I have a copy of the first Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council Newsletter (July 2014). Its format, although packaged to appear very friendly and informative, is clearly little more than a platform for the radical Haudenosaunee Development Institute. It would be worth sifting through, paragraph by paragraph, to get a sense of what "the message" is that is being conveyed by this propaganda tool. The contents will be listed by title of article within the Newsletter.
1) She:koh: In the sidebar they use the term "She:koh" (Sagoh - depending on the Six Nations language) or "Welcome". Their goal is, about reaching Haudenosaunee citizens (some 16,000 readers). Their goal is to, provide information about a variety of issues facing the HCCC, our departments, organizations or committees who are working towards the protection of Haudenosaunee rights, treaties, land rights, culture, language and future. Here is where it gets interesting, and one can get clues as to the group backing this "friendly flyer", and the true agenda. Specifically:
Our inaugural edition features our planning and development department the Haudenosaunee Development Institute, why it was created and its works to date.
There is, an exciting new website and YouTube Channel featuring talks with Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI) director Hazel E. Hill. In other words the newsletter is in effect a propaganda tool for the HDI who dominates the HCCC. They even have a toll free number where people are invited to provide feedback.
2) What is the Confederacy?: I don't take exception to this general overview except when they say, Often described as the oldest, participatory democracy on Earth, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy's constitution is believed to be a model for the American Constitution. This information is unfounded. The Confederacy is not a democracy in the true sense of the word. Chiefs are appointed by Clan Mothers via inherited titles. These Chiefs are responsible only to their Clan Mother from their Ohwachira (family lineage) who could dehorn (depose) them at any time. In general council (originally at Onondaga, NY) Chiefs would pass resolutions back and forth across the longhouse until consensus was reached. If consensus was not reached, there was nothing binding and all parties went their own way. Where is the democracy in this system. There were no elections, only appointments. The business about the Six Nations Confederacy being the model for the American Constitution is an old belief, often stated, but there are virtually no academics who agree that the Confederacy had any role in shaping the ideas of the founding fathers of the 13 original colonies. Old beliefs die hard.
3) The Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council: Flipping over to the next page, we find a side bar with more focus on the HDI. First it should be noted that the HDI have created their own very detailed Wikipedia page, seen here, although the editor notes that it has "multiple issues", perhaps the most damaging is the complete lack of any references.
In the Newsletter it says that the HCCC, has legislated the Haudenosaunee Development Institute ('HDI') to represent HCCC interests in the development of lands within areas of Haudenosaunee jurisdiction, including but not limited to the land prescribed by the Haldimand Proclamation and the 1701 Treaty area. The true facts are clear, the HDI has zero jurisdiction beyond its own imagination. The Six Nations have control over the present day Reserve #40 and 40b but nothing beyond this except what their fantasy dictates - and no legal rights over lands they ceded between 1787 and 1850 to the Crown. The only way that they can exercise their false beliefs is to illegally occupy land owned by a third party and claim it as their own - as they have done with respect to the Douglas Creek Estates (DCE) in Caledonia. All land outside present day Reserve boundaries is protected by Crown Patent, but the HDI will not accept what is legal and what the ancestors agreed to 170 years ago - they make their own rules and find their own version of history. As to the Treaty of 1701, this is the fraudulent "Nanfan Treaty of 1701" which is a huge embarrassment, but is still cited as the basis for "rights and entitlements" within the entire Southwestern Ontario region. I have discussed this ad nauseum in may previous postings, and much the same information can be found in Garry Horsnell's excellent summary found here.
4) What is the Great Law?: I don't really want to take exception to what is written here.
5) What is the HDI and How Does it Work?: It is the next, much longer article, that is the most salient and is the main bulk of information (propaganda) provided in the Newsletter. Some would say that this is a group which specializes in extortion and racketeering, but lets see what they have to say. I will state what is written here, and try not to gag during this exercise. They say,
The HDI process was established on the heels of the reclamation of the lands at Kanonhstaton (the former Douglas Creek Estates).
