[IPSM] The Criminalization of the Six Nations Land Reclamation continues: News, Updates,

[fiona at resist.ca]

The Criminalization of the Six Nations Land Reclamation: News, Updates,
and Call Out for Support and Solidarity

1)        Update and Report on the Release of Trevor Miller
                - Report by Sarita Ahooja
                - Hamilton Spectator: Tears, Applause as Activist Freed


2)        The case of Jeff “Hawk”
                - Turtle Island News: Jeff “Hawk” facing Canadian Courts
                - Interview with Jeff Hawk by CKUT Radio in Montreal

3)        Free Chris Hill! – update and call-out for Support and Solidarity

4)        The case of Ron Gibson and Jurisdictional Challenge.
                   -Turtle Island News: Lawyer Files Constitutional Question

============================================================================
Trevor Miller Set Free after Declaring Mohawk Sovereignty to the Colonial
Settler-State of Canada

by Sarita Ahooja

On February 9, 2007, Trevor Miller, a 31 yr-old Mohawk man charged by the
colonial authorities due to his participation in the Six Nations Land
Reclamation, and who was sitting behind bars for over 7 months, was
finally released on bail. Trevor Miller was greeted outside the courthouse
by his supporters with tears and applause.

At a prior court appearance, Trevor declared to the Cayuga court “I am a
sovereign Mohawk man, and you have no jurisdiction over me.” Trevor is
being represented by his lawyer Justin Griffin, as well as Stuart Myiow, a
representative from the Mohawk Traditional Council of Kahnawake (MTCK).

As Trevor stood proudly in the witness booth, dressed in traditional
regalia, he greeted the full courtroom of supporters who rose and stood in
his honor. Grassy Narrows activist Bonnie Swain was also present, having
traveled from her Ojibway territory, Northern Ontario, where the fight to
stop clear-cutting on their lands by Abitibi Consolidated and Weyerhaeuser
has been on-going since the blockade began in 2002.

The defense lawyer began the proceedings by stating that Trevor’s ongoing
detention is contrary to the principles of due process and public justice
outlined in colonial common law and the Canadian Charter of Rights. Mr.
Griffin pointed to the court transcripts (which were not made available by
the Crown earlier despite a court order), stating that the Crown misled
the court and the police have withheld crucial video evidence. Although
Judge Borkovich immediately dismissed this issue, he stated, “I would be
prepared to grant him bail, but what gets me is that he doesn’t recognize
this court’s jurisdiction
He can’t have it both ways. He must respect this
court, if he wants respect for his sovereignty.”

Stuart Myiow of the MTCK intervened to address certain racist comments
uttered by the Crown and explained to Judge Borkovich, “the initial act
did come from Trevor. It is an act that is part of the continuing genocide
that has been brought upon our people.” Mr. Myiow assured the judge that
“if Trevor is released into our custody, we will guarantee that he attends
other court dates”. In 1998, a Six Nations Mohawk man, facing charges of
assault was released from the colonial court system proceedings and into
the care of the Mohawk Traditional Council of Kahnawake. All charges were
dropped in a pre-trial agreement.

The Crown’s rebuttal claimed that the risk was too high as the
Haudenosaunee Confederacy had advised the accused not to appear in court,
and Trevor had “fled his warrant.” He insisted on cross-examining Stuart
Myiow to see how the supervision would take place, claiming that there are
no legal consequences for the MTCK if Trevor were not to obey. Judge
Borkovich denied the crown’s request and responded, “Why shouldn’t I
believe this man’s word? The Mohawk Nation has its entire reputation at
stake.” The sighs of relief and tears of joy overwhelmed the courtroom.

Judge Borkovich then granted Trevor’s release to the Mohawk Nation, and
ordered a 10,000 deposit to be paid as well as two acceptable sureties.
The judge also imposed a series of conditions which include keeping the
peace, early curfew, non-association with co-accused, to remain 200m in
distance from the land reclamation, no driving, and that he live and
follow the rules of his aunt’s home.

Trevor must appear in court again on March 7, one day after the Superior
court hearings for the jurisdictional challenge put forth by Kanohnstaton
defender Erwin Ron Gibson, represented by his lawyer Stephen Ford.

