Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

July 1, 2008

Kahentinetha recovering after attack on her life by special forces

By Brenda Norrell
Photo: Kahentinetha Horn at the Indigenous Border Summit of the Americas II in Arizona in 2007. Photo Brenda Norrell

Kahentinetha Horn, publisher of Mohawk Nation News, is recovering and has been released from the hospital. Kahentinetha, 68, suffered a heart attack while handcuffed in a police stress hold in custody, after being attacked by special forces at the Cornwall/Akwesasne border. Katenies, an editor of Mohawk Nation News, was also beaten and jailed. Katenies was thrown on the ground, her face ground into the concrete and a knee jabbed in her kidneys. The two Mohawk grandmothers were attacked by at least 10 special forces.
It was the third attempt on Kahentinetha's life. In 1990, she was targeted by a sniper at Oka. In 1995, she was beaten by police. During the attack June, 14, 2008, Kahentinetha was handcuffed in a police stress hold. When she screamed out in pain for officers to loosen the handcuffs, the handcuffs were tightened and she was told to bend over. She was in custody in the presence of a male and female officer and told to bend over. At this point, she suffered a trauma induced heart attack. Her brother who arrived quickly on the scene saved her life by ensuring that she was not left to die in the hospital. She was then surrounded in the hospital by family and others ensuring her safety. She is now resting and recovering.
For more information on Kahentinetha's condition and letters of support: waneek@msn.ca
To send contributions to support the lawsuit against the Canadian police/special forces who beat Kahentinetha and Katenies
Mohawk Nation News
Box 991
Kahnawake, Quebec
CANADA J0L1B0
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Mohawk Nation News
Brothers, Sisters, Friends and Allies:
On June 14th 2008 Katenies and Kahentinetha of MNN were beaten by the Canadian Border guards at the Akwesasne [Cornwall] Ontario crossing. Their excuse was an “outstanding warrant” issued in 2003 claiming that Katenies “ran the border” placed by the colonial state through the middle of her community. Katenies has appeared in court on this matter. On both occasions she never acknowledged the false charges and filed motions contesting the courts’ jurisdiction. She refused to stand up and started reading her motion into the record, asking: “How and when did Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II get jurisdiction over me and my land?” On December 18th 2006 the court attempted to ignore the issue. When Katenies tried to read her motion into the court record, the court closed down. Katenies’ motion gave notice that a failure to respond within 30 days would be taken as an admission by the court that it had no jurisdiction. Canada has chosen to pursue this matter. We would like to share her motion with our readers. The motion is based on the Two Row Wampum and the Kaianerehkowa, the Great law of Peace, the constitution of the Haudenosaunee. Katenies found the Queen, the corporation of Canada and all its public and private corporations guilty of theft, etc. This will be the basis of proceedings when Katenies appears at 9:00 a.m. in Cornwall Ontario court on July 14th 2008. A case is being prepared against the Canadian Border Security Agency. The Canadian state can use the money of 30 million people and Indigenous resources to fight the Mohawks. Your financial help is needed. Please donate to “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Everyone welcome. Katenies MNN katenies20@yahoo.com Reposted July 1, 2008. Katenies [aka Janet Davis] v. HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN Information #C2202/03 SUBMITTED TO: THE COLONIAL ONTARIO COURT, PROVINCIAL DIVISION, 29 SECOND ST. WEST, CORNWALL 0NTARIO CANADA ON KANION’KE:HAKA LAND FROM: Katenies [aka Janet Davis], Bear Clan, Woman Title Holder of Turtle Island; Onkwehonweh, Sovereign, a Manifestation of All the Elements as a real, flesh and blood Human being, does take exception to Fraud committed by HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN. REGARDING: illegal invasion, trespass, occupation and assumption of authority and jurisdiction over me and my land by CANADA CUSTOMS AND REVENUE AGENCY INCORPORATED, ET. AL, PROVINCE OF ONTARIO INCORPORATED, ET. AL, CANADA INCORPORATED ET. AL, EAST INDIA COMPANY, HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF CANADA. FACTS:1. Kanion’ke:haka/Mohawk land comprises at least 20 million acres of Northeastern Turtle Island [NanFan Treaty from Florida to Iqualuit, see Apr. 28/08 “Ottawa & Ontariol setting up No’gonquins land fraud” ]. It is referred to as the St. Lawrence Valley, Great Lakes watershed, southern Quebec, southern Ontario, south to New York State, Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. We are the “Keepers of the Eastern Door” of Turtle Island. We are carrying out our duties as the caretakers. The natural world has given us this responsibility by rooting us in this land. Our Indigenous communities exist on Turtle Island since time immemorial and continue to have trading relations with other nations. [Trade is an international right]. We have trading relations