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council (HCCC) found their monthly meeting agendas becoming filled with developers who were looking for sanctioning for their projects. After realizing Ontario did not have a structured consultation process which developers could enter into, the HCCC created the HDI to provide that consultation process.
I will stop here and add some facts. There were NO developers "lining up" - they occasionally capitulated to the demands put in place after the HDI sent their thugs to shake down the developers - we will continue to stop your work until you agree to our terms. For a beginning, there was the "application fee" which was the ultimate and only goal. If developers did not want to have goons sitting on their equipment and barricading their projects, they would have to pony up for example $7,000 - for starters. If this was any other group they would be arrested and charged with extortion. However this is a "Native" group and their is a double standard at present where this group can get away with things even the Mafia of Naples or Palermo would not dare do. This insanity has continued to this day - although took a significant hit once developers in Hagersville, Cayuga and Brantford sought and obtained Court Injunctions to keep the goons away. The HDI and their "representatives" have been taken to Court on many occasions and have ALWAYS lost - with damages being assigned to developers. The most dramatic and detailed case was put before Justice Harrison Arrell of the Superior Court of Ontario whose initial fines levied against the HDI were over $800,000, dropped to $350,000 and settled for $125,000. After the ruling in November of 2009 the HDI kept a lower profile and sent in representatives in the form of Men's Fire to take over the shakedown end of things. However recently the HDI, perhaps after the fine was paid, have come out of hiding and are front and center at the barricades in Caledonia in 2014, and leading the charge to fence the DCE property, pretend they have a legal land registry system, and argue that they, not the Province of Ontario, own DCE.
There are numerous articles on the shady dealings of the HDI, so the following (see here) on their losing their appeal in the fine levied against them in the Brantford Injunction case will give a flavor of what is out there.
So out of the shadows the HDI appears, and now claims that they are the "chosen ones", selected to enforce the HCCC God given rules, or in their terms, no one else besides the collective voice of the HCCC can speak to the treaty rights on behalf of its citizens. We have seen many groups, including band councils ...... attempting or purporting to speak on behalf of the Haudenosaunee with respect to our land rights and treaty rights, but those groups and / or individuals have no authority and cannot abrogate or derogate from the instructions and process that Sonkwiontison through the Peacemaker, delegated to the HCCC. This "lawyer speak" is saying that the HCCC do not recognize the authority of the Six Nations Elected Council, the duly constituted authority on the Six Nations Reserve, and the only legally constituted body authorized to for example negotiate with Ontario or the Federal Government - this is a fact, the HDI version is spin / wishful thinking.
They include a sub heading entitled, "Engagement Process" where they go on to say that have a "unique" consultation process (in Canada perhaps, but not Palermo), which, provides for a more open, transparent and participatory process for the people. Well now, that is a stretch, since there have been chronic complaints on the Reserve (and reported in the Reserve newspapers - including "Tekawenake" the only objective paper, but is was put out of business) that there is zero transparency with respect to the HDI funds. What happens to the money obtained in shakedowns of developers. Into whose pocket(s) does it go? No one outside HDI seems to know. Do the HCCC Chiefs or Clan Mothers know?
6) Update on Projects:
a) First Solar - they received $90,000 from this "Green Energy" group to, they say, commence the Haudenosaunee Archaeology Monitoring Programm which began with just one (1) monitor, and advanced to eighteen (18) full-time monitors. The company has no need to do this. The SNEC had already reached an agreement with the Ontario Professional Archaeology group to train monitors. It does not appear that any HCCC monitors have any training in the field and are likely in no position to make any sort of informed decisions, other than how much money they are going to demand for their services. I know of this problem from my contacts in Hamilton where projects have been held up for weeks or longer because there were unreasonable demands for money coming from the HCCC "monitors". This is making a mockery out of the process and intent of preserving our archaeological heritage. Apparently this is the tip of the iceberg since the HDI is for example extracting money from Union Gas for training monitors in the environmental field. How and by whom are these individuals trained is a question that should be asked.
