Sovereignty Defense Successful in Mohawk Trial
Sunday Harrison, Prison News Service
(NLNS)--After twenty-eight days of jury trial and five days of deliberation,
all defendants were acquited of charges stemming from the summer 1990
standoff at Kanehsatake (Oka), near Montreal.
Commenting on the jury's decision, the defendants stated:
"In our trial, we did not hide behind a criminal defense but admitted
that we were there and did bear arms in defense of our land and our people.
The verdict is seen by the Mohawks and their allies as an admission by the
jury that the issues involving land and jurisdiction must be addressed not in
the Criminal Courts but by negotiations on a Nation by Nation basis between
the Canadian government and the Six Nations Confederaccy. The jury understood
that we were sincere in our efforts to reach a peaceful end to the conflict,
despite the duplicitous and colonial attitudes of all levels of governments
and attempts by police agencies to criminalize the situation."
Evidence presented during the trial showed clearly that the Mohawks have
consistently asserted sovereignty and historically defended the area known as
the Pines. Known as "common grounds," it contains a sacred burial area area
and is a collecting site for valuable traditional medicines. The Mohawk
community of Kanehsatake was made aware of plans to expand on of nearby Oka's
gof courses back in 1988, and the community organized to prevent the expansion
from taking place. But by March 1990 their efforts were to no avail and
developers were slated to start cutting trees. A golf-course expansion
document notes that "the trees in the Pines will have a good market value once
they are cut down to make way for the project." Plans included the removal of
the ancestors' remains.
Mohawk women, children and men began to occupy the site with modest
blockades, while attempting to continue negotiations with municipal and
provincial officials. On July 9, the Quebec Minister of "Indian Affairs" John
Caccia sent a letter to the Oka Mayor Jean Ouellette asking him very clearly
not to act in any way that would further antagonize the Mohawk people. At the
same time however, orders were being given to the provincial police (SQ) to
dismantle the barricades.
On July 11, 1990, the SQ SWAT team arrived in full combat gear and used
automatic weapons, concussion grenades, smoke bombs and tear gas. In the
shooting melee one of their own was killed, probably by "friendly fire"--
deducing from the fact that autopsy reports were never released and no
charges ever brought. Thus began the 77-day armed standoff known of the Oka
crisis.
By September 1, 1990, the sympathy barricades in nearby Kahnawake,
blocking the Mercier bridge into Montreal from the suburbs, had been
dismantled through negotiations, but the Quebec and Canadian governments broke
their word before the ink was dry. For 26 days the Kanehsatake resistence was
holed up in the Treatment Centre (TCC) building, surrounded by Canadian Armed
Forces razor wire and largest domestic troop deployment since 1885--also
against a native rebellion--in Canada. At the army's disposal were 14 armoured
vehicles, each mounted with two machine guns, a "heavy" machine gun and eight
smoke grenade launchers. Each soldier carried a C-7 machine gun (automatic
version of the M-16A2). Psychological warfare was paramount, trying without
success to goad the Mohawks to fire upon the army. Various incidents such as
the beating of a Mohawk man by four soldiers on "reconaissance" and a raid
claiming to search for weapons at the Kahnawake Longhouse (comparable to a
mosque, church or temple) escalated tensions unbelievably: but the Mohawks and
their allies in the TC held firm. Food, medicines and spiritual advisors were
prevented from reaching the TC, in violation of signed agreements. Human
rights abuses were duly recorded and never denied by army witnesses during the
trial.
Trial strategy
On Sept. 26, 1990, approximately 60 people left the TC unarmed, and faced
random brutality from troops caught off guard by the exit route. Of these,
thirty-four ended up standing trial without recourse to criminal defense on
charges of obstructing police, rioting and weapons possession during the
period 1-26 September. Another five accused opted for a criminal defense
citing lack of evidence, and were successful, although they were seen by
co-defendants as having broken rank for a hollow victory. One defendant
refused to appear in a foreign court, and was supported for doing so by others
on the stand. He was also acquitted.
Testimony cited the Two Row Wampum treaty, which sets clear guidelines
for non-intervention and mutual respect between Mohawks and European settlers.
Ellen Gabriel, a primary spokesperson during the 1990 crisis, presented her
Mohawk passport (recognized in 17 countries) as her identification. Both her
parents as well as numerous relatives are buried in the Pines cemetary. Hers
and other testimony made clear that the women of the Mohawk Nation are the
only rightful title holders because they are the caretakers of the land by
traditional law, and they have never sold or ceded the land. The Band Council
system of government is merely an administrative body forcibly imposed by the
federal government. This testimony gave jurors an education, as did a
reconvention of court in the Pines where they could see for themselves the
beauty and peace of the sacred land. The long and fruitless negotiations
preceding the July 11 invasion were made clear to the jury, and testimony
relating to the spiritual nature of the resistance could be heard within the
context of a political defense based on sovereignity. The definition of
"Warrior" as someone who "carries the burden of Peace on his/her shoulders"
with an obligation to defend the Nation, land, children and Iroquois
Confederacy was heard repeatedly, with no apology or equivocation.
