[IPSM] Corporate "Gangsta' Rap" at Indian Affairs

[Nora Butler-Burke]

CORPORATE “GANGSTA’ RAP” AT INDIAN AFFAIRS

MNN.  Dec. 28, 2005.  On Wednesday, September 26th, 1990, fifty-two men,
women and children and 10 journalists walked out from the Kanehsata;ke
Treatment Center.  It ended the Mohawk “Oka” Crisis that had plagued the
foreign governments of Quebec and Canada that entire hot summer.  At issue
was the provincially incorporated town of nearby Oka which decided to
expand ‘it’s’ golf course from 9 to 18 holes over Indigenous traditional
ceremonial and burial grounds, for the leisuure class of Montreal.  The
Mohawks were determined to stop this.

On July 11th 1990 the Quebec Police were sent in to take down the Mohawk
barricade by opening fire on the people.  It was an unsuccessful attack. 
One policeman was killed, apparently by “friendly fire”.  The siege lasted
78 days.  In the final tally hundreds of paramilitary Quebec provincial
police, 4,000 heavily armed military troops and the RCMP had been deployed
against the Mohawks at Kanehsata:ke and their two sister communities of
Kahnawake and Akwesasne.  The cost was over $500 million.  It was the
biggest crisis in Canadian history.

Before the crisis a few citizens groups had formed.  All were fighting for
a change in leadership.  Originally, the local government had been the
“Six Nations Traditional Hereditary Chiefs”.  Challenging them were groups
referring to themselves as the “Committee for Change”, the “League of
Democracy” and the “Mohawk Council of Kanesatake”.  Another group simply
referred to themselves as “C-31’s”.

Between 1988 and 1989 twenty-one chiefs were kicked out of office. 
Clarence Simon was originally a “grand chief” of the Six Nations
Traditional Hereditary Chiefs.  He was thrown out the clan mothers in
1988.  The ‘traditional’ group kept replacing them without asking the
people, who would then kick them out.  This group, assisted by Indian
Affairs, had set up an office in neighboring St-Eustache.  During the
crisis of 1990, Simon led another group called the “Mohawk Council of
Kanehsata:ke”.

After the crisis Kanehsata:ke was left in a political vacuum.  There was
no local government, no policing and no social programs to care for the
Indigenous people.  The “Committee for Change” formed the “Kanehsatake
Mohawk Coalition”.  They went through public meetings and eventually got
the support of most of the people.  Minister of Indian Affairs, Tom
Siddon, and Quebec Minister of Indian Affairs, John Ciaccia, approached
the Coalition.  They wanted to know who spoke for most of the people.

They challenged all the groups to come back and show them how much support
they had.  The Coalition went door-to-door and collected over 500
signatures, which is the majority of eligible voters on the territory. 
Hundreds attended their meetings.  Every decision required the consent of
the people.  The Coalition gave the list to Indian Affairs, “Here’s whose
speaking for Kanehsata:ke”.

The contentious Six Nations Traditional Hereditary Government, or band
council, had never been incorporated under Canada’s “Indian Act”.  Indian
Affairs knows the band council is illegal.  According to the Canadian
constitution Sections 109 and 132, Canada must deal with Indians on a
nation-to-nation basis until there is a treaty of surrender.  Only then
could they impose the Indian Act band council on the people.  This never
legally happened.  So Indian Affairs couldn’t give money to their band
council government because they had no power.  They had to deal with the
constitutional government of the people which they chose to ignore.  So
the band council and their staff left the territory and Indian Affairs
helped them set up in the St-Eustache office.

            In the meantime, the Coalition presented a budget to bring
about an election in ten months.  An interim government was
set up.  So now there were two government bodies, one on the
territory and one in St-Eustache.

            Indian Affairs told the Mohawks they had to incorporate to
receive funds to run this interim government.  The Coalition’s
goal was to have an election, develop a custom code to select
leaders and not be under the Indian Act.  The federal
government carried out the incorporation.  One member from
each group sat on the corporation.  The people supported it. 
Ten people were selected to be the interim government. 
Elections took place.  There was a new council.  After that
the corporation became dormant.  Nobody could use it without
all four groups being there and the community approving.

            Then the militia, popularly known to as the “goons”, attacked
the community on January 12, 2004.  They were fully armed and
well equipped.  Their mission was to take over the council and
police station.  The people rebuffed them.

            After the invasion Indian Affairs helped these goons set up a
police station off territory, first in St-Eustace and then
moved them to Boisbriand.  The goons were operating under two
outside police forces, the RCMP and the Quebec Police.  Then
on November 2005 Quebec and Canada stopped funding the illegal
policing agreement and the goons.  The Mohawks had kept the
goons out of the territory.  Huge amounts of money were being
spent on them, as much as $28 million according to one CBC TV
report.  Also, the policing agreement was illegal and never
respected anyway by the goons.

            In December 2005 the new grand chief, Steve Bonspille, was
negotiating with the Quebec Public Security Minister regarding
the enormous amount of equipment bought for the goons, such as
tear gas, AR 15’s, regular service revolvers, uniforms,
badges, ID cards, computer equipment, fancy police cars and
body bags.  Body bags?  What kind of Hollywood script were
they imagining?  When their funds were cut the goons all ran
away and left their lethal toys behind.  Steve went there to
pick up the cars to take them back to the community.  Louis
Bergeron of the Quebec Police told him he could not have them
because they belong to a corporation, the Kanehsatake Mohawk
Coalition, and the owners are James Gabriel, Clarence Simon
and Leona Bonspille!

