June 23, 2008 - No. 101
Oppose Assault of Native Elders and
Clan
Mothers
State-Sanctioned Violence Has to Stop!
• State-Sanctioned
Violence Has to Stop!
• Interview with Frank Horn
• Bail Hearing for Katenies
• Canadian Attack on
Mohawk Nation News at Cornwall Border Crossing -
Ieriwa'on:ni, Mohawk Nation News
• Harper's "Apology": Canada Confesses to Part
of Its Crimes
against Humanity -- There Has Finally Been an Official Apology for
"Murder," Rape... - Kahentinetha Horn, Mohawk Nation News
For Your Information
• Why Katenies Will Not "Walk
the Line" - Kahentinetha Horn,
Mohawk Nation News, January 5, 2007
State-Sanctioned Violence Has to Stop!
 With profound concern, TML learned of
the assault carried out on Saturday, June 14 by Canada Border Services
agents
against two Mohawk Elders and Clan Mothers, Kahentineta Horn and
Katenies, at the Cornwall, Ontario border crossing between Canada and
the United States which cuts through Akwesasne
Mohawk Territory. The customs officers' violent treatment of
Kahentineta provoked a heart attack whereupon, thanks to the
intervention of her brother who managed to arrive on the scene of the
assault just in time, she was removed to the intensive care unit at
Cornwall General Hospital. She was subsequently transferred to
the Ottawa
Heart Institute for further diagnosis. Her family reports she is
presently recuperating amongst her family and grandchildren but that
the damage to her heart is serious. Katenies was also
severely brutalized following which she was detained and held
incommunicado at an undisclosed
location and subsequently released on June 16 under several conditions.
These attacks
took place in the context of increased
harassment by Canadian border authorities against
Mohawk nationals traversing the U.S.-Canada border imposed on their
territory. The
Mohawk are a nation in their own right and as such they
have nation-to-nation relations with Canada and cannot legally be
subject to this arbitrary
authority.
TML vehemently condemns this vicious assault
and demands redress in the form of immediate action on the
part of Prime Minister Stephen Harper himself. This must include
dropping all charges concocted
against Katenies. It must include
the highest quality care for Kahentineta and dropping all
charges concocted against her. It must include the restitution of all
treaty rights which belong to the Mohawk to cross the Canada-U.S.
border within their own territories without submitting to the rule of a
foreign power. It must include immediate cease
and desist orders to the customs officers at that location and the
recognition of the verdict on this and related matters reached
by the Mohawks authorized by the Clan Mothers and their Council. It
must
include immediate action to forever remove the offending customs
officers from this duty and punish them according
to law commensurate with the gravity of their crime.
It is outrageous that two days after the Prime Minister
of Canada rendered the "Apology" of the Government of Canada for past
crimes committed against the First Nations, the Métis Nation and
the Inuit, crimes of the exact same nature are authorized in the present. This underscores the
essence
of that "Apology" which lacked the only ingredient it
required -- a sense of shame in the form of putting an end to the
system of colonial justice. The entire exercise seems to have been
conducted to cover up the crimes the Government of Canada is
responsible for today to
dispossess the First
Nations, the Métis
Nation and the Inuit of their lands, way of life,
treaty rights and human rights. Canadians must demand that the
Government of Canada outlaw all practices based on its system of
colonial justice. It must begin by implementing its constitutional  obligation to deal with the First
Nations on a nation-to-nation basis.
It must resolve all land claims in favour of the
First Nations. It must implement its fiduciary responsibilities in a
manner which immediately brings the conditions of life of all first
nations people on par with the standard of living of Canadian society.
It must sign the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples and introduce laws in Canada
which give these rights the force of law according to the spirit which
recognizes that rights belongs to people by virtue of being human and
that Canada has to assume all the obligations which it owes the First
Nations, the Métis Nation and the Innuit by virtue of their
dispossession and centuries of harm to their being.
It took the government of Canada until 1996 to close its last
residential school and it has been putting every obstacle in the way of
eliminating all the other conditions which give rise to the suffering
of the indigenous peoples in the present. Its refusal to right
historical wrongs by eliminating the system of colonial
justice is the great facilitator of the greed of the real estate,
mining and other monopolies to take over the
resources and territories of the First Nations. It is the great
facilitator of the so-called security agenda of the government of the
United States to which Canada has tied its coat-tails in abject
submission to a rule of man, not law, which violates all international
standards of rights in every field.
The Prime Minister of Canada and all ministries of
Canada and of the provinces will learn that the Mohawk Elders and Clan
Mothers Kahentineta Horn and Katenies are not just Mohawk Grandmothers
and Elders but Grandmothers and Elders of all Canadians with a
conscience: You harm Kahentineta
and Katenies at your own peril and the same is the case for all
indigenous peoples.
