MNN Mohawk Nation News. 7.Mar.98. The following is taken from the caseof the Onondaga Indian Nation, Oliver Hill Jr., Alice Thompson and KenPapineau vs. The State of New York in the United States District Court,Northern District of New York 97-CV-445 NPM-GJD, pages 17 - 21. Thisindicates that the conspiracy is being developed by the Indian LawResource Centre which is funded by various foundation, including theRockefellers, the Fords and Oren Lyon's organization the FourDirections. Directors include Robert Coulter, Audrey Shenandoah ofOnondaga, John Mohawk, a Seneca, Vine Deloria Jr., gaiashkibos formerlyof the NCAI. The full text of the case is available.
The Report states that the editor of the national Indian news journal,Akwesasne Notes, Doug George, was charged in Canada with the shootingdeath of one of the Mohawks killed at Akwesasne. Although George waspart of the violence that erupted on the territory, the Report statesthat "Doug had long been the leading opponent of gambling on thereservation". He is described as a "crusading journalist imprisoned ontrumped up charges". The Center came to Doug's defense financially andotherwise assisted by the Canadian government.
The Center also "advised the traditional Mohawk and Six NationsConfederacy leaders in their efforts to bring about a peacefulresolution of the crisis that engulfed Oka, Quebec and other Mohawkcommunities near Montreal in July. The traditional Mohawk leaders askedfor our help because the same "warrior" who had caused so much strife atAkwesasne were controlling the violent resistance at Oka and the nearbycommunities, and there was justifiable fear of a spread of theviolence".
"Throughout the many months of this conflict we were deeply involved inconsultations with the traditional Mohawk and Six Nations leadership.We worked closely with the Six Nations negotiation team that sought outa peaceful resolution of the crisis. We consulted with Canadian andUnited States officials about the crisis and urged a peacefulresolution. We accompanied a Six Nations delegation that met personallywith Govenor Cuomo and developed the groundwork for a resolution of thelaw enforcement and gambling issues".
All of this was carried out without consultation with or knowledge andconsent of the people affected.
Even with the Tuscarora Nation the Center devised a legal and politicalstrategy to request the assistance of the federal government to stoptheir illegal businesses. The Center asked the federal government totake action against those individuals who are engaged in businesswithout the license and approval required by Tuscarora law and thefederal Indian trader statutes.
The Center also helped the Onondaga with the tax issues and, accordingto their 1990 report, "were successfully resolved" and were continuingto help the nation institute regulations to control businesses on thereservation. On the other hand, the New York State Supreme Court foundon May 14th 1997 that the states actions in forcing Indians to pay salestaxes on fuel and cigarettes was found to be illegal. Judge Hon. RoseH. Sconiers condemned the Council of Chiefs who made deals with New YorkStates. These illegal agreements are "beyond its delegated authority,ultra vires and unlawful". She added that this "Indian Agreement"imposes through economic coercion, a change in the cultural fabric ofReservation Indians by permitting tax free status to only certaindesignated Tribal members".
The Great Law of Peace, the Constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy,is the law of the Iroquois nations by which the maintain theirrelationship to the newcomers. The New York State Court is part of theNew York State judicial system and the action was between New York Stateand the Seneca Nation. New York state as a party to the action andsitting in judgment violates the natural law principles of a right to animpartial third party hearing. Any disputes in the future should be ona nation to nation level with an impartial third party mutuallyacceptable to both parties".
The Council of Chiefs who signed this agreement with New York State toimpose illegal taxation on the Iroquois people, have been continuouslyinvolved in a conspiracy to deprive the people of the IroquoisConfederacy of their rights under the Iroquois Constitution, and, inparticular, have not represented the best interests of the sovereignrights of the Iroquois people.
