A Message From The Other Solitude

MNN Tribute to Six Nations

TRIBUTE TO SIX NATIONS - INDIGENOUS NEWSMAKERS OF 2006 – WE WANT “HOME RULE ON TURTLE ISLAND”! END INDIAN AFFAIRS! THROW OUT THE “INDIAN ACT”! IT’S ILLEGAL!

MNN. Dec. 31, 2006. We’ve been saying this from the beginning! On February 28, 2006 Six Nations people swept into international prominence. They took back some stolen land and kicked off the developers. They’ve held it since. Why is this story important?

There were numerous military attacks launched against the people at the site which became known as “Kanenhstaton”. The colonizers want the Indigenous people to go home and stay invisible. With the support of brothers, sisters, hundreds of Indigenous nations worldwide, friends and allies, the people stood firm.

Minister of Indian Affairs, Jim “Jonestown” Prentice, was kicked out as Minister. We refuse to look up to him as our “great white father”. Colonial appointments at the “table talks” were constantly backed further into the wall. Our brilliant researchers put out irrefutable research to back up our claims to the “Haldimand Tract” and beyond.

The colonists pretend they can cut off our rights and take our possessions by the stroke of a pen. They don’t want to discuss the issues on a nation-to-nation basis, as set out even in their own laws. They don’t know what to do. They have become afraid of our truths.

We constantly speak of non-violence. They have the power of guns and weaponry to use on us while we have nothing. We believe they don’t mind striking at defenseless people if no one is looking. Sure, we know what kind of brutality they can mete out to us. When pushed, we defend ourselves as we have a right to do. They call us “vandals” and they say they are the law.



Six Nations people never wanted to be martyrs. They only wanted to do what they’re supposed to do. They showed that we must unite and be treated as equals, and it doesn’t mean becoming Canadians or Americans.

The 500 years of colonialism have been over for a long time. Six Nations and many others have led the way. Canada, wake up and smell the coffee. Yes, someone else was here first. Stop your brutality. Six Nations showed us how to be firm and dignified. It was the principles of the Kaianereh’ko:wa/Great Law of Peace that provided the path. We have laws and we must never submit to their foreign laws. They never got the right from us to have jurisdiction over us and our land.

What did Six Nations reveal?

One of our big problems is the “sell-outs” set up by the colonial governments to do us in. We saw some of our band councilors come out and openly commit espionage and treason against us. We saw rich “Indian” politicians riding around in limos, with big bank accounts and “Indian” and foreign police at their beck and call. They are setting themselves up to be the masters who will replace the colonists to rule over us. So they think!

We found out we don’t need so many cars, shoes and clothes. All we need is one and to wear it with dignity. We don’t want anyone to be the master over another. We must live as who we are, according to our own minds.

The colonists despise our attitude because we object to having our peace disturbed. They don’t know where we find the nerve to assert ourselves like we do.

Our resistance has provoked responses from our Caledonia neighbors who are “squatting” on our land. We embarrassed all those who want to treat us like slaves. We changed their minds about killing us over their anger at us for asking that the colonists be law abiding.

We commend the people of the Six Nations, our brothers and sisters, our friends and allies. They are all our heroes. Especially those who remained on the site through it all. The Six Nations people showed us how to reach into ourselves and how to use our anger in a constructive way. It takes bravery to take all that racist provocation that was hurled at us by the state and their hired guns like the KKK, skinheads and rioters and 'porky pig’s' navy. They wanted to mow us down and tried to set this up many times.

They tried to provoke, intimidate and constantly threatened to kill the men, women and children. Those threats became irrelevant to the point that we wanted to make, even when guns were constantly pointed at us.

We cannot get our freedom by violence and murder. This would create shame. The Indigenous people are marching because we have been aroused. Six Nations did not despair. We have tyrants around us that seem invincible. Many of us were arrested and falsely charged. We used our minds. Many of our people refused to stand up in the colonial court when the colonial judge walked in. We are not Canadians or British subjects.

Our message to Canada is to secure peace by removing your troops and your administration. Put them where they are needed, to control your own people. We want what’s ours. We are never going to lie down and let you walk over us again. We want you to see our wisdom. You cannot go on maintaining your system on us at gunpoint.

Six Nations never said an “eye for an eye” because it makes everyone blind. We know the colonists have bad tempers. They kept trying to bring in martial law to control the situation of the white rioters who wanted to attack us. We saw their desperation. The Indian police, in some instances, can be the most brutal to us even when their police stations have not been burnt down, their uniforms ripped off them, their weapons confiscated or their cars turned over.

Colonists, stop offending the hospitality that we have offered. Don’t be afraid of our desire for freedom and independence. We are not afraid to look any colonists in the eye. We don’t want to cooperate with this foreign system. We have to follow our duties by marshalling what is inside us. We have gone as far as we can under your brutal regime. We want Indigenous home rule on Turtle Island.

Six Nations demonstrated that they will not back down. On February 28th, the anniversary of the reclamation of Kanenhstaton, let us hold our heads high. It is an important day. We must obey the law of the land, our law, not the colonial laws imposed to exploit us and our land. Turtle Island belongs to the Indigenous people. We will never grovel for what is ours. We will not lose strength when there are setbacks.

Six Nations, you made the injustices visible. You gained a victory for all of us with friendship, not fear.

Six Nations persistence continues. Though we’ve been blocked many times, we always try again. On January 1st 2007 the people will take over the Old Confederacy Council House on Six Nations that was stolen in the 1920’s. That’s when Colonel Morgan and Duncan Campbell Scott pretended to depose our government. They also denied us access to what was left of our trust funds after a series of unauthorized gifts and investments to institutions like the Grand River Navigation Company, McGill University and the Law Society of Upper Canada. These and hundreds of other debts have been certified but not repaid. If we don’t succeed, the coming generations will try again and again. The truth is on our side and we know we will win.

Turtle Island will be free. We are still here. We have not retreated. We won’t let the colonists divide us, even when they cling to their old dreams which shall be one day gone.

Creation begins with the power of the women. As long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the water flows, it means that the birth of our people will continue. In the end it is the power of the women and the men together that made it happen. As long as we are people, we will exist. We must remember our original instructions that come from the natural world. Our most precious commodity is our mind. We all have been given a path to be free through the use of our minds. Six Nations people, you used yours to analyze, to disagree and to come to an understanding. That is what freedom is. That is what the Six Nations people stood up for in 2006.

Kahentinetha Horn

MNN Mohawk Nation News