'Spaghetti Legs' walks in on Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs

“SPAGHETTI LEGS” FANTINO WALKS IN ON HAUDENOSAUNEE CONFEDERACY CHIEF’S MEETING AT 6 NATIONS – He was as lost as Columbus

Mohawk Nation News

May 24, 2008. On Friday, May 23nd, there were two simultaneous events going on at Six Nations. The city of Brantford, that squats on Six Nations Confederacy land, filed a suit against HDI. It was a civil suit and an injunction against anyone and everyone. The drafter of these documents must be blind. Brantford doesn’t want to see the Indigenous title that lies under every square inch of land around there. Their position is the law is worth nothing, “It’s all stolen! And we want to keep it!” About 100 Six Nations people and supporters gathered in front of the Ontario Superior Court in Brantford. A half-dozen uniformed police officers monitored the area. We don’t know how many plain clothes cops were around. Hate crimes are alive and well in Canada. Non-native instigators were placed sporadically throughout the block around the court house. The harassment targeted women and children, but they left the men alone. Some of their inciting comments were: "The OPP should shoot and kill all you fucking Indians!", " OPPs should taser you all!" "Stop yer cryin’. You ain’t gonna get a damn thing anyway!” “Give up, or else." Despite the OPP presence, none of the offenders were charged with disturbing the peace or committing hate crimes. This happened at Kahnawake when no one was charged for stoning us at the foot of the Mercier Bridge in 1990 while the cops looked on. Brantford exceeded its jurisdiction by passing a bylaw banning protests on Haudenosaunee land. What were they thinking? They would not accept Vermont passing laws over them. They now want an injunction to enforce their flaky concoction. We hope some of the Ontario judges will be awake enough to see the delusion. But don’t count on it. They are lost in their own colonial fantasy world. If Canada doesn’t reign in their citizens, this could end up at the United Nations. More than 25 members of Six Nations rose inside the court to support Ruby Montour. The 66-year-old woman has become a leader among native protesters at illegal city development sites. She and her husband, Floyd, promised, "We'll be back on the front lines Monday morning." Someone even unfurled a Confederacy flag inside the court house. "As a Haudenosaunee, I have every right to demonstrate in a peaceful manner," Montour told Justice G.E. Taylor. "This very courthouse sits on our land and it hasn't been paid for" and we aren’t giving it up. Brantford forgot to read the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, so it has made a request for an injunction to stop Indigenous people from protesting at illegal city development sites. No freedom of expression here! No Way! They want to go ahead even if they don’t have a legal leg to stand on. One of the defendants, Aaron Detlor, a non-native lawyer, wants to protect his “Charter” rights of freedom of speech, calling the city's position "illegal" and "contrary to human rights." Shouldn’t he have said that they have no jurisdiction on Haudenosaunee land? Neal Smitheman, the ambulance chaser for Brantford, said tensions by developers and non-native businesses are escalating, probably due to Six Nations demanding that the law be respected. He declared, “It's threatening the financial life of the city." Another defendant reminded Judge Taylor that Brantford does not own the lands. So they cannot issue an injunction against us, the owners? Brantford has forgotten that the 19th Century ended over 100 years ago. They made a request to call in the Canadian army to stop “potential” civil demonstrations. There have never been any threats of imminent riots or physical confrontations, except when we are attacked by the colonial army or police forces or their vigilantes. These guys have no imagination. It looks like they are trying to create another “Mohawk-Oka Crisis” of 1990. We suggest a more civilized way to sate their blood lust would be to buy season tickets to WWF or some other extreme sporting event. When will Canadian municipalities stop giving illegal permits to developers on land they don’t own? A Confederacy Seneca sub-chief said Brantford politicians are taking their direction from developers and showing "complete disregard" for our rights. "We want our land!!” and we want to be left alone to use it the way we chose. This sub-chief, who sits at the negotiating table with federal and provincial government representatives, said Six Nations protests will stop when unauthorized development on our land stops. "Bylaws and injunctions only