MNN.  Aug 18, 2005.  The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Oneida Indian Nation of New York v. the City of Sherill could be applied everywhere in the United States.  And why not?  The case was taken under federal Indian law.  Federal Indian law is a creation of the Federal government.  It can be changed by the federal government  anytime to suit its needs. 

The federal government wants to eliminate Indian title throughout the United States.  Using the Sherill decision the principle of “latches” can now be applied everywhere.  This means that any Indian “tribe” set up under federal Indian law that did not take a court action on their land claims within a unspecified time cannot now do so.  The time frame and Indian interest in land is decided by the federal government under their laws.  This means that the Indians have no rights at all under federal Indian law.

The fraud was started more than 20 years ago.  Illegal “tribal” governments were set up under federal Indian law.  St. Regis, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga and out-of-state tribes were encouraged to start land claims cases against New York State.  Then they were to work out a “settlement” to extinguish sovereign Indian title in exchange for casinos.  Even though they were municipal level governments they agreed to give up Haudenosaunee land, which is most of New York State.

It almost worked.  Most of the people did not know this was going on because New York State told their Indian “puppets” to keep it a secret.  They thought that no one would take much interest in the dry and complicated details of phony administrative law. 

The Kanion’ke:haka aren’t so easy to fool.  Once we got wind of what they were up to, the Kanion’ke:haka/Mohawk constitutional government under the Kaianereh’ko:wa/Great Law filed a “constitutional jurisdiction question” in the St. Regis v. New York State case.  We asked a simple and obvious question.  It’s the big question the colonizers always try to avoid.  How did federal and state government entities get jurisdiction to sign over unsurrendered land that is protected by the U.S. Constitution?  The New York State Courts refused to answer us.  They had no law and no precedents.  We went on to file the same question in the Sherill/Oneida and Onondaga cases.

In St. Regis v. New York State, Judges McCurn and Lowe of the U.S District Court made a decision.  They thought the only thing they could do was dismiss our question.  This allowed us to appeal first to the Second Circuit.  When it also ignored the constitutional question, then at last we were able to appeal to the United States Supreme Court. 

When it came to Sherill  the judge had learned from the “mistake” of Judges McCurn and Lowe.  In trying to address the constitutional question, they tripped all over themselves in the process.  They went back to the time-honored fraudulent court strategy of willful blindness to the existence of the constitutional question that was staring them in the face.  By not saying anything they thought they could close the loophole that we used to get the issue in.  If they don’t answer, we can’t appeal because there is no final decision.  They thought this would stop us in our tracks. 

Our case involves genocide – the deliberate attempt to destroy a people.   So it is even more serious than cases involving the death penalty, where only a single individual’s life is at stake.  If someone is on death row, the court is petitioned with a “habeus corpus” to stop the execution.  A refusal to answer the petition is the court’s “final solution” reply.  The execution is then carried out.  The counterpart petition to habeus corpus when it is a nation rather than an individual is “quo warranto”.  In Sherill, the judge’s failure to answer our quo warranto petition is the court’s “final solution” reply signaling the death of the nation by judicial trickery.  Because it implements a final solution it is an appealable final order.  We thus appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and were assigned the number 05-165.  . 

The judges figured their non-answer was their secret weapon.  This is now our secret weapon.  We have now brought Sherill into our US Supreme Court case No. 05-165.  

Sherill is the key.  Sherill brought in latches, the principle that too much time has lapsed for Indians to make applications for settlement of their outstanding land claims.  So the Indians have lost their interest to their lands for all time.  Federal Indian law is an extinguishment device to get rid of Indian constitutional jurisdiction.  Sherill could now be applied to federal Indian tribes all across the United States. 

However, Indian constitutional jurisdiction is timeless.  It remains until there has been a consensual treaty according to the Kaienerekowa and the U.S. Constitution. This has absolutely nothing to do with and is completely unaffected by federal Indian law.  Therefore, it is completely unaffected by the doctrine of latches.  Latches cannot apply to the constitution. 

Our ancestors have been fighting for our rights since the arrival of the colonists.  The attacks have been constant and varied.  They’re still trying to exterminate us by ignoring the constitutional question.  Now it cannot be ignored.  We have the US Supreme Court number.  The inauguration of the rule of law is the antidote to genocide.  The rule of law cannot function if the law itself is ignored.  

The era of ignoring the law is coming to close.  We had a historical suspension while the Indigenous people were victimized.  We are bringing a shameful chapter in North American history to an end, before the final solution has been allowed to fully run its course.       

Kahentinetha Horn