Courtesy of Mohawk Nation News, here is the full speech delivered earlier today at the rally in front of the Law Society of Upper Canada. This was delivered by Janie Jamieson, Spokesperson of the Six Nations of the Grand River.
Thanks to MNN for sending this out…

August 21, 2007

Throughout the past year and a half the rule of law has been the topic of discussion for many political and personal circles. Many questions are asked, “Why isn’t the rule of law being equally applied to everyone? Are Natives above the law? Why are certain people allowed to break the law? Are agents of the Canadian government subject to their own rule of law…” The list goes on.

Today I have some questions about the rule of law my self. Valid questions based on actual events.

Law according to the oxford dictionary means: a rule established by authority.

It’s true as societies we need a set of principles to maintain a peaceful and respectful existence. The Kaianerehkowa or the Great Peace of the Haudenosaunee – Six Nations is just that. Our Constitutional Law or the Great Peace is based on a protocol of peace. Our Great Law legislates, our ability to sit together as reasonable people and council, nation to nation and clan to clan to ensure our existence.

Here we stand today in front of the Law Society of Upper Canada. A building built with money stolen by UPPER CANADA from the Haudenosaunee Six Nations Trust Fund, or more specifically, the Grand River Navigation Company. A few months ago CANADA offered Six Nations $125 million for a few parcels of land and the Grand River Navigation Company.

They are offering us money that was made from the lands they stole from us.

In all reality it’s like someone stealing a car, renting it out and then offering the true owner of the car the money they made by renting it. It’s like claiming the car is now the legal property of the thief. Is that a legal process? Is that justice for the victim of the theft? No, but when it comes to our stolen lands CANADA claims it is. We all know under no law is theft legal.

CANADA has a deep rooted history in regards to its’ illegal activity and discrimination against Indians. Illegal activity is what built the capitalist state of CANADA into what it is today, financially prosperous. Discrimination and genocide against our people is what enables Canada to continue to financially prosper.

CANADA’S lawlessness, genocidal policies and smear campaign began when the first European arrived. Jesuits sent letters back to England claiming there was much unoccupied land here for the taking. They claimed our women were immoral and were there for the taking as well. Newcomers treated our land and women the same.

Colonizers believed neither our earth nor our Ogwehowe women deserved respect, kindness or caring. Yet, they knew full well the high regard we hold as Ogwehowe women as the nurturers of life. They knew then what they still know today.

Our Mother Earth and our women hold a tremendous responsibility. Our duty and responsibility is to protect human life, plant life and animal life. Women are the backbones of our societies. We are responsible for our nations’ existence as Ogwehowe, the true sovereign daughters and sons of Turtle Island. It was when colonizers realized our responsibilities their lawbreaking began.

They created a Doctrine of Discovery for North America. As believers in God they declared it was legal and justified to murder our people and steal our lands. If we opposed or resisted it was legal and justified for them to declare holy war on us, after all it was “the will of god” to do what they were doing.

Early European settlers knew they had to dehumanize Indians and destroy our families to successfully kill off our languages, family structures, customs and traditions. After there were no Indians left, they believed they could then have clear title to our land. Why?
Nobody would be there to stand up against this theft and genocide.

Under any law it is illegal to murder.

Under any law it is illegal to create legislation to murder a nation of people. In simpler terms it is genocide.

It was way before 1492 Europeans set an acceptable standard of law on how to deal with Indians who resist rape, murder and genocide. By then European colonizers declared we were not human, as we did not read, write or comprehend English.

Early Europeans declared we were incapable of making responsible decisions in regards to our lands, families and future. They believed as uncivilized Indians we would never succeed in creating civilized societies, as England and France had done.

Since England believed they were so dignified and proper they soon realized it was impossible to explain how hanging an Indian, raping and murdering young Indian children and Indian women was PROPER. Or how would they explain how it was PROPER to slaughter a whole nation of people?

LEGISLATION!! Is the answer! They reasoned if genocidal legislation followed a religious method, if it was written down and worded using proper English, it will be legal. After all, the whole rule of law is based on the Supremacy of God, property and land ownership and being polite.

So back in the mid 1800s the European colonizers legislated, the first genocidal policy in North America. It was called the Gradual Indian Civilization Act. In 1858 a meeting to protest this Genocidal Act was held at the Onondaga Longhouse at Grand River Territory.

Our ancestors knew then the legislation being created for our people was illegal and immoral. That’s why Canada created legislation to make it illegal for us to hire lawyers until the mid 1900’s, that’s why non-Native women were given the right to vote decades before any Indian.

