Local Land Claim Protester Won't Participate in Conspiracy Court Case Against Her

By Andy Gardner.

MASSENA – An Akwesasne woman who was arrested at a protest in May told a judge that she has no intention of participating in the proceedings against her.

Kimberly A. Terrance, 41, appeared in Massena Town Court on Tuesday afternoon in front of Town Justice Joseph Brown on charges of misdemeanor sixth-degree conspiracy and trespass, which is a violation. She was arrested with seven other people May 21 on Barnhart Island. The group was opposing a proposed Mohawk land claim settlement. State troopers made arrests after one of the demonstrators started digging with a backhoe.

In court on Tuesday afternoon, Terrance said she had not received all of her discovery materials. She said she’s only aware of the missing contents “just through hearsay” and later added, “I do think it’s irrelevant for this matter.”

“Why is it irrelevant?” Brown asked.

“I don’t plan to participate in the process,” Terrance answered.

The judge then adjourned her case until Nov. 12.

She and the other demonstrators are refusing to be represented by attorneys. Those who’ve talked in court about their reasoning say that’s because lawyers are officers of what to them is a foreign court with no authority to prosecute them because they’re governed by their traditional tribal leadership, their own traditional laws, and centuries-old treaties between European settlers and Native tribes.

The other defendants include Isaac N. White, 42, who was covering the May 21 demonstration as a reporter for the Akwesasne newspaper Indian Time. He plans to seek dismissal of his charges on First Amendment grounds. Also charged that day are Marina Johnson-Zafaris, 26; Gabriel J. Oakes, 58; Brent Maracle, 42; Donald Delormier, 35; Dana L. Thompson, 67; and Larry V. Thompson, 69. They all face the same charges as Terrance: sixth-degree conspiracy and trespass.

Larry Thompson was also charged with a felony count of second-degree criminal mischief. Police allege he damaged New York Power Authority property valued over $1,500. His case has been diverted to St. Lawrence County Court in Canton.

In July, the Times asked Thompson why he started digging with the excavator. He said it was to start a foundation for Mohawk housing so they can live on Native land that’s upstream of industrial pollution.

In 2022, a judge ruled New York state unlawfully took thousands of acres of Mohawk land in the 1800s. Negotiations for a settlement have been ongoing between Albany and U.S., Canadian and traditional Mohawk councils. The federal government also sold large swaths of the reservation without congressional approval, in violation of the Indian Non-Intercourse Act of 1796. It stands as the American law today. It says Native land cannot be sold without an affirmative vote of Congress. Those disputed lands include Barnhart Island.

The protesters demand fair compensation for Barnhart Island, integral to the Moses-Saunders power dam, which has generated billions of dollars in electricity for the U.S. and Canada.

They also seek redress for generations of pollution-related illnesses caused by upstream industrial activities by Alcoa, Reynolds Metals and General Motors, which for decades used large amounts of PCBs – known carcinogens – in their operations. PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls, were used in industrial products before being banned in the United States in 1976.