b) Samsung - apparently things aren't going well here. There were reports (posted here) that Samsung was to give $65 million to Six Nations, Elected Council, over 20 years. Getting wind of this the HDI apparently "laid down the law" to Samsung about their "engagement process", but Difficulties have arisen due to the fact that Samsung and its partners continue to attempt to unilaterally determine what justification they are willing to provide to the Haudenosaunee for the treaty infringement, without providing any explanation and / or financial documentation to support their limited offer. One can only hope that my letters to Samsung officials about the bogus treaty rights have had some effect.
c) City of Brantford - here they discuss the litigation and resultant fines against HDI and others. They seem to laugh it off and assert that they only paid anything, Given the HCCC's concern over Haudenosaunee citizens who own property 'off reserve' being targeted by the City, so agreed to settle for and undisclosed sum (it was $125,000). Apparently the City of Brantford now refuses to participate in the HDI "Engagement Process". Is that a surprise given the circumstances?
d) Eagle's Nest - this involves the ongoing dispute between the HDI and the "Mohawks of the Iroquois Confederacy" ("Mohawks of the Grand River", formerly "Kanata Mohawks", formerly "Mohawk Workers").
Land Leases Already Approved: All of what follows hinges on the bogus / fraudulent Nanfan Treaty of 1701 relating to lands in Southwestern Ontario. Apparently HDI has succeeded in convincing some corporations that they have real treaty rights. One wonders that when the truth is widely known whether they will be required to pay back all these ill gotten gains with interest. Of course being 'on Reserve' means that no one can come after their assets there - sweet.
NextEra (or NexTerror as those in the anti Wind Turbine movement call this company), Silvercreek Solar, Pattern Energy, Capital Power have all coughed up money to HDI, usually over a period of 20 years (the length of time the wind energy turbines will operate before being "decommissioned". In addition, the HDI have managed to convince various companies to provide land lease revenues.
Comment: The Elected Council is also into negotiations with, and receiving funds from, some of the corporations named above (plus others). Isn't this a form of "double dipping" especially when you are fishing in a pond that is not yours.
Next we come to the bottom line of this Newsletter which is entitled:
Haudenosaunee Land Acquisition Revenues: I will quote from this section and readers can draw their own conclusions. HDI operates on key principles. These principles are:
- no surrender of lands
- compensation for all past land leases/losses
- lease monies for future projects
- land
The HDI has ensured that these 4 founding principles are worked in to every engagement process that the HCCC is considering and therefore nearly all of the recent agreements have included a set amount of financial support to assist the Haudenosaunee in expanding its current land base.
These funds will be set up in a separate account specifically used as a land acquisition fund. It is the HCCC's goal to acquire at least 500 additional acres of land to be registered in the Haudenosaunee land registry for use and benefit of our future generations.
If you wish to contact the HCCC, there is an Haudenosaunee Development Hotline at 1-844-445-4222. Their website will be www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com.
DeYo.
How about starting our own magazine as a response and balance to all of this self-serving propaganda? Counterpoise might be interested as might the CANACE people among others; many, including yourself, of course, have already written many articles that have not been in the public eye ; even after all this time and at this point there is a terrible lack of information and misinformation out there with the majority of any dialogue or discussion going on only in Blogs or forums that the average person doesn't read. Just a thought....
ReplyDeleteMyOrenda. Just before reading your comment I had just closed my diary after making an entry to the effect that I think that I am "preaching to the converted". In other words most readers are "already on board". I don't think the demographic includes those who know they don't have a clear view of all the issues, and are open minded, wishing to obtain evidence to help them understand what is going on. I was also reflecting on the relatively low numbers of readers (although I may be misinterpreting the stats).
