The Guswhenta (Erie Ave.) Development Fiasco Tumbles to New Depths

As reported in Turtle Island News, December 3, 2013, p. 7, the Guswhenta fiasco continues to get more complex and more bizarre.  The layers of complexity seem to continue to grow, and still no solution in sight.  At a recent “information” meeting there was a farcical “bar scene” with a drunk heckler, also someone who instigated a brawl, and as well Chief Monture of the Men’s Fire saying that a meeting at Kanata was invalid, such community events should take place “back home down there” (Ohsweken), back in “the bush”.  And the meeting reached new heights (actually lows) with Bill Squire (of the Mohawk Workers) and Aaron Detlor (legal council for the HDI) squaring off in a juvenile name calling session, with Squire asking Detlor who his mother was, with the latter retorting that, At least  I know who my Mohawk mother was.  This confrontation seems to stem from the apparent fact that Detlor is not a Community member and few know what connection he has, if any, with Six Nations.  As if things could get any stranger, instead of providing information on Guswhenta, Squire put charts on the wall about the HDI finances, the Band Council’s McKenzie Meadows Project, and old Confederacy letters questioning the legitimacy of the Chief and Clan Mother names for the first family among the Mohawk (Turtle Clan, Dekarihogea).  It seems that Porter and his Guswhenta development group were at a loss – their main concern being that it is getting to the point where the viability of the project is going to be an issue – delays of this nature being perhaps the kiss of death for everything.  The moderate words of respected elder Jan Longboat did perhaps allow some of the participants to see the immature depths to which their behaviour had descended.

 

So the bottom line is that the Men's Fire and HDI continue to square off against the Kanata Mohawk Workers, each believing that they possess the right to "negotiate" with the developer (a conglomerate of White and Native individuals) to direct what happens in the old Eagle's Nest Tract, when in reality neither have any legal rights whatsoever.  In fact, the land was out of Six Nations hands before 1850, and to assert any rights to direct what happens in this part of Brantford does not jive with the facts.  Much ado about nothing.

 

DeYo.

The HDI: Look Who is Swirling Around the Bowl These Days

It should be apparent to those who read this blog that I am less than enamoured with the Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI), whose behaviour would give some the impression that they are the enforcers, the shakedown artists for the Hereditary Council - but who, in reality, march to their own drum with one object in mind - extract money from all "eligible" groups or individuals.  Some might even say that the mafia in Naples could take lessons from this group at Six Nations.  I of course will reserve judgement.

 

Frankly, when I see the HDI floundering, it does indeed warm my heart.  If their illegal and amoral activities get them into difficulty, well perhaps that would be true justice.  In Turtle Island News, December 3, 2013 p. 7 we find an update thanks to the excellent unbiased reporting in this source.  Here we find that the HDI is being bypassed more and more these days, almost as if it is becoming irrelevant.  In the boundary adjustment matter involving the City of Brantford and Brant County, the HDI were not consulted, and the various Government agencies such as Aboriginal Affairs and Infrastructure Ontario have refused to return calls from the HDI.  The power that they wielded but a short time ago appears to be something consigned to history.  None the less, Hazel Hill, HDI Director, continues to maintain that any development within the Haldimand Tract requires consultation of the Hereditary Chiefs.  The HDI maintains that it is not the Elected Council who have legitimate authority to deal with the Crown (despite their mandate via the Federal Government of Canada), but the Hereditary Council, whose interests and views are represented via the agency of the HDI.  Lately the latter find that calls are going unreturned, and no one is listening, so of course out come the threats, about “incidents”, “more reclamations”, protests – I don’t know how our people will respond to (this), says Hill with what some might interpret as a veiled threat.  What is different now, however, is that these threats do not seem to unduly disturb anyone.  Perhaps it is because most are now aware that if the HDI or others attempt to stop development, then a developer only has to seek a Court injunction which, of late, will be applied.  If the protesters refuse to comply and the developer loses money, the protesters will be named in a legal action and will expect to pay very stiff fines.  It does not seem to be as easy these days to get a developer to fork out 7 to 8,000 dollars to go through “proper channels” (the HDI) and ensure that protests will directed elsewhere.