TML expresses warmest social love and
affection for Kahentineta and Katenies and calls on Canadians from all
walks of life to demand that Kahentineta and Katenies receive the
apology they deserve by having all their rights restituted immediately
which includes getting redress for the
most recent crimes committed against them. State-sanctioned violence
and facilitation of violence against the First Nations and any
individual of Aboriginal origin has to stop! Let us make it so!
Oppose Colonial Justice!
Protests and complaints should be sent to:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Telephone: (613) 992-4211
Fax: (613) 941-6900
EMail: Harper.S@parl.gc.ca
Web Site: www.pm.gc.ca
Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian Affairs & Northern
Development,
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 992-2940
Fax: (613) 944-9376
EMail: Strahl.C@parl.gc.ca
Web Site: www.chuckstrahl.com/mp/
Your own member of parliament (click here).
Superintendent Natalie Evans, Head of Customs Division
at Cornwall, Ontario.
Telephone: 613-932-3805
Media spokesperson: Chris Keeley, Media Community
Co-ordinator, 613-991-5197
Interview with Frank Horn
Frank Horn, brother of Kahentinetha Horn, in a June 16
interview with Charles Boylan on Vancouver
CFRO Community Radio's Wake Up with Co-Op,
stated the context for the
attack on Kahentinetha and Katenies has been increasingly
aggressive behaviour by Canadian border authorities towards Mohawks
crossing back and forth between the U.S.
and Canadian sides of the border. He said traditional Mohawk nationals
do not recognize the authority of the Canadian state nor the border,
maintaining "nation to nation" relations with both Canada and the U.S.
Katenies and Kahentinetha, like many Mohawks and other individuals
belonging to the six nations of
the Iroquois Confederacy (Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas
and Tuscaroras) do not recognize Canadian or U.S. jurisdiction over
them, as the Six Nations are nations in their own right.
Frank Horn also gave the view that the targeting of his
sister was
a pre-meditated act of the Canadian state on the Mohawk leadership
because Kahentinetha is a well-known personality, and that there is no
way she would have been handled in this brutal, life-threatening manner
without explicit direction
from Ottawa. He said it was outrageous that just two days after the
Prime Minister made an apology confessing Canada's numerous crimes
against tens of thousands of Indigenous nations' children in the
residential schools, Canadian state officials would then accost a
woman elder known for her outspoken defence
of Mohawk and all Indigenous peoples' rights. Frank Horn concluded his
interview with CFRO saying, "The Prime Minister and all the party
leaders are talking about how wonderfully they are going to treat the
Indians, and the first thing they do is go after one of their prominent
leaders. I think this shows us the
complete hypocrisy of these people who talk to us from one side of
their mouth and then talk something on the other side of their mouth.
Our ancestors were right: they speak with a forked tongue. They are
liars and they have been lying to our people."
A member of the Mohawk Warrior Society (in an article by
Brenda Norrell) stated, "They did this because we
have the greatest weapon, the truth,
and what Kahentinetha writes is the truth. They are terrified of the
truth." He said
ultimately what they
want is to provoke the Mohawks into a confrontation so the Mohawks who
are resisting will be shot and killed. He gave the view that the
Canadian government's plan was to assassinate Kahentinetha.
To hear the full interview with Frank Horn click
here
(MP3 format).
Bail Hearing for Katenies
Katenies
was given a bail hearing at the Ontario Superior Court in Cornwall on
June 16. Supporters from Six Nations, Sharbot Lake as well as Akwesasne
attended court to be witnesses to Katenies' continued defiance of
Canada's colonial courts. Several
of the elders from the Akwesasne community who testified on her behalf
put her defiance of the colonial border in the context of the ongoing
struggle for indigenous peoples' for sovereignty, including the bridge
blockades undertaken in the 1960s and 1970s to assert free movement of
indigenous peoples at the border.
The federal Crown lawyer sought to deny bail to
Katenies, bringing
forward a senior investigator with the Canadian Border Services Agency
(CBSA) to testify for the Crown.
The investigator outlined Katenies' continual and consistent refusal to
recognize the authority of the colonial court system, or the
jurisdiction of the CBSA over
the border. Katenies "has nothing but contempt for the Canadian
judicial system," he said. The investigator, who has lived and worked
at the Cornwall border crossing for two decades, was forced to admit
that it's "not uncommon" for Mohawks to cite the lack of jurisdiction
directly to border officials, although he
called Katenies "an extreme case," so as to justify the use of
exceptional measures.
Both Katenies and her mother, Nancy Davis, addressed the
court,
emphasizing the point of principle: that Canada and its agencies do not
have jurisdiction over them as Mohawks and citizens of the
Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Nancy Davis refused to tell the court
whether she lived in the "Ontario"
or "Quebec" part of Akwesasne, stating clearly that she "lives on
Kanion'ke:haka territory" and is a citizen of the Haudenosaunee
Confederacy. In reference to Katenies she stated, "I'm the only one who
has authority over my daughter."
