus are dozens of lawyers getting paid $300 an hour by the government. They are there as atmosphere and sensationalism.

The inquiry is supposed to pacify the public. They have to find some justification for the unlawful actions of the police. As Pierre said, ?It is to serve as a guide on how to successfully attack Indigenous people in the future. To learn all the mistakes the cops, politicians and lawyers made on this one?. Next time, either they won?t do it, or nobody comes out alive [to talk about it]!

The Indigenous people visiting the inquiry shake their heads and laugh at the array of court jesters.

The lawyers and politicians spout federal law. The police act on it. Then the lawyers clean up the dirt! It?s a show! Everybody evades the real question. The Ontario government had no right to send the police in. They say the police ?abused? their jurisdiction. Actually, the police ?exceeded? the jurisdiction they do not legally have. Their action is unconstitutional and they committed genocide.

John Carson, the Deputy Commissioner of the OPP, testified that it was written in the police log that Chief Tom Bressette had said that the Stoney Point people are ?a bunch of criminals and they should be dealt with?. Dale Linton, a junior officer, brought in the deadly Emergency Response Team (ERT) that night. They also brought in the Tactical Rescue Team. ?The provincial Crown said they had clear title to the land. If so, all they needed was a trespassing charge on a piece of paper which they could have dropped from a helicopter?, said Pierre.

Tom Bressette, chief of nearby sister community Kettle Point, gave the OPP the right to carry out that attack. ?He?s their accomplice before and after!? Tom also got Gary George to destroy their support network. Tom worked on both sides?.

The relationship with the Stoney Point people is nation-to-nation until there is a legal surrender. Ontario has no power over these lands and its people. Section 109 of the British North America Act 1867 provides that ?All lands, mines, minerals and royalties are subject to any existing trusts?. Indigenous interests come first before that of Canada and its provinces. The land in question was never validly purchased from the Stoney Point People through a treaty. So they have no jurisdiction over them.

?In the 1829 treaty the Chippewa supposedly gave up sovereignty to 2.2 million acres of land to the British government for certain goods. Chief Wawanash, who signed the treaty, wasn?t even from the area. He took whisky to the chiefs and told them they were too old to be chiefs anymore. He got them drunk and had them sign their chieftainships over to him. Then he signed this fraudulent treaty?. How would Canadian people feel if someone claimed their sovereignty by getting Prime Minister Paul Martin drunk and having him sign the same sort of nonsense?

The sit-around-the-inquiry lawyers like Murray Klippenstein, Andrew Orkin and Joanne Birenbaum are part of the whole industry of lawyers that leech on the Indigenous people. It?s a bigger business than General Motors! It?s gross! The government funds this charade to avoid being confronted about the violation of the constitutional jurisdictional and the resulting genocide.

The OPP did not act in ?excess? of the Police Act. Pierre says, ?The Police Act does not apply to us because we never agreed to it. The police acted in excess of their jurisdiction?.

The lawyers focus on condemning the abuse. They stay away from the theft of the constitutional jurisdiction of the original Indigenous people. ?Lawyers are our enemies. They?re always scheming against us?, said Pierre. Pierre likes to appear at the inquiry wearing his favorite T-shirt. He got it at a second-hand store, Value Village. It quotes Shakespeare, ?The first thing we do, let?s kill all the lawyers? (King Henry, Part IV, Act 5, Scene 2, Stratford Festival, Canada).

?These cops have zero jurisdiction over the Indigenous people they are abusing. Why, they?re not even supposed to look at us unless we give them permission. The government pays lawyers to make it look like they?re cleaning up their system. This is a scam, a fraud?.

Everybody all over the world knows that we are mistreated. It?s the theft of Indigenous jurisdiction that is behind it all. That?s what happens when a government invades another?s constitutional territory and jurisdiction, like the Stoney Point People, the Kanienkehaka and all the others.

The police are given orders to go out and enforce genocidally unconstitutional jurisdiction. Some cops do it with an iron fist. Some with an iron fist covered by a velvet glove. Some by talking your ear off. Some cops are pleasant. They don?t have to beat up someone to commit genocide. They take away our identity which is based on our tie to our land.

