HOW DO THE ACTIONS OF THE WARRIORS THREATEN THE INTEGRITY OF THE HAUDENOSAUNEE?

The Haudenosaunee are supposed to be dedicated to keeping peace and unity strong. The warriors agenda is to create disruption through violence, threats and intimidation.

a) Selling Out Sovereignty

1974 - Settlement of Ganienkeh, an abandoned 612 acre girls camp near Moss Lake, was established by Mohawk warriors. New York Governor Hugh Carey detailed Raymond B. Harding to negotiate the deal. Karoniaktajeh (Louis Hall): "What we seek to build is a self-sufficient agricultural community run by and for native people according to our own laws, customs, and traditions. Only by re-establishing our own independent nation can we build such a community." (Akwesasne Notes, Early summer 1975.) Hall called himself a "spiritual general" of the warrior movement. (Toronto Sun, 7/26/90) He openly advocated for the assassination of the Chiefs who opposed him, inciting other to commit violence and crimes to support his personal ambitions.

In 1991, the Mohawks at Ganienkeh, in order to avoid 16 indictments for the helicopter shooting, asked to be considered a "dependent Indian Community" in a civil lawsuit by New York State to shut down their illegal bingo operation. They had been seeking a license to operate a high stakes bingo from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and in order to make their case they referred to themselves as "dependent Indian community," a term that is commonly applied to those Indian governments who depend on the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This shows that the people of Ganienkeh do not believe in the sovereign status of the Mohawk Nation, nor the legitimacy of the Haudenosaunee, and were willing to compromise and place themselves under the jurisdictional authority of the United States in order to operate their gaming enterprises.

b) Conspiring on Gaming

Many of the warrior leaders have openly advocated the use of gaming to generate money for their other enterprises. Despite the objections of the Grand Council and the traditional longhouse people to casinos within our territories, the warriors have worked diligently to allow non-Indian operators to invest in such gaming activities. These actions have circumvented all Iroquois governments and the warriors have been active in supporting the privately-held casinos at Akwesasne; operating the gambling at Kahnawake, despite the community referendum that was opposed to it; advocating for a casino at Oka after the confrontation; and carrying their casino agenda to other Indian communities as well.

1986 - Warrior leader Loran Thompson proposes a contract for the Mohawk longhouse to operate Bingo Jack, to be financed by a private investor. The Longhouse would get 51% of the profits, and Thompson would get 10% cut for himself from the private investors profits. As it turned out Thompson had lied to the investors, saying he represented the Council of Chiefs and claimed that he had the signatures of three clan mothers on the contract. The deal fell through and Thompson was removed as a Sub-Chief for a series of anti-sovereign actions on his part.

On Dec 23, 1987 - The supporters of Joe Anderson called for a community meeting to discuss the re-establishment of the Tuscarora Warrior Society. They formed the Tuscarora Warrior Commission to operate an illegal high-stakes bingo at Tuscarora. This lead to a series of confrontations with the Chiefs, Clan Mothers and supporters of the nation. The warriors disgraced themselves by throwing women to the ground, striking men, women and children who were protesting with roofing tar, using water cannon against their own people, as well as creating a climate of fear and intimidation. The warriors reign of terror lasted for several years until the federal government threatened action against their illegal bingo.

1988 - Despite the fact that 60% of the Kahnawake community voted against the idea, Earl Cross of the Mohawk Nation Office Warriors Society, said that they were going to proceed with their super bingo, claiming that they conducted their own survey that proved that 90% of the households favored gambling. The warriors ignored their own chiefs and clan mothers.

Sept 16, 1988 - Mohawks at Ganienkeh open a high-stakes bingo, and defied a N.Y. State Supreme Court order to close their illegal bingo hall, arguing that the dispute must be handled by President Reagan and the principal chiefs of the Confederacy, according to the Canandaigua Treaty of 1794. Yet, the Confederacy was already opposed to gaming and had already expressed their objection to the warriors. The truth is that the warriors would not listen to the Grand Council on this matter, and the lied to the federal court.

March 23, 1990 - The traditional Mohawks at Akwesasne set up roadblocks to protest the eight illegal gambling casinos that were operated by the Warrior Society. They were intent on keeping gamblers out of their territory and were maintained for 33 days. The warriors reacted by attacking the barricades and nightly fire fights broke out. In April the warriors mounted a full scale assault on the barricades, burned the cars and bulldozed the roads clear. Several of the protesters were seriously beaten and hospitalized. In fear of the violence, all of the schools in the community were closed. Nightly harassments and drive-by shooting created armed camps on both sides. On May 1, Matthew Pike was hit by gunfire and died of his wounds. Harold J.R. Edwards was found shot to death. Only then did the outside police agencies intervene, and New York State declared that Akwesasne was under martial law. The State Police set up roadblocks and searched every car entering the reservation as the warrior activities brought a state of martial law that lasted for many months.

