The following, taken mostly from newpaper articles, tells the story
of Gkisedtanamoogk, a brother, who is being held prisoner by the Canadian
Government...
This issue affects us all...especially those of us who travel
between the US and Canada or Mexico...It goes much deeper than border
crossings; it delves into keeping treaty promises....
At this time I am not sure of the best plan of action...we (members
of the Wabanaki Confedercy) are going to have a meeting on July 6th with
Gkisedtanamoogk...from that meeting we hope to build a plan....
I do know that Gkisedtanamoogk's family needs support and that any
donations towards his legal fees would be greatly appreciated....In the next
few days I will be posting more information on how to contribute....the
following is only to start making people aware that this is happening....
Thank you for any help you can offer.....especially your prayers.....
John Eagle Smith
AN EXILE IN HIS OWN LAND
A native traditionalist is barred from Canada, his family and his Burnt
Church home of 12 years for asserting his idenity as a Wabanaki...
His name is Gkisedtanamoogk. Nothing more, nothing less. Born in Cape
Cod, Mass., the 47-year-old's name has no English translation and to try to
do so, he says, diminishes its power. It is simply all that Gkisedtanamoogk
is, was and will be, summed up in a word.
Gkisedtanamoogk, a Wampanoag Indian, lives in the deep woods of Sulivan,
Maine between Bangor and the Canadian border, with a cousin, Hawk, and his
family. But not by choice. His true home is hundreds of kilometers north,
at the Burnt Church reserve, northeast of Chatham, New Brunswick, Canada.
He has been separated from his wife, Miigam'Agan, 37, his daughters
Sgoaganill, 12, and Goptjaoetj, 2 and son, Otjoson, 7, for more than four
months.
Last February Gkisedtanamoogk and his son went on an errand to Houlton,
Maine. Gkisedtanamoogk completed the errand and returned to the border
crossing. He was refused re-entry into Canada..
Instead, he and his son were detained for hours and, while his son was
allowed back into Canada, Gkisedtanamoogk was refused, even though he has
lived at the Burnt Church reserve for more than 12 years and his wife, a
Micmac, is a Status Indian.
He bides his time deep in the heart of Maine, waiting for Canada to honour
a more than 200 year old treaty that grants native people the right to free
travel across all North American boundries.
Gkisedtanamoogk's problems stem in part from his refusal to obey the laws
of Canada and the United States. As a native traditionalist, he obeys only
one law - the law of the Creator, the all-powerful force that created
existence - and maintains it.
He wears his Native heritage proudly. His hair is shorn on both sides and
he wears painted diagrams on his face.
He has a degree from Boston University and a paralegal certificate; at one
time, he wanted to become a lawyer. However, in the 1970's he embraced the
traditional ways, deciding the solution to his people's problems did not lie
in the white man's system.
His beliefs are not popular with all native people, he says. He believes
all the tribes of the east coast, including the Micmac, Maliseet,
Passamaquoddy and Penobscot, are really one people, the Wabanaki, separated
only by artificial divisions created by the white man's governments.
He believes that some band leaders have forgotten the true purpose of
leadership and instead govern for monetary awards and prestige. He also
believes the Canadian and US governments have a long and ugly history of
cheating the native people. He has spoken out on these issues since the
mid-1980s and says he has made a few enemies in both government and in the
bands.
"If I had a gun, they wouldn't fear me," he says. "They could call me a
lunatic. But, my weapon is in my head and people fear an intelligent man."
Gkisedtanamoogk rests his hopes fo re-entry into Canada on a document
called the Jay Treaty.
Signed in 1794 between the fledgling U.S. and Great Britain, the document
lays out details of settlement, trade and war on the North American
continent. Almost as an afterthought, the two sides mention the the Native
peoples. In the document, they admit colonial boundries cut across and
divide many traditional Native groups, including the Wabanaki and grant
freedom of travel to the Native people across the two countries' artificial
boundries.
"It is agreed that it shall at all times be free to His Majesty's subjects
and to the Citizens of the United States and to the Indians dwelling on
either side of said boundary line, freely to pass and repass by land or
inland navigation into the respective territories and countries of the two
parties....and to freely carry on trade and commerce with each other," the
document states.
The United States accepts the tenets of the treaty. Canada does not.
According to Bob Moore, head of Immigration in Fredericton, New Brunswick,
the reason is simple - for a treaty to be recognized, it has to be ratified
as a Statute. End of case.
But in reality, he says, it is not that simple.
"The little I know about this fellow," he says, " I have yet to hear a bad
comment about him. He seems to be a genuinely good person." "[But], when
he comes up to Immigration and says he's from the Wabanaki Nation, we say,
'where's that?'
"We ask where he was born, and if he's born in the U.S., then he's an
American citizen. We're basically looking at a person trying to come to
Canada without an immigration visa.
"My hands are tied on this. I can't make up laws as I go along."
Gkisedtanamoogk has other problems holding up his entry into Canada
besides his refusal to admit U.S. citizenship.
Gkisedtanamoogk and Miigam'Agan were married in the eyes of the Native
people in 1983. However, they did not fill out a marriage certificate nor
register their marriage with the American authorities. Their traditional
marriage is seen by Canadian authorities as a common-law marriage and
citizenship is not extended to common-law spouses.
Gkisedtanamoogk could return home if he agreed to file for Canadian
citizenship, but that would effectively betray everything he has fought for
and that's simply not an option, he says adamantly.
"This is not about me," he says. "it is about the Wabanaki people,
needing to be reunited, to be allowed to travel freely, to trade and to grow."
Gkisedtanamoogk admits it has been difficult, since his traditional
beliefs tell him his place is at home, providing for his family, and
especially teaching his children the traditional ways.
It has been hard for Gkisedtanamoogk's wife Miigam'Agan also. She works
at the band office to try to support the family and has a government Indian
allowance, but it still does not make up for Gkisedtanamoogk's absence.
"When he wasn't allowed to come home, I didn't know what to do," she says
sadly. "From the time of our marriage, the birth of our children, to the
naming of our children, the government has been an obstacle."
(For years the government wouldn't recognize Gkisedtanamoogk's children
because he and his wife refused to give them both first and last names.
After more than tens years of struggle by the family, New Brunswick amended
the Vital Statistics Act in 1994 to grant people the right to name their
children according to their cultural, ethnic or religious heritage.)
"It has affected the children as well," she says. "When we go to visit
him, my son gets frightened. He says, "Are they going to keep us there?"
"My daughter is growing up, all she knows is that the government has the
power to keep her dad away.
"Its difficult, because we want to keep a feeling of empowerment in their
little spirits," she sighs heavily.
"On the hard days, I do think about stuff like why keep trudging through
the system, when we could live comfortably like our neighbours, maintain the
western way of life?"
One way Gkisedtanamoogk could get his case heard is by trying to cross the
border. If he did, say Immigration officials, he'd be asked to leave, or
face deportation. If he refused, he would have a chance to ask Canada's
courts to hear his appeal to halt deportation. However, the chance the
courts would grant his appeal are slim.
****end note by JES*****
I know that Gkisedtanamoogk has the support of the Chiefs, of the Wabanaki
Confedercy, of the spiritual leaders and of many concerned citizens, from
all races...now I ask for yours..It is time for us all to come together and
protect each other's human rights... it affects us all...
All My Relations
John Eagle Smith
Mi'KMaq