ENBRIDGE GAS DISTRIBUTION INC

Enbridge is knowingly violating our rights by planning to build a gas pipeline under our river scheduled to start anytime. A Mohawk man has been single-handedly taking the garbage out of the river for the past two years. This river desperately needs to be cleaned. We need to stop this.

DEMAND FROM WOMEN TITLE HOLDERS OF ROTINONHSONNION:WE/SIX NATIONS TO ENBRIDGE GAS DISTRIBUTION INC. OF BARRIE ONTARIO TO CEASE AND DESIST THE BUILDING OF A NATURAL GAS PIPLINE UNDER THE PINE RIVER IN HORNINGS MILLS ON THE HALDIMAND TRACT

DATE: Sept. 13, 2006.

FROM: WOMEN TITLE HOLDERS OF THE ROTINONHSONNION:WE.

According to Wampum 44 of our law, the Kaianereh’ko:wa/Great Law, the Women are the “progenitors of the soil”of the Rotinonhsonnion:we. We are the Caretakers of the land, water and air of Turtle Island. As the trustees, we are obligated to preserve and protect the land’s integrity for the future generation.

RE: Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. is planning to violate Rotinonhsonnion:we constitutional jurisdiction, the Two Row Wampum, the Haldimand Proclamation and many international laws and covenants by constructing a natural gas pipeline under the Pine River on the Haldimand Tract near the source of the Grand River. The Horning Mills tributary of the Pine River is showing advanced signs of P.O.P. degradation from the old mills that have closed down and left a catastrophic environmental mess. The river must be cleaned. We want Enbridge to provide us with a copy of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment’s approval for this project.

TO: Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc.; Governor General of Canada, Mme. Michaelle Jean; Queen Elizabeth II; Steven Harper, Government of Canada; Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, Ministry of Natural Resources; Minister of the Environment, Department of Justice Canada; Attorney General of Canada; Attorney General of Ontario; Department of Finance Canada; Indian Affairs; Six Nations Confederacy Chiefs; Mohawks of Wahta, Six Nations, Tyendinaga, Akwesasne, Kahnawake, Kanehsatake, Ganienkeh and Kanatiohareke; Stock Exchanges of Toronto, Montreal, New York, Tokyo, London, Australia, Hong Kong and Zurich.

WHEREAS the Women Title Holders were never consulted nor did we give our consent for Enbridge to enter our land to build a gas pipe line under our river. The Haldimand Proclamation, October 25, 1784, provides as follows:

“WHEREAS his Majesty having been pleased to direct that in consideration of the early attachment to his cause manifested by the Mohawk Indians, and of the loss of their settlement which they thereby sustained that a convenient tract of land under his protection should be chosen as a safe and comfortable retreat for them and others of Six Nations who have either lost their settlement within the territory of the American state or wish to retire from them to the British. … the said Mohawk Nation and such others of the Six Nations as wish to settle in that quarter to take possession of and settle upon the banks of the river commonly called Grand River, running into Lake Erie, allotting to them for that purpose six miles deep from each side of the river beginning at Lake Erie and extending in that proportion to the head of the said river which them and their posterity are to enjoy forever.

WHEREAS The Charter of the United Nations requires respect for the principles of equal rights and self-determination of peoples. Its members have committed themselves to abide by its terms. They have agreed to not use force and to use peaceful and legal means to settle differences;

WHEREAS Canada has ascribed to the internationally recognized standards for respecting political rights of the People as set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Prevention of Genocide, United Nations Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and other international legal instruments;

WHEREAS according to the Supreme Court of Canada the Crown must always act in good faith;

WHEREAS General Assembly Resolution 1541 (XV) requires the informed consent of a people before they are included in another state; the International Court of Justice affirmed this Resolution in the Western Sahara case;

WHEREAS the courts of other colonial states like the Supreme Court of Australia in Mabo have formally repudiated past colonial reasoning and practices;

WHEREAS the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination found on March 6, 2006 that the United States was denying the Western Shoshone people “their rights to own, develop, control and use their land and resources”; warning the U.S. to respect the Convention; and to “freeze, “desist” and “stop” their actions immediately and to abide by the committee’s “Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedures”;

WHEREAS international law is firmly committed to affirming the equal and inalienable rights of all peoples and reject colonial encroachment on other people, including Indigenous nations;

WHEREAS both the U.S. and Canada must abide by the international law principles that there can be no development on Indigenous land without consulting the title Holders; ignoring the true Indigenous people is now universally recognized as illegal; Indigenous people must be consulted; and our perspectives on the issues can no longer be ignored;

WE, THE WOMEN TITLE HOLDERS, SEEK TO INFORM YOU THAT THIS IS FULL AND FAIR NOTICE THAT:

1) Enbridge, in preparing to violate our jurisdiction, will be committing genocide. According to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People Canada has put aside these abusive policies in an attempt to negotiate a fair reconciliation. Canada cannot violate international law as it did in the past when it deposed our government in 1924. It was illegal then and illegal today.