Under cross-examination by the Crown lawyer, Nancy Davis
stated: "We
feel we have the right to travel where we want, to go where we want.
[The border] is an imaginary line for Americans and Canadians, not
Mohawks." Asked outright if she recognized the authority of the court,
Nancy Davis replied
simply: "No."
Katenies pointedly refused to accept all charges,
declining to have
them read to her. When the court clerk tried to swear her in, Katenies
stated: "I can only tell what I know."
Katenies emphasized that she continues to demand that
the courts
address the jurisdiction question; that is, under what authority can
colonial Canadian courts, agencies or officials claim to have
jurisdiction over sovereign Mohawks. She stated forcefully: "I'm a
passionate person, I'm a mother and I'm
a grandmother. But, I've had no respect. No one has looked at what I've
put forward."
Under cross-examination, Katenies was asked by the Crown
lawyer if
she would accept paying a cash bond, to which she replied: "That would
be extortion at this point because jurisdiction has not been dealt
with." She added: "I don't see why you should incarcerate me and beat
me into submission
without answering my question."
She threw the accusation of contempt back at the Crown,
stating: "It
is [your law] and your constitution that you keep talking about. Why do
you continue to ignore me and our people, who have our own land and
constitution?"
In his final submissions, the Crown, fully imbued with
the colonial
outlook, did acknowledge in a roundabout way the question of
jurisdiction, but only insofar as it was a means to criminalize the
Mohawk for asserting their sovereignty and right to be. Without a sense
of shame or irony at his own
words, the Crown lawyer argued that Katenies "has nothing but complete
disdain for the laws of these courts."
"Quite frankly, your worship, both mother and daughter
don't
recognize our jurisdiction," he added, asking the court to keep
Katenies in custody because "She's not interested in appearing in court
and she doesn't recognize us."
Nonetheless, the presiding Justice of the Peace, Ms.
Leblanc,
decided to release Katenies under several conditions: that Katenies
reside with her mother (as she has for the past 8 years) and notify the
Akwesasne police of any change of address; that her mother post a $1000
surety (a bond without any
deposit); and that Katenies appear in court or designate counsel to
appear in court for her. Her next court date was set for July 14, 2008
at 9:00 am at the Superior Court in Cornwall.
Canadian Attack on Mohawk Nation News
at Cornwall Border Crossing
- Ieriwa'on:ni ("Her thoughts become the
way"),
Mohawk Nation News, June 22, 2008 -
Elder Abuse? Yes!
Anti-Indigenous violence? Yes!
Anti Free Speech? Yes!
Attempted murder??? Maybe.
A consistent pattern of violence? Definitely.
This report has been written in consultation with family
members and with direct witnesses to the events described.
The rumours circulating on the internet are true. MNN
has been forced to suspend its reporting and investigative work because
of a vicious and unprovoked attack on some of its principal writers,
investigators and managers. MNN's website was also attacked and was
reportedly down for three days.
MNN would like to thank everyone who wants the truth.
On June 14, 2008 Sakowaiaks and Kahentinetha went to
Akwesasne to pick up Katenies. Canadian border control officers
brutally attacked Katenies and Kahentinetha, two Mohawk grandmothers.
Both are part of the MNN network and known for their outspoken
criticism of U.S., Canadian and international
power cartels. The Canadian-U.S. border runs through the middle of
Akwesasne.
There are said to be 3 outstanding warrants against
Katenies, one from September 2004, another dated December 18th 2006 and
a third dated November 4, 2006 that was kept under wraps until January
18th, 2007. This mess began when Katenies was accused of "running the
border." At the time, she
thought she had been waved through. Her daughter heard her name on the
scanner. Katenies returned to the border a few minutes later to see
what was up. She was arrested and charged. When the case got to court,
Katenies had already filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds the court
did not have jurisdiction and
violated the Two Row Wampum Agreement that founds international
relations with the Haudenosaunee.
Katenies is a staunch defender of Mohawk rights. The
Canada-U.S. border continuously places her family in danger. Her
daughter Teiohontateh lives a few minutes away on the portion claimed
by Ontario. Katenies lives on the portion claimed by Quebec. They have
to pass through the part claimed
by the U.S. to visit each other.
One day in November 2005, Teiohontateh appears to have
become a pawn in the Canadian border guards' campaign to carry guns.
The U.S. guards already carry guns. She was still in pajamas, returning
home from driving her daughter to school when she was pulled over for
"a random vehicle search."
Though she was obviously of child-bearing age she was forced to pass
under x-ray machines. Because of this she had to abort the child she
was carrying. She filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights
Commission. To date nothing has been done.
The Supreme Court of Canada has always dodged the
question Katenies asked: How can Canada claim jurisdiction over the
Onkwehonwe? Canada knows that it was founded in violation of
international law. One party to a treaty cannot make laws for the
other. One people cannot absorb another without
their free and informed consent. None of the Onkwehonwe agreed to
become part of Canada or the United States. None of the laws of these
colonies can be legally applied to the Onowaregeh of Turtle Island.
