From the Tekawennake Six Nations & New Credit News
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
By Jim Windle
Six Nations
A stunning $4.3 trillion Notice of Action was filed Monday morning in Brantford at the Supreme Court building on Darling Street by a group referring to themselves only as "stewards of the Haldimand Treaty".
The action names several Six Nations individuals and political organizations whom they perceive as undermining the authority of the Mohawk Nation.
Plaintiffs in what is being called the largest action of its kind in Canadian history include Debra Springle; Melissa Miller; Derek Lickers: Curtis Hill; Angel Smith; and Leah Brant acting as stewards of the Haldimand treaty on behalf of the heirs and descendants of the Mohawk Nation of the Grand River, ally with the British Crown.
The bizarre move is intended to "Restore the Mohawk Nation to its rightful place," according to Ellis Hill, who is named as contact person for the group. "Hopefully it will get the Confederacy back on track."
It is their belief that the Mohawks are the rightful title holders to the Haldimand Tract, and as such, have been left out of all present and most past land dealings with the Crown and with the Canadian and provincial governments.
"I know it may seem to some that the timing of this is inappropriate," says Hill. "But from our point of view, we can no longer sit back and watch as Mohawk land is sold, other deals are being made on passports and their (the defendants) general consenting to a foreign power. According to Wampum 58 of our law, that is an act of treason."
When asked by Tekawennake why they didn't try to work their differences out with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy outside of such a drastic measure, Hill responded that several attempts to do just that have been made over the years but have been ignored, in the same way as requests to the Crown and the Canadian government to discuss the issues of land claims have been ignored. This stonewalling tactic has presented a situation whereby the only option left was that of forced confrontation as in the case of the Douglas Creek reclamation. The claim is for $4.3 trillion dollars which is an estimation of the value of the Haldimand treaty land and cites: "The deliberately undermining of the plaintiff's interest as the sole, legitimate voice of the Mohawk Territory; For the unauthorized theft and subsequent sale of the plaintiffs' lands which the defendants knew or ought to have known was granted by King George III to the Mohawk Nation as ally to the King and not, as has been suggested by them (the defendants) the Haudenosaunee Six Nations Confederacy; (The defendant’s) policy of genocide against the heirs and descendants of the Mohawk Grand River; For having conspired with the defacto governments of Great Britain and Canada to deprive the Mohawk Nation of their rightful place as the sole voice of the Mohawk Territory; For the lies and half truths which the Haudenosaunee Six Nations Confederacy have told to the courts of the defacto corporations of Canada; For the conspiracy orchestrated by both the Haudenosaunee Six Nations Confederacy and Six Nations of the Grand River Band Council thereby further undermining the authority of the Mohawk Nation of the Grand River; Aggravated damages in the amount of $1 trillion for mental anguish, the pain and the suffering deliberately inflicted on the heirs and descendants of the Mohawk Nation of the Grand River by the Haudenosaunee Six Nations Confederacy; Punitive damages in the amount of $2 trillion for the committing of said torts forcibly and without legal right or colour of right; Prejudgement interest pursuant to section 128 of the Courts of Justice Act; Plus the cost of this action on a substantial indemnity scale."
Justin Griffin has been named as the solicitor of record for the plaintiffs.
The falling out between the Mohawk Nation and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy is not a new thing. According to certain Mohawks involved with the legal action, it goes back to the mid 1940's when many sitting Mohawk Chiefs left the longhouse bench over the adoption of the Code of Handsome Lake which many Mohawks feel is a thinly veiled Christian doctrine introduced by a man they say carried no credibility.
It is the Mohawk position that the religion of Handsome Lake has no business in the governmental affairs of the people of Six Nations and should be kept completely separate from the day-to-day functions of the Six Nations league.
Existing documents and minutes of Confederacy meetings from the past reveal that many sitting chiefs were, in fact, Christian but still functioned perfectly well as Chiefs because of the separation of religion and politics, church and state, as it were.
"Today, that couldn't happen," says co-plaintiff Debra Springle. "Why is that? Because the Haudenosaunee Confederacy has mixed the two and that is not how the Great Law of Peace works."
What the Mohawks hope to accomplish through this action is a complete restoration of the original Confederacy without the influence of Handsome Lake.
"If that were to happen, the Mohawks would have no problem in returning to the bench," says Ellis Hill.
There has been a groundswell of similar sentiments from other sources as well. Some believe the return of the Old Council House could be a valuable tool in the restoration of the Confederacy as a neutral ground, absent of the religious overtones.
"The Mohawks were full and participatory members of the Council in those days and could be again," says Hill. "We have tried in every way we know to bring this issue up for discussion internally but have been ignored by the Haudenosaunee Council."
According to the Rules of Civil Procedure, the defendants named in the action must submit a statement of defence within 20 days of being served. If they fail to do so, judgement may be given against them in their absence.
"All we want to do is restore the Confederacy back to what it was intended to be," says Hill. "That would be good for everyone, not just the Mohawks. We are tired of being left out when the land they are dealing with was granted to the Mohawks and we have the original Haldimand Deed to prove it."
Concerns that the Mohawks are looking for some kind of money or power grab couldn't be further from the truth, according to members of this group. It's just a matter of restoring the intended order of things which would be good for all of Six Nations. The way it is now is not working they say.