Although there is a lot of organizing and fundraising to do, the months of
agonising and worry for Trudy, Trevor’s mother, are over. “I feel so
uplifted. When they said the words Mohawk Nation, I felt our power 
 we
can do anything.”

Trevor Miller is among a growing number of young first nations activists
who are taking action by directly challenging the colonial legal system,
and raising the hopes of their elders and their people towards liberation.

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Tears, Applause as Activist Freed
by Paul Legall

The Hamilton Spectator
CAYUGA (Feb 10, 2007)

Mohawk activist Trevor Miller pumped his fist into the air as he stepped
out into the sunlight for his first breath of freedom in six months.

The 31-year-old, who had been involved in the occupation of the Douglas
Creek Estates subdivision in Caledonia, had few words for reporters as he
emerged from the Cayuga courthouse.

He had just put up $10,000 in cash and two aunts from the Six Nations
reserve had each pledged $5,000 to secure his release on bail pending his
trial on assault and robbery charges.

"Great. It's been a long time coming," he replied when a reporter asked
how he felt.

"I prefer not to talk now. I prefer to be alone," he added as he walked
away with his girlfriend.

But his mother, Trudy Miller, persuaded him to come back and have his
picture taken with two native activists and his lawyer, Justin Griffin, as
they posed with a Six Nations flag in front of the courthouse.

"I'm so proud of him," said Miller who had reached over the railing in the
courtroom and hugged her son when she learned he would be getting out on
bail.

"He made a stand nobody else had done. He opened a lot of doors."
She said Trevor, who wore a Mohawk headdress in court, would be
celebrating his release with a traditional native dinner of corn soup and
scones.

Tears were streaming down Miller's face after he signed his release papers
and finally walked through the railing into the arms of dozens of native
and non-native supporters. After a loud round of applause, they all rushed
up to hug and kiss him as he walked through the courtroom.

During his incarceration, he had been portrayed as a freedom fighter and
political prisoner. He claimed he was defending Mohawk territory when the
incident occurred that led to his being accused of assaulting and robbing
two CH TV cameramen at a Canadian Tire parking lot in Caledonia on June 9.

He was arrested at the Grassy Narrows reservation north of Kenora on Aug.
8 and had been denied bail until he was released yesterday by Ontario
Superior Court Justice Nick Borkovich.

During a bail review yesterday, Stuart Myiou of the traditional Mohawk
council was allowed to address the judge on Miller's behalf. In the past,
Myiou had offered to supervise Miller and guarantee his appearance in
court if he were released on bail.

There was a gag order on yesterday's proceedings. But from the judge's
comments during the proceedings, Miller's supporters assumed he was
released in the custody of the traditional Mohawk council.

"The judge has shown considerable sensitivity to the situation. He's
recognizing the Mohawk council," Griffin told reporters after the hearing.

He suggested Borkovich's remarks recognized the traditional Mohawk council
as "the legitimate voice of the Mohawk nation" and that the judge's
decision yesterday had set a precedent.

But Crown Attorney Larry Brock, who had opposed Miller's release, pointed
out Miller's recognizance order makes no mention of the Mohawk council.

Therefore, Miller had no legal obligation to be under the supervision of
the council.

Instead, the recognizance order requires him to live on the reserve with his
aunt, Katherine Martin.

Martin and another aunt, Eleanor Miller, had each pledged $5,000 for his
release.

As his sureties, they must make sure he abides by his bail conditions and
shows up for court.

As part of his conditions, Miller was ordered to stay away from the CH TV
cameramen, keep away from the Douglas Creek Estates protest, observe a
curfew, have no weapons, abstain from alcohol and illegal drugs and not
drive a vehicle.

He must return to court on March 7 to set a date for his preliminary hearing.

plegall at thespec.com

905-526-3385
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Jeff “Hawk” facing Canadian Courts Alone
by Donna Durlik and Lynda Powless
Turtle Island News
January 24th, 2007

When a handful of women walked onto a housing development on the outskirts
of Caledonia almost a year ago, Jeff “Hawk” was there.

Through the sub-zero temperatures and winter blizzards of 2006, the
“hawk”, as he became known, was there.

When the spring rolled around, he was still there. A mainstay and almost a
household name.

Jeff “Hawk” stood firm in his belief that Kanohnstaton is Six Nations lands.

