After a six hour occupation of MP Lawrence Cannon's Office in Buckingham, QC, Thursday, six Algonquin activists and allies were arrested by Sûreté du Québec police officers.
The arrestees were detained for four hours and were finally released at 9:30 p.m. into the arms of cheering family and friends outside the Gatineau Police Department building.
Among the awaiting crowd was Customary Chief Benjamin Nottaway (seen in video) whom the government attempted to revoke from power in the Barriere Lake reserve by imposing a minority appointed government. The so called Coup D'etat was the latest in a long series of governmental interventions in the impoverished reserve and led to the office occupation which took place yesterday. Previously, the indigenous representatives attempted to raise awareness of neo-Colonial internvention in their community by camping on Parliament Hill one year ago.
More information will follow...
Check out The Dominion story to see a video.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Ottawa XPress on Katenies and Kahentinetha
Please continue to check back with our blog, as we will continue to post information on this, as well as any solidarity actions that you can be a part of.
Katenies and Kahentinetha
by Sara Falconer for the Ottawa XPress
You'd think it would make national headlines: two grandmothers arrested at a border crossing, one forced to the ground by four armed guards, the other in handcuffs, having a heart attack. But a telling silence surrounds these allegations of brutality against Mohawk women by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA).
On June 14, Katenies and Kahentinetha, publishers of Mohawk Nation News (www.mohawknationnews.com), were crossing the border at Cornwall after a visit to family members in the United States. When it was discovered that Katenies had an outstanding warrant for allegedly "running the border" in 2003, they were forcibly pulled from the car.
Both women say that they were beaten by multiple CBSA guards. Sixty-eight-year old Kahentinetha suffered a heart attack while she was handcuffed. Her brother, a local lawyer who was crossing the border at the same time, intervened and she was taken to a hospital by ambulance.
Akwesasne, where Katenies lives, is a Kanion'ke:haka (Mohawk) community that stretches across so-called Ontario, Quebec and New York. And therein lies the problem: Many indigenous people do not recognize the jurisdiction of colonial law over their lives and territories. It's not lawlessness, but rather adhesion to a constitution and a law that is thousands of years old.
A CBSA investigator who testified against her at her July 16 bail hearing said that Katenies "has nothing but contempt for the Canadian judicial
system." He admitted that it is "not uncommon" for Mohawks to cite the lack of jurisdiction to border officials, although he called Katenies "an extreme case." The CBSA did not respond to calls for further comment.
But just as this is no isolated incident, there is little to indicate that Katenies is particularly extreme. Since 2003, she has steadfastly challenged the Canadian government to prove that it has any jurisdiction over Mohawk people or land. Despite the fact that she formally filed a motion to dismiss based on this issue in 2007, there has been no response.
"I've had no respect. No one has looked at what I've put forward," she said. "I don't see why you should incarcerate me and beat me into submission without answering my question." Against protests by the Crown, she was released into the custody of her mother, Nancy Davis, who told the court with a smile, "I'm the only one who has authority over my daughter."
Kahentinetha is now resting at home in Kahnawake. Katenies' next court date is July 14 in Cornwall. Her supporters are encouraging people to pack the courtroom.
"It's this kind of behaviour that motivated criticism of Harper's symbolic apology [for residential schools]," says Karen Cocq of No One Is Illegal Ottawa. "The Canadian state has clearly not relented in its brutal colonial assault on First Nations people in this country. It's a case of their actions speaking louder than words." Visit www.noii-ottawa.blogspot.com for updates.
Katenies and Kahentinetha
by Sara Falconer for the Ottawa XPress
You'd think it would make national headlines: two grandmothers arrested at a border crossing, one forced to the ground by four armed guards, the other in handcuffs, having a heart attack. But a telling silence surrounds these allegations of brutality against Mohawk women by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA).
On June 14, Katenies and Kahentinetha, publishers of Mohawk Nation News (www.mohawknationnews.com), were crossing the border at Cornwall after a visit to family members in the United States. When it was discovered that Katenies had an outstanding warrant for allegedly "running the border" in 2003, they were forcibly pulled from the car.
