"Hawk to be Heard at Confederacy Council"

It appears Jeff Henhawk, proprietor of "The Hawk Shop" located on Highway #6, may have bought some time. He was served an eviction notice last week which gave him until August 24, at 8 am, to vacate the property or be arrested.

As reported last week, he has concerns over many details surrounding the wording and intent of the notice which carries the name of three Six Nation lawyers as "Trustees for the Six Nations of the Grand River Indian Band."

Henhawk, who also goes by the name of Hawk, asked for an audience with the Confederacy Chiefs to discuss the matter and received a bit of a repreive in the form of a letter from the Haudenosaunee "Iroquois" Confederacy, as drafted by Confederacy Council Secretary, Hohahes, aka Leroy Hill.

The letter simply states that "Jeff Henhawk has consulted with myself as council secretary and some of the Confederacy Chiefs today. Based on that consultation, I have been directed to write this letter to confirm that the issues brought forward by Jeff will be addressed by the Confederacy Chiefs in Council at the next scheduled Council which will take place on September 4, 2010."

The purpose was not only to confirm to Henhawk that he is on the agenda, but also to delay any possible police action against him or his business until the Confederacy has a chance to discuss the issue with him and to make some form of a resolution either to sustain the eviction notice or to challenge the jurisdiction of Elected Council's lawyers Lonny Bomberry, Howard Staats and Thomas Loft.

"I gave a copy to the OPP liaison who said he'd take it to his bosses," said Henhawk. "He said he though that it will at least buy me some time."

That would indicate that, in fact, it would be the OPP participating in any possible eviction. But the question still remains in Henhawk's mind whether it is his house, which is built behind the smoke hut, or the shop itself he was being evicted from. If it is Six Nations land he is alleged to be squatting on, it should be Six Nations Police executing the eviction, and not OPP, according to him.

Henhawk believes the Chiefs are concerned that the Elected Council is taking such a hard line on land they see as being under the jurisdiction of the Confederacy and not Band Council.

As of Tuesday, August 31, both Henhawk and the Broken Promises smoke hut, located further down Highway #6, which also received an eviction notice, were open and doing business as usual.