Could we be seeing "desperation" in the following episode?  Another article in Turtle Island News pertains to the subject matter here.  On the same page as above we find, Hydro One hitting community with massive hydro bills.  As part of the ongoing “battle” with Hydro One, Aaron Detlor, in his role as a director of HDI, stopped crews from trimming the trees along 6^th Line which were interfering with the transmission lines.  This prompted former Councillor Ross Johnson to call Detlor a “jerk” and former Chief Montour to add, a “jerk”, who does not even live in the community.  Apparently Detlor and the HDI were upset that Hydro One has not been "cooperative" in discussing Hydro One's work in lands that the HDI have decided are Haudenosaunee Territory.  Incredibly, this land is in the Bruce Peninsula, and includes the Bruce to Milton line.  This claim can only be described as a monumental stretch of what is believed to be under the purview of Six Nations (likely via an erroneous interpretation of the Nanfan Treaty) but is not supported by the facts; and the apparent petulance of the HDI representative speaks volumes.
 

On the same page of the same source is an article entitled, Community money may have to pay protesters legal bills.  It appears that the HDI (or its officers) currently owes the City of Brantford $375,000.  Actually there are a number of protesters involved here, but most are elderly, and based on what is reported in Turtle Island News, only the executive of the HDI, Hazel Hill and lawyer Aaron Detlor, are apparently in any position to make good on the payment of the fine.  The City of Brantford lawyer was quite blunt in saying that they are likely to be going after the “deepest pockets” to recover the fines.  In Detlor’s expressed view the City may be coming after the Communities money, so the community has to decide what to do.  Considering he is the one with the “deepest pockets”, the City may come after him directly, and it appears that he would like to see this as a Community matter and deflect any personal responsibility away and toward the collective body of the Six Nations.  There are monies from the various wind farm deals that could be tapped into to pay these costs, but Detlor knows that the only way this will work is if  “the community” recommends bailing out the HDI and its executive here.  Hey, good luck with that. 

Update:  The problem is compounded by the fact that Detlor, as legal advisor to both the HCCC and the HDI has recently been criticised by his employers, the HCCC, in releasing a letter as to the Chief's position on the removal of the Brant Children's Aid Society, without having obtained their full approval of this action.  See Turtle Island News, December 11, 2013, p. 7, Confederacy supports CAS removal, but transition plans unclear.  So it may be that the HDI is overstepping its mandate, or perhaps it is just one individual wearing two hats who assumes that they can speak for the collective body.

 

DeYo.

First Nations Education Act: What Exactly Does Six Nations Want?

In an article entitled, Chief-elect setting up Education Action plan to fight Federal bill (Turtle Island News, November 27, 2013, p.5), it is asserted that a major problem with all the fuss about the pending implementation of the First Nations Education Act is that Six Nations has not come up with an action plan.  The only thing that is agreed upon is that the Federal legislation is rejected.  But as Councillor Miller has astutely said, this is not enough, you can’t just say you disagree with something then not come up with a viable plan – things don’t work that way.  There appears to be no agreement as to whether a joint plan with the Assembly of First Nations would be the best way to proceed – some disagree, some agree.  Chief-Elect Hill has proposed a media campaign to let people know that they are opposed to the First Nations Education Act (due to be implemented in January 2014) – but one might again ask the question – then what is the proposal – what is the solution?  The focus seems to be once again on the past.  The school supplies for 2013 were late in arriving - for reasons that to this author are unclear.

 

An old adage applies here, “don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions”.  If Six Nations does not like what the Federal Government are proposing, they will need to have a specific plan in place and apparently there is nothing remotely of this nature anywhere in the works.  Councillor Miller stated that neither the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) or the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) have an action plan.  Time is running out.  The fall back plan will have to be acceptance of the Federal plan unless the Chiefs get their act in gear.  This does not seem likely.  What does seem likely is that once the Federal Government enacts its legislation, it will be roundly criticised, but is there a single party out there with a viable plan (other than pouring more money into the system) which will address the wishes of the Six Nations (and other FN) Community?  Since there is absolutely nothing on the horizon, just complaints, then we may as well just prepare for lots of belly aching from those who did not have any fresh ideas to offer the Federal Government – who is somehow supposed to work miracles and please 600 plus First Nations communities.  That is completely unrealistic.