stoke the flames. Posting signs telling us to keep off our own land where illegal development is going on will have ramifications”. Brantford wants an injunction to stop us from: going on, watching and looking at our lands in Brantford; demanding the return of our land, compensation for development or construction or related activities on our land; reminding the non-native business people, private developers and ratepayers that their activities are unlawful; and demonstrating against illegal development on our land. Brantford wants to call in the Canadian Armed Forces because they think there might be “a disturbance of the peace” or their feeling might be hurt! Finally, Brantford wants $110 million in damages for squatting on and damaging our land. They don’t see how silly they are. They want to keep us out and let everybody else in. On the same day, about 6 chiefs and longhouse people were meeting at the Onondaga longhouse at 6 Nations. “Foreign Legion”Commissioner of the OPP, Julian “Spagetti-Legs” Fantino, marched in while one of his henchmen waited out in the car. Fantino told the chiefs this is an “explosive situation now”. He was concerned that more problems are coming. [Does he mean if we don’t give in to their threats?] He said his back was against the wall. His discretion has been taken away with the injunction that’s been filed. He had “no more options”, meaning the OPP is going to enforce the injunction. So when Brantford calls for OPP help he has to respond. Then when they can’t “do the job”, the army will come in. What a set up! One of the chiefs talked about the three facets of the Two Row Wampum which are peace, respect and friendship. He informed Fantino that under respect is “trust” and the trust is lacking. He also told him that our people think for themselves and make up their own minds about issues. Fantino assumed he could tell us what to do. But this ain’t Sicily! He does not understand the democratic process where you have to respect people who make their own decisions. He wanted to talk to the chiefs, because he thought the chiefs were the “bosses” of the people as in colonial society. He was reminded that we do not want an unnecessary confrontation. Should it come to that, we have a right to defend our land and people. Fantino said that the OPP do not have the authority to order the army to come in. “The issues are out of my control”, he said. He seemed to be implying that the threat against us is coming from somewhere else, meaning the politicians or whoever runs the government. Is he just “taking orders” like Hitler’s SS? We surmise that the army, OPP, RCMP and Brantford police are working together at the front lines level. Is some puppet master in Canada sacrificing us to “military war games”? These guys seem to think they’re Romans who are caught up in their fantasy. They’re looking for someone to throw to the lions? It won’t be us. If Fantino can’t control his people and the issues are out of his control, why did he go to this meeting? Canada would not put up with having a foreign general busting into Parliament and lecturing the members. Our relations with the colonizers have been damaged for a long time. The only way to repair them is to revive diplomacy and to treat us with respect. When Fantino left the Longhouse, he found a native Warrior sticker on his vehicle. He stopped and removed it himself. The following day, on Saturday, May 24th, Fantino was quoted in the Brantford Expositor, as saying, “If the injunction is handed down, the OPP will enforce it”. Maybe we got his visit to the Longhouse all wrong. He may be out of a job in a year. Perhaps Fantino was really auditioning for a role in the next episode of the “Sopranos” where he can order around and threaten people. His fantasy about being the “godfather” of Ontario is too off-the-wall for serious drama. He’d be a perfect sidekick for “Crusty the Clown” on the “Simpsons” named “Cornutto”. Since his trip to Ohsweken, the city of Brantford is in the process of modifying their injunction about not requesting the Canadian Forces to come in. What does this mean? Since heavily armed mercenaries were used to attack the Mohawks at Kanehsatake in 2004, we know that anything is possible. We’re used to seeing the two kinds of cops being sent in to our communities, the ones that talk to us and the ones that beat us up and arrests us without provocation. The one thing we have never experienced in our lifetime is to be able to live peacefully on our land without being molested by the colonizers. Kahentinetha Horn MNN Mohawk Nation News See Category: “Six Nations” New MNN Books Available Now! 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