WHO ARE THE MAIN INSURGENTS BEHIND THE WARRIORS?

Art Montour (Kakwirakeron)

A prime leader of the Warrior Society at Akwesasne. He was jailed for 10 months after he held a weapon on police as they raided the illegal casinos at Akwesasne in 1989. He organized the Warrior barricade in front of Tony Laughing's private casino. Laughing admits that he purchased a large number of assault weapons for the security force of his casino, and that he made donations to the warrior society. (The Toronto Star, 11/24/1990)

Montour was at the confrontation at Roseau River Ojibwa Reserve, Manitoba to help organize the warrior resistance to police who threatened to remove illegal slot machines on the reserve. In 1990, Montour convicted of impeding execution of a search warrant, and conspiracy. Thirteen casino owners are convicted for illegal gambling charges. Montour was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison in Petersburg, Virginia for his part in armed resistance to the police raid. He claimed that he had taken an oath to uphold the Great Law and that his actions were in defense of the Haudenosaunee.

Mike Meyers

Meyers is Seneca who headed the Canadian operations of the American Indian Movement in 1973, and was deeply involved in the confrontation with the QPP at Kahnawake during the forced removal of the non-Indians. Meyers helped to negotiate a settlement by agreeing to have his AIM followers withdraw if the QPP also withdraw. Meyers was involved in the Land Rights Committee and the Haudenosaunee Trade and Commerce Commission. He began running cigarettes from Haudenosaunee territory back into Canada to avoid taxation, storing his vans full of contraband at the Hamilton Indian Centre until the police caught on to his scheme. He ran the smuggling operation out of the Onondaga territory.

He was one of warriors charged, tried and convicted for his involvement in the destruction of the Oneida Nation bingo hall in 1988 when the warriors occupied the hall seeking to gain control over the operation. When the Oneida people got a federal court injunction ordering the 13 warriors to leave, they stole $60,000 of the bingo proceeds and torches the building. Meyers was one of 23 warriors who were sued by the Oneida Nation and is responsible for paying a $4.3 million civil fine for destruction of the property, trespass, unlawful occupation and intentional interference with Oneida business. He has since left his family and fled to Canada to escape prosecution. Meyers was a self-appointed negotiator at Kanesatake.

Other warriors associated with the arson are Buck Dockstater, Ted Dockstater, Martin Dockstater, Duke Nimham, Darcy Ireland, Jake Dockstater, Timmy Dockstater who fled prosecution in the U.S., returning to the Oneida community at Southwold, Ontario. On June 13, 1997, Martin Dockstater was one of seven people arrested for possessing illegal weapons, after raids at Oneida First Nations territory uncovered the weapons which included hand grenades.

Francis Boots (Ateronhiatakon)

Boots is a Akwesasne Mohawk who became the self-proclaimed "War Chief" of the Warrior Society. "We are not perfect, but the liberation of the Mohawk nation is our objective and you can't put us in jail for that." (The Toronto Star, 11/24/1990) Boots is currently serving time in federal prison for bribery of the tribal official in his scheme to smuggle cigarettes from Vermont to New Brunswick. His brother, Ronald Boots, was arrested in Malone for passing a counterfeit $100 bill in 1994. Such fake money was being offered by Lebanese mobsters in Montreal to street gangs, who in turn, use the fake money to purchase guns at Akwesasne, according to a 1995 report of the Mackenzie Institute of Toronto.

Loran Thompson

Thompson was a former sub-chief from Akwesasne called for an overthrow of all Indian governments and asked the Mohawks to support a new government, to be headed by himself. He opened his own bingo hall and his operation served as the headquarters for the Mohawk Warrior Society and the Mohawk Sovereignty Security Force. At Oka, he arrived the day after the first police raid, worked at consolidating power under himself. He was holed up with the warriors in the treatment center, order the warriors to leave in the military style fatigues, but left himself in street clothes with a woman and a baby, sneaking out in the other direction, lead away by the soldiers. He fled the scene and was given safe passage. He left his own brother, Larry, to fend for himself with the soldiers.

He changed the agenda from the land issues to that of gaming, promising that he and his brother would finance the gaming for Kanehsatake. He promised to build up their warriors into an army. He refused to negotiate a quick settlement to the confrontation, according to warriors at the scene, because he wanted to argue for bigger plans of sovereignty and gaming.