1990 - Marlyn Kane, a Mohawk of Kahnawake stated that the discount cigarette trade and high stakes bingo is only benefiting an elite group - the warriors. "There's lots of money here. It's in the hands of individuals and families. There are millionaires here." She said that the warriors are "absolutely out of control. The worst violators are running the show. They're absolutely lawless." (Native Press)

c) Promoting Arson

1987 - The Oneida Warrior Society seized the bongo hall of the Oneida Nation at 32 acres. They claimed that the operators were misappropriating the earnings. The Oneida Nation, under Ray Halbritter, obtained a federal restraining order against the occupiers. Under threat of federal forces being used to evict the warriors, they left the hall, but it was destroyed by arson. On Jan 11, 1988, U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy issued a temporary restraining order to put Ray Halbritter's group back in the charge of the Oneida Nation Bingo, and ordered the 12 occupiers to stop from interfering in Oneida business, and prohibited them from spending the estimated $70,000 they took in bingo receipts or from destroying business records. Thirteen warriors were eventually charged with the crime and a suit was filed against the primary leader of the occupation - Mike Meyers and the court ordered him to pay million sin restitution, He fled to Canada to avoid prosecution and had refused to pay the judgement.

1988 - The offices of Akwesasne Notes and Indian Time were destroyed by arson. The editor of those papers, Doug George, had been expressing his opposition to the illegal gambling, drug running, smuggling and crime network being established by the Warriors Society. He was the leading voice against the conduct of the warriors and they targeted him for elimination.

1989 - About 100 members of the warriors form the Mohawk Sovereignty Security Force and begin a reign of terror that included beatings, drive-by shootings, ramming cars on reservation roads and thousands of rounds being fired at cars, homes and opponents of gambling. The Mohawk Sovereignty Security Force served as the private army for the casino owners and the smuggling organizations.

1997 - The warriors under the direction of the Tuscarora businessmen fore bombed the house of Turtle Clan Chief Leo Henry to try to force him from the community. Chief Henry had long led the opposition to gaming in his community and the fire bomb destroy his house, priceless artifacts of the Tuscarora Nation and important documents of Tuscarora history.

1997 - The unoccupied house of Onondaga Chief Ollie Gibson was destroyed by arson in retaliation for the arrest of warrior protestors on Highway 81. The protestors had created a media event to protest the Onondaga Chiefs and the Trade and Commerce Agreement with the State of New York. They blockaded the highway and fought with State Troopers sent to move them from the highway. The warriors blamed the Onondaga for the police action and threatened the lives of the chiefs. Warriors arrested at the protested included Art Montour and Paul Delaronde.

d) Interfering at Kanesatake (Oka)

The 78-day standoff (July 11 - Sept 26, 1990) resulted in one police officer being killed and 150 Mohawks being arrested for various crimes. Only two of the 37 Mohawks charged for the final standoff were convicted. 15 of 21 Warriors identified by Canadian police at Oka were from Ganienkeh. Warrior's guns and intimidation against Oka Mohawk Grand Chief George Martin, the elected official, forced Martin to claim that the outside warriors from Kahnawake and Akwesasne had taken over his community. Martin had tried to get the warriors to leave his community. "The band council has gone against the warriors, to let people know that their prime concern is not the land deal," stated Martin to Native Press. "Their prime concern is gambling and bingos," he said. The warriors stormed his house, threatened him with their guns, and they fired about 20 rounds when they left. The warriors claimed that Martin crashed his car through their barricades and hurt a unnamed person.

The warriors wrote a press release to justify their actions against Martin as the "will of the people." Many had expressed fear of retribution from the warriors if they spoke out against them. Originally, the Oka Mohawk set up a blockade to protest the expansion of a golf course onto land that they claimed as Mohawk land. Ironically, the land in question was once a former Catholic mission property established in 1717 to serve Mohawk, Nipissing and Algonquin people. Mohawks moved there in 1721 and then tried to have the land reverted to them but were continually denied by the Canadian government. The federal government purchased the remaining mission lands and assumed responsibility for the administration of the Mohawk community in 1945. The mission had sold much of their original land grant and the Oka Mohawks had united with other Mohawk communities to file a land claim but it was denied in 1975. By then, the Oka community had decided to switch from an elective form of government to a nine-chief council chosen by the clanship system, with the Turtle clan to select the Grand Chief. However, there was a movement a foot to restore the elective system during the time of the blockade. A separate Oka land claim was rejected as well in 1986.