The Gradual Indian Civilization was turned into the Indian Act. Canada once again claimed we were not human and declared us wards. Yet, during this time the leaders in Canada and its’ reps were supposedly signing valid, legal land surrenders. This is when the majority of our lands were stolen.

Going back to the Canadian RULE OF LAW, under what precedent or case is it legal to enter into an agreement with an incompetent person or ward of the state? Which is what Canada is saying they did? How is that a valid contract?? How does that uphold the RULE OF LAW? It doesn’t.

Historian Dr. Anthony Hall made a valid point when he said, “the route to wealth for newcomers (referring to early colonizers) is land sales and land development.”

Sound familiar? Centuries later the killing and discrimination of our people was illegal then and it still is today. Who is holding Canada accountable for land theft, how can they when their law is ever changing to justify their illegal activity? What is the recourse for us the victims of theft, rape, kidnapping, robbery and victims of genocidal legislation? Where is all this covered under Canada’s RULE OF LAW?

Several historical and modern Canadian leaders are guilty of genocide, discrimination and other acts of lawlessness. Yet they are recognized by their country as upstanding citizens. They have cities, towns, roads and schools named after them. Their contribution to the capitalist state of CANADA is honored in CANADA’S history.

Former Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald achieved Knighthood. Was it due to his unofficial war against Indians? According to an Athabascan University Historian Sir John A. Macdonald was a Prime Minister responsible for breaching treaties, starvation of our people as well as negligence and manipulation.

Sir John A. was involved in the largest mass hangings of Indians in Canada, the imprisonment of Indian and Metis People and the execution of Louis Riel.
Sir John A. upheld the Indian Act, reserve-land surrenders and outlawing of traditional ceremonies.

How was genocide, murder, fraud, the breaking of treaties and land theft legal or justified? It wasn’t! But after all John A. Macdonald was a Prime Minister and a knight why should he be held accountable for Murder, genocide and land theft?

Sir John A. MacDonald was only upholding the Doctrine of Discovery an acceptable standard of law created by the first colonizers that come to Turtle Island, . Perfectly legal and justified because God said so, they claimed.

There have been many recent Indian Wars. These aren’t a thing of the past. They are real and are occurring as we speak, Grassy Narrows, Tyendinega, Six Nations and Sharbot Lake to name a few. Some of the most notable not so current yet etched in our minds forever are Kahnasetake – OKA, Gustaffsen Lake and Ipperwash. At each of these Indian Wars, as the RCMP calls them; many more acceptable standards of law were upheld and set for our people. In each of these situations a mere “CONTEMPT OF COURT’ was supposedly being committed.

In OKA, they were shot at with high powered rifles and surrounded by the CANADIAN ARMY. CANADA still hasn’t proven it’s ownership of the land. Was, any of CANADA’S acts legal or justified? Remember it was supposed to be a contempt of court violation.

What about the stoning of our children, women and elderly at Whiskey Trench at the same time? The ones who were charged for throwing the stones were all given absolute discharges.

CANADA SET THE ACCEPTABLE LEGAL STANDARD TO FIRE ON LANDOWNERS ENJOYING THEIR PROPERTY.
CANADA SET THE ACCEPTABLE LEGAL STANDARD TO ASSAULT, INTIMIDATE AND TERRORIZE MEMBERS OF A SPECIFIC RACE AND RELIGION BY STONING THEM.

At Gustaffsen Lake CANADA fired 77, 000 rounds of ammunition at our people.

Once again CANADA SET THE ACCEPTABLE LEGAL STANDARD on how to deal with Indians who will stand up for their birth rights and Indians who will protect their property.

Now for a moment let’s honor Dudley George. On September 6, 1995 CANADA once again UPHELD THE ACCEPTABLE LEGAL STANDARD in regards to murdering any Indian who was strong enough to stand up and defend the existence of our future generations. Dudley George was shot and killed by a trained OPP sniper. Quite extreme for a contempt of court charge!

I guess Mike Harris the Premier at the time was successful in getting one of the “fucking Indians out the park”. What school will be named after him?

