"Men's Fire issues warning after Confederacy invite to meeting"

By Donna Duric and Lynda Powless, Writers

Six Nations Police are still investigating the forcible removal of Mohawk lawyer Aaron Detlor and shutdown of the Grand River Employment building last week.

Deputy chief Rocky Smith said "it's still under investigation," Tuesday.

Six Nations Police were on scene as the Tuesday incident spread into Wednesday when Detlor returned to his office.

A group of men had attempted to block Sunrise Court Wednesday to prevent him from entering. When that failed a day long stand off took place with at the height of it about 60 people standing in the social services building parking lot.

At one point Six Nations Men's Fire spokesman Bill Monture warned "things will get ugly" as they continue to push Mohawk Lawyer Aaron Detlor from his role as a legal advisor for the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council (HCCC), despite a Confederacy statement opposing their actions.

Chiefs and Clanmothers from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council met in an emergency meeting Wednesday at the Grand River Employment and Training building (GREAT) to discuss the attempted eviction of Detlor from his office on the Six Nations territory.

Men's Fire spokesman Bill Monture said they were evicting Detlor because "he is not good for our people" and claimed to have Clanmother support for the action.

Monture would not comment on why he felt Detlor was "not good for our people."

The Chiefs and clanmothers provided a statement Wednesday that was given to and read out to the Mens' Fire members by Doreen Silversmith, after an hours-long meeting with dozens of chiefs and Clanmothers. Members of the Men's Fire group threw away the statements or handed them back, with a warning the group would continue to prevent Detlor from returning to his office.

The Statement said;

"Firstly, the HCCC would like to remind people to use our good mind and to be peaceful towards each other." The statement reads "That actions of the past 24 hours

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Last Tuesday morning, about 15 members of the Men's Fire entered the GREAT building, and went to the HCCC administrations offices where Detlor was attending a meeting, crashed the meeting and physically removed Detlor from the GREAT building.

When Detlor attempted to return to work Wednesday morning, the Men's Fire surrounded the GREAT building, causing a lockdown and evacuation of the building to protect staff and students there, who said they were afraid of the Men's Fire and felt threatened by their presence around the building.

Around 10 Six Nations Police officers were on scene throughout the day to secure the building while chiefs and Clanmothers met to discuss the matter.

"It is important that our community be supported mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually and safety is of major concern for all those involved, along with the health and well-being of our community," the HCCC statement said.

"In reference to Mr. Aaron Detlor, Mr. Detlor is a Mohawk and is a legal advisor to the HCCC. He also has a long-term private practice and rents space in the GREAT building."

The statement continued, "Mr. Detlor remains in his position on the territory until the chiefs and Clanmothers, the only body with the ability to remove him from his position, decide to do so."

The statement also said: "To be clear, the Cayuga Clanmothers did not authorize the actions of the Men's Fire that have taken place here in the past two days and neither would they ever authorize any violent action against our own people. We, the Roya