Kahnawake Mohawks walk in support of Six Nations

Mohawks walk in support of Six Nations

KAHNAWAKE MOHAWK “ROTISKENEKETEH” PEACEFULLY WALK ACROSS CPR TRACKS IN SUPPORT OF 6 NATIONS DEFENDERS OF THE LAND

Mohawk Nation News

Sept. 20, 2007. Message from Rotiskeneketeh, “We will be walking peacefully on the CPR tracks from the “border” of Kahnawake at St. Constant off Highway 132 at the intersection of Highway 30. From there we will walk to the Train Bridge over the tunnel in the village of Kahnawake .”

“We are standing in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Six Nations who have just been kidnapped by the foreigners forces of the Ontario Provincial Police, Hamilton City Police and the RCMP. Ontario and Canada have walked away from the “talks”. This has always been an international matter of colonial Canada invading the Indigenous sovereign people of Six Nations.”

“Our people have been victimized by attacks from colonial government agencies. This use of force must stop. They must obey international law. We are standing together in support of all of our Six Nations Territories .”

“Defending our land is not criminal.”

Contact: Janie at 519-732-9828 and B.L.T. 514-816-9533.

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Supporters at the Cayuga courthouse shield native protesters from reporters and photographers as they leave the building after bail hearings yesterday.

Three suspects wanted in beating
Eight native protesters released on bail

September 21, 2007
John Burman and Paul Legall
The Hamilton Spectator
CALEDONIA (Sep 21, 2007)

Arrest warrants have been issued for three suspects wanted in an attack on a builder during the native occupation of the Stirling Woods development last week.

Builder Sam Gualtieri, 52, suffered serious facial injuries and possible brain damage Sept. 13 when he confronted protesters inside a house he’s building for his daughter.

OPP Constable Paula Wright said late yesterday Haldimand detectives, with help from the OPP intelligence bureau and Six Nations Police, have identified three suspects and issued warrants for their arrest.

Richard Smoke, 18, is wanted for aggravated assault and break and enter.

Byron Powless, 18, is wanted for assault and break and enter. A 15-year-old youth who can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act is wanted for assault, uttering threats and break and enter.

Gualtieri was released from Hamilton General Hospital Tuesday but still requires tests to determine if he suffered brain damage.

Joe Gualtieri said earlier his brother was confronted by at least three males when he went into the house at about 4 p.m. He believes a stair rail may have been used in the assault. Native protesters who were at the site that day have said the youths Gualtieri encountered were trying to defend themselves.

The OPP have asked anyone who knows where the suspects are to contact Haldimand OPP at 905-772- 3322, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or leave an anonymous tip online at www[dot]helpsolvecrime[dot]com.

Earlier yesterday, eight of nine protesters arrested at the Caledonia building site Wednesday were released on bail, including an American who was allegedly carrying brass knuckles.

Ronald Cook, 31, of Akwasasne, New York, who has been living in Canada and involved in the occupation of Douglas Creek Estates, was released on $2,500 bail.

He faces charges of mischief by interfering with the lawful use of property and possession of a prohibited weapon in relation to a pair of brass knuckles.

While on bail, he has to keep out of Haldimand county, except to attend court, and is prohibited from having any firearms, ammunition or explosives and must keep the peace and be of good behaviour.

Skyler Williams, 24, of Ohsweken, was charged with mischief and assaulting police to resist arrest during a massive police sweep of the Stirling Woods site Wednesday afternoon.

About 50 officers in riot gear, which included shields and batons, were brought in to clear the building site of a small pocket of protesters who had refused to leave.

Williams was picked up on an outstanding warrant for allegedly assaulting a CH television cameraman in the Canadian Tire parking lot in Caledonia in June, 2006. He will appear for a bail hearing Monday.

Sheranne MacNaughton, 24, of Hagersville, and Teresa Jamieson, 41, of Ohsweken, were both charged with mischief and assaulting police to resist arrest. They were released on $1,000 and $500 bail respectively.

Francine Doxtator, 47, of no fixed address; Stephen Powless, 42, of Ohsweken; and June Jamieson-Maracle, 42, also of Ohsweken, were all charged with mischief and released on $5,000 bail.

Gregory Powless, 18, of Ohsweken, was charged with mischief and released on $1,000 bail.

A 16-year-old girl, who was also charged with mischief, has been released in the custody of her father and didn’t have to put up any bail money.

Apart from Williams, all the accused persons were ordered to return to court on Oct.17 and must keep out of Caledonia or remain at least 1,600 metres away from Stirling Woods as part of their bail conditions. They’ve also been prohibited from owning any weapons, ammunition or explosives.

Defence lawyer Stephen Ford, who represented all the persons released yesterday, said his clients felt the allegations read against them in court yesterday were “unfounded.”

Justice of the peace Paul Welsh imposed a gag prohibiting the media reporting the content of a Crown synopsis which outlined the allegations against the accused.

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OPP probing earlier cases in Caledonia

September 21, 2007
John Burman
The Hamilton Spectator
CALEDONIA (Sep 21, 2007)

No one has come forward to claim the $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of vandals who burned the hydro transformer at the height of tension between natives and Caledonia townsfolk last May.

The OPP say the $300,000 transformer fire — in which someone drove a pickup truck through a locked gate and set the vehicle ablaze near the equipment — is still an open investigation.

No arrests have been made and police are still appealing to the public for information.

“Suspects have not been identified, the investigation is still open and we are appealing for anyone with information (in these incidents) to please come forward,” Haldimand OPP Constable Paula Wright said yesterday.

Other Douglas Creek related incidents that have not led to charges include:

* The burning in May of a wooden bridge over the RaiLink Canada rail line north and east of the occupied site.

* A security guard watching the substation after that was hauled from his vehicle and the car burned by vandals.

* In December the owners of a home on Argyle Street West behind the protesters’ barricade, saw someone running out of their home.

They later found it had been ransacked and graffiti scrawled on the wall.

The OPP has arrested and charged five of six persons in incidents involving a stolen U.S. Border Patrol vehicle, an assault on a television crew and a confrontation between natives on Arygle Street and an elderly couple one weekend in June.

These five persons are still before the courts. The sixth person has not been arrested. Albert Douglas, 30, of Six Nations, is wanted for the attempted murder of a police officer.

The natives were given the land in 1784 by the British Crown and say they never surrendered it, but Ottawa says the vast majority of it was sold by the 1850s.