DeleteI agree with you entirely that with the Rez spin doctors and their supporters out their grinding grist that will be happily lapped up by those who see "Natives" as victims, and believe the propaganda about for example the Residential Schools (much of which is true, but a lot of which is not), and North America being some sort of utopian paradise until those nasty Europeans reached the shores of the Continent (the fact of for example pre-contact cannibalism and poor ecological practices being ignored).
I am, however, unsure of how to work the logistics of an information campaign on the scale you propose. I do know that for example that in particular "Freedom Press" is sympathetic to the position we are putting forward, as is Sun News. We would need some established group with a distribution network and ready audience to get started.
Alas at my age, I am not sure I could be a major player in such an enterprise. Wish I was in my "entrepreneurial 40s" - but, not the case. What I am is a "resource person" with research experience and knowledge pertaining to this subject that would be assistance to any proposed print (e.g., magazine) or visual (e.g., interviews on Sun News) means of getting the message out. Newsletters would have to be placed at strategic locations, and free for the taking.
As I have told my family in relation to my genealogy efforts, I have put my heart and soul into this work since my 20s, and have established a strong foundation, but we need is someone from the younger generation who can take the torch from me and move ahead with new ideas and perhaps new research.
Still, I am very open to your suggestion - which is excellent. DeYo.
I am willing to include my e-mail address here so that those who have ideas which might fly well, and those would like to contact me for sundry reasons, would have a way of doing so. I can just file away all the inevitable hate mail. I have developed a really thick skin in the last few years, so the idea of some, including very unwell people, sending me their venom, doesn't bother me. There may well be a fairly large group out there without blog posting privileges, or don't want to speak in a public forum, who could make a valuable contribution. DeYo.
DeleteDeYo: Thank you for your very sensitive and understanding reply : I quite understand as I have had to scale back a great deal in my animal activism work due to health and age-related factors; but I believe there are and will be increased opportunities for others (hopefully younger minds) to join in while those stalwarts such as Christie Blatchford and Gary McHale can be counted on to stay on top of things; in my own cause or work that I refer to I have also been the recipient of hate letters and even physical assault and have spent thousands on legal and related fees to fight that all too familiar mind-set that believes positions of power and authority can be used to override factual evidence and the truth ; in any case your suggestions are well worth considering and there should be no doubt that your Blog postings have been and will continue to be invaluable contributions and a rare source of truth.
DeleteI will look into your animal rights work. I tend to get hyper focused and obsessed with what I am doing to the exclusion of most other things in life. Alas, at time, even family and friends have taken a back seat. I am curious as to the story of how your work, and standing your ground, led to physical assaults and Court action. Seems that you have been down the same road I am on, and that I may well be facing escalating opposition that will necessitate Court involvement. As flawed as it seems at times, the Courts are realistically our best avenue for pursuing legitimate grievances, and where the written record of the proceedings or at least decision can have a positive impact on a cause - if it is "righteous" - with hard facts and morality being the bedrock (sometimes with a sprinkle of common sense). DeYo.
DeleteMyOrenda and DeYo, I agree with both of you that reaching a wider audience is a good thing. However, I am very immersed in working on my book about my two generations of experience with aboriginal issues, so do not have the time to devote to starting a magazine.
ReplyDeleteI recently Googled “Gary McHale” and “Caledonia,” and was surprised to find that McHale had been interviewed by Mary Lou Ambrogio for the London Yodeller (londonyodeller.ca), January 30, 2014 issue (you can easily find it by doing an online search). McHale spoke of the problems at Caledonia since 2006, his Victory in the No-Go Zone book, and of his trying to combat the public’s unwillingness to “take ownership of their racist society and deal with how to bring about change.” I agree with pretty well everything McHale says, except I do not share his view that group rights can only lead to a suppression of individual rights. Without question, group rights lead to many of the problems he articulates. However, I think the problem in the case of the aboriginal situation, is that the legal and constitutional rights that natives have are too vague when it comes to rule of law issues. As I have stated on my counterpoise blog, native rights should not include any practices that can harm anyone of any race. And, as both DeYo and I have pointed out, the public has to get past this myth that native society was a paradise before the white man came; it was far from it. There are definitely many aboriginal cultural practices that are worth preserving, but the destructive ones are best forgotten.