Katenies states, "I do not understand the nature and cause of their
actions."
It seems that Canadians do not want to admit that their
state was founded on lies and deceit. Their ancestors bought stolen
goods when they immigrated. They were the pawns of mercenaries and
greedy crooks. They still are, but they don't want to face it. They are
not ready to sit down and settle these
problems on a peaceful nation-to-nation basis with Indigenous people.
They prefer to attack people like Katenies and her daughter
individually.
Things seem to have gotten worse since the Supreme Court
of Canada refused to recognize the integrity of the Mohawk Nation in Mitchell
v. MNR (2001).
Two weeks before she was to appear in court, Katenies
filed a motion asking the court to prove how it got authority and
stating that if they refused to answer in 30 days she would take it as
an admission that it had no jurisdiction. She tried to make sure that
she followed procedures correctly. She recalls
that when she went to court on September 18th 2004, a judge told her
that if she didn't believe the court had jurisdiction she did not have
to come back. He said it was her choice.
After that, things were quiet for about a year. That's
when her daughter was attacked. While she was handling her daughter's
problems she was arrested again. She filed another motion questioning
the court's jurisdiction. Her motion was ignored and they tried to go
straight to trial. When she tried to
read the questions she raised into the record, they interrupted her
with a lot of noise and closed the court down. Katenies left. Then they
issued another warrant. Katenies was sent a letter asking her to turn
herself in so she could spend several months in jail. She responded by
filing a motion to dismiss. She continued
to live her life normally, crossing the border frequently without
interference.
On June 14th Katenies, Kahentinetha and Sakowaiaks went
through the border and were told to wait under the canopy. They sat
there peacefully for an hour surrounded by guards. Some Mohawk elders
showed up to watch. Several other vehicles were searched and released.
Only Indigenous people
were stopped. Eventually a platoon of guards marched towards the car,
all wearing leather gloves. Something was up. A chief later told them
that the gloves were for protection from blood. It was a sign they
planned an attack.
Katenies was dragged violently from the car by a gang of
hefty young men. They knocked her down, pinned her to the ground, and
forced their knees into her back. They handcuffed her and smashed and
rubbed her face into the pavement. Sakowaiaks still remembers the sound
of flesh hitting the
pavement.
The violence against her did not stop with the cuts and
bruises administered at the time of her arrest. She was imprisoned and
held incommunicado. They would not let her mother see her or talk to
her. She had heard her daughter was injured. She asked several times
and was refused. Katenies asked
to see her mother. The guards said she didn't ask for her. She was
strip searched in a very vulgar and indecent way.
There were no warrants or charges out for Kahentinetha.
Her ID had already been taken. Neither hers nor Katenies' have been
returned. Also missing are documents that were in the trunk and the
shoes taken from her feet.
It was only after the assault on Katenies began that
Kahentinetha was ordered to get out of the car. She saw with her own
eyes what they were planning to do to her. Kahntinetha had been beaten
by police in the past. This was the third serious attempt on her life.
She has been told that she was targeted
by the Canadian army during the 1990 Mohawk Oka Crisis. In 1995, on her
way to the grocery store, she was pulled over by the Quebec Police
(Constables Dube and Ouellette). She was beaten so bad she was
hospitalized. The court later found the cops guilty. They appealed and
were found guilty again. On June
14th she was afraid her life would be in danger again if she got out of
the car. She was right.
She was handcuffed and imprisoned. Once in the cell, the
attack continued. Some of the officers deliberately tightened the
handcuffs several times. This cut the circulation to her hands. They
ignored her cries as pain shot up her arms. Flashes of light went off
in her head and sharp pains shot into her
chest. They yelled racial taunts and threats at her and kept ordering
her to bend down. A man stood behind her and had his hands on her
pants. What for? Frank Horn, a Cornwall lawyer, and his son Kanatase,
happened to be waiting at the border. (613-935-8882) They wouldn't let
him see Kahentinetha until they
took off the cuffs and gave her a chair to sit on. When he saw her, he
immediately insisted on calling an ambulance. The Akwesasne Police
looked so shocked that they stood there frozen in stunned silence.
The medical record confirms that despite excellent
physical condition Kahentinetha had a trauma induced heart attack.
Her recovery will take several months. Part of her heart
was killed. Her health will never be the same. Both women are now
recuperating in the company of their children and grandchildren. Legal
action is planned.
What is Canada up to?
Where are the honest officials in the Canadian government? There
are several reasons to be alarmed by this outrageous violence.
The Canadian state seems to think it is O.K. to continue
to abuse Indigenous people so long as it apologizes later! This attack
took place just a couple of days after Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper's apology for the abuses that took place at the residential
schools. These were designed to commit
genocide and to eradicate all Indigenous cultures.
