Conspiracy, Protest Charges Dismissed Against Land Claim Protesters and Local Reporter

By Andy Gardner.

AKWESASNE - All charges have been dismissed against seven of the eight people who were arrested May 21 on Barnhart Island while protesting in opposition to a proposed land claim settlement between tribal authorities and New York state.

Following a complaint from the New York Power Authority, state police arrested seven activists and a local journalist covering the event and charged them all with misdemeanor sixth-degree conspiracy and trespass, a violation. One of the protesters was also charged with felony second-degree criminal mischief, which remains pending.

All of those arrested are Akwesasne residents: Kimberly A. Terrance, 41; Marina Johnson-Zafiris, 26; Isaac N. White, 42; Gabriel J. Oakes, 58; Dana L. Thompson, 67; Brent Maracle, 48; Donald Delormier, 35; and Larry V. Thompson, 69, who has the additional criminal mischief felony. He faces the more serious charge for allegedly digging with a backhoe and causing damage to the land valued at more than $1,500. He's previously said that was to start building a foundation for Native housing.

"It's so they can live in our territory," Thompson told the Times in July. "It's away from the pollution ... upstream, instead of downstream."

White was at the protest working as a reporter and covering the demonstration for the Akwesasne newspaper Indian Time.

Prosecutors had offered an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal (ACD) to each of those who were arrested, except Larry Thompson. They wouldn't have had to admit any wrongdoing and would just need to have no further arrests for six months, at which point the charges would be dismissed and the records permanently sealed. The six demonstrators and journalist turned that down and wanted their charges dismissed immediately.

During various court appearances between June and October, the demonstrators and reporter all refused to be represented by an attorney. They asserted to Massena Town Justice Joseph Brown that they are Onkwehonweh, which in their language means the original people of Turtle Island (North America). They said the land that they were arrested on is rightfully theirs, and since they were on their own land following Onkwehonweh law, the foreign court and its officers have no authority over them.

The Two-Row Wampum, dating back to 1613, is among the earliest treaties between the Haudenosaunee people and European colonizers. Symbolized by two parallel purple rows on a white background, it signifies mutual navigation of the river in separate vessels – a Native canoe and a Dutch ship – pledging never to interfere with each other's paths.

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 swathes 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.

The demonstration during the eight people were arrested opposed a proposed settlement between the Mohawk people and state and federal governments. 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 among Akwesasne people that result from upstream industrial activities by Alcoa, Reynolds Metals and General Motors. For decades, those plants used large amounts of PCBs – a known carcinogen – in their operations. PCB stands for polychlorinated biphenyl.

In a phone interview on Wednesday, St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua said his office dropped the charges because prosecutors had trouble coming up with documentation showing NYPA owns the land where the protest happened. That led to constitutional speedy trial issues. U.S. law gives prosecutors 90 days to be ready to proceed with a misdemeanor trial. For the felony case, it's six months.

"There was some difficulty ... with the ownership documentation of the land. We worked that out with the power authority. That's not going to be an issue going forward," the DA said. "The land, my understanding, was initially passed through a treaty 200 years ago and there were some issues regarding being able to get documentation through the clerk's office."

"We couldn't get that information and get it over in time to say we're ready for trial," he said. "We believe we're in the process of rectifying those issues, if we go forward with the current felony charge, or any other charges in the future."

Pasqua said even if they would have been ready for trial on time, the conspiracy allegations would have been an uphill fight.

"With regard to the charges we had to let go ... the conspiracy charges would have been a difficult matter to prove to begin with. Those types of cases, you need to show some kind of prior arrangement. Really, those came down to trespassing cases. The most serious case is the felony, which involves damage to the land itself," he said. "We're going to take that wherever it may go and see what happens with that."