Over the past few years, I have spoken with people of all races about aboriginal issues. It is true that some of these people have bought into the spin-doctor myths. But many are questioning some of these myths, and are open to new ways of looking at the situation. The dilemma is that a lot of them are paralyzed with fear about getting involved directly; they want someone else to fix the problems. But, as McHale says in the interview, “freedom is never free, nor is it inherently Canadian. Either stand up for your rights or lose them.”
There are a growing number of aboriginals who are speaking out about what they see is wrong; I have read their writings, and in some cases have spoken with them directly. Unfortunately, these people frequently run into the same difficulties that we do: lack of media coverage, and resistance/intimidation from the indoctrinators.
While non-natives who criticize the aboriginal cause are frequently labelled “racist,” some aboriginals who criticize their own have to contend with being called “apples” (red on the outside, white on the inside). But, in my opinion, the ones doing the indoctrinating are frequently the real “apples”; they use the native cause to promote a materialistic, self-serving agenda that does not ultimately make things better for the broader aboriginal community.
My Orenda and DeYo, I let Gary McHale know I had posted the above comment regarding Mary Lou Ambrogio’s Yodeller interview with him. He thanked me for my "contribution to a public debate that is very important for people to think through."
ReplyDeleteHowever, he also said
“There is no such thing as Native right not to obey the Criminal Code of Canada. It is the police and Ontario government who simply do not enforce the law - it has nothing to do with vagueness of the constitution regarding Aboriginal rights. This is why Native protesters are convicted in court because the law is clear but those entrusted to enforce the law simply do not want to.”
He said I could post this on his behalf. So I apologize for the misinformation provided in my comment above. Learn something new every day.
Thanks very much for your input counterpoise. Your comments are extremely poignant and insightful. Very interested to hear what Gary McHale has to say about the clear differences in practices between the Courts and the law enforcement authorities. The police have a lot of "discretionary powers" that they can use in productive or counterproductive ways - the Courts apply the law as it is written and with only so much latitude. That is why I trust the Courts to uphold the rule of law, and to punish those who flagrantly defy the laws of Canada or Ontario. However, at least here, within the Courts themselves, Natives are allowed to get away with behaviours that would be severely dealt with if regular Canadians were showing the same disrespect. I am speaking of the cat calls, refusing to stand when the Judge enters, swearing, disrespecting the judge from their seats in Court, and similar acts. The bailiff would have escorted any non-Native(s) out of the Court, or there may even have been charges for "contempt of Court" (and rightly so). I wish that the Court would enforce the requirement for respectful behavior from all citizens. Natives are not "special". Because I have some Native ancestors does that make me "special"? I hope not. All must be equal before the law, or the law is a sham in a democratic society.
ReplyDeleteI noted in a comment above about my concerns about possible low numbers of readers. This seems to have been an incorrect statement. This morning at 11:30, when California and B.C. are just waking up, there had already been 52 page visits. I don't think that this counts the folks who click on the URL for the site to see what is new. I suspect that certain government officials keep up to date with the postings, and as well the radical element at Six Nations. I can only hope that, carrying on with what counterpoise has said, that the moderates are also tuned in and if not at present making their presence known, will do so at a future date. Only by speaking the truth, as supported by hard evidence that can be verified by others, can I (we) hope to weaken the spin masters (propaganda ministry) that is generating pure nonsense, but said in such a way, with such apparent sincerity, and playing the victim card, that the naieve will be drawn to their "cause". This is a battle far from unique to the situation here in Caledonia. Toronto for example is overflowing with such groups and movements as the Black Bloc, Occupy Toronto and on and on. We must be vigilant, as they will be only too happy to exploit any perceived weaknesses, particularly if the police allow them free rein to create havoc - although they do generally arrest the ring leaders at a later date if there is sufficient evidence.
ReplyDelete