There has been a lot of discussion in Canada recently
about both elder abuse and the excessive use of police force. These two
grandmothers were assaulted by a troop of muscular young men wearing
Canadian government uniforms, directed by an officer on a cell phone.
The procedure appears to have
been planned. It came close to achieving the same results as the much
maligned tasers.
Neither of these women is associated with any kind of
criminal activity. They appear to have been targeted for their opinions.
This is part of an established pattern of colonial
behavior. In the mid 1800's when British settlers were colonizing
British Columbia, Governor Douglas instructed ships to fire their canon
outside Indigenous villages to scare them and stop their protests
against invasion and resource theft.[1]
The people of Akwesasne have always objected to the
imposition of foreign boundaries through their community. The Mohawks
never agreed to join either Canada or the United States. Their
ancestors have occupied the same territory since time immemorial. That
particular community has been there
since the 1740's or 1750's long before anyone dreamed there would be a
"Canada" or a "United States."
Katenies and Kahentinetha are not the only people who
have been harassed. There are problems with both U.S. and Canadian
officials. Young people especially have been targeted. Babies and very
young children are often left outside or unattended in cars for long
periods of time. People have been
sent on wild goose chases trying to find family members imprisoned
because of border problems. Katenies' was taken to Ottawa and her
mother was not permitted to see her or speak to her until she appeared
in court two days later. Apparently hundreds of complaints have been
filed but harassment continues.
The corporate media failed to report this attack. This
suggests that violence against Indigenous elders is not news.
It's still open season on "Indians," just like it was
when the Spaniards stumbled ashore in 1492. Just like it was when
Benjamin Franklin reported on the unprovoked massacre of the last
survivors in New England. Just like it was at Wounded Knee. Just like
it was in the residential schools. Just like
it was at Oka-Kanehsatake. Just like it was when Betty Osbourne walked
along the road near The Pas. Just like it was when over 500 more women
went missing. Just like it was when the Saskatoon police nabbed native
youth on the street and took them to die of exposure on their
"Starlight tours." Just like it was
when the Mayor of Brantford was told he could call in the Canadian army
to intimidate people at Six Nations who object to illegal development
on their land. The beating of elders by border guards is part of an
established pattern of bullying.
People objected to the Nazis. Why don't they object to
this? Why are these customs officers targeting women?
According to international law, all differences must
be solved by peaceful discussion. Everyone is equal. Everyone has a
voice.
These principles are all part of the Great Law of Peace
of the Haudenosaunee People. The League of Nations was founded on the
same principles. So was the United Nations.
Most people are alarmed by the current rise in
corporate, military and government corruption and violence. Fascism has
hijacked Canada, the U.S. and the U.N. The diversion of tax payer's
money to fund armies and weapons has to stop.
We must all defend all our rights, including the right
to physical integrity, freedom of expression and the right of
all nations not to be absorbed by large states without the free and
informed consent of the majority of the population.
Beware all readers! Especially if you are
Indigenous. Especially if you are Mohawk. Who's next?
Canada's spin-doctors are already working overtime to
defame Indigenous people and all honest people who want a free and
peaceful world. They are doing this to scare Canadians. They' re doing
this to scare us all. They want to trick us into believing that their
violence against Mohawk elders is justified.
Akwesasne is a small community. The people have to cross
the border many times a day. The badge numbers of the men who committed
the assaults are known. Canadian government officials will probably try
to blame what they are doing on these low-ranking foot-soldiers.
Whoever was hiding behind
the cell phone will probably get off scott free even though Kahntinetha
heard him say "Take her out." The attacks on Katenies and Kahentinetha,
the continuous attacks on Indigenous youths and elders will not stop
the fight to defend Indigenous rights.
Wake up everyone!
This state-sanctioned violence has to stop!!! Those who
sit silently and allow bullying to continue are part of the problem.
This is not the kind of world any of us want to leave to our children
and grandchildren.