before and after the illegal occupation of the colonial states of Canada and the U.S. We never gave Britain the right to establish their corporations on our land. Canada is illegal. Our vast territory has subsequently been illegally chopped into pieces by these foreign corporations in the name of “the Crown”. Dozens of colonial jurisdictions have been imposed on us, along with administrative bodies some of which are known as “band councils” and “tribal councils”. There are also hundreds of foreign police and military authorities patrolling our land. We are allies of Great Britain. We have never been British subjects and never will be.We have never agreed to become a part of the colonies of either Canada or the United States.These multiple illegal jurisdictions divide our communities and territory in order to break down our nations and force us to be absorbed us into their colonial polity. Crown, federal and privatized corporations have imposed themselves on our land to exploit and usurp our resources. LAW:9. According to Guswentah, the Two Row Wampum Treaty, the greatest foreign policy ever devised between nations, you agreed to respect that:i. We are a separate people from you and the land is our birthright;ii. The law of the land is the Kaianereh’ko:wa, a universal law which is the most perfect social contract ever developed by our people; andiii You would never usurp our natural tie to the land of our past, present and future generations. The Charter of the United Nations, to which Canada has given its free and informed consent, confirms that:i. the dignity, value and rights of all human beings is equal. ii. all states are required to maintain the peace and refrain from using force of arms to resolve differences with other states. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; to which Canada has given its free and informed consent, recognizes that all peoples have the right to self-determination.United Nations Resolution 1514(XV) affirmed the right of all to self-determination, saying that any attempt to partially or totally disrupt the national unity and territorial integrity of a country is incompatible with the principles of the UN Charter. United Nations Resolution 1514(XV) affirmed that “the desire for independence is the rightful aspiration of peoples under colonial subjugation and that the denial of their right to self-determination constitutes a threat to the well-being of humanity and international peace”. United Nations Resolution 1514(XV) also affirmed that no people can be made part of another state unless it is “the result of a free and voluntary choice by the peoples of the territory concerned expressed through informed and democratic processes.”The International Court of Justice confirmed in the Western Sahara case that no state can absorb another without the free and informed consent of the people concerned expressed through democratic processes.The Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination confirmed on March 6, 2006 that Indigenous peoples have the right to “own, develop, control and use their land and resources” and that the United States was guilty of denying this right to the Western Shoshone people.The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide U.N.T.S. 1021, vol. 78 (1951) states that the crime of Genocide includes:i. “Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”. ii. The forced transfer of children to another social group. Section 132 of the British North America Act 1867, which was passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, accords Canada the right to negotiate with foreign states on behalf of the British Empire.As a successor state, which continues to be represented by the same Queen as Great Britain, Canada is bound by the treaties and agreements made by Great Britain.Even if Canada imagines that Britain’s assertion of sovereignty over us made us subjects of the British Empire, the Crown has a duty to govern according to the laws and customs of the land and of the people as set out in the Coronation Oath sworn by you, Queen Elizabeth II. Even if Canada imagines that Canadian laws apply to us;i. Canada has an obligation to recognize and affirm existing Aboriginal and Treaty rights as set out in Section 35(1) of the Constitution Act 1982. ii. Aboriginal rights must be interpreted according to the understanding of Aboriginal people as set out by the Supreme Court of Canada in Nowegijick v. The Queen, [1983] 1 S.C.R. 29.iii. There is no justification for perpetuating the unjust and discriminatory colonial refusal to recognize the rights and interests in land of the Indigenous peoples as stated by Brennan J. in Mabo v. Queensland [No. 2] (1992), 175 C.L.R. 1 (H.C.), at p. 42 and cited with approval by the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Côté, [1996] 3 S.C.R. 139 at para 53.iv. “European settlement did not terminate the interests of aboriginal peoples arising from their historical occupation and use of the land. To the contrary, aboriginal interests and customary laws were presumed to survive the imposition of foreign sovereignty, and were absorbed into the common law as rights, unless (1) they were incompatible with the Crown’s assertion of sovereignty, (2) they were surrendered