On April 20, 2006 at Douglas Creek Estates CANADA SET THE ACCEPTABLE LEGAL STANDARD once again for the execution a mere contempt of court of charge. We had our sleeping women pulled out of the tents by their hair, our young men and women beaten until they were awoken, our grandmothers beaten at a ratio of 5 to 1, marksmen made targets of men and women running through the dark field @ 4:30 in the morning. Our grandfathers beaten our children and men tasered, yet the most disgusting ACCEPTABLE LEGAL STANDARD for CANADA in my eyes that day was those OPP officers holding high powered rifles and making targets of two sleeping sisters then aged 10 months old and 2 years old and their mother.

ACCEPTABLE STANDARD FOR EXECUTING CANADA’S RULE OF LAW for a contempt of court injunction but hey all that extreme execution is only for lawless, savage, radical Indians.

That’s not the worst of the CANADA’S RULE OF LAW.

Throughout these so-called Indian Wars the RCMP is always in the back drop. They work behind the scenes on what they call their disinformation and smear campaigns against us so called lawless radicals.

Let’s talk about CANADA’S RULE OF LAW and use truth and knowledge as our guide. Is it discriminatory, you answer that? Is it just? You can answer that too.

How is it legal to make a profession out of slandering and defaming an innocent race of people so the public will not support them? It’s not.

Yet that’s the job of the RCMP and their self proclaimed disinformation and smear campaign during Indian Wars. It’s the job of the Canadian governments’ mainstream media to help the RCMP and OPP to use whatever means necessary to conjure up early European images of uncivilized crazed “LAWLESS” savages. These images are then hopefully meant to get the public’s attention as this is what they are taught in school and images of most CANADIAN citizens and new immigrants are familiar with. Even if they are not true, CANADA will do what they can to sway minds so we will not be supported. CANADA then criminalizes our right to stand up and protect our very existence. Is that in accordance with the Rule of Law?

CANADA’S disinformation and smear campaign violates CANADIAN LAW, the United Nations Human Rights Declaration and International Law.

Propaganda against any race is illegal, plain and simple.

The Rule of Law of is an English term which equates to Honoring the Crown. When you consider the many treaties or agreements that have been made with Indian Nations in Canada you must remember these are binding agreements, according to the British common law or rule of law. You must also remember a violation of the Rule of Law or not honoring the crown is treason.

So think about your own constitution for a moment and what your government is doing today by breaking so many sections of it‘s own Constitution. Section 35 for example, It states Aboriginal treaty rights are to be upheld.

Is, Canada and the Province honoring that while they are negotiating with Six Nations?
No, they are not upholding their constitution.

What about the equal application of the law??
Is it applied equally to all Canadian citizens? Has it been applied to them at all?
Is it legal to enforce your Rule of Law on sovereign nations that have never relinquished sovereignty or been beaten in battle on our own territories?

Keep in mind the fact Haudenosaunee are not SUBJECTS of the Crown, know your history. We are allies. So, does Canada have legal authority over any sovereign Nations that were functioning on Turtle Island? I mean really Canada supposedly only had their constitution ratified a mere 22 years ago. Even the ratification is in question according to acceptable legal standards set by international law.

Is Canada’s rule of law applicable to the Her Majesty’s allies?

I ask these questions in front of one of CANADA’S biggest prides. The prestigious LAW SOCIETY OF UPPER CANADA. A building built with money stolen from Six Nations Trust Fund. A building built to “provide the province of UPPER CANADA, with a learned and honorable body, to assist their fellow subjects as occasions may require and to maintain and support the constitution of the said Province.” Their mandate remains the same today and boasts 35, 000 members.

The Department of Justice is supposed to be the CANADIAN government’s law firm. Are they upholding their own rule of law and honoring the Crown? Are they upholding Canada’s constitution –how about Section 35? And why are they responding to land issues at Six Nations?

As a member of a CANADIAN democracy is that what you the people legislated your federal (ist state) representatives to do??? Is that in itself an acceptable standard of Canadian law, to have lawmakers speak on behalf of the capitalist state of CANADA?

My last question is, Are Canada’s negotiators at Six Nations upholding their own constitution?

My answer is of course not. They are ignoring their own rule of law and their own constitution. We have tolerated CANADA’S disrespect and lawlessness far too long. Maybe Her Majesty will accept Canada’s treason and dishonor in regards to treatment of our people.

We as the true sovereign title holders to Turtle Island will no longer accept the discriminatory, genocidal and lawless standards CANADA has set for our grandmothers, grandfathers and sons and daughters.

We will continue to uphold the natural supreme law of the land which is our own Constitution, the Great Law …the oldest form of true democracy based on peace in the world.

Danetoh
Janie Jamieson
Six Nations.