This is highlighted by the further article in the same source as above (p. 5), First Nations oppose “unacceptable” federal education reform plan.  The Assembly of First Nations Chief, Shawn Atleo, complains, almost to the point of obsession, about the old residential school system (not wanting to go back to those days), and that there was a lack of consultation, and little recognition of the importance of language and culture.  On and on with what he believes are problems, so the griping is unremitting, but never specific solutions.  There is a crying need to lay all the facts out on the table, and assess the merits or downside of each.  Trying to see both sides, if I were a Federal official, it would seem to be the prudent thing to simply stick with the status quo until such time as the various First Nations representatives can come up with some explicit details as to what needs to be done – not just blanket statements about past wrongs etc. etc.  The plan is “unacceptable” – is that the best you’ve got?  No wonder so many people are frustrated.

 

DeYo.

Bilingual Education at Six Nations

If someone in say Rexdale Ontario was to hear the words, "bilingual education", the meaning here would be English - French.  French immersion would be a school where English speaking children would be "immersed" and taught in the "other language" for much of the curriculum.  This option seems attractive to many Middle Class parents, who believe that bilingual education is superior, although the present author is not familiar with any scientific studies (facts) comparing outcome for students enrolled in these schools versus the more tradition kind where French is introduced as a second language either in Grade 3 or 7 (for example).  In Santa Ana California, the meaning would be English - Spanish.  At Six Nations, generally the term would refer to English plus one of the Six Nations languages which would be taught as a second language (for those who were not exposed to say Seneca extensively in the home), or there would be an immersion, whereby English would take a back seat while the children were taught in one of the two most "healthy" languages (e.g., in terms of numbers of competent native speakers) on the Reserve - Mohawk or Cayuga.

If the Six Nations can agree to accept the offer of the McKenzie Meadows Development corporation, then they would have the opportunity to establish another of the Kawenni : io, K to 12 private schools, as seen in the link here.

 

The school offers private Cayuga and Mohawk immersion programmes.  So in 2013, with a curriculum in Ontario that is already being gutted of art and music and everything pared to the bone – how could a school such as this produce an individual who is prepared to compete in the world of 2013 and beyond?  I would like to see some hard evidence as to the efficacy of the French immersion programmes that are popular in the Greater Toronto area.  Perhaps they produce children much better prepared to shoulder roles in the broader Canadian world (e.g., armed forces, civil service) – at the moment if someone was to ask my opinion, it would be to ensure that a child is given the chance to learn Mandarin or Arabic.  However, it is fluency in the English language that is the key which will open the most doors across the world – like it or not, that is the reality which will not change in the foreseeable future.  Travel to Italy and see how many people you can find there to speak in English or French (very very few who are fluent).  However travel north a few miles into Switzerland, Germany, Holland, and especially the Scandinavian countries, one finds that often everyone speaks some English, and many speak it fluently.  The Scandinavians know that the English language is the lingua franca of the world business community and the facility of the average person in English is amazing.

I don’t know the answer to the following questions, but do know that they are critically important.  How many fluent speakers of Cayuga and Mohawk are there who are also certified as teachers in subjects such as maths and sciences?  Can these subjects be taught in Cayuga and Mohawk?  I know a number of excellent speakers of Mohawk and Cayuga who do not reside on the Reserve at present (some reside in the U.S.A.), and are employed in other occupations.  I am not sure how realistic it would be to offer these individuals incentives to obtain their teaching credentials and take the chance on a new avocation when perhaps they are quite content doing what it is they are doing.  Also, there are significant differences between the Mohawk spoken at Six Nations and Tyendinaga, and the dialect used at Akwesasne and Kanawaki.  This could be a problem in recruiting suitable applicants.  Cayuga is more problematic in that the largest number of Cayuga came up to Six Nations with a lesser number scattered about Reservations in New York State.  Hence recruitment would generally tap into only those who are connected with Six Nations - thereby restricting the eligible pool of candidates.