Both women say that they were beaten by multiple CBSA guards. Sixty-eight-year old Kahentinetha suffered a heart attack while she was handcuffed. Her brother, a local lawyer who was crossing the border at the same time, intervened and she was taken to a hospital by ambulance.
Akwesasne, where Katenies lives, is a Kanion'ke:haka (Mohawk) community that stretches across so-called Ontario, Quebec and New York. And therein lies the problem: Many indigenous people do not recognize the jurisdiction of colonial law over their lives and territories. It's not lawlessness, but rather adhesion to a constitution and a law that is thousands of years old.
A CBSA investigator who testified against her at her July 16 bail hearing said that Katenies "has nothing but contempt for the Canadian judicial
system." He admitted that it is "not uncommon" for Mohawks to cite the lack of jurisdiction to border officials, although he called Katenies "an extreme case." The CBSA did not respond to calls for further comment.
But just as this is no isolated incident, there is little to indicate that Katenies is particularly extreme. Since 2003, she has steadfastly challenged the Canadian government to prove that it has any jurisdiction over Mohawk people or land. Despite the fact that she formally filed a motion to dismiss based on this issue in 2007, there has been no response.
"I've had no respect. No one has looked at what I've put forward," she said. "I don't see why you should incarcerate me and beat me into submission without answering my question." Against protests by the Crown, she was released into the custody of her mother, Nancy Davis, who told the court with a smile, "I'm the only one who has authority over my daughter."
Kahentinetha is now resting at home in Kahnawake. Katenies' next court date is July 14 in Cornwall. Her supporters are encouraging people to pack the courtroom.
"It's this kind of behaviour that motivated criticism of Harper's symbolic apology [for residential schools]," says Karen Cocq of No One Is Illegal Ottawa. "The Canadian state has clearly not relented in its brutal colonial assault on First Nations people in this country. It's a case of their actions speaking louder than words." Visit www.noii-ottawa.blogspot.com for updates.
Racial and Religious Profiling is a Safety and Security Threat to Canadians
Activist group cries foul on no-fly list anniversarySee the full story at CTV
VANCOUVER -- Civil rights groups are calling on Canadians to share their stories of racial profiling, informer recruitment and other trials of travelling under heightened security rules.
A coalition of groups marked the first anniversary of the so-called no-fly list's introduction in Canada by announcing a study into the impact of the lists in Canada and the U.S.
The groups condemned the watch list Wednesday, saying too many innocent travellers are needlessly caught on the lists.
"The model of militarizing travel, setting up check points at airports and creating secret watch lists is clearly having a disastrous impact on privacy, mobility, equality and security rights of Canadians," Michael Vonn, of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said at a news conference in Vancouver.
...
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080619/nofly_list_080619
ETA: The Watch Lists and Border Controls research project is doing work to expose way travelers are being screened in Canada:
This research project led by the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG) and its partners, aims to document the nature of the incidents and the number of travellers who believe they have been mistakenly or unfairly targeted by government watch lists on both sides of the border.
The purpose of the research is to investigate and generate better public understanding of the practices, programs and systems used to screen travellers at Canadian airports and at Canada-U.S. border crossings in order to assess the scope and depth of their concrete impacts on civil liberties, privacy rights and mobility rights.
We need to know more in order to inform our work promoting and defending civil liberties and human rights for all.
Monday, June 16, 2008
MOHAWK GRANDMOTHERS ATTACKED AT CANADA-US BORDER ON UNCEDED HAUDENOSAUNEE LAND
[June 17, 2008 -- Reported by members of No One Is Illegal-Montreal who attended Katenies' court hearing in Cornwall on June 16, 2008; please post and forward widely.]
This past Saturday, June 14, 2008, around 2:30pm, a vehicle with two outspoken Kanion'ke:haka (Mohawk) activists, writers and grandmothers was stopped at Akwesasne while crossing into "Canada" from the "USA". Akwesasne is a Kanion'ke:haka Indigenous community that includes parts of so-called Ontario, Quebec and New York, and community members routinely cross between "states" and "provinces".