2) Enbridge is violating the terms of the Haldimand Proclamation in which there is to be no encroachment whatsoever;

3) Enbridge is violating Indigenous jurisdiction as respected by the conjunction of our constitution, Kaianereh’ko:wa, the Canadian Constitution and the U.S. Constitution. According to Section 109 of the British North America Act 1867, Indigenous people’s “prior interests” supersede that of Canada and its provinces. According to Section 132 Indian title can only be surrendered through a treaty made with the sovereign constitutional people of the nation with a clear question and a clear majority. This never happened. The Canadian constitution does not allow colonial federal, provincial and local laws on unsurrendered Indigenous land. Enbridge cannot build a pipeline on land that was never ceded by our people.

4) Enbridge is violating the Guswentha/Two Row Wampum Agreement, which is an alternative to war.

5) Enbridge is violating international law by attempting to override the rights of the Rotinoshon’nion:we by using our land for your interests without our consent.

6) Any individual or foreign entity wishing to enter our territory must get permrission from the Governor General of Canada, as the representative of the Queen, whose duty is to then inform us.

7) In Canada we took an action in the Supreme Court of Canada – Kanion’ke:haka Kaianereh’ko:wa Kanon’ses:neh v. Attorney General of Canada and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario, Court File: 05-CV-030785.

8) We brought this constitutional jurisdiction issue before the U.S. Supreme Court. See No. 05-165: 2005. In the Supreme Court of the United States in re: Kanion’ke:haka Kaianereh’ko:wa Kanon’ses:neh, Non-party, Petitioner/Movant/Appellant, The Canadian St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians, Plaintiffs, Respondents, v. The State of New York, Defendants, Respondents. Petition for Writs of Certiorari and Quo Warranto with Prohibition and Mandamus in Aid to Prevent Genocide. Rules 17.1 and 20.1. (Attached)

9) The Canadian and U.S. Constitutions respect that relations with us shall be conducted on a nation-to-nation basis. Enbridge, federal and provincial governments do not supersede this constitution-to-constitution relationship between our nations.

WE THE WOMEN TITLE HOLDERS OF THE ROTINONHSONNION:WE ACCORDINGLY RESPECTFULLY DEMAND THAT:


a) Enbridge and your associates immediately vacate your illegal presence on our land. According to UNTS No. 1021, Article 2, Section C, you are “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”. Under this convention your company is attempting to commit genocide and can be so charged.

b) In 1982 Britain enacted Canada’s Constitution Act which includes formal recognition and affirmation of “Existing Aboriginal and treaty rights” in Section 35. Canada continues to violate our sovereignty and our right to self-determination by dealing only through its puppet Indian Act government. Canada continues to block all our attempts to rectify these injustices, to obtain the return of all our lands and compensation for the assets that were taken fraudulently.

c) After the April 20th attack on our people at Six Nations by the Ontario Provincial Police, the Indian Act band council voted to turn land issues over to the people and the Confederacy chiefs of our traditional government.

FOR THE ABOVE REASONS, WE, THE WOMEN TITLED HOLDERS ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE OF THE ROTINONHSONNION:WE – IN ORDER TO PROTECT OUR PHYSICAL INTEGRITY AND OUR LEGAL RIGHTS – ORDER THE FOLLOWING:

i) Enbridge immediately withdraw from our land as we never gave permission as required under both our law and international law;

ii) Canada deal with us on a nation-to-nation basis and uphold its committment to ensure that all unresolved issues are determined in conjunction with a mutually agreed third party;

iii) An open and public process of dialogue between our nations must be started so that we can reach solutions by consensus. The Rotinohsonnion:we will no longer tolerate the violations of our constitution, ancient customs, traditions and agreements. We will not tolerate Canada’s corporations and agents squashing our inherent rights by encroaching on our lands.

iv) Should Enbridge disregard our demands and continue to deliberately breach our rights, then you will force us to take the necessary measures to correct the injustices that have been committed against us.

v) For over 200 years Canada has tried to impose its colonial institutions on us. We have always resisted. Canada, it is never too late to polish the Covenant Chain. We invite Canada to take part in renewing the spirit of the Two Row Wampum, which has since been affirmed in international law. We would like the settler population to experience the power of our Great Law, the solemn relations that were established and to enter the kind of talks that will make consensus possible. These were the kind we used in the beginning when the settlers first arrived and the kind that inspired democracy.

Rotinonhsonnion:we Women Title Holders

By Kanion’ke:haka Women Title Holders

Contact: Kahentinetha, % P.O. Box 991, Kahnawake of Mohawk Territory (Quebec, Canada) J0L 1B0 kahentinetha2@yahoo.com

Sent to:

All Media;

Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc.
Premier of Province of Ontario;
Queen Elizabeth II;
Government of Canada;
Prime Minister of Canada;
Ministry of Natural Resources;
Department of Justice Canada;
Attorney General of Canada;
Attorney General of Ontario;
Department of Finance Canada;
Indian Affairs; Six Nations Confederacy;
Mohawks of Wahta, Six Nations, Tyendinaga, Akwesasne, Kahnawake, Kanehsatake, Ganienkeh and Kanatiohareke;
Stock Exchanges of Toronto, Montreal, Tokyo, London, Hong Kong, Zurich.