 

The answers to these questions must be addressed before any attempt to supplant the Ontario curriculum with “alternate” educational strategies.  People can speak Cayuga or Mohawk in the home, and there can be weekend classes – but Six Nations people must ask, will their children thrive under such a programme?  How much support is there out there for an unproven school curriculum which could torpedo a child’s chances at success in for example getting into McMaster University Medical School?  Is there not an urgent need for medical personnel with ties to the Community?  This brings up the conflict over the First Nations Educational Act that the Federal Government wants to put in place.  In an editorial (TIN, 27 November, 2013, p. 4), Lynda Powless calls for more local input, and greater cultural and language recognition (to help erase the “stain” of the Residential School system), and for the Federal Government to address the perceived chronic underfunding of the system.  I am not at all versed sufficiently, so will only offer up the obvious – one cannot have everything.  By sticking to a curriculum that is offered to all Canadians, it means that someone from Six Nations should have the skills to compete for jobs and positions in post – secondary education where professional training will yield better jobs and a better standard of living.  I am not at all convinced that immersing children in the full cultural – linguistic environment envisioned by those who want to rid the educational system on the Reserves of conformity is doing justice to those who will be most directly impacted.  Be very very careful in what you ask for – you may one day have occasion to regret “demanding” something that is counter productive to producing future community leaders who can walk comfortably in two worlds – something that to me is a laudable goal.  The same demands were made in some American schools for a more “Black centred” educational system.  Alas, I have not seen any examples where the implementation of this sort of amendment to what other students will be exposed to will in any way shape or form allow African – American students to acquire the skills needed to enter the work force with the necessary tools to allow them to become stock brokers, or CEOs or CFOs or really to be in a position to obtain any high profile high powered job in Government or industry where they are on a level playing field with other competitors (e.g., Hispanic).  In many cases this will simply be a formula for failure that could be foreseen long in advance, but because it was not politically expedient no one stopped the freight train and as a consequence, Black kids fall further behind and disillusionment is even more pervasive. 

Perhaps there is something to be learned by studying the experience of in the Celtic fringe of the British Isles.  Although the apparent last Cornish speaker, John Davey died in 1891, see here, the culture has never been so vibrant - see here.  While there are attempts to try to revive the language, it is not essential to the feeling of being Cornish, which is more about knowing that one’s roots lie not in the Anglo-Saxon invaders, but in the native Celtic – speaking Britons who were pushed to the far west margins of the country.  I wonder sometimes if there is something to be learned in finding out exactly how the attempts to weave language and culture into the curriculum in schools in Wales, Ireland and Scotland (as well as Cornwall England) has impacted the children’s ability to compete.  My sense is that they have found a formula which works for them.  I am not saying that by applying this approach directly here, we would see the same success, but it would be worth investigating before committing to something that may simply drag Six Nations students further toward to poverty line and send the message that they can only “make it” locally.  Should we not be sending the message that you can be whatever you want to be with the proper background, parental encouragement, community involvement, and a knowledge of the standard curriculum expected of all Canadian students?  A diploma from a respected school at Six Nations and a High School leaving certificate from say Caledonia or Hagersville High Schools should open the doors to higher education or business success.  Anything which impedes this progress will inevitably slow the progress of Six Nations children in transitioning to take advantage of the many opportunities “out there”.

In a speech to the Canadian Club of Toronto at the end of November, Manley said it raised serious questions about Canada’s preparedness for an increasingly knowledge-based economy.
“[A]s a Canadian, what really troubles me is the growing body of evidence that shows Canada is falling behind when it comes to equipping its citizens with the broad knowledge and cross-cutting skills that are required to succeed in life, and in an increasingly competitive global economy,” Manley said, according to a copy of his speech, see here. 

So if Canada is falliing behind, we must be very aware of making changes that will negatively affect the children of Six Nations - ensuring that they are not being set up for falling behind students in schools across Canada.  It is all very tricky, but it is necessary to be very honest about what various choices will likely mean to the students of Six Nations.  Clearly, intuitive opinions are not what is needed.  It would be terribly unfair to the youth of Six Nations not to "do right" by them and ensure that they will be put on a footing which will prepare them for the world at large.  Perhaps the Kawenni : io Schools are clearing the best path for Six Nations students, but that is far from evident at this point in time.

DeYo.

Why Another "Caledonia 2006" is Unlikely: An Update on the McKenzie Meadows Development

The most recent update as to what is happening re the "controversy" over the McKenzie Meadows Development is found in an article in Turtle Island News, November 27, 2013, p. 3, entitled,  Community voiceless in McKenzie Meadows across from former DCE. 