Katenies lives in Akwesasne, with her mother and near her daughter and three grandchildren, who reside on both sides of the "border". Kahentinehta, also a grandmother, is from Kahnawake. Katenies and Kahentinehta publish Mohawk Nation News (www.mohawknationnews.com) and were delegates to the Indigenous Peoples Border Summit in San Xavier, Tohono O'odham Nation (Arizona) in November 2007.
Katenies was targeted for arrest by Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) guards on an outstanding warrant for allegedly "running the border" in 2003, and offenses resulting from her refusal to appear in court and validate the colonial justice system. Katenies has maintained since 2003 that border officials and the Canadian colonial courts have no jurisdiction over Kanion'ke:haka people or land.
[Background information to Katenies' struggle against border and court officials is linked at: http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2007/03/background-katenies-defies-colonial-us.html ]
This past Saturday, Katenies reiterated that she does not recognize the authority of the CBSA over Kanion'ke:haka land, as she has always done. She was then brutally arrested, with at least four male guards forcing her face down onto the ground, handcuffing her, and taking her into custody, where she remained for three days.
CBSA guards then demanded that Kahentinehta, 68, leave the car she was driving. She refused, and she too was brutally overpowered by at least four male CBSA guards and handcuffed tightly. Kahentinehta suffered a heart attack while handcuffed. However, due to the timely intervention of her brother – a local lawyer who was crossing the border at that time -- she was eventually taken to the local hospital in Cornwall, Ontario by ambulance, where she has spent the last three days in the Critical Care Unit. Her condition is stable and she will be transferred to a hospital in Ottawa for further treatment and possible surgery.
The CBSA had originally indicated that they would charge Kahentinehta with various offenses, but those charges were never brought forward, most likely to help cover-up the brutal way in which she and Katenies were arrested in the first place.
Meanwhile, Katenies was jailed after her brutal arrest, and was only able to have a bail hearing, at the Superior Court in Cornwall this past Monday (June 16, 2008).
Supporters from Six Nations, Sharbot Lake as well as Akwesasne attended court to be witnesses to Katenies' continued defiance of Canada's colonial courts. Several of the elders from the Akwesasne community referenced the bridge blockades undertaken in the 1960s and 70s to assert free movement of Indigenous peoples at the border. They consider Katenies' current stance as part of the same ongoing and long-term struggle for sovereignty.
At the hearing, the federal Crown lawyer objected to Katenies' release on bail. A senior investigator with the CBSA who seems to have launched a vendetta against Katenies since 2003, testified for the Crown. He outlined the various warrants and court dates in the case, and Katenies' continual and consistent refusal to recognize the authority of the colonial court system, or the jurisdiction of the CBSA over the border.
In the words of the CBSA investigator, Katenies "has nothing but contempt for the Canadian judicial system." The investigator, who has lived and worked at the Cornwall border crossing for two decades, was forced to admit that it's "not uncommon" for Mohawks to cite the lack of jurisdiction directly to border officials, although he called Katenies "an extreme case."
Both Katenies and her mother, Nancy Davis, addressed the court. Nancy Davis refused to tell the court whether she lived in the "Ontario" or "Quebec" part of Akwesasne, stating clearly that she "lives on Kanion'ke:haka territory" and is a citizen of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. She remarked with a smile: "I'm the only one who has authority over my daughter."
Under cross-examination by the Crown lawyer, Nancy Davis stated: "We feel we have the right to travel where we want, to go where we want. [The border] is an imaginary line for Americans and Canadians, not Mohawks."
Asked outright if she recognized the authority of the court, Nancy Davis replied simply: "No."
Katenies also addressed the court, while reiterating from the start that she did not recognize its jurisdiction, and pointedly refused to accept all charges, declining to have them read to her. When the court clerk tried to swear her in, Katenies stated: "I can only tell what I know."
Katenies emphasized that she continues to demand that the courts address the jurisdiction question; that is, under what authority can colonial Canadian courts, agencies or officials claim to have jurisdiction over sovereign Mohawks. She stated forcefully: "I'm a passionate person, I'm a mother and I'm a grandmother. But, I've had no respect. No one has looked at what I've put forward."