The politicians and judges don?t appear to be disturbed over their role in carrying out the genocide. They sit there and talk about it all day long, day after day. From what Pierre sees, ?The lawyers are dishonest. They abuse the law. They lie to us. They think we?re stupid. Some day we?ll put them on trial for what they?ve done to us?.

Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News

poster: Thahoketoteh

 

MOHAWK WARRIOR “LASAGNA”

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RON CROSS DIED 5 YEARS AGO – VETERAN OF 1990 MOHAWK CRISIS AT OKAMNN. Dec. 12, 2004. At 11:00 p.m. on Nov. 1st Lasagna Ron Cross, 41 years of age, died of heart failure. He was the Mohawk Warrior made famous during the Oka Crisis of 1990. He was seen daily on the media standing up to the Quebec Provincial Police and the Canadian Army in defense of Mohawk land and sovereignty. He left an imprint in everybody’s mind: a hero to some and a villain to others.

Canada and Quebec wanted to pacify his irrepressible spirit, his bravado. But he remained true to himself. His spirit was an example to others in their own struggles. Had he caved in, it would have discouraged others. Although he did not intend it, someone always stands out in such a crisis. He was it.

It was Wednesday, September 26, 1990. The siege had lasted 78 days. Lasagna was one of 52 men, women and children and 10 journalists who marched out of the Alcohol and Drug Treatment Centre at Oka Quebec. It was one of the gravest political confrontations in modern Canadian history.

The Army, the police and the media had targeted Lasagna. The Canadian soldiers were jealous of him. The police wanted his blood. Canada and Quebec wanted him to pay for the Mohawks upsetting them. For a moment he wanted to stay behind and “look after himself”, but the others talked him out of it. Together they walked out of the Centre to freedom, singing their Mohawk victory song. As soon as they crossed over the stretcher that had been placed on the razor wire, several soldiers grabbed Lasagna and began to kick, punch and beat him with their fists, army boots and guns. He was beaten several times by the SQ. Later he brought charges against four Quebec police. They had dressed up in army clothes. He won the case. Amnesty International condemned this beating worldwide. Many believe that this vicious beating caused so much internal injuries that it contributed to his early death.

Lasagna’s trial came up in St. Jerome Quebec in September 1991. It lasted almost a year. Joining him as defendants were two other warriors, Gordon ‘Noriega’ Lazore and Roger ‘20-20’ Lazore. The proceedings of the trial were published in a book “Mohawk Warriors Three” by Kahentinetha Horn. Also, he won a Supreme Court of Canada decision to have his trial in English rather than French.

It is a significant trial. The three warriors did not recognize the jurisdiction of the white man’s court and remained silent throughout. They said nothing from the beginning, throughout the trial and afterwards. They did not put in a defense. They allowed the jury to decide their fate.

In the end only Lasagna served a prison sentence. The only charge that stood was his involvement in the beating of Mohawk informant to the police, Francis Jacobs. He was released from prison two months prior to his death. At the construction site on the Champlain Bridge in Montreal, he felt ill and decided to sit in his car. His friends checked on him twice, the second time he was found dead. He is survived by his wife, Nadine, four sons and grandchildren. Since the 1990 crisis the following men who were in the compound with him have died: Thomas “the General” Paul, Leroy “Splinter” Gabriel, Todd Diabo, Joe “Stone Carver” David, and “Mad Jap”.

On November 3rd, 1999, Lasagna Ron Cross was laid to rest in the graveyard of Long House 207 at Kahnawake Mohawk Territory ( Quebec Canada ).

Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News

To read about the trial:
“Mohawk Warriors Three, the Trial of Lasagne, Noriega and 20-20” by Kahentinetha Horn
You can purchase this book for $20 from
MNN, #991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0; or through http://www.mohawknationnews.comon the PayPal account. MNN

poster: katenies

 

“No More Leonard Peltiers”

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WE DON’T WANT ANY MORE LEONARD PELTIERS
THIS BROTHER’S BEEN IN JAIL FOR TOO LONG

MNN. Dec. 4, 2004. On November 23rd 1999 I spoke in Washington DC in front of the White House during “Leonard Peltier Month”. There were heavily armed guards strutting around on top of the building keeping an eye on us.