 

As noted in an earlier blog posting, there were to be three "community" sessions to discuss the proposed plan negotiated between the representatives of the Elected Band Council, and a developer whose company plans to create a residential development that would begin at McKenzie Road, and the extreme southern part of Caledonia, and over time would reach the part of the land directly opposite the infamous Douglas Creek Estates (Kanonhstaton) site on Argyll Street South.  At the third of three information sessions, according to the above article, Six Nations community members voiced loud opposition to the elected council’s involvement in a new development deal across the street from the former Douglas Creek Estate lands.  But those voices might not matter.

Lonny Bomberry, council’s land and development resources co-ordinator, admitted to the nearly 50 people gathered at the community hall last Thursday night that developers can use the Canadian courts to get an injunction on Six Nations protestors and proceed with their housing subdivision - with or without Six Nations’ approval.

 

The article continues, with Aaron Detlor, lawyer for the HDI wing of the Hereditary Council, saying that, The band council is always setting themselves up for failure. However the band council did attempt to consult with the hereditary council, but that fell off the rails – because of three deaths that left the confederacy council without meetings for three months.   In the modern world this simply won’t work – if decisions have to be made they need to happen “on schedule”, or some sort of substitute process be put in place. The hereditary council will never change, that is in a sense part of their role, but with the interface against the rest of the world it can create a great deal of frustration in a situation where delays for other reasons have been legion.  It is 2013 not 1813. Silence [from the community] cannot be taken as a yes according to the traditionalists. Well, if people don’t speak up until the last minute what do they expect?  Furthermore, Bomberry insisted that what the community decides is what will happen. He said that the Six Nations ‘holds a hammer” over the development. That may have been true in 2006, but 7 years later, much has changed such that when push comes to shove, we will see how much of a “hammer” Six Nations wields. 

Reading between the lines, it appears that Bomberry may be aware of the “Holmes Report” and of course is cognizant of the Court injunctions in Brantford that have resulted in fines levied against protestors including the HDI in the amount of $325,000 – with the likelihood that the HDI, and / or, its leaders Hazel Hill and Aaron Detlor, will be on the hook for the entire amount (it was elsewhere noted that the others named in the Court action likely do not have to funds to pay their share of the fine).  In addition, the Ontario Superior Court has recently been willing to "show its teeth", and drop the hammer on those who would disrupt legal development.  Perhaps Bomberry is somewhat in denial, or felt compelled to "play to the audience".

 

Judging by the response of some in the audience, many to most at Six Nations have not grasped the “new reality” as clearly attested to in the "Holmes Report".  The land is not theirs, it was surrendered before 1850, and the new circumstances were accepted by all parties, the land put on title in the Ontario Land Registry system, and it is only recently (long after the Statute of Limitations has expired) that some decided to assert that the documents are wrong, that their ancestors did not really intend to sell the land, and so on – absolutely nothing which could ever be proved in a Court of law or in even any forum which looks at the history versus these new entrenched but erroneous beliefs that much of the Haldimand Tract still comes under Six Nations authority.  As has been noted elsewhere in this blog, on many occasions, this belief cannot be sustained when coming up against the facts of the matter.  In 2006, this perspective of land ownership had not been addressed to the point where the Canadian Government, the Ontario Government, and the Ontario Provincial Police could coordinate their response to the illegal and criminal acts being perpetrated brazenly at DCE.  The OPP was still stinging from the effects of the Ipperwash investigation and their new role as "peacekeepers".  Since that time the OPP has been the butt of anger and frustration and accusations of double standards in policing (racial profiling).  Clearly, with the efforts of Gary McHale (e.g., his 2013 book on the OPP failures), and many others, the OPP will eventually be prodded to "serve and protect" and to blazes with the "peacekeeper" nonsense.  One law for all, no exceptions, this is the only approach that will work.  It may take a different Party in Toronto (it was the Liberals and McGinty who have to bear the burden of responsibility of failing the citizens of Caledonia and surrounds).

I maintain that any attempt by Six Nations to use any “strong arm” tactics as occurred in 2006 will be doomed to failure and will see a totally different response from all parties.  Not only has the Ontario Government validated its Land Registry system, and will stand by it, but any mass movement of people from the Rez will be nipped in the bud at varying locations since the development is “off the beaten path”.  No Highway 6 here, no Argyll Street.  The McKenzie Meadows property does not lend itself to the same terror tactics that were used at the DCE in 2006 where there was an “open door” to the Reserve via 5^th and 6^th Lines (and Stirling Street before the bridge was torched).