In an April 1996 raid on the business of Chick Fountain in search of money laundering and business records as they might relate to Thompson, Gary Gray, Carl Tarbell, Patricia Tarbell, Lyle David Pierce (a.k.a. Joe Boy Martin), Regina Pierce, Hart's Enterprise, D. Leigh Bush, Charles "Buck" White, Lewis Tavano, Pine Partnership, Terry and Lenna Francis, and Sheila Loran.

In a Oct 23, 1996 raid of several homes in the Messena area, that of Larry Miller, Nick Miller and Tim Glines. The offices of Pine Partnership, at 628 19th street in Niagara Falls, NY were also raided. The police found a briefcase owned by Lewis Tavano. Tavano is the brother of Robert Tavano of Niagara Falls who operates Royal Travel at the same location as Pine Partnership, said to be owned by Robert Tavano as well. Pine Partnership is a cigarette importing business that distributes cigarettes to Indian reservations.

In 1996, Wayne Stehlin, Lyle David Pierce, Carl Tarbell, Patricia Tarbell, Arthur Tarbell, Regina Pierce and Robert Trapilo were charged by a federal grand jury of smuggling liquor into Canada and money laundering. Stehlin and Trapilo formed companies, Windsail Trading and BLSH Trading, to move liquor from Chicago and St. Louis to Akwesasne, where the Tarbells smuggled it into Canada. Canadian currency was illegally carried back into the U.S. and exchanged at Chic Fountain's Northern Currency Exchange.

Mark Maracle

Maracle joined with the warriors at Akwesasne blockades to protest the state intervention in the private gambling casinos. He helped organized the warrior patrols at Six Nations Reserve during the build-up of the cigarette trade in 1988 - 93. By 1993, there were 80 outlets on the reserve. In a 1993 interview he held an AK-47 and told the reporter: "Well, we have to stand up against them by any means, and any means includes this right here." (The Globe and Mail, 9/1/93) The "them" was the Canadian government that he called the "evil power." In 1993 he was arrested on two sexual abuse charges involving an 8 year old and 12 year old relatives. However, Maracle's case did not make it to court in a timely manner and the charges were dropped without the case being adjudicated.

Michael R. Thomas

Thomas was arrested by the FBI in Key West, Florida and charged with the shooting down of a helicopter at Ganienkeh. He was also involved in confrontations at Oka and Kahnawake. He worked full-time for the Mohawk Nation Office in 1990.

Eric Montour

Montour purchased 34 automatic weapons and semi-automatic weapons, including a 50 mm gun just prior to the Oka confrontation. He is Art Montour's brother.

Pat Nolan, Jr.

Nolan purchased 8 semi-automatic guns on Feb 28, 1990.

Joe Deom, former department of Indian Affairs employee who became an important organizer of the warrior Society.

Ronald "Lasagna" Cross, whose mother is Italian, not Mohawk, was inside the treatment centre and after he surrendered he was beat by five police officers who were charged with using undue force. Cross, born in theU.S., appealed to the American government to intervene on his behalf and request in inquest into the beatings. He refused to defend himself at the St. Jerome trial, but was convicted of beating Francis Jacobs. In 1991 he was sentenced to four years and four months for his involvement, but was freed after one year in jail. He is profiled in the 1993 book, The Man Behind the Mask.

Randy "Spudwrench" Horne, (Tie Tiertakoron) was at Oka, but was from Ganienkeh. On Sept 8, 1990 was beaten by soldiers and taken away to a hospital. One solder in the fight was stabbed four times.

Gordon "Noriega" Lazore. He refused to defend himself at the St. Jerome trial, but was convicted of beating Francis Jacobs, a Mohawk from Oka.

Bruce Elijah, Terry Dockstater and Bob Antone conducted ceremonies for the warriors inside the detox centre. Elijah used medicine masks to protect the warriors and other rituals he said were to remove their anger and hatred.

Alester Nicolas, 39, arrested Sept 19, 1990, charged with theft, breaking and entering, disobeying a court order, obstructing police officers, participating in a riot, mischief, illegal possession of a weapon and illegally wearing a disguise.