Katenies already served the court with a Motion to Dismiss, and invoked the jurisdiction question, back on January 18, 2007, almost one-and-a-half years ago. Her complete motion is linked here: http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2007/03/katenies-serves-court-with-jurisdiction.html
Under cross-examination, Katenies was asked by the Crown lawyer if she would accept paying a cash bond; she replied: "That would be extortion at this point because jurisdiction has not been dealt with." She added: "I don't see why you should incarcerate me and beat me into submission without answering my question."
She threw the accusation of contempt back at the Crown, stating: "It is [your law] and your constitution that you keep talking about. Why do you continue to ignore me and our people, who have our own land and constitution?"
In his final submissions, the Crown argued that Katenies "has nothing but complete disdain for the laws of these courts." He also made the somewhat obvious point: "Quite frankly, your worship, both mother and daughter don't recognize our jurisdiction."
He asked the court to keep Katenies in custody, adding: "She's not interested in appearing in court and she doesn't recognize us."
Nonetheless, the presiding Justice-of-the-Peace, Ms. Leblanc, decided to release Katenies under some basic conditions: that Katenies reside with her mother and notify the Akwesasne police of any change of address (Katenies has lived with her mother for the past 8 years, since the passing of her father): that her mother post a surety (ie. a $1000 bond without any deposit); and that Katenies appear in court or designate counsel to appear in court for her. Her next court date was set for July 14, 2008 at 9am at Cornwall's Superior Court.
Both Kahentinehta and Katenies, despite the brutal attack on them by CBSA officials, maintain their defiance and vow to continue to challenge the jurisdiction of the courts and border officials.
-- reported by Nazila & Jaggi, members of No One Is Illegal-Montreal
nooneisillegal@gmail.com - 514-848-7583
http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com
This past Saturday, June 14, 2008, around 2:30pm, a vehicle with two outspoken Kanion'ke:haka (Mohawk) activists, writers and grandmothers was stopped at Akwesasne while crossing into "Canada" from the "USA". Akwesasne is a Kanion'ke:haka Indigenous community that includes parts of so-called Ontario, Quebec and New York, and community members routinely cross between "states" and "provinces".
Katenies lives in Akwesasne, with her mother and near her daughter and three grandchildren, who reside on both sides of the "border". Kahentinehta, also a grandmother, is from Kahnawake. Katenies and Kahentinehta publish Mohawk Nation News (www.mohawknationnews.com) and were delegates to the Indigenous Peoples Border Summit in San Xavier, Tohono O'odham Nation (Arizona) in November 2007.
Katenies was targeted for arrest by Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) guards on an outstanding warrant for allegedly "running the border" in 2003, and offenses resulting from her refusal to appear in court and validate the colonial justice system. Katenies has maintained since 2003 that border officials and the Canadian colonial courts have no jurisdiction over Kanion'ke:haka people or land.
[Background information to Katenies' struggle against border and court officials is linked at: http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2007/03/background-katenies-defies-colonial-us.html ]
This past Saturday, Katenies reiterated that she does not recognize the authority of the CBSA over Kanion'ke:haka land, as she has always done. She was then brutally arrested, with at least four male guards forcing her face down onto the ground, handcuffing her, and taking her into custody, where she remained for three days.
CBSA guards then demanded that Kahentinehta, 68, leave the car she was driving. She refused, and she too was brutally overpowered by at least four male CBSA guards and handcuffed tightly. Kahentinehta suffered a heart attack while handcuffed. However, due to the timely intervention of her brother – a local lawyer who was crossing the border at that time -- she was eventually taken to the local hospital in Cornwall, Ontario by ambulance, where she has spent the last three days in the Critical Care Unit. Her condition is stable and she will be transferred to a hospital in Ottawa for further treatment and possible surgery.
The CBSA had originally indicated that they would charge Kahentinehta with various offenses, but those charges were never brought forward, most likely to help cover-up the brutal way in which she and Katenies were arrested in the first place.