Ieriwa'on:ni
ieriwaonni@livemail.com
Phil Fontaine is a partner in CBSA's Sustainable
Development Strategy 2007-9 -- See Apprendix 4 of the strategy for a
list of external
stakeholders; Chris Kealey, Canada Customs Excise, Immigration Taxation
Board, CBSA Media Relations 613-991-5197; Alain Joliceour, President
CBSA 613-952-3200, 613-957-0612;
General inquiries CBSA-ASFC@canada.gc.ca; National Aboriginal
Initiative, Canadian Human Rights Commission 204-983-2189,
1-866772-4880 info.com@chrc-ccdp.ca; Canada Customs Port of Entry,
Cornwall Island Ontario; Gaetan Cousineau, Quebec Human Rights,
presidence@cdpdj.gc.ca; Akwesasne Mohawk
police 613-575-2250 ex 2400; Mohawk Security Louis Mitchell
613-932-5183, 613-575-2340; Lance Markel, District Dir. CBSA
613-930-3234, 613-991-1214; Nurse Rachet at Cornwall Community Hospital
613-938-4240; www.,chrc-ccdp.ca; Brent Lefebvre Investigator for CBSA;
Susan St. Clair, Canadian Human
Rights Commission, 344 Slater, Ottawa 613-995-1151, 1-888-214-1090,
613-943-5188; National spokesperson CBSA 613-957-6500; Quebec Media
Relations CBSA 514-350-6130; Handling arrest Scott Patterson; Chief MCA
Nona Benedict 613-575-2250 nbenedict@akwesasne.ca; Minister Stockwell
Day, House
of Commons, Ottawa K1A 0A6 613-995-1702 day.s@parl.gc.ca 250-770-4480,
days1@parl.gc.ca; Dave MacKenzie, Parliamentary Secretary, Public
Safety, 613-995-4432;Mackenzie.d@parl.gc.ca; Melissa Leclair
Communications Pub. Safety 613-991-2863; OFFICERS: 17012; 16320; 16511;
16121; 16275;
Note
1. See Cole Harris, Making
Native Space: Colonialism, Resistance, and Reserves in British Columbia
UBC Press, 2002, p. 22.
Harper's "Apology"
Canada Confesses to Part of Its Crimes against Humanity
-- There Has Finally Been an Official Apology
for "Murder," Rape...
- Kahentinetha Horn, Mohawk Nation News,
June 11, 2008 -
... sodomy, pedophilia, germ warfare, sterilization,
medical experiments and who knows maybe even necrophilia of indigenous
children in order to "steal" our land and resources.
This is a start. Now we have to deal with other big
issues, sovereignty and resources.
Our people were kidnapped and held hostage for three to
four generations. Genocide is taking children away and killing them. It
was only a small part of a bigger story of "gangsterism" and greed.
Don't be fooled! That evil program is still in full swing. Canada has
no intention to stop. They continue
to drive us off our land, to criminalize us, incarcerate us and to
refuse to return control of our land and resources to us.
We don't like being lied to. Saying "sorry" doesn't cut
it. Canada practically admitted to "murder" and theft in the first
degree. While Prime Minister Harper was reciting his apology in the
House of Commons, a permanent injunction was being granted to the city
of Brantford to stop us from going onto
our own lands to stop illegal development and to bring in the army if
necessary. What forked-tongued two-faced hypocrisy! Anywhere else in
the world when a people are threatened with military force, it is a
"declaration of war."
Every Canadian benefited from these crimes against
humanity. They came here from Europe with empty hands. Stephen Harper
said, "We are planning to move on." This means that the perpetrators of
these heinous crimes have to be prosecuted in the international courts.
More important, Canada is bound
to the original relationship as "visitors" to our land who made
promises to live peacefully under the Two Row Wampum Agreement. We are
the land and resource owners and they have to negotiate with us to
extend their stay.
Our future is tied to the Kaianereh'ko:wa, the law of
Onowaregeh, Turtle Island. We cannot "bury the hatchet"! Planned
murders of our children by the church and state cannot be pardoned
anywhere. Canada broke international law to which they are bound.
At this moment illegal deals are
being made by the
government and its puppet band councils to deceive the people. Fraud
and corruption are used to privatize under NAFTA every unsurrendered
river and stream in British Columbia to send our water to California.
Is this desperation because Canada and the U.S. or
someone is trying to keep the colonial scam going? Canada absolved the
churches of responsibilities. The program to murder school children and
to put them in unmarked graves was not random. All the churches,
Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian and
United, stepped up to the plate to do dirty deeds for the state. It was
part of the "pogrom" to remove us completely to claim Onowaregeh,
Turtle Island. What kind of special education does it take to forget
that it's wrong to kill kids?
 Harper admitted they did not know
our culture, our
traditions and did not respect our basic human rights. They still
don't. Now that they have clearly admitted to being "busted," shouldn't
the genocide stop?
The colonizers must respect our sovereignty, identity
and culture. To start, they must stop all uranium and diamond mining,
clear cutting and contamination of our environment. Stop trying to put
us away in jails and holding cells to punish us for protecting the
environment. Every single piece of Turtle
Island, our resources and possessions must be returned to us so we can
regnerate the natural beauty and health of Turtle Island.
Nothing is going to change if they can help it. To stop
racism and lies the true history has to be taught in every school. Our
education and language programs have to be improved. Clean water and
decent homes have to be provided to all of us. All the elements that
work together to demoralize our
young people and incite them to commit suicides have to be stopped.
