Letter to the Editor

The Fiduciary Obligations of the Mohawk Councils: Free the Mohawk Three

For those who study the laws of nations there is a specific provision which allows the governing entities to administer to the needs of those they represent.  It is rooted in the most important parts of a democracy and is referred to as “fiduciary” responsibilities.  It is the ultimate source of power for anyone in authority in a free society.

Fiduciary duties can also apply in personal affairs or in contracts.  It means that one party agrees to give to another sufficient authority to act on their behalf while acting, to their best ability, to protect those interests.  Power of authority is one instance where this exists it can also be shown when one hires an agent or a lawyer. Once the terms of the agreement are set a legal obligation is set in place.

In government, the citizens of a given nation agree to cede authority to a governing entity such as a council, parliament, congress.The people acknowledge that they do not have the time or resources to respond to the collective needs of the nation so they elect or appoint individuals to act on their behalf. Those leaders must honour this compact by protecting the people, abiding by the people’s will and insuring that they do nothing which violates their duties.

At Akwesasne this means no one in a position of leadership shall do anything which undermines the aboriginal and historic rights of the Mohawk people nor shall they act in such a manner as to violate treaties or any other contract or customary law which defines the Mohawks as a distinctive people with the inherent right to self determination.

That the Mohawks have the absolute right to self definition predates the European presence by many centuries.  It comes from the agreement made at Kahon:ios (Cohoes Falls) when Skennenrahowi helped gather the Mohawk people into a national assembly from which the Mohawk Nation Council was created-our Peacemaker did not force this upon the people but worked with them to realize the popular will.

There is nothing in our history which requires us to abide by alien rules.  We cannot make a claim to uniqueness by deriving our governance from the 1892 New York State law that created the St. Regis Tribal Council or the Canadian imposition of the band council system in 1899.  In truth, the only reason we have what we have is because there has been a vocal group rooted in our traditional customs, which has, from time to time, defied Canada and the US.

All that we have, whether it be casinos, museums,clinics, schools, paved roads, water systems, housing or education comes from this fact. Had those patriots of the past not stood in defiance Akwesasne would have long faded away and we would all be living in Kansas.

But what to do when the people see that the councils have broken this trust?  When their fiduciary duties are discarded? When our collective rights are left unprotected?  What happens when the compact between people and government is breached?

This has happened in the case of Roger Jock, Thomas Square and Anthony Laughing. While I have been an outspoken opponent of casino gambling for many good reasons I believe there is a grave danger in allowing the US and New York State to prosecute our people, with the compliance of the St. Regis Tribal Council, in courts which have been historically hostile to any assertion of Mohawk independence.

This disgraceful case shows that there are those among us who either do not understand our ancestral laws or care nothing for them. They fail to see how the contradiction of claiming the right to operate a casino using “sovereignty” then violating that very claim when they entered into a “compact” with New York in which millions of dollars are given to local counties while many Mohawks live in poverty.

Those who pressed for the arrest of their own people are showing their lack of faith in our own justice methods. They don’t understand treaty law nor do they know their own laws and as a result have weakened us all. They don’t see the enormous harm caused to us by the very power companies who now are using them to prosecute other Mohawks. What is more serious, a few kilowats of electricity directed to a failed business or the wholesale destruction of an entire eco-system and the Native culture intertwined with it?

It is time to end this farce. The three Mohawks have to be freed.  The Tribal Council must be compelled by the people to seek a dismissal of all charges. They cannot hide behind a ragged cloak of “sovereignty” in the glare of such blinding contradictions.

Those tribal officials who sought these charges have broken their fiduciary duties to be community with consequences far more serious than the penalties now being faced by our Mohawk kin.

Be warned, as it goes with them, so will it be for anyone who stands up and speaks out.

By Doug George-Kanentiio