The Mohawks had always said that James Gabriel acted privately with his
personal army, the goon squad, which was instigated and funded by Canada. 
Canada could not fund the Mohawk Council of Kanehsata:ke because their
mandate had fallen.  So Indian Affairs set up these three people to
continue their corrupt shady deals.

Though they were the legally elected representatives of the people, Pearl
Bonspille, John Harding and Steve Bonspille, were called the “dissident
councilors’ by the colonial press and Indian Affairs.  One would think in
a ‘free and democratic society” they, of all people, had a right to be
informed.  But they weren’t.  Instead secret back door deals were being
made between Indian Affairs and their favored nominees who had stolen this
corporation from the people.  The theft was done by fraudulently changing
the names of the signatories without the knowledge or consent of the
original officers of the coalition corporation.

During the behind-the-scenes reign of this stolen corporation, Walter
Walling of Indian Affairs was named as the senior negotiator on
Kanehsata:ke land claims involving 250 square miles.  He reported to Eric
Maldoff of the law firm of Heenan Blakely of Montreal.  He, in turn was
named by then Prime Minister Jean Chretien as the federal negotiator for
the Kanehsata:ke land file.  Maldoff sat on the Prime Minister’s committee
on Kanehsata:ke without the people’s knowledge.  Rob Wright, national
security advisor to the Prime Minister, was the Chairman.  They all had
phony mandates.  The people started to get upset because after the council
mandate fell, these nominees continued to wheel and deal as if nothing
happened.  When Pearl Bonpille and John Harding questioned what was going
on, Wright was quickly removed.

            Now that this private corporation was owned by their nominees,
Indian Affairs provided lavish funding, at least $28 million.
The Prime Minister, the Ministers of Indian Affairs of both
Canada and Quebec and other government officials had countless
meetings with this stolen corporation discussing the affairs
of the people of the community and making decisions.  By this
time Indian Affairs had moved the Coalition offices to Laval
to supervise and fund their illegal goons.  These government
officials were fully aware of the political turmoil.  A
lawsuit has begun.  More revelations are forthcoming.

            In 1997 Walter Walling hired Richard Walsh.  Walsh, a
convicted felon in a fraudulent scam and a non-native, was
paid as a Mohawk language teacher, a plumber and scuba diving
consultant.  He never did the work or file any reports.  He
was charged for impersonating a Kanehsata:ke police officer
carrying a phony badge issued by James Gabriel of the
corporation.  This underhanded character was wanted on fraud
charges all over southern Ontario.  His job was to collect
information on the enemies of James Gabriel and Indian
Affairs.  He sneaked into the Petawawa Army Base and walked
away with personal files on Mohawks.  The subsequent
investigation made the Canadian military and Canadian Secret
Service look like fools.  These reports never officially saw
the light of day.

            Indian Affairs sent funds for all education, medical, school
construction and services through this corporation.  Indian
Affairs gave James Gabriel $500,000 for his election campaign.
 They also gave him $1.5 million for lawyers who filed all
kinds of charges against the people of the community.  Indian
Affairs funded policing, spent $17,000 a month on public
relations to get James Gabriel elected and to demonize the
Mohawks in the media.  The community had no voice.  It was all
done behind everybody’s backs.

            Bertha Bonspille said, “I am the f..king Coalition.  I want an
investigation, criminal charges and arrests.  They are
criminals.  They committed fraud and theft using my name. 
They had no right to use our corporation.  We want anything
that corporation owns, the cars, the guns, everything!” 
Indian Affairs and their co-conspirators have a big problem on
their hands.

            A complaint has been laid against James Gabriel, Clarence
Simon and Leona Bonspille.  They are being investigated for
fraud and theft of this corporation and for organizing a
political and military coup with that money that Indian
Affairs gave them.  The Quebec Police said they can’t
investigate because the auditors haven’t said anything is
missing.  Have they got something to cover up too?

            Indian Affairs has come running onto the scene.  Suddenly they
want to be the fiduciary in this situation. They offered to
investigate themselves!  We can ask a question here, henh? 
Aren’t the police supposed to investigate criminal matters?

            How much money was put through this corporation?  Where did
the money go?  Is there a Richard Walsh trying to finger
Indians on every reserve in Canada?  Do they try to get
something on every honest band councilor so they can keep
control of them and continue these nefarious schemes?  What
happens when band councils don’t cooperate?  They end up on
the welfare line like Pearl and John.  Every time they try to
get a job or start a small business, they find extraordinary
measures have been taken to block them.  Has there ever been a
proper audit of Indian Affairs?  How can the Canadian public
afford this when they don’t have enough money for decent
medical care?



Kahentinetha Horn

MNN Mohawk Nation News

Kahentinetha2 at yahoo.com

Contact:  Kanehsatake 450-479-8520 about forthcoming book:

"Who's Sorry Now?  The Good, the Bad and the Unapologetic Mohawks of
Kanehsatake".