Milton Born With A Tooth Will Not Be Sentenced By Peigans
Last Friday morning, (August 22) Justice Willis O'Leary refused to
allow a native sentencing circle for Milton Born With A Tooth. The
Judge has also upheld the minimum one year prison term for one of
the five charges -- using a firearm while committing an indictable
offence. The environmental activist will be sentenced in Fort
MacLeod, Friday, Sept. 9th, starting at 10:00 A.M.
The full court room was somber and some shook their heads in
disbelief as the judge read his decision. The Crown prosecutor had
not presented any arguments against the use of a sentencing circle
and the community had indicated that it wanted to hold one.
Milton Born With A Tooth's lawyer Karen Gainer had used the Charter
of Rights to argue that the minimum one year prison term was "cruel
and an unusual punishment" given that the main charge --
obstructing a peace officer -- carries a maximum of two years.
Milton Born With A Tooth was tried on five charges stemming from a
single incident on September 7, 1990, when he fired two shots in
the air to warn RCMP and the Alberta Government officials that they
were trespassing on Peigan Band lands. Alberta's Chief Justice had
instructed that 50 per cent of the panel from which the trial jury
was selected be native people. Later, Justice O'Leary agree with
the prosecution's argument that native people should not be
deliberately included, and ordered that a new panel of prospective
jurors be called. The new jury found Born With A Tooth guilty of
all charges last March 15th. Although an appeal was written, Born
With A Tooth, was unable to raise the full $10,000 needed to file
the appeal.
The Oldman River, its wildlife, cottonwood forests and traditional
sits are the foundation of the Peigan culture. The Dam and its
predicted destruction of the Oldman River are regarded as cultural
genocide.
In March of 1990, the Federal Court had removed the federal licence
required for the Dam and ordered a public environmental assessment
and review. Despite the ruling and the Supreme Court's decision to
uphold the ruling, the province had continued work on the Dam. The
Lone Fighter Society, with the support of the Peigan Chief, Council
and elders, went to work to protest the continued illegal
construction of the Dam. They worked on their reserve lands to
divert part of the flow of the Oldman River around the Lethbridge
Northern Irrigation District (LNID) headworks. The LNID headworks
are still today, the only facility that makes the Oldman Dam
reservoir usable for irrigation. This massive development will
turn the Oldman River on the Peigan Reserve into nothing more than
a conduit to transport water from the Dam reservoir to the LNID
headworks.
The first recommendations of the court ordered environmental review
was to make the Dam inoperable and instead allow the free flow of
the river through it. The Government of Alberta has yet to
implement any of the recommendations from the review, including a
negotiated settlement with the Peigan People. The Lonefighter
Society's work came to an end September 7, 1990, when the Alberta
Cabinet ordered an armed invasion of 36 RCMP with helicopter back-
up, plus the para-military arm of the RCMP on the Peigan reserve.
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