voluntarily via the treaty process, or (3) the government extinguished them.” As acknowledged by the Supreme Court of Canada in Mitchell v. M.N.R., [2001] 1 S.C.R. 911, at para 10. v. The Federal Court of Australia has recognized that the Noongar Aborigines of Australia continue to hold native title to the whole of southwest Western Australia notwithstanding the implantation of substantial colonial settlements including the city of Perth as stated in Bennell v. State of Western Australia [2006] FCA 1243. ANALYSIS:You are in violation of the natural righteousness embodied in the Kaianereh’ko:wa, our Great Law of Peace, the universal law based on the natural world. Your on-going aggression against us violates nature; the Two Row Wampum, international law; and your own constitutional laws. You have been attempting to criminalize our people who protect our laws, lands and people through the use of force to impose illegal laws, codes and acts passed by foreign legislatures in which we neither participate nor wish to participate in. Your courts have recognized that Aboriginal rights must be determined according to practices and uses of the time of the imposition of British sovereignty. There were no boundaries through our communities when you arrived. We never gave your corporations the right to erect artificial boundaries to divide our community and to prevent normal community relations. You have no right to create these limitations around, over and under us, not even under your own law.According to your laws you do not have jurisdiction over territory that is not a part of the foreign corporation called “Canada”. There is no evidence that our territory has ever been ceded to Canada or became a part of it. You have never met the requirements set out in International law for incorporation of our state in yours. There has never been a decision by a clear majority of our people to join Canada. International law accordingly rejects your colonial encroachment on us and our land. Our land, the land of our future generations, does not belong to you so you have no authority to issue licenses to use our resources and our land cannot be legally developed or changed without consulting us and obtaining our consent. Our perspectives cannot be ignored. You have no right to do anything to us or our possessions without our permission. The United Nations Charter, whose terms you have consented to uphold, requires that its members cannot use armed force to resolve international differences. Your commercial enterprise known as the border between two foreign states, Canada and U.S., has no legal validity and exists only in your imagination. Your use of guns and violence to maintain your position on our land violates international law.The United Nations prohibits the disruption of family life and includes the removal of children from their parents in the crime of genocide. You are using your imaginary border to commit genocide against our people.The oath that you swore at your coronation requires you to protect the laws of the lands and people over which you claim dominion. Since you imagine that you exercise sovereignty over us, you have violated your oath through your permissive attitude that allows your subjects and the citizens of your successor states to oppress us.Canadian laws require Canada to respect our rights as we understand them. Yet Canada continues to ignore our opinions and violates our laws. I, KATENIES, PUT YOU ON NOTICE: That you must stop breaching the peace. You are inflicting torture and genocide upon us and our future posterity. Our governance is based on relations of equality and mutual respect as affirmed by the Kaianereh’ko:wa. Our relationship with the colonists is based on the Guswentah, the Two Row Wampum. We need to review the Covenant Chains that defined our original relationship. We are the trustees of all of our land for the future generations of our People, including the part upon which your corporations and your subjects are squatting. You cannot alienate us from our birthright. Your colonial successor states and corporations have failed to respect your promises to protect us from being raped, pillaged and polluted by squatters who have come here and installed themselves on our land with your protection and encouragement. Your squatters are occupying our land illegally. They are stealing our resources and poisoning our land, water and air almost beyond repair. If you do not stop them they will kill themselves as well as our future generations. Your justice system functions to allow the squatters to keep the property you stole, to continue the theft and to incriminate us or kill us to stop us from making our demands for restitution. We are the care-takers of this land. When there are negotiations or decisions to be made concerning this land you must come to our table and talk to us. The decisions you make on your own are not legal. I, KATENIES, WISH TO PROTECT MY PHYSICAL INTEGRITY, MY BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS AND MY RIGHT TO SPEAK OUT AND TAKE ACTION TO OBTAIN LEGAL REDRESS AND SO I DEMAND:38. That you stop forcing your laws on us; that you admit that your federal and provincial colonial apparatus is illegal; that you declare all their transactions