The prosecution was essentially unprepared for a political trial, and
relied on media images of violent "Warriors" to fill the gaps in evidence.
(At one point a Crown prosecutor suggested that the deceased SQ officer had
been killed by bow and arrow.) They weakly, perhaps desperately, trotted out
some 1912 British Privy Council decision which states that Mohawk land was
granted to Sulpican priests by a French monarch who never set foot on the
American continent. (The priests abondoned their setlement long ago.) The army
officers all testified to being unaware of the land issue and insisted they
were "peacekeepers" who were "just following orders." Video evidence showed
the opposite, and no doubt destroyed the credibility of the prosecution. But
for all its political unpreparedness, a crown attorney instructed the jury
that to acquit would "send a message that in Canada you can settle a land
issue out of court with weapons" which would "open the door to confusion,
disorder and anarchy. Yes, anarchy."
The defense maintained that the defendants did nor commit any of the
alleged crimes and that no riot or unlawful assembly took place. Their actions
were justified because they were defending land which is rightfully theirs and
which was to be taken away from them. In his statements to the jury, Judge
Louis Tannenbaum reminded the jury of Oneida spiritual advisor Bruce Elijah's
words: "When the white man came across the great waters, he brought his laws,
his religion and his ways, but he brought no land." A fact, the judge said,
that he found hard to disagree with. He then refuted the crown's statement
about "sending the wrong message," stating that this amounted to intimidation
and was unacceptable. He said that if the jury was looking for a message then
they should consider Caccia's July 9 letter to Ouellete. He then told the jury
that if there was any reasonable doubt in their minds as to the guilt of the
defendants they must acquit. And acquit they did.
The Mohawks and their supporters learned a great deal from the trial. As
Joe David (an artist and TC defendant who prior to the summer of 1990 would
not have picked up a weapon) remarked in a recent interview, "We learned it's
up to us [to conduct a defense.] We can't rely on lawyers I they are not
ptrepared to do our political trials because we're not part of the Canadian
system and that's how they are trained. The best we can do is present our
history, have a jury trial, show them we've done this time and time again. As
Native people, all our communities are under a state of seige, not just for
months but for centuries. [In this context] the weapons charges are not
relevant." He also says there is nothing he would do differently given a
repeat of the same situation--and it appears that the state is prepared to do
the same, judging from soldier's testimony. However, in view of these
acquitals, we should expect more sophisticated "counterinsurgency" planning
from the start and more stringent attempts to criminalize participants in
Native resistance movements. The mainstream press and politicians, when not
ignoring the acquitals, decried them--perhaps as an "excess of democracy."
There were ("upon meticulous examination") no grounds for appeal of the
acquittals, which the Quebec stste claimed were "due to insufficient
evidence."
Native Sovereignty
Native sovereignty predates the existance of Canada and land "claim" cases in
Canadian courts rest on consistent assertion of sovereignty throughout
history. Christianity can be identified as a most reliable enemy-- through
residential schools and assimilation policies--and most unreliable ally--
little support came from churches in regards to any aspect of the Oka crisis.
As for costs, predictions of the defense costing $3 million were overly
pessimistic. The lawyer who was most able to take direction from the political
defendants also turned out to have lower fees: the cost (for the 34 acquitted)
is more like $150,000. In their press release, the defendants add: "From the
outset, the tremendous cost of this trial and other related trials, in terms
of time and finances, to our Nation and the Canadian government, was not
justifiable due to the political nature of the conflict. The fact remains that
the issues related to the golf course and other developments in the Pines have
not been settled. We interpret this acquittal as recognition by the jury of
the real issues that arose during and because of the Mohawk Crisis of 1990. We
wish to thank all the Nations from this Turtle Island who we know have used
their medicines and prayers for the success of this trial."
Contributions can be made to: The Akweeks Defense Fund, c/o Canadian
Rights and Liberties Federation, 323 Chapel St., Ottawa, Ontario, K1N
7Z2, Canada.
The persecution and prosecution of native people from the summer of 1990
has not ended. Many of the charges laid against Mohawk and other Native people
at the barricades at Kahnawake, which forestalled a second attack on
Kanehsatake, has made the state particularly anxious to come down hard.
Donations are needed to cover the costs of these trials as well. For
information on the upcoming trials, or to contribute funds, write: Liberation
of the Mohawk Nation, c/o Mohawk Nation Office, Box 1987, Kahnawake, Quebec,
J0L 2B0, Canada.
Prison News Servicce can be reached at PSC Publishers, PO Box 5052, Station A,
Toronto, Ontario M5W 1W4, Canada.
--- 30 ---