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Confederacy protects Hawk's home but not his business continued from front page Cayuga Sub-chief Jock Hill. After much deliberation, it was decided that the com- plicated issues of the use of communal land would be put into the hands of a com- mittee, possibly the HDI, for study and for recommenda- tions. This decision could hold off the eviction of Jeff Hen- hawk and his family from a house he has build be- hind his smoke hut, without permission, on, what Band Council says, is land it has jurisdiction over and is held in trust by lawyers Lonny Bomberry, Howard Staats and Thomas Loft. However, the Chiefs Council agreed to uphold a letter dated February 2009 which, in essence, ordered all Six Nations businesses operating without permis- sion off on the Plank Road strip. Contrary to a local news- paper's report, no lease ar- rangement with the Confed- eracy for that land has been discussed before Saturday's meeting. Some Chiefs said that if it was, they know nothing about it. Henhawk began his pre- sentation by pointing out that the Plank Road claim has been accepted as a valid land claim by the fed- eral government, and that is where his smoke shop is located. In fact, as Henhawk noted, the land on either side of it is also part of that claim, and that is where his house sits. He questioned whose ju- risdiction is at play when the Elected Council flip- flops on who will evict him and why. "All the papers I have re- ceived say that Haldimand County has junsdiction," said i-Ienhawk. "l still don't know if that eviction notice is for my house or my busi- ness." He told the Chiefs that he went to the Confederacy for clarification and direc- tion to prevent any possible confrontation of violence should the OPP or the Six Nations Police come to shut him down or evict him from his home. "I make my livelihood with the smoke shop," he said. "But if y~u tell me I have to remove it, I will. I just don't know what to do. I'm confused over who owns that land. It's all mixed up." Onondaga Chief Arnold General stood in defense of Henhawk voicing his con- cern over territorial rights. "I think Jeff is within his rights there," he said. "Our ancestors fought over that land, and now we're fight- ing for it again. If it belongs to us, why don't we lease it to him and give him a paper to show he has a right to be there?" he suggested. "It's time to make a stand. If the white government wants to throw him out, we should not surrender. We're still here and we're gonna stay here." Mohawk Chief Allen MacNaughton disagreed with some of General com- ments. "We have a lot to consider here," he said. "But the bot- tom line is, what will be the consequences of our action here. This issue came up two years ago wheth7r we should protect or evict the smoke hut owners. That letter we drafted was well thought out at that time. I don't know why we are back here talk- ing about it-again." He recommended that the Chiefs stand by the Febru- ary, 2009 letter explaining their stance on the issue, which MacNaughton read to those in attendance. In it, the Chiefs discuss the potential of a turf war if there is no regulation on who opens what, where. MacNaughton referred to the Elected Council as "the other side of the Two Row", since it followed whiteman 's laws. "Band owned land is what Ottawa calls it," said MacNaughton. "Nbw we have_ land that is supposed to be coming back (Burtch), but as long as Jeff Hawk is on that land over there, it's not coming back." But according to a pro- vincial negotiation team member, that is not the case at all . He did not want to be identified due to the fact that · he has not been officially authorized to speak to the issue, Tom Molloy, lead pro- vincial negotiator, is on vacation and could not be reached for comment. But according to our con- tact, the Burtch transfer is a done deal, as far as the prov- ince is concerned, and it has nothing at all to do with Jeff Hawk running a smoke hut on Highway #6. "There are only two things holding that transaction up," he said. "One is to complete the remediation of the land, and the other is for Six Na- tions to determine how the land is to be transferred, and to·whom." At the Longhouse, MacNaughton added that this is still Nanfan Treaty land and that Haudeno- saunee people have a right to make a living on it. He thanked Henhawk for com- ing to the Confederacy, but he also made it clear that he was not happy that Hen- hawk ignored the directive given him in 2009. Henhawk explained that the letter he got had to do with the Smoke Hut and not his home. "If the shop is the issue, OK. I'll close it," he said . "But I offered to pay a lease to the Confeder_acy for the use of that land and got no response." After lunch, the discus- sion resumed. Henhawk opened by saying, "Let's look beyond me and the smoke shop," he said. "If we let that eviction notice , . stand, we may as well for- get about negotiations. This is just Band Council throw- ing its weight around ." Although Henhawk said he would shut his shop down if asked to, he wanted to make sure he was not be- ing singled out and asked if all Highway #6 smoke shops would be getting the same notice to close. That was confirmed, al- though there was no date set on when the shops would be asked to remove them- selves. As far as his house is Jeff Henhawk concerned, the Confeder- acy wiJl work with HDI in developing a Confederacy driven land usage proposal over the next six months. In the meantime, they will 'stay' for six months any endorsement of direct action by Band Council or its trust- ees to evict Henhawk.