When Enrollment Is NOT Enough

By Diane L. Lauzon

On the 20th of this month, via email, I had notified your Tribal Court; on the 21st, your Tribal Clerk; and on the 22nd, all your Chiefs and sub-Chiefs. I had even offered up my own blood. I heard nothing.

My great-grandfather had been someone your forefathers had revered so much, that he had been offered land and upon which, he had then resided. I had been told that he had helped your ancestors out a lot. However, that did NOT make him Native American. Consequently, that makes me non-Native, though I am enrolled with your Tribe. I was even able to get our Family Tree certified, allegedly proving our heritage. It is now more than only a Surrogate matter.

A non-Native owning land on the Reservation is NOT permitted. We are not talking about life use of the property here. This case does not represent one of merely passing the title of land down to the rightful heirs. The heirs are rightful, but the title is NOT.

Enrollment status is all that had concerned the Judge at the Surrogate’s Court hearing I had attended on the 23rd. She had the Tribal Clerk confirm our enrollments prior to that hearing. The Judge had stated something to the effect that others make up the rules. My four-page filing had been given short-shrift, as no one had been able to comment upon it, other than her 20 seconds or so. I had included my brother’s email with my filings and letters to everyone; all to no avail.

What do you think? Should we, the five siblings, be able to profit from the sale of our 25+ acres (lot #706-D), for a sizeable sum, though we are white? We neither have resided there nor have been a member of your community, ever. Your own rules allow non-Natives to inherit only the proceeds from the sale of the land owned by a Native. However, from day one, we have not been Native. The first link of the chain had never been established, in order for the land to be passed down legally.

The Court’s focus had been on the enrollment status, yet it had been a moot point, as we could have still inherited the proceeds, had we not been enrolled. The Judge had been unwilling to explore the issue as to whether everyone further up the chain had been Native, even though past misconduct of the Court had been alleged in my brother’s email; he had stated that my (late) mother had lied to get us on the rolls, and her friend in the Court had covered for her. My family’s enrollment status should now be in question because of that alleged misconduct and because we are actually NOT Native American at all.

Furthermore, like in the land settlement reasoning, in regard to any sale or grant of Tribal lands, by any Indian, Indian Nation or Tribe of Indians, the Federal Government would have had to have become involved (Nonintercourse Act). Absent that evidence, the agreement lacks sufficient substance with which to withstand the judicial scrutiny of the Federal Court.

I had even offered to submit myself for DNA testing, to remove all doubt; criminals are convicted because of its reliability. I could prove I was NOT Native American. Again, I had heard nothing! Besides simply handing the land over, how could it possibly be easier to obtain? Is it right to turn a blind eye, especially when the evidence would have a tendency to prove there had been a miscarriage of justice in the past concerning the case?

It would be nice to be able to take a survey or have a comment period, as to taking the land back or not. Time is of the essence, however, as the administrator, my brother, is pursuing the listing of the land, as one possessed. I had beseeched the Chiefs that they could do so much good with the land, if it was put to public use. Perhaps even a mobile or modular home park. There are those of you who would rather live on Akwesasne, but cannot, due to the current land shortage. Please, time is short - let your will be known and speak up. I am certainly doing my part. Right the wrongs of the past and let the land pass to the individuals who are truly entitled to it, the rightful owners, the Native American residents of the Akwesasne Reservation.