"Local teacher's wife ordered to leave"

By Lynda Powless, Editor

A Six Nations Residency Bylaw has forced almost a dozen people off Six Nations since the beginning of the year and now threatens a local language teacher and his non-native wife.

The wife of the local teacher, who asked not to be named, was served with notice to leave Six Nations within 48 hours. Six Nations Police served the notice last Thursday.

The man, a band member, said he would seek legal advise.

The order came after the Six Nations Band Council received a written complaint about the woman.

Band Council Chief Wellington said Thursday he was aware of the eviction order. "Whether we like it or not, the fact remains," he said, "she is not a band member."

Staats said he did tell the couple they could ask the band membership committee for a suspension of the eviction order but, "there really is nothing within the bylaw that allows any kind of hearing or appeal."

Committee chairman Les Sowden said while he sympa-

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thized with the couple, who have been married for almost two years and adopted a local boy, "the bylaw says if you are not a band member you cannot reside here."

"There really isn't anything we can do to stop it now. Once we get a complaint, we have to act on it."

Sowden said council's policy has been to be soft on the bylaw. "We've said we won't go on a witch hunt and kick people out of here but if we get a written complaint, we have to deal with it."

Sowden said there is no mechanism within the bylaw to appeal the order.

Sowden said while protests or petitions may slow down the eviction, "that's about all. Even if the complaint is withdrawn, the wheels have started to roll and there is nothing in the bylaw to stop them."

Sowden said he isn't happy with the results. Family are split, but, "its a bylaw and we have to follow it."

He said Six Nations has been suffering from an influx of non­-native people. "We had a discussion on this just a few weeks ago. We tried to tell people we have a problem with the number of non-­natives and one native parent families in the community. Our children are being registered as having on native parent and in the very next generation aren't considered Indian at all."

Sowden said Six Nations has no membership code. "We're going to end up a reserve without any Indians. We have to deal with this."

But he said there was no way to stop the eviction. "I'm not sure you want a membership committee to act as a hearing body over these kinds of complaints."

Sowden said the committee carefully researched the issue before notifying the couple. "We received the complaint a month ago. We didn't even know his wife was non-native."

The 12 year old bylaw states "Only a registered band member of the Six Nations of the Grand River shall be entitled to reside on the Six Nations of the Grand River Indian lands."

The bylaw goes on to say; "Any other person residing or trespassing or unlawfully frequenting for prohibited purposes on the Six Nations Indian Reserves NO. 40 and No. 40B, in violation of any of the provisions of the by-law shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.00 or imprisonment for a term no exceeding 30 days or both.

The bylaw was passed in December of 1986 under Band Council Chief William Montour. Council members who signed the bylaw at that time were: Lewis B. Staats, Kenneth R. Hill, Dave Green, E. Glenn Martin, W. Graham Smith, Steve Williams, Kerry Bomberry, John W. Peters, Lonny Bomberry and Nina Burnham.

The bylaw was unsuccessfully challenged two years ago when Pamela Henderson, who had married a band member, was ordered to leave the reserve. Henderson challenged the Six Nations Band Council in court and lost.

While Justice Kent ruled in "the socio-economic justification, combined with the historical and legal justification, persuade me that the bylaw is demonstrable justified. It is, therefore, saved by Section 1 of the Charter even though it may operate in a discriminatory manner contrary to Section 15 of the Charter. The by­law is valid and the appeal must therefore be allowed, the acquittal set asked and a conviction registered against the respondent. Given the effect that his ruling will have on the respondent, her spouse and her family, sentence is suspended.

However, Kent did comment.

The legal validy of the by-law does not prevent the Band Council from amending it to permit non ­band member spouses to resident on the reserve with the spouses and families. One would hope such an amendment would be considered in order to address hardship situations such as that of Pamela Henderson.

The Hendersons have since sold their home and moved from the community.

Staats said Band Council has never considered amending the bylaw. "We have had legal advise from the band's lawyers not to even try to amend it. That we'd never get another bylaw passed by Indian Affairs."

Meanwhile, a local language teacher and his wife have been left worrying about their future. "This is my home. I built it. She is my wife. We aren't leaving," he said.

Community support efforts are building to help the man who is one of only a handful of local people who still speak Hodenosaunne languages, but efforts may fall on tied hands.

"There isn't anything we can do about it. The community has to decide what it wants to do about membership and who can live here," Sowden said. "We aren't kicking anyone off. It's a bylaw and we are just enforcing it."

The dilemma touches almost every family at Six Nations. "There are a lot of non-natives living here, we know that," Sowden said. "But we only proceed if we get a complaint."

At Six Nations non-native people live in the community, teach in the schools and have even sat on the Six Nations Band Council and community committees.

Prior to 1985, non-native women who married native men gained native status and continue to live and work here, while native women who married non-native men were stripped of their status.

Since 1985 Bill C-31 was enacted native women who married non-­native men regained their status but non-native women who gained status when they married native men were not stripped of that new found status. And that has created some problems.

The women are not generally accepted in the community and others complain they should hand in their cards.

One woman, who asked not to be identified, said the women should be stripped of their cards. "Why should they have them. They aren't Indians. Why should they get the rights of Indians. They shouldn't be living here either."

In at least one case a councillor said, "we even have non-native women, living in our community, who are divorced from their native spouses and are living with non-­native men and have had children. Their children are gaining status because the woman got it when she married."

The non-native women, who gained status, live at Six Nations in relative protection of the Indian Act, while their counterparts who were married after 1985 live under a shadow.

A non-native lives quietly with his wife in a newly built home on the community outskirts and says, he too keeps a low profile. "We just built this home. We don't want to lose it."

Both said they knew the possible consequences of their marriages. "Everyone knows a white person can't live here. I knew that when I married my wife. But you can't tell someone who to fall in love with."

In the meantime, the issues raised more than just a residency issue.

It becomes an issue of funding. Six Nations receives no funding for non-natives living within the community for either social programs or educational services.

Staats said the Band Council has never considered any kind of registering of non-natives within the community.

Currently non-native ministers who service local churches are given permission to work and live within the community but, Staats says, a letter of complaint could see them removed as well.

Sowden said he tried to explain to council the issue with the language teacher was a civil matter, not a criminal matter, in trying to get his eviction order extended to 30 days. "But there are some people on council who are just adamant about this and said no. The vote was she had to go."