“I asked my Clan mother, should I leave. Should I leave the site and
forget about our land,” he says and that slow smile and twinkle in his eye
that all his friends know, comes to the surface. “No way, she told me,” he
says and laughs.

But he quickly turns serious. “I think now, if I hadn’t stayed there then,
right up to April 20th when the OPP raided, if I hadn’t stayed with the
women then, maybe, just maybe we wouldn’t be there where we are today with
our chiefs at the negotiating table,” he says.

Jeff Hawk, a household name during the early months of the Six Nations
Land Reclamation, has lost count of how many court appearances he has made
since he was arrested during the OPP pre-dawn raids on April 20.
[
]

He’s the man who came out to the site the very first day when a small
group of people including Dawn Smith and Janie Jameson walked onto the
land in order to stop construction of the Douglas Creek Estates housing
development on Feb.28th, 2006 saying the land was stolen from Six Nations
illegally.

He’s the man who swore that the police would have to drag his body off the
site in order to remove him (which they eventually did). He’s the man who
bore freezing temperatures, knee-high snow and wind chills of -20C and
below when there was nothing but tents to shelter them in order to fulfill
his duty to protect the women and children of Kanohnstaton.

And now, the 28 year old father is going broke defending himself against
charges of assault with a weapon, intimidation and causing a disturbance,
charges that all stemmed from Kanohnstaton.

Hawk had been sleeping at the site the morning the OPP snuck onto a
sleeping camp of protesters under the cover of darkness and arrested 16
people. He was one of only a handful of people that escaped being caught,
but a few hours later, after hundreds of Six Nations people reclaimed the
site from the OPP, Hawk’s luck ran out on him.

It was around 8 am when he says he noticed a young group of OPP officers
heading toward the site entrance to the site off of Thistlemoor St., known
as “O-Town” to people at the site.

“They were going around the back entrance and I wanted to see what the
hell was going on.”

As he was running through the Canadian Tire parking lot, he says a
non-native man came out of the store and started screaming at him.

“He was freaking out. He said, ‘why don’t you go back to where you f***ing
came from. This is our town.’ I asked the police to remove him, but
instead they attacked me.”

He says eight OPP officers shot him with a Taser and tackled him to the
ground.

“As I was on the ground, they shot me again with the Taser saying I was
resisting arrest. I was physically and verbally assaulted. They called me
a gutless bastard and said I only did what I did because I had an
audience. I’m dead serious,” he says. “I couldn’t believe it.”

He claims one officer shockingly thanked him for making it possible for
the OPP office to use a Taser for the first time.

Hawk ended up suffering two fractured ribs, countless bruises and pinched
nerves on his wrists from the handcuffs and Taser cuts to his back.

Police took him to the Cayuga detachment, where he was left waiting in a
cruiser with the windows rolled up for at least three hours while they
tried to process him. He said there was no room in the holding cells for
him because they were full of other site supporters who had been arrested.

That morning was unusually hot at about 25C and Hawk says that he became
dehydrated while waiting in the cruiser.

“The windows were all steamed up from my sweat,” he says.

Police finally processed him at noon, and he spent the night in custody.
He phoned his wife, who he says was quite upset about the whole affair.

The next day, at 1 p.m., he received bail at the Ontario Superior Court in
Cayuga with his aunt acting as his surety. It wasn’t until after that that
he was able to go to the hospital for medical treatment. Doctors gave him
painkillers, told him that the fractured ribs would heal on their own, and
advised him to get further treatment for the pinched nerves.

He didn’t go back to the site.

“It had nothing to do with what the court said,” says Hawk, referring to
one of his bail conditions that he not attend the site anymore. “My aunt
strongly suggested I not go back and I didn’t. She had fear of me getting
hurt far worse.”

Since then, he’s had numerous appearances in court, represented by Six
Nations lawyer Debra Loft, but his case has gone nowhere.

“It’s still in the same state as day one. It’s been nothing but remand
after remand. It’s doing nothing but costing me time and money.”

[
]

After the arrest, Hawk returned to his home in Caledonia to try and live a
normal life. But the townspeople found out where he lived and began
harassing him, he says.

His house was also under 24 hour surveillance by police, he says an OPP
liaison officer told him.