In the 1992 Indian Law Resource Center Annual Report, the conspiracycontinues. "In 1992, we continued to provide assistance to the MohawkNation Council of Chiefs in its efforts to control illegal gambling andcigarette smuggling on the Akwesasne Reservation on the New York-Canadaborder. We are assisting with legal efforts to hold New York stateofficials and others accountable for the violence that plagued theReservation during the spring of 1990. We helped draft the complaintfor a lawsuit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt OrganizationsAct challenging the State's failure to protect the anti-gambling Mohawksfrom violence. Although we are not serving as counsel, we provided muchof the information that is the foundation of the suit, and we regularlyconsult with the plaintiffs' counsel". "We advised the Nation aboutprocedures for the county sheriff to obtain permission from the Councilof Chiefs to enter Nation territory and arrest persons violating statelaw". "We prepared an an analysis for our New York Indian clients andadvised them on the legal dangers that lay before them should they failto comply with certain state tax laws and with the federal excise andincome tax laws". (p. 13). "At the request of the Six Nations chiefs,we analyzed the decision and analyzed New Yorkís statutes andregulations governing taxation of sales on Indian reservations. Weadvised the chiefs about political and legal strategies to challenge thetaxes". (p. 14).
In the Indian Law Resource Center Annual Report 1993, under the heading"Tribal Regulation of Gaming and Businesses", "One of the most pressingproblems facing the Six Nations Confederacy concerns unlawful andunregulated businesses on their reservations. Tribal efforts have beenstymied by state criminal prosecutions of chiefs, lack of resources andlack of cooperation and assistance from state and federal authorities.The operation of business in open defiance of Indian law and the Councilof Chiefs threatens the peace and security of reservation residents andthreatens the institutions of Indian governments. Working with the SixNations Chiefs, we have devised a strategy to help deal with thisproblem, including enlisting the cooperation of the Bureau of IndianAffairs, the U.S./ Attorney, and the Justice Department; administrativeproceedings to revoke federal traders licenses, criminal prosecutions;cooperative agreements with local law enforcement authorities, and civilsuits to close the businesses".
In the 1994 Report, "We have been working with the traditional chiefsto strengthen the rule of law in their communities, to develop moreproductive economic activities and to develop new federal regulationswhich would strengthen the legal authority of the chiefs to regulatebusiness on their territories". (p. 12). It was also reported that theSummit of the Americas that took place in December 1994, in Miami, ameeting of all 34 heads of states of the Americas, was attended by theCenterís Executive Director as a guest of the White House. (p. 13). In the 1995 Report, the Center represents the Mohawk Nations in afederal lawsuit to recover thousands of acres of reservation land thatwas illegally taken by New York State. "New York has greatlycomplicated these negotiations by insisting that extraneous issues beconsidered, such as resolution of State demands for tax revenues fromMohawk fuel and cigarette sales". (p. 4). The Center also reportedthat among the Six Nations Confederacy, "Racketeer businessmen haveattempted to overthrow or displace the sovereign Indian governments.Some have instigated violence and other criminal activities and refuseto submit to legal controls and taxation by the Indian governments".(p. 8).
Some of the Directors of the Indian Law Resource Center are Robert T.Coulter, Audrey Shenandoah of Onondaga, John Mohawk, a Seneca, VineDeloria Jr., gaiashkibos formerly of the National Congress of AmericanIndians. Grantors and contributors include the Rockefeller Foundation,the Ford Foundation, the Fund of the Four Directions (Oren Lyon'sorganization).
According to Indian Law Resource Center Annual Reports from 1990 to1995, they have been helping the Onondaga Nation in recovering theirland by planning a legal and political strategy aimed at an agreementbetween the Onondagas and the State of New York. The Chiefs asked themto proceed with the claim and the Center's historical and legal researchis substantially completed. In 1992 the Chiefs decided to move aheadwith their historic claim to recover a large area of land that was takenfrom them by New York State in violation of the federal Trade andIntercourse Acts between 1790 and 1822. The Center developed a publicrelations and public education strategy by working with a professionalfirm in Syracuse.
Mohawk Nation News (MNN)
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