So if the present author is saying that Caledonia 2006 is not going to happen again (or is much less likely anyway), then what is it that is different "this time"? For one thing, the speeding ATVs and other “methods” used to intimidate and terrorize the local people simply would not work in this new setting – and of course Caledonia is fed up with the whole business and it can be virtually guaranteed that any attempt to create another 2006 in that location would result in a much more structured resistance on the part of locals, and with the Canadian Courts willing to step in and order compliance, and levy enforceable fines against the leaders of any insurrection. The times, they have changed.  Any attempt to re-create 2006 will see angry local residents, no longer cowed by labels of racism, and wise to the tactics of the anarchist – Marxist supporters, sure to ensure that only a comedy will play out this time and Six Nations will have egg all over their face.  No back up this time.  If a group of Six Nations agitators is on McKenzie Street they may find an angry Haldimand community hell bent for revenge to contend with.  What if this time the passports issued will not be for Haldimand residents to return to their home, but for the Six Nations members to be permitted to return home via public roads.  Although not possessing a crystal ball, I can see a complete role reversal this time around and could it be possible that the OPP will no longer wish to allow itself to be a door mat for Six Nations agitators, and instead institute an immediate arrest for any offence and to blazes with the Ipperwash Report which only ended up embarrassing the officers who signed an oath to serve and protect – no more being "peacemakers" catering to the whims of the vocal and violent element at Six Nations that seemed to rule the roost last go around.  In taking the pulse of many of the locals, they are itching for an opportunity to ensure that the shoe is on the other foot this time around.  Mark my words, the next time, if there is a next time, we will see a sea of Canadian flags swamping the Mohawk Warrior and supporter (e.g., CAW, CUPE) flags.

DeYo.

A Roll Call of the Con Artists, Rabble Rousing Activists, Extortionists, etc. Working at Six Nations

This will be the shortest post of the over 40 hammered out in the last three weeks (obviously I must think I have a lot to say).

The reason for being so parsimonious here is that someone has completely upstaged me, and has given an amazingly insightful look into the cast of characters that plague Six Nations - including one, Kevin Annett, who has somehow convinced people that he found a virtual ossuary of human bones at a residential school (apparently the author is referring to the Mohawk Institute).  I had not heard his name mentioned before, although I have blogged about the search for skeletal remains at the Mohawk Institute, said "investigation" being based only on hearsay and stories.  Anyway, this was a way out there con - and people fell for it.  The article is a very sad tale of people ripping off members of Six Nations; and members of Six Nations ripping off others.  All very sordid, but very compelling since everything that the author says rings true.  A lot of now familiar names, and / or groups factor into the "big picture".  And all this at home, or in our back yard.  The author titles his article, "The Mess at the Six Nations:  Unions, Anarchists, Marxists & Con Artists .......... "

The cast:

1)  Kevin Annett (apparently non-Native) - alleged con artist who conned Six Nations out of funds

2)  Occupy Toronto

3)  Canadian Auto Workers (CAW)

4)  Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)

5)  Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI)

6)  Aaron Detlor (unknown whether Native or not) - Lawyer, and legal adviser for HDI

7)  Jason Bowman (non-Native) - alleged to be either a con artist or insane, provides legal advice to the Mohawk Workers

8)  Toronto Media Co-op (TMC) - a "radical anarchist publication" with alleged links to CAW and HDI

9)  Alex Hundert (non-Native as are all those noted below) - Jailed Anarchist involved in the G20 riots

10)  Judy Rebick - Ryerson University, Political Sciences - alleged involvement with Kevin Annett

11)  Winnie Ng - Ryerson University, Political Sciences - alleged involvement with Kevin Annett

12)  Steve Watson - CAW, alleged association with Black Bloc and other anarchists

13)  Tom Keefer - CUPE, alleged radical anarchist

14)  Others - the connections involved a nexus of elements tied through their Marxist philosophy, and willing to use violence and other anti-social tactics to attempt to get their point across

Please read the following to see the interconnected parts - please click here.

