MNN. Feb. 25, 2006. MCK (Mohawk Council of Kahnawake) has told us that they expelled fellow band councilor, Keith Myiow, in a ‘secret’ meeting (not open to the public) on February 16th 2006. What they have not told us is their legal authority for doing this. It certainly has nothing to do with standard rules of democratic procedure anywhere in the world.
Many see Keith as a pain in the neck. He comes from a traditional background. He asks too many questions for his own good. Anyway, his council ‘buddies’ claim he doesn’t represent the people anymore because they gave him a “vote of non-confidence”! Do the 6 or 7 out of 12 members who voted against him the only people who count in Kahnawake. Did they think they could decide a constitutional matter on their own?
MCK accused Keith of removing confidential documents from their private council chamber. What’s that? Why does the council have confidential documents and secret meetings? Isn’t everything OUR business?
They say Keith also misrepresented the MCK (as if they don’t do that every day themselves!) regarding the parole of a Kahnawá:ke man. “It’s serious!” they gasped in horror. Why didn’t they bring it to the people? According to reports, Keith had good intentions to help this family. He knew we don’t have to ask anyone if we can rescue a drowning person. As an elected representative of a segment of the people, Keith can write some things on his own without going before the council.
They say there was a large lawyer there from Indian Affairs. Why didn’t he follow Canadian procedure and lay charges? There is the white man’s colonial court system out there for them and the band council to use.
The councilors didn’t say what law they were relying on. Obviously it wasn’t Canadian or international law as they violated the procedures of both. The band council met, talked, voted on whether to vote and voted a few more times until they got it right. Then, like a magician, grand chief Mike Delisle’s pulled a band council resolution out of a hat! They immediately signed it, sentencing Keith to the hinterlands of Kahnawake. It was obvious there was consultation beforehand and events were being manipulated towards a certain end.
Keith was kicked out into the cold without his hat and winter boots. They took away his salary, office, computer, papers, bathroom privileges and, worst of all, his cell phone.
One councilor, Martin Leborgne, stated, “… I did not support the removal of Keith as a Council Chief.” He forgot to say this action was criminal, a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Section 14, which states:
Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal, and to such minimum guarantees as: to be informed of the charges against him; to have enough time and resources to prepare a defense; to be present when tried; to defend himself in person or by a someone of his choice; to question the witnesses; not to be forced to testify against himself or to confess; and to have his conviction reviewed by an impartial third party agreeable to both sides. He must be compensated if found innocent.
Violated also was Section 25 that confirms everyone’s right to take part in public affairs through their freely chosen representatives. Like it or not, Myiow was a freely chosen elected representative. How can some councilors lord it over the rest of Kahnawake by kicking off a member?
At an impartial trial the councilors would have had to present their allegations publicly. Keith would have had a chance to reply. All this would be presented beforehand in writing, with all their sources of legal authority, if they have any. Keith Mayo’s trial and procedures weren’t public. No notice was given. Elected representatives cannot put on trial and oust a colleague. A vote of non-confidence means there has to be an election. Instead the councilors acted as the judge, jury and executioners.
Everyone knows the procedure was wrong. What is their legal authority to stop Keith from running in a future election? To have this vote of non-confidence? To punish him? They have appropriated despotic powers and they’re using it to do as they please.
I know how Keith feels. I was once fired by the Canadian government too. They never liked my viewpoint. I was on our territory during the 1990 Mohawk Crisis and was supposed to return to work after Labor Day. The crisis went on until September 26th 1990, when we were finally captured by the combined forces of the Canadian Army and the Surete Quebec.
I had phoned the late Robert Allen, an employee at Indian Affairs, and asked him to fill out a “Request for Leave” form for me. He took it up to the Deputy Minister, Harry Swain. My excuse was not good enough for him. “Hey, we’re caught behind the Canadian army razor wire. We can’t get out without risking our lives”. Canada insisted that I return to work immediately. My children and I could not leave. We were surrounded by about 2000 soldiers with all their armaments, tanks, guns and other lethal toys, while snipers had their guns trained on me. I am a survivor. I did not want to sacrifice my children for that job.
I read about my firing in the Montreal Gazette. There was no hearing, no charges and no credible witnesses against me. It was a colonial kangaroo court.
After being hauled into Montreal and St. Jerome Quebec courts for two years, I decided to challenge my firing. I won. Canada still wanted me out. They appealed. I won again. It set a precedent for the whole civil service. “You just can’t turf somebody out because you don’t like them”. This experience proved to me again that the government and its agencies are a bunch of dictators.
The band council is illegal. It was illegally imposed on us without our fully informed consent, violating our laws and the Canadian constitution. They are a corporation set up by the colonial government to control us until they finish the job of assimilating us and removing us from our land. These councils carry out the genocide.
Colonized means the band council is in charge by force. They have the backing of Canada’s big guns. They conduct our affairs in secret. If we knew what they were doing, we would scream and object. This is called a “dictatorship”. They take themselves seriously, according to their numerous “here-are-our-excuses-for-our-lynching-of-Keith” performances on the local TV stations. What they seem to have completely forgotten is the procedure is just plain wrong. They did not even follow procedures under the Canadian law that gave them their offices. They not only emulated the corruption by see in Canada and the United States, they exaggerated it. We found out the council’s responsibilities towards the people is drastically deteriorating because they work for the Canadian government, not us.
They underestimate the intelligence of the Kanion’ke:haka/Mohawk who refuse to fall for their tap dances at the local meetings, restaurants and on the streets of Kahnawake.
Now the council wants to extend its mandate to three years. This is illegal! They are elected representatives. They can’t unilaterally extend their own mandate. There is no “state of emergency”. Yes, Charles de Gaulle was recognized as the representative of France while living in exile during World War II. That was a real emergency! France had been invaded by the Germans, who took control and set up a puppet government in Vichy. Is the council saying we are under Nazi occupation and cannot have normal elections? People sometimes wonder what it would be like if the Nazi’s had won. They would be doing what this council is doing, following orders and operating a dictatorship.
We should go back to our true traditional government using our own procedures as outlined in the Kaianereh’ko:wa/Great Law. But it’s difficult because we’re occupied and threatened constantly by forces that refuses to obey the most minimal political rights recognized in international law. Instead they steal everything we have.
We have to publicly object to our affairs and funds being spent by this illegitimate council. They are encroaching on our constitutionally protected jurisdiction and usurping our land and resources. This council reflects the Canadian totalitarian “might makes right” approach.
The council’s inventive procedure does have possibilities. Just think of it! George Bush could use a vote of non-confidence to expel all the Democratic Senators. Then he could bring in his Arab friends to run the U.S. of A.! The United States of Arabia. Sounds good to some, eh? Why stop there. In Canada the Conservatives could get themselves a majority by kicking out opposition Members of Parliament through expulsion votes.
People have good reason to be angry. We feel powerless in the situation because of the threatening nature of this huge imbalance of power. Only a few votes in the band elections and the government fraudulently take control of our lives and possessions. We are being held hostage by Canada and the United States. This incident really shows it. When we adhere to our traditional ways, the colonial system abuses us. We refuse to go into their biased “foreign” courts where they sit in judgment. Canada and the United States abuse this situation. When any Indigenous people have mistakenly gone into their genocidal judiciary, they get chewed up and spit out. So there!
Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News
Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com
Soon: www.mnn.mohawknationnews.com