Meanwhile, Katenies was jailed after her brutal arrest, and was only able to have a bail hearing, at the Superior Court in Cornwall this past Monday (June 16, 2008).
Supporters from Six Nations, Sharbot Lake as well as Akwesasne attended court to be witnesses to Katenies' continued defiance of Canada's colonial courts. Several of the elders from the Akwesasne community referenced the bridge blockades undertaken in the 1960s and 70s to assert free movement of Indigenous peoples at the border. They consider Katenies' current stance as part of the same ongoing and long-term struggle for sovereignty.
At the hearing, the federal Crown lawyer objected to Katenies' release on bail. A senior investigator with the CBSA who seems to have launched a vendetta against Katenies since 2003, testified for the Crown. He outlined the various warrants and court dates in the case, and Katenies' continual and consistent refusal to recognize the authority of the colonial court system, or the jurisdiction of the CBSA over the border.
In the words of the CBSA investigator, Katenies "has nothing but contempt for the Canadian judicial system." The investigator, who has lived and worked at the Cornwall border crossing for two decades, was forced to admit that it's "not uncommon" for Mohawks to cite the lack of jurisdiction directly to border officials, although he called Katenies "an extreme case."
Both Katenies and her mother, Nancy Davis, addressed the court. Nancy Davis refused to tell the court whether she lived in the "Ontario" or "Quebec" part of Akwesasne, stating clearly that she "lives on Kanion'ke:haka territory" and is a citizen of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. She remarked with a smile: "I'm the only one who has authority over my daughter."
Under cross-examination by the Crown lawyer, Nancy Davis stated: "We feel we have the right to travel where we want, to go where we want. [The border] is an imaginary line for Americans and Canadians, not Mohawks."
Asked outright if she recognized the authority of the court, Nancy Davis replied simply: "No."
Katenies also addressed the court, while reiterating from the start that she did not recognize its jurisdiction, and pointedly refused to accept all charges, declining to have them read to her. When the court clerk tried to swear her in, Katenies stated: "I can only tell what I know."
Katenies emphasized that she continues to demand that the courts address the jurisdiction question; that is, under what authority can colonial Canadian courts, agencies or officials claim to have jurisdiction over sovereign Mohawks. She stated forcefully: "I'm a passionate person, I'm a mother and I'm a grandmother. But, I've had no respect. No one has looked at what I've put forward."
Katenies already served the court with a Motion to Dismiss, and invoked the jurisdiction question, back on January 18, 2007, almost one-and-a-half years ago. Her complete motion is linked here: http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2007/03/katenies-serves-court-with-jurisdiction.html
Under cross-examination, Katenies was asked by the Crown lawyer if she would accept paying a cash bond; she replied: "That would be extortion at this point because jurisdiction has not been dealt with." She added: "I don't see why you should incarcerate me and beat me into submission without answering my question."
She threw the accusation of contempt back at the Crown, stating: "It is [your law] and your constitution that you keep talking about. Why do you continue to ignore me and our people, who have our own land and constitution?"
In his final submissions, the Crown argued that Katenies "has nothing but complete disdain for the laws of these courts." He also made the somewhat obvious point: "Quite frankly, your worship, both mother and daughter don't recognize our jurisdiction."
He asked the court to keep Katenies in custody, adding: "She's not interested in appearing in court and she doesn't recognize us."
Nonetheless, the presiding Justice-of-the-Peace, Ms. Leblanc, decided to release Katenies under some basic conditions: that Katenies reside with her mother and notify the Akwesasne police of any change of address (Katenies has lived with her mother for the past 8 years, since the passing of her father): that her mother post a surety (ie. a $1000 bond without any deposit); and that Katenies appear in court or designate counsel to appear in court for her. Her next court date was set for July 14, 2008 at 9am at Cornwall's Superior Court.
Both Kahentinehta and Katenies, despite the brutal attack on them by CBSA officials, maintain their defiance and vow to continue to challenge the jurisdiction of the courts and border officials.
-- reported by Nazila & Jaggi, members of No One Is Illegal-Montreal
nooneisillegal@gmail.com - 514-848-7583
http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com
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