DeYo.

A Historical Review of the Role of Clans at Six Nations to 2013

I will kick off a discussion of this subject by some historical details, and end with a quote from something Hazel Hill said within a couple of days prior to this posting.  In effect she said that the proper channel for anyone at Six Nations to obtain information about the deals being made by the Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI) and its overseer the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council (HCCC), is to request it of their Hereditary Chief and Clan Mother.  To say that this is unrealistic, would be a significant understatement.  Here follows the reasons why.

First it is important to note that the Six Nations Community is divided in their support for the Elected Council (SNEC) and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council (HCCC).  The latter has no legal standing with the Federal Government of Canada, but its presence is part of the history (and resilience) of the Six Nations people.  The Hereditary Chiefs, due to a flood of petitions from dissatisfied Six Nations members as well as the local Indian Department representatives, lost their role as the official representatives of the Six Nations in 1924.  In this year the Government sent the RCMP to lock the Longhouse and instead install an elected council.  The move has remained a bitter pill and a thorn to this day.  1924 can be a rallying cry for some, who attribute many of their woes to the "arbitrary" and "colonialist" decision by the Canadian Government.  However, although the Elected Council has remained to this day the official governing body at Six Nations, there is a very determined group that believes that the Hereditary Council, structured on the basis of clan membership, is the only legitimate body.  The reason for this belief, extending to today, is that the Great Law (Kayenashagowa), with roots tracing as far back as perhaps the 12th Century, has ordained that this is the legitimate form of governance for Haudenosaunee people.

In traditional Six Nations society, you were a member of your mother's clan.  So if she was Wolf, her mother was a Wolf, and you were Wolf as were all your siblings and kin in the female line.  This lineage is precisely what is seen in genetics with the inheritance of mitochondrial DNA - which comes from the mother's mother's mother etc. back in time.  However, you were also a member of a particular Ohwashira or family lineage, each with a hereditary chief and clan mother.  In the early days, all would live in one longhouse with the males residing with the wife's kin. 

In for example the Oneidas, there were three families for each clan so a total of 9 chiefs that would attend Council at Onondaga (the "firekeepers").  Since, due to for example wars and disease, some families went extinct, their role would be adopted by another supposedly within the same clan - although that "rule" went out the door a long time ago.  The system, with the comings and goings between families in Canada and the U.S.A., or even within Canada (for example the large number of Bay of Quinte Mohawks who emigrated to Six Nations in the 1830s), ensured that eventually it all broke down and only small parts remained intact.

Realistically the whole system changed with the American Revolution when the "Council fire at Onondaga was extinguished".  Although represented at Six Nations in Canada today, in fact most of the Oneida and Tuscarora supported the Rebel (Patriot) side and remained in the U.S.A. until recent times.  In 1785, there was a very diverse group of people who settled on the Haldimand Tract, and this included many Annishenabe people including a large contingent of Delaware.  They did not fit easily into the system with the supposed 50 Chiefs who represented the Six Nations (however many of these chiefships remained and remain to this day in the U.S.A.) - so there were never 50 chiefs at Six Nations - the numbers varied significantly over time.  Both Marion Chadwick and Seth Newhouse (noted elsewhere) attempted to collect the names of all the chiefs at Six Nations.  The former found many to be vacant, "extinct", or held by a family in the U.S.A.  The latter did attempt to locate all the names associated with each clan and family at Six Nations, and was quite successful - but acknowledged that the system had broken down and what he was writing was basically a history of times gone by (see Fenton, 1949, p. 150).  By then, people (especially the Christian element) had largely lost a knowledge of their clan, and might affiliate with one clan but on the basis of pragmatic reasons.  During the 19th Century there was a lot of turmoil at Six Nations and the family structures became quite chaotic (as seen in the various census records of for example Tuscarora Township from 1851 to 1901).  Broken homes, informal adoptions, illegitimacy and so on were common (see Shimony noted elsewhere) but the matrilineal aspect of Six Nations society tended to keep the society functioning, but the clan system among a large part of the Reserve was defunct by 1890 or so.  The Canadian Government exacerbated the problem in 1869 by changing the definition of who was and who was not a status Indian such that the focus became a definition of tribe or band based on paternal inheritance (following the surname).  Hence by the time of Goldenweiser's important work on kinship at Six Nations in 1914, knowledge of the traditional kinship units was blurry at best (Weaver, 1978, p. 527).