What is solved by keeping Leonard Peltier in jail? Who is being protected? Is it the people who go into Indian territories and shoot at us? We get into trouble when we defend ourselves. If they stopped coming in uninvited, it would go a long way towards stopping these conflicts. North America is a history of illegal colonial encroachment onto native constitutional jurisdiction. Indigenous nations never validly gave up sovereignty or surrendered any land.

What do they want from us? Our lives! They need to subdue our sovereignty and constitutional jurisdiction. Completely wiping out Indians would validate their false claim to our land. Leonard Peltier represents the independent indigenous spirit. He is a prisoner of war.

We have the same gripes today we had back in 1975, when Leonard Peltier was put in jail. Since then, the International Court of Justice has upheld self-determination for Namibia in Africa. Yet they continue to violate the equal constitution-to-constitution relationship worked out between indigenous nations and the settlers. We could use some understanding and support from the international community. If the rule of law deems that all humans are equal, why are we being abused?

Equality is not an American idea. It’s ours.

On December 2nd 1987 the United States affirmed that the Iroquois Constitution, the Kaianereh’ko:wa/Great Law of Peace, influenced the United States Constitution. This in turn influenced modern international law and the United Nations. The whole world has benefited from our philosophy.

To improve the understanding of modern international law, the Kaianereh’ko:wa’s messages of peace should be carefully studied. It reflects reality. The opening thanksgiving that we say before any meeting or event reminds us of the interdependent system of relations of all elements of the natural world, which are equal. The people are the foundation of governance. Our law shows us how to be directed by the inner core of our knowledge system and traditions. We arrive at an understanding of our universe through our own search and experience.

Society or friendship cannot be held together by force. Certainly not when some are forced to be under the control of others. A man can’t get true love from a woman by force. There have been wonderful strong relationships when they treated each other well.

Kaianereh’ko:wa is against the use of force. How can we be a free and democratic society if we are being forced to behave in a certain way by threats of violence, such as fines, jails, confiscation of possessions or denial of rights. Keeping Leonard Peltier in prison symbolizes North American society’s use of force as a means of maintaining control. Behind the enforcement of their “democracy” is the gun.

Leonard Peltier was supposed to have killed two FBI agents. There is doubt about this. A chronic perception in North America is that native people are lawbreakers. The dominant group is imposing foreign laws on us. It’s illegal. We resist. Colonial North America is a history of genocide and encroachment on our jurisdiction. If North Americans would respect each other’s space and allow us our jurisdiction, we could form bonds of brotherhood. All would be stronger. One dominating the other is a symptom of a weak society.

Remember how the violence at Pine Ridge began in the first place. The U.S. encroached on native jurisdiction. The agents of the American government arrived on Pine Ridge carrying guns. A fundamental principle of survival is that anyone who is attacked has a right to defend themselves. Those FBI didn’t need to go there. Peltier was on his native territory. There was no reason for the deaths to occur.

Canada and the United States violated international law by refusing to recognize Leonard Peltier’s nation and jurisdiction. He was denied a hearing before an impartial third party. He was tried by one of the parties to the dispute, the United States justice system. They were the judge, jury and executioner, violating the rule of law. There was no neutrality.

Had the newcomers obeyed their agreements with us to live peacefully nation-to-nation, they would not have to waste all their time and tax money. They misspend it on keeping Peltier and other in jails, buying guns and ammunition and risking their lives to keep people under control.

As an Indigenous woman of the Rotinoshon’non:we, we want the U.S. and Canada to stop to attacking our men who are defending our families, people and possessions. The newcomers should be man enough to support their own families without making a huge industry out of hurting us? When are good decent people worldwide going to defend us from being overwhelmed by colonists? When will the international community stop the punishment and killing of our warriors?

We should be talking and working together, otherwise racism will continue. We must get Leonard Peltier out of prison.

Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News

poster: Thahoketoteh