The peaceful blockade was set up by the longhouse people at Oka on March 10. Soon, the warriors arrived and took over the blockade. On July 11, Quebec police stormed the blockade and gunfire erupted. One police officer was killed. But the warrior takeover increased the potential for violence. As the standoff continued, most of the locals were excluded from the negotiations. Ellen Gabriel became the principal Oka spokesperson. She refuted the claims of a warrior takeover and said that the elected council had not paid proper attention to the land issue. In May, the Warrior Society announced their intention to overthrow the elective government at Kahnawake and other Mohawk communities. The Mohawk Nation Council denounced the warriors who had caused much unrest at Akwesasne that resulted in two deaths of tribal members. "The existence of a paramilitary group calling itself the warriors will only hamper matters and destroy real efforts of settlement," declared the Council.

The December 1990 issues of Soldier of Fortune magazine published a story titled "Canada's Civil War," written by John Colemen, who was invited by the Mohawks to visit during the longest armed siege on Canadian soil in this century. Members of the Mohawk Warrior Society were barricaded at the Oka Reserve located between Ottawa and Montreal. They had a fire fight with the Surete du Quebec (Quebec Provincial Police) on July 11, 1990 and one police officer was killed. It became a media circus as well, with over 700 journalists present, the Canadian army in their full riot gear, the Mounties and Quebec Police everywhere. It started as a protest over the planned expansion of a golf course that would cut down a pine woods that was part of a disputed land claim, and infringe on a Mohawk burial ground.

"As I studied them [the Mohawk warriors]," wrote Colemen, "I couldn't help but think I was following guerrilla fighters I'd seen in scores of other wars: dressed in camouflage, wearing military load bearing equipment, chest webbing, AK-type weapons with 30-round banana clips."

There was nothing new in such protests. The Iroquois had a history of open hostility to intrusions on their sovereignty. In the past bridges were blockaded, pushing and shoving always resulted and Indians went to jail to get there issues addressed in court. But Oka was different. The warriors were the heaviest armed Iroquois to ever be assembled. They had AK-47s, .357 sidearms, Ruger Mini-14s, RPK machine guns, and were reputed to have a 50 caliber machine gun and anti-tank weapons. In battle fatigues and brandishing automatic assault weapons, this was not the social/political protests of the past. This was an invitation to a shoot-out, as if the very life of the warriors movement depended upon them being perceived as invincible.

In fact, most of the warriors at Oka were not from there. They came from the Warriors at Akwesasne and Kahnawake, fresh from other battles against their own people. When Quebec Provincial Police Corporal Marcel Lamay was killed, the warriors tried to blame the traditional chiefs of the Haudenosaunee for the death. "If we had a true council of chiefs," stated Minnie Garrow, "they would have done something to prevent this." Yet, the Warrior Society also stated that they do not recognize the Grand Councils authority over them.

On Aug 12, 1990, the Mohawks from five communities, the Canadian government and the Quebec government sign an agreement, meeting all the demands set forth by the Oka Mohawks. By August 29, the negotiations were stalled as Warrior demands for amnesty. Only two Oka community members remained on the negotiating team, dominated by warriors.

On Sept 3, the 3,500 strong Canadian army moved on the community with armored personnel carriers, helicopters and jet bombers. 30 Warriors had taken refuge in the local alcohol detox center. The warriors finally agreed to surrender their weapons and were arrested. The original barricades were removed by the army. Loran Thompson, a leader to the warriors inside the center, was captured on video tape, fleeing out of the compound, assisted by federal troops, leaving the warriors to fend for themselves when they left. Many warriors accused him of treason to their cause and he was discredited within the warrior movement.

The real interference at Oka came at the time of the resolution. A negotiating team from the Haudenosaunee helped to arrive a compromise whereby Canada agreed to the Oka Mohawk terms, however, the Warriors insisted on terms that were unacceptable. They wanted immunity from prosecution for the death of the Police officer and wanted a seat at the United Nations. Oka Mohawk traditional Chief Samson Gabriel asked the Grand Council for assistance, claiming that the warriors had taken over the representation of the issues.

By 1994, a gang of warriors and their non-Indian supporters terrorized Kanesatake. Gun running and drug dealing became the principal activities to support the warrior agenda at Oka. The gangs began to occupy the houses that the federal government was buying up, claiming that the properties were being acquired to settle the Oka land claim. The house were trashed and served as drug dealing locations. Drug use was out of control among the Mohawk youth. Lawlessness was the arena created by the warriors. In 1995, they forced a community referendum to propose a $113 million casino for Oka. The referendum was sponsored by Excelsior Casino Management Group and only about 288 of 1,391 eligible voters were in favor of the idea.