He decided to leave the rented home after an incident in August in which
Janie Jameson had gone to visit him in the early evening. Both of their
kids were playing in the front yard when Jamieson said she heard one of
them scream because an OPP officer was allegedly trying to climb Hawk’s
fence. Three more OPP cruisers then drove by, and aboriginal OPP officer
was contacted, and then a group of young men from the site rushed down
argyle street toward hawk’s house on ATVs but then returned to the site
shortly without incident.

Not long after, a group of Caledonia residents gathered on the sidewalk in
front of his house shouting racial slurs and threatening to burn the house
down, “with or without his family inside”, he claims.

“That’s when I said enough is enough. They found out where I lived. They
said they didn’t want ‘troublemakers’ in their town. I left that night.”

He’s currently staying with his parents on Six Nations and his common-law
wife and their five-year-old daughter are staying with the parents until
they can find a place big enough to accommodate the young family.

He appeared in court last Wednesday for a resolution discussion between
his lawyer and the crown to see if they can resolve the matter without a
trial. However, the lawyers have yet to meet after canceling on each other
twice, and the case was put over until Jan. 31st.

He said he’s dreading the thought of him going to jail and says that the
charges against him are unjust.

“I hear that the crown’s asking for a year. I’m like a bag of nerved every
day I come to court. I hope to beat the charges. I don’t care how much it
costs.”

============================================================================
CKUT RADIO: Another Warrior faces Canadian Courts: Jeff "Hawk" Welcomes
Support and Solidarity

Produced by Fiona Becker of the CKUT Radio Community News Collective in
Montreal.
(anti-copyright 2007)

Listen to an interview with Jeff Hawk, who faces charges relating to the
Six Nations Land Reclamation adjacent to Caledonia, Ontario. Jeff “Hawk”
has been charged with allegedly assaulting a police officer on April 20th,
2006, the day that the OPP and the RCMP came on mass to the Six Nations
Land Reclamation with Tasers and batons, beating and arresting unarmed
people, and unsuccessfully attempted to evict the Haudenosaunee from their
land.

Available for download at: http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=21716

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Stop the Criminalization of Indigenous Resistance to Colonial Land Theft!
Free Chris Hill!

On January 3rd, Six Nations Police, in accordance with the demands of the
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), arrested and imprisoned Chris Hill, a 20
year old young Mohawk man of the Wolf Clan from Six Nations of the Grand
River Territory, for allegedly “assaulting a police officer with a weapon”
on April 20th, 2006 – the very day that the OPP and the RCMP invaded
Douglas Creek Estates and violently attempted to evict the people of Six
Nations from their land. That day, the OPP used tazer darts and batons on
unarmed people, including women and youth, and arrested 16 people on a day
that brought nation-wide attention to the struggle of Six Nations for land
rights and autonomy.

Since the Haudonausaunee of Six Nations reclaimed Douglas Creek Estates,
some 30 indigenous people have been charged by the settler-colony of
Canada in relation to the Reclamation. Chris Hill is one of the latest to
be charged. Interestingly, the warrant for his arrest in relation to April
20th was issued 6 months later in October of 2006. Since January 3rd, he
has been sitting in Barton Street Jail in Hamilton, Ontario where he is
locked up for 18 hours a day.

Chris Hill was denied bail on the basis of his record of “failure to
comply” when he was a young offender. Chris Hill was denied access to
legal aid on the basis of him not having a permanent address. His mother,
Rhonda Martin, is a mother on assistance who just underwent surgery, and
now faces lawyers’ fees in the thousands in order to be able to free her
son.

Chris Hill sits behind bars for having defended his land. The proceedings
at the Cayuga courthouse have proven to be extremely lengthy, as nearly
all court appearances have resulted in remand after remand.

Chris Hill needs moral, political and financial support and solidarity.
Please send reading material and write letters of support to Chris Hill
for him to receive while he awaits a trial date. Furthermore, please
contribute to Chris Hill’s legal defense fund. Please continue to demand
the end of the criminalization of the Six Nations Land Reclamation.