Canada is going to put up a monument as a symbol of this
apology. Take down those hideous monuments to the true murderers of our
people like Champlain, Humphrey Gilbert, Laverendrye, DeDenonville,
Amherst and other scoundrels. Towns are still named after these mass
murderers. Get rid of
that depiction of the tied up Indian in bondage on the Clock Tower of
the Parliament Buildings. We cannot rebuild our nations on monuments or
empty words. Real reconciliation means restoring the traditional
homelands and resources of the various Indigenous people who have been
dispossessed. Anything less
is a farce.
Canada stage managed this performance. It was sickening
to see colonial lap dog Phil Fontaine of the Assembly of First Nations
accept Harper's apology on our behalf. It was a pre-written script
probably by government spinners. We were never asked if we wanted him
to accept this apology or to even
accept it. The supporting remarks were made by the heads of colonially
funded "puppy dog" organizations that jump to their "master's"
commands.
The money being offered to some of the victims is our
own money. Any profit from our lands held in trust is "blood money." We
want an economy. Stop depriving us and forcing us out of our
communities. Release all our trust funds immediately. Everything that
was "kicked back" to the Vatican must
be returned to us. These churches that committed these atrocities have
investments from our lands worth billions and have declared stock
portfolios well over $100 million. Release these to us. Give us our
funds that the Canadian government holds as "trust funds," namely the
"Indian Fund," the "Consolidated Revenue
Fund" and the "Contingent Liability Fund."
All levels of government should stop issuing illegal
permits for exploitation of our lands and resources. Stop using our
land and resources as collateral to borrow on international money
markets.
The Queen and all the other "carpet baggers" who head
the corporate criminal organizations that murder, rape and pillage us
and our possessions should now be prosecuted in the international court
for their crimes.
Our parents were threatened with imprisonment if they
did not release their children to the control of the church and state.
How long does it take to forget what our children saw -- other children
being murdered and even being forced to help bury them. They were
deliberately given contagious diseases
from which many died. There was out-and-out murder of over 50,000 at
the hands of teachers, priests, nuns and staff. Our children were used
in experiments by German doctors in the 1930's and then disposed of.
The children were threatened to never tell anyone about it.
It was the "I Apologize" Show, with Phil in a war
bonnet, with smudging, all players with their scripts in hand and an
audience seated strategically around. Someone on cue even yelled from
the House of Commons gallery, "Way to go, Phil. You are our leader."
This government sanctioned desperado
is not our leader! The sanitized plot did not include murder, torture,
sterilization, kids witnessing killings and medical experiments on
them.
You, the abusers, are in dire need of healing. In
Australia the prime minister apologized to the Aborigines and they now
live under a form of 'martial law'! What will happen now when the army
is brought in on us as happened in 1990?
For Your Information
Why Katenies Will Not "Walk the Line"
- Kahentinetha Horn, Mohawk Nation News,
January 5, 2007 -
TML is posting below a January 5, 2007 item
by Kahentinetha Horn from Mohawk Nation News
entitled, "Why Katenies Will Not 'Walk the Line'" which gives
background information on the recent assault on Katenies and
Kahentinetha Horn.
***
All
Katenies (gaw-den-yes), a Kanion'keha:ka/Mohawk, did was ask Her
Majesty the Queen to explain how all her foreign corporations got
jurisdiction over her and her land. They
won't tell her because they can't. They have claimed power over her in
a way that violates the principles of international law that Canada has
agreed to uphold.
This youthful looking grandmother has had it up to the
eye balls
with the colonial abuse that our people continue to suffer. Katenies
obeys the laws of the land meticulously. The problem for the colonial
Canadian courts is that the laws she follows are the legitimate laws of
the land. They are founded
on the Kanion'keha:ka participation in the Rotinhsonnion:we/Iroquois
Confederacy.
Katenies never had any problem with the law before and
is being
attacked with everything the colonizing corporate-judicial-military
forces can throw at her. Her crime! She simply pointed out that the
Queen is guilty of genocide, violations of our freedom and our inherent
right to self-determination.
She ordered her to return to us all her stolen money, trusts, lands,
rights and possessions that were made or taken from our lands.
On December 27th, 2006 Katenies received a document
that had a
medieval name. It seems to be an artifact of some quaint customs that
were brought here on the sailing ships by the colonizers. It is a
Notice of "Estreat." Apparently it's a copy from their records which
they will use to extract everything
she has. The Court Hearing is to be in the Ontario Superior Court of
Justice. Katenies will be sued for every question she's asked about
their illegal actions.
The Queen's corporation has ordered her to appear at
the Cornwall
court on January 18th 2007 to [have a cup of tea with her and] tell her
why she shouldn't throw all the books at her. Katenies told her that we
own Canada, lock stock and barrel. Their document has stamps, dates,
numbers, signatures
and fingerprints of the Queen's slaves all over the paper and envelope.
In effect, it's just another paper noose being put
around our necks
at gunpoint. Will the Queen be at the execution wearing dark glasses
and taking pictures with her phone to be shown on the internet?
