MNN. June 4, 2006. The June 2, 2006 editorial in the National Post [Dalton McGuinty, scofflaw] is leading everybody except us down the garden path. The injunctions that Justice T. David Marshall of the Ontario Superior Court in Cayuga County were illegal. It is the way “Sheriff” Marshall issued his injunction that imperils the “rule of law”.
First, his injunction was against some unstated imaginary people, to wit, “John Doe” and “Jane Doe”. He imposed penalties on these make believe people without giving any of them a chance to know the case they ha d to meet or to defend themselves. It reminds us of “Judge Roy Bean” when he said, as he tugged on his cowboy hat, “If ya wanted a fair fight, ya shouldn’a come into my town”.
Second, this is an illegal order. Because Six Nations jurisdiction has been illegally usurped, colonial courts cannot make orders. Just as an American Court cannot make an order enforceable in Ontario, neither can a Canadian Court make an order enforceable on the Six Nations. Back in the 1920’s the sheriff would refuse to serve documents on Six Nations Territory because it was well known that it was an independent jurisdiction.
Haldimand Tract resident [the land in question], Judge Marshall, says that disregard for his court order imperils the rule of law. Of course, it does if it’s based on the principle of “might makes right”, illegal encroachment and issuing phony titles. If that is what Marshall believes the law is founded upon, then why bother with law at all? So does he want to meet us at “high noon” at “Okay Corral” and shoot it out! The guy with the biggest weapons [or the most money] wins.
This is not what the rule of law is about anymore, Sheriff Marshall. This is the 21st Century. Today the rule of law requires democratic due process and egalitarian decision-making. It is about figuring out what principles everyone can agree to, native and non-native.
We agree with Marshall that the rule of law should prevail. We do not agree that the rule of law is founded on his phony court orders or on military force. He must show us where the Six Nations people ever agreed to have British or Canadian laws imposed on us. He can’t because it never happened. Our jurisdiction continues to be governed by our own constitution, the Kaianereh’ko:wa/Great Law of Peace.
According to the rule of law, it is not legal to invade someone else’s territory. This is precisely what Marshall wants his order to do. It is a direct violation of international law. A Six Nations application to join the League of Nations in 1923 was stopped because the colonial powers that belonged to the League conspired to shut all Indigenous People worldwide from equal participation in the international lawmaking process. Hey! Canada, the age of colonialism is officially over! Large states have been explicitly told that they may not invade and take the territory of small nations. Canada, get out of our way! We will take our proper place at the table of nations.
The UN and the International Court of Justice have confirmed that no people can be absorbed into a state unless the majority of the people agree in a freely held decision making process [see the Western Sahara case]. Constitutional change cannot be made without the support of a clear majority of the people in response to a question that clearly sets out the change that is being considered.
Canada has no evidence that this requirement was met when they unlawfully presumed that the Six Nations was part of their colonial state. This is the problem. The difference between Canada and the Six Nations is that the Six Nations people want to resolve the situation by applying the rule of law. Canada wants to apply their personal concept of the status quo that is based on misrepresentations they learned in nursery school. [Now, kiddies, put on your chicken feather war bonnet, put your hand over your mouth and yell, “Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!”]
Just because Canada refuses to recognize our boundaries and our jurisdiction does not mean that we don’t have the same rights to have our agreements respected.
The Ontario Provincial Police acted wisely when it rethought its actions and withdrew from our reclaimed territory. They concentrated their efforts on crowd control and restraining the hooligans that were brought in to attack and beat us up. Why is it when we opened up the road on May 22nd, those organized ruffians who vandalized our cars and assaulted Indigenous people and the OPP were not charged? The OPP did, however, charge an elder who had been attacked by what was made to look like an out of control crowd at a rock concert. Our people acted in self-defense in the midst of being pepper sprayed, hit with baseball bats, and had cherry bombs thrown at us by these organized colonial hate groups. We were on our own territory the whole time.
We are all against lawlessness. The question remains, how long can Canada continue to act like an ostrich keeping its head in the sand, denying the facts of history? Let’s go back and take a close look at just exactly what Canadian bureaucrats have been doing and whose interests they have been serving.
The National Post is advocating the same kind of procedures be used that colonized Canada. It started on the East coast. Relations with Mi’kmaq are supposed to be based on treaties of peace and friendship, especially those made around 1760. Canadians have conveniently forgotten that these treaties were made while the Governor of Nova Scotia was proclaiming it was okay to kill anyone who is Mi’kmaq. That’s right! It was open season on every Mi’kmaq man, woman, child and babes in arms simply because of their race. What kind of friendship is that? Those and other treaties were the products of duress. Six Nations has no treaties with either Canada or the United States except the Guswentha, which is to live side by side in peace.
Today the National Post and Judge Marshall advocate the same old violent procedure. It is not alright to give court orders to kill Indians today. Otherwise they definitely would have issued a few by now since we reclaimed our land in Caledonia on February 28th 2006. But it is okay to surround us with the latest military arsenal. It is okay to invade us, to taser us, to pepper spray us, to lob cherry bombs at us, to hit us with baseball bats and to put us in jail. It is okay to disrupt our life totally and deny us the right to live peacefully on our land.
Are we supposed to believe that that a misunderstanding that has gone on for more two centuries can be solved in two weeks? Is it realistic to believe that all the miseducation and misinformation can be sorted out in a wink, as Marshall seems to expect? Can peace be achieved using military force to push people around in order to get the result Canada wants?
When you start looking at the forgotten chapters in Canadian history, it becomes obvious that Canada”s international reputation as a peacemaker is not deserved. Canada didn’t anticipate the kind of problems it is facing today. We were all expected to die out or be killed off. Well, we ain’t dying. Get used to seeing our brown faces. We belong here. This is the land of our ancestor and of the generations to come. Well, Canada, start applying your lofty international principles on the land of the Indigenous People that you occupy.
We agree with your campaign against lawlessness. The court is the first institution that should be obeying the law. It has not. So, Sheriff Marshall, “Don’t take your guns to town, son. Leave your guns at home”.
Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News
www.mohawknationnews.com
kahentinetha2@yahoo.com
