Five thugs attack two Six Nations youths

FIVE THUGS ATTACK 2 SIX NATIONS YOUTH

Mohawk Nation News

Sept. 15, 2007. On September 13th at around 4:00 pm.
witnesses saw non-native men running out, picking up
weapons and going back into the unfinished house. Inside
five non-native men had ambushed two Indigenous youth.
Their backs were against the wall, the two youth defended
themselves. The youth had gone into the house, one going one
way and the other in another direction. The older Indigenous
boy caught one of the non-native men beating his younger
brother.

The OPPolice had stopped construction that morning at 9:00 am.
Meetings were going on between the Six Nations and the
“Crown” that afternoon about the land. Stirling Construction
was illegally building houses on Six Nations land.

It is worth noting that the OPPolice were there
throughout the incident “to maintain the peace”. They had
not verified that all workers had left or that the area was secure.
They stood by and watched the non-native men go into the
house with clubs. They did not help the two Indigenous youths
who were being attacked inside. The OPP admitted, “We were
caught off guard”. [Or they were using their “discretion” not
to intervene!]

Apparently two Indigenous youth had entered the “empty”
building and surprised the non-natives who were inside. It
was the Gualtieri brothers, Sam and Joe, and their three
nephews, of Caledonia. They started to beat one of the youth,
a very young teenager. The older youth walked in and found
Sam Gualtieri had his young brother against the wall with a
bar pressed across his throat, ready to kill him. He grabbed
whatever he could find to save his young brother. Joe Gualtieri
watched as his brother Sam took a beating. These
burly guys and their nephews were over confident. They had
numbers, strength and weight on their side, while the kids were
fighting for their lives.

The Gualtieris said they were just checking on the “home”
which was behind the Six Nations blockade. They thought
they were merely “protecting each other” from the boys.

Then the Gualtieri stated that they thought the two boys invited
them “to have a fight!” “When you enter into a fight willingly, it
isn’t an assault, is it?” [What about when a fight is
provoked?]

The blockade is along the Grand River in southwestern
Ontario . The two young boys were part of the group that
was defending the land from an illegal housing development
by Stirling Construction. It is one and a half kilometers from
“Kanonhstaton” which was reclaimed by the Six Nations on
February 28, 2006.

Corporate media reported that 52-year old Sam Gualtieri was
seriously injured. He was in the nearby Hagersville county
hospital and shipped to Hamilton for testing.

One of the Confederacy Royaner [Chiefs] immediately
distanced himself from the defenders of the land. He issued
a statement condemning the boys and apologizing to the
Gualtieri family. The Royaner condemned all defenders by
saying “they’re on their own”. He said they will support
“peaceful actions” only. His apology for an act of self-defense
by the Indigenous boys shows how even our own members
can be ensnared by bad press that presumes that we are
guilty before being proven innocent. Even we can get sucked
in by the mythology that blames us for all violence.

According to the Two Row Wampum Agreement between
independent nations, the Confederacy has the responsibility
to investigate the incident before commenting on it. If the five
non-natives are at fault, they must be turned over to the
colonial authorities to be dealt with. If the Indigenous youth
have any culpability, the Confederacy and its people will deal
with it.

On the other hand, if any member of the Confederacy wipes
their hands of responsibility for its people and turns them over
to the colonial authorities, then the Royaner have violated
wampum 58. Those indigenous people who follow foreign
laws have alienated themselves from their nation. They forfeit
their title and the gustowi falls from their brow. The office shall
always remain with the people.

Should the Royaner choose to submit themselves or their
people to foreign laws, they are no longer in but out of the
nation. Persons of their class shall be called, “they-have-
alienated-themselves”. They shall forfeit all birthrights and
claims of the Confederacy and to the territory.

These sanctions on the “Royaner” are not imposed without
warning. When the facts of the situation are known then
someone must take the time to warn the “Royaner” of their
responsibilities. The clan mothers have the duty to correct
any erring Royaner who deviate from their responsibilities
according to the Kaianereh’kowa/Great Law of Peace. If the
Royaner don’t support the youth or the people, then the women
have to step in.

On-going talks have put development at a standstill. These
non-native developers are intruders, instigators, trespassers
and law breakers. Mayor Marie Trainor of Caledonia went
later to the construction site. Many have noticed that whenever
the Six Nations makes any headway in the talks, a diversion like
this incidentally happens.

The Indigenous youth had a right to question these men who
were trespassing. It looked like the Galtieri family were trying
to make a political statement. It ended with our boys getting
ambushed inside the house and the boys acting in self-defense
as they should.

According to the Kaianerehkowa, each indigenous person has
the duty to protect the land. If they could have, these boys could
have called for our own authorities to come to the site. The
indigenous people with the chiefs could have gone there to
remove these intruders and the youth could have avoided
being ambushed.

Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News

See: "Six Nations"
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