On January 3rd 2007 Katenies received a letter dated
December 18th
2006 from Ronald J-L Turgeon, the Crown prosecutor, informing her that
she has been charged under 'this and that' (S.11(1), 153 (c) &
153.1) of the colonial Customs Act.
At the hearing on December 18th
2006 they quickly
closed down the court when she read her questions and charges against
the Queen. she had already filed and served to everyone involved. She
did appear, refused to stand and then left. She then sent her document
by mail to the Queen and the Governor General of Canada.
The court jesters got all flustered when she refused to
stand up
according to their master-slave protocol. The letter to her stated, "As
you left prior to your matter being dealt with" (which is not true.
They were busy ejaculating all over the courtroom and pretended she
wasn't there). Justice of the
Peace Stewart has a Bench Warrant for her arrest. Does this mean
they're going to handcuff her to some bench, or hit her with a bench?
Katenies was told that if she does not "relinquish"
herself she
will be jailed probably until her trial on August 10th 2007 in
Alexandria. What's this supposed to mean? It sounds like they want to
institutionally rape her and beat her into submission. If these guys
didn't wear those medieval black robes,
the "character" of their actions would be clearer for all the world to
see. They want to confine her for their own perverse pleasure to
torture her.
These weird voyeurs even asked Katenies to bring along
witnesses
for their "peep show" of "See Katenies in Bondage." What is the purpose
of this circus? They want to prove that they have might by pointing
guns at us and being able to imprison us. This is so they can distract
attention from the
fact that they simply do not have jurisdiction. Corporate Canada, the
charge is rape.
This whole thing started in 2003 when she was driving
through the
checkpoint to visit her daughter as she does every day. Then they
started to harass her daughter. Why these rapacious predators decided
to land on this ordinary grandmother is really difficult to understand.
Now they are even scaring
her 6-year-old granddaughter by making her sit outside in the cold
while they harass her parents. The guards want the higher ups to give
them guns to make their scare tactics more effective. We can expect
worse. That checkpoint should never have been there in the first place.
They constantly advise us to go along
with it to "make it easier on ourselves." What do you think?
What is going on here? Katenies wants to be at the
forthcoming
birth of her grandchild. Are they trying to make her the female
"Deskahe"? In the 1920s he asked a similar question about the Indian
Act being ultra vires the
constitution of Canada. He went to the League
of Nations. Canada would
never let him return to Six Nations. He died in Tuscarora near Buffalo,
New York in 1925.
We Onkwehonwe are confronted by the U.S.-Canada-Mexico
border every
day. We don't need passports to travel freely anywhere in the Western
Hemisphere. One condition of tolerating the colonial presence was that
we would continue to travel anywhere on Turtle Island. We all have some
kind
of ID. Only we can decide how we will identify ourselves.
The AFN [Assembly of First Nations] wants us to use
their
government-issue "Indian status" cards. A lot of us who are real
Onkwehonwe don't have such a card. A lot of imposters do. Many of us
refuse to be incorporated into Canada and become' members of a foreign
company. Incorporate means
"in." A corporation makes Canada into a "body." We don't want to become
part of the polluted body of Canada. It all smells awful to us and we
want no part of it.
Traversing our homeland is a birthright, not a
"privilege" granted
by them. We demand that the colonists stop interfering with our travel
over their imaginary line. The Jay Treaty 1794 was a trade agreement
between the United States and Britain. Ever since then the colonists
have been trying to
make us "walk the line," to impose that phony line on us. They haven't
been able to do it. So now they're trying to tie it around our necks
and squeezing it as tight as they can. They are trying to drive us to
desperation. But it's not working.
No one can make us citizens of a nation we don't want
to be
citizens of. No nation has a right to denationalize another nation. As
independent Onkwehonwe nations we have a right to deal with such issues
based on our own laws.
Under International law, we are not members of any of
these
colonial foreign corporations. Therefore, we cannot carry passports of
foreign corporations of which we are not citizens. These drooling
jackals are trying to make us commit an illegal act. If all the
mystification were removed everyone
would see that this all grand standing. They are creating illegal
policies to determine our existence as a people. They have no right
whatsoever to do this. It's an international issue. We know many
Canadians an Americans have good sense and want to belong to a decent
law abiding entity.
Legality requires proper procedures and remedies.
Katenies raised a
legitimate legal question which has to be answered. She asked where
they got their jurisdiction. The Queen and Governor General have not
answered. According to law, they have to meet us on a nation-to-nation
basis to polish the
Silver Covenant Chain and dust the Two Row Wampum Agreement. We have to
stop the ongoing theft of our lands and resources and the destruction
of the environment.
Why is this ongoing bullying and threatening of
Katenies
continuing? The policy is probably to give resisters and their families
a hard time. If these people believe in the rule of law, the next
procedural step is for them to produce the proof that they have
jurisdiction. That's it!
To help and for comments, contact katenies20@yahoo.com
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Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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