The True Story of Trevor

[Guest guest]

This would *NEVER* happen to a non-Aboriginal person in Canada but

it is a common occurrence for Aboriginals.

MOHAWK POLITICAL PRISONER CHALLENGES JURISDICTION OF COLONIAL COURTS

http://www.indymedia.org

Over 50 people, packed the Cayuga courthouse for Trevor , a

Six Nations Mohawk of the Turtle Clan, on Wednesday, as Trevor

declared to the court that the colonial Canadian system has no

jurisdiction over him. When the judge walked into the courtroom for

the pre-trial hearing of Trevor , and the bailiff called " all

rise, only the cops and the lawyers stood up. When Trevor

walked in, however, the packed courthouse stood up, and they

remained on their feet throughout the proceedings.

" I am a sovereign Mohawk man, you have no jurisdiction over me, & #8255; he

said to the judge in tight handcuffs, with a freshly-shaven Mohawk

and donning a traditional Haudenosaunee shirt.

Trevor , 31, has been sitting in a Hamilton jail for over four

months, after being arrested near Grassy Narrows for charges related

to the Six Nations Land Reclamation adjacent to Caledonia in

southern Ontario. Trevor was denied bail in October, and has

yet to be given a trial date. He is from Six Nations of the Grand

River Territory, and is the father of three young children.

The court proceedings were attended by members of the Traditional

Mohawk Council, who went before the judge and demanded his

release. " You are holding him in custody illegally, and you're

breaking your own laws, they said, with a Two Row Wampum in hand.

The Two Row Wampum is one of the oldest treaties that exist between

the Haudenosaunee and colonizing nations. It demonstrates, through

beadwork, the separateness of the Iroquois to the Europeans, and

allows for the collective use of the land as long and only insofar

as the ways of the white man are not enforced on the ways of the

Onkwehonweh. " You are keeping him only for political reasons, & #8255;

continued members of the council, " we demand that you release him

and hand him over to the Mohawk traditional council, who operates

under the Great Law of Peace.

The Judge, though clearly uncomfortable, told Stuart Myiow of the

Mohawk Traditional Council that he had neither authority to address

the court nor to speak on Trevor's behalf. Trevor's court supporters

then proceeded to demand that the judge release him. Both his mother

and sister were in tears. " They do not regard our people as human

beings, Trevor's mother, Trudy , said.

Trevor will be challenging the jurisdiction of the court via the

Attorney General, and returns to court for the 20th of December, at

which point it will be over 5 months in custody. His supporters and

friends are urging that people send letters of support to him while

he sits indefinitely behind the state's bars.

Letters of support to Trevor can be sent to:

Trevor

165 Barton Street East

Hamilton, Ontario

L8L 2W6