Address your letters of support to Chris Hill to:

Chris Hill
Wentworth Detention Center.
165 Barton Street East
Hamilton, Ontario

To contribute to the legal defense fund of Six Nations:
Send checks marked “legal defense” to:

Janie Jameson
RR1
Ohsweken, Ontario
N0A 1MO

Alternatively, to support Chris Hill directly, send checks, marked “legal
defense” to

Rhonda Martin
P.O. box 383
Ohsweken, Ontario
N0A 1MO

============================================================================
Lawyer Files Constitutional Question in Ontario Court

by Donna Duric
Turtle Island News
February 7th, 2007

Court security was out in full force last Wednesday when a series of Six
nations people filed in for court appearances and one lawyer filed a
constitutional question challenging the Ontario Superior Court’s Authority
over Mohawks.

Everyone entering the courthouse was scanning and their coats and purses
searched before being allowed into the court house.

Family and friends were all subjected to scrutiny. One woman Rhonda Martin
laughed and said, “All this, just for us.”

A lawyer representing a man charged in connection with incidents relating
to the Reclamation site has filed a constitutional question with the
Ontario Superior Court challenging the court’s authority over the Mohawk
people.

Steve Ford, a lawyer from Tyendinega, filed the application with the
superior court Jan. 31 asserting that Mohawks are a sovereign people who
do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Canadian legal system.

“This is big,” Ford told reporters after the question was filed. “The
Ontario Court of Justice has no jurisdiction over my client on the lands
he was on [when the incident occurred]. You’re looking at a lot of
witnesses in support of the application.”

Ford represents Akwasasne man Erwin Ron Gibson, 35, accused of robbery,
assault causing bodily harm and assault in connection with an altercation
with two cameramen in the Caledonia Canadian Tire parking lot on June 9th,
2006.

The altercation occurred when a group of people from the reclamation site
followed a Simcoe couple into the parking alleging they had gunned their
vehicle at a female security guard at the front entrance of the site.

Two CH TV cameramen were attempting to film the incident in the parking
lot when the group approached them and a scuffle ensued resulting in one
cameraman receiving a head injury.

A camera and a tripod were also stolen but returned shortly afterwards.
About 10 minutes later, a group of people from the site followed a U.S.
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms vehicle behind Canadian Tire, took it,
returning the vehicle about half an hour later. The OPP issued seven
arrest warrants in relation to those incidents. Two warrants remain
outstanding, including one for Skyler Williams, 22, of Ohsweken, and
Albert Douglas, of Six Nations. Douglas faces charges of attempted murder,
assaulting a police officer, dangerous driving, robbery and forcible
confinement. Williams faces robbery charges.

Gibson is co-accused with Six Nations man Trevor Miller, 31, who is facing
two counts of robbery plus violence, assault causing bodily harm and
assault in connection with the June 9th incidents.

Gibson has been out on bail since his arrest in September last year, but
Miller remains in custody at the Hamilton Wentworth Detention Centre after
being denied bail five months ago.*

Both Miller and Gibson appeared at the Ontario Court of Justice in Cayuga
last Wednesday, each wearing a Mohawk headdress and a traditional ribbon
shirt.

Gibson was also carrying an eagle feather while he sat in the courtroom.
He said he exhibited those symbols of his Mohawk heritage because “he had
to”.

“It’s not a statement. I’m proud to be a Mohawk and this is how we dress.”

Ford says the constitutional question comes down to the self-determination
and self-government of aboriginal people. Six Nations leaders have
maintained that Haudenosaunee people are not subject to Canadian law under
the guidelines of the Two-Row Wampum, which states that natives and
non-natives are not to interfere in each other’s laws and customs.

If the Superior Court accepts the jurisdictional challenge and proceeds to
delve into it, the Ontario Court of Justice will have no choice but to
stay the charges on both Miller and Gibson, Ford says.

Both men are set to reappear at the Ontario Court of Justice on March 6,
and the constitutional question will be answered on March 7.

Audra Ann Taillefer, who is co-accused with Gibson and Miller, is also set
to appear for a pre-trial February 14. Chris Hill [charged in connection
with the OPP raid on April 20th, 2006] will appear for a pre-trial
February 14th. Hill is still in custody. Ken Hill was remanded to March 7
for a pre-trial.

Kanohstaton spokeswoman Hazel Hill said a legal technical team is being
organized to oversee and track all those who have been charged and to work
with the individuals who have been charged.

She said all those charged should be contacting Bev Jacobs the lead lawyer
for the Haudenosaunee legal team.

 *Trevor Miller has since been released since the time of writing of this
article.

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