null and void and that you cease your illegal operations against us immediately. That you acknowledge that our land belongs to the faces yet unborn; and that we maintain our stewardship so our children will be born free from your bondage. We will never be your subjects. That you resume dealing with us on a nation-to-nation basis and stop using your unlawfully-imposed corporate puppets known as “tribal” and “band” councils which are backed by armed threats. That you respect the “rule of law that comes from Creation, encompassing all that is good for humanity, so that people may become of one mind based on natural righteousness. Foreigners such as yourself and your corporate entities must respect the Indigenous law of our land. You cannot legislate over or judge us and you must stop attempting to do so.That you acknowledge that colonial states have no authority to criminalize us for upholding our laws and our obligations. We have an inherent right and duty to preserve our land for our coming generations through defensive and peaceful acts. For 500 years we have been resisting your colonial efforts to eliminate us and to impose your unnatural institutions on us. We wish to reinstate the lawful relationship with you once the inequities are remedied according to the principles of the Two Row Wampum Agreement. As you have not responded to my request for evidence to substantiate your false claim to jurisdiction over us, we find you guilty of genocide, violations of our freedom and our inherent right to self-determination, of theft of our lands and resources and of destruction of our environment. You have allowed your subjects and your corporations to inflict ruthless violence on us. According to Section 109 of the British North America Act, 1867, you are under an obligation to consider the “prior interest”, which is the “Indian” interest in all of your endeavors on our land and resources. We know that the bottom line of any corporation is profit. This includes collection of taxes, exploitation of our land, water, natural and mineral resources and all business your minions have conducted. You are hereby ordered to immediately relinquish all your stolen money, trust, lands, rights and possessions that were made or taken from our lands within 90 days. You must disband all your foreign corporations such as “Indian Affairs” and forfeit all foreign laws, particularly the “Indian Act”. We shall return to the original legal nation-to-nation relationship between us, the land owners and you, our visitors. You are to deposit $1.4 trillion GDP for the year 2006 into an Indigenous Trust which we, the Indigenous people, will collectively own and control. This money was created totally from your exploitation of us, our land and our resources. This payment represents your corporations’ foreign debt payment to the Indigenous people of Turtle Island. Signed on this 18th day of December 2006 in the community of Akwesasne on the territory of the Kanion’ke:haka, Katenies [aka Janet Davis] /s/ _____________Women Title Holders of the Kanion’ke:haka of the Rotinonhsonnion:we: according to Wampum 44 of our law, the Kaianereh’ko:wa, the women are the “progenitors” of the soil of Turtle Island. The women are the caretakers of the land, water and air of Turtle Island. As the trustees the women are obligated to preserve and protect the land’s integrity for the future generations.MNN Mohawk Nation News Phil Fontaine is a partner in CBSA’s Sustainable Development Strategy 2007-9 See Apprendix 4 for list of external stakeholders; Chris Kealey, Canada Customs Excise, Immigration Taxation Board, CBSA Media Relations 613-991-5197; Alain Joliceour, President CBSA 613-952-3200, 613-957-0612; General inquiries CBSA-ASFC@canada.gc.ca; National Aboriginal Initiative, Canadian Human Rights Commission 204-983-2189, 1-866772-4880 info.com@chrc-ccdp.ca; Canada Customs Port of Entry, Cornwall Island Ontario; Gaetan Cousineau, Quebec Human Rights, presidence@cdpdj.gc.ca; Akwesasne Mohawk police 613-575-2250 ex 2400; Mohawk Security Louis Mitchell 613-932-5183, 613-575-2340; Lance Markel, District Dir. CBSA 613-930-3234, 613-991-1214; Nurse Rachet at Cornwall Community Hospital 613-938-4240; http://www.,chrc-ccdp.ca/; Brent Lefebvre Investigator for CBSA; Susan St. Clair, Canadian Human Rights Commission, 344 Slater, Ottawa 613-995-1151, 1-888-214-1090, 613-943-5188; National spokesperson CBSA 613-957-6500; Quebec Media Relations CBSA 514-350-6130; Handling arrest Scott Patterson; Chief MCA Nona Benedict 613-575-2250 nbenedict@akwesasne.ca; Minister Stockwell Day, House of Commons, Ottawa K1A 0A6 613-995-1702 day.s@parl.gc.ca 250-770-4480, days1@parl.gc.ca; Dave MacKenzie, Parliamentary Secretary, Public Safety, 613-995-4432;Mackenzie.d@parl.gc.ca; Melissa Leclair Communications Pub. Safety 613-991-2863; OFFICERS: 17012; 16320; 16511; 16121; 16275; Report: Mohawk grandmothers attacked by Canadian Border Services Agency guardsnooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2008/06/cbsa-attack.html “Family furious with Customs” Posted by Trevor Pritchard, Cornwall Standard Freeholder - Saturday, June 21, 2008 Family furious with Customs See MNN Category: “ Border/Jay Treaty “
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