According to Shimony, as a result of all of the above changes and factors, it became impossible to retain the old organisation under present pressure.  Thus what we see today is not a direct link to the revered and idealised past.  At the time when Shimony made her well respected study of conservatism at Six Nations (in the 1950s), it was not uncommon for families to claim the right to appoint a chief, and would, often make false claims of lineage affiliation, with the result that controversies have been in progress on this matter as long as can be remembered.  Shimony further said that, even Longhouse participants often do not know their lineage and clan affiliation, and when asked will simply name the leading clan on their moiety side, assuming that to be their own clan.  Furthermore, as a result of the confusion and breakdown of information, children are not told accurately what their clan affiliation is.  Hence, the supposedly consanguineal kin groups sometimes define themselves through ceremonial or political affiliation rather than through known or putative matrilineal descent (p. 27). 

The rules and functions of the clan had yielded to various pressures at different times in the past, long before the Canadian Government could be used as a lightening rod for blame.  Clan exogamy was the rule.  A Turtle does not marry a Turtle - even if of a different tribe.  Numerous examples can be found of this practise being ignored before the Six Nations set foot on the Haldimand Tract.  Thomas Davis (after whom Davisville on Hardy Road in Brantford was named) was a Wolf, as was his wife Hester (as seen in various deeds they signed in the early days of settlement).  They married about 1760, and this violation of the "do not marry within the same clan" taboo was being ignored for a long time.  So the importance of clans has slowly been sliding downhill relative to the early Confederacy ideals - and so the statement below, this week, has to be seen from the view of beliefs (or ideal or long time ago ways) versus what is truly the case in 2013.

According to Turtle Island News, November 20, 2013, p. 7, Money is flowing into Confederacy Council coffers as the first annual payments for a green environment deal with energy giant NextEra come in. Legal Adviser for the Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI, Aaron Detlor, stated that the monies received are going into an account that the HDI "has no access to". Hazel Hill, Director of HDI, said that the chiefs don't know what they will do with the money, adding that, HDI will follow through on post construction monitoring of all the sites.  When asked about how people at Six Nations could obtain more information, Hill replied that, "the Confederacy process flows through the clan system, 'The people have the opportunity to participate through their chief and clanmother'".  Considering that the majority of people at Six Nations have no knowledge of the identity of their clan mother, or chief that is supposed to represent them, this is a rather evasive answer.  I am guessing that if people really did this, and asked around, they would find the quest impossible - and even if they did find the name someone, and they were savy about the problems, they would rightly ask by what right did so and so obtain the title - is the assigned chief truly a member of a lineage whose maternal line can be traced back to the ohwachira, or even the clan, or tribe for that matter.  Reading pages 26 to 34 of Shimony's book would add a note of reality to the question - she shows how many of the supposed clan functions have gone by the wayside over the years.  Many wish it were not so, but there are good reasons why the system that was could not be maintained intact over such a long period of time, and over a time of great change.

The facts are that as far as clans go, things were derailed in the 19th Century.  There is a renewed interest in learning one's true clan among some Six Nations members.  The study even has a name, "Clanology", and at least one book has been written on the subject.  This would involve interviewing elders, and searching for any scraps of material that might be available on the subject from, for example, totem signatures on old deeds.  In fact the only, or most reliable, way whereby at this point in time one could be sure of a common maternal line inheritance would be a simple genetic test that will spell out with a reasonable degree of certainty (the match could be coincidence) the facts.  Either  the chief who is supposed to be your representative shares precisely the same set of harmless mutations on the mitochondrial DNA molecule, or they do not.  If there is a sharing of this pattern, it would suggest descent from the same female maternal line ancestor back hundreds if not thousands of years.  I have the distinct impression that this route to clarity will never be introduced among the conservative minded Confederacy Chiefs and Clan Mothers - although who knows unless the subject is broached, and the benefits explained.  However, if one only wants to maintain a fiction of kinship, then the scientific facts will never supplant the deeply ingrained beliefs that they already "have it right" and no test of any sort is needed - just the memory of someone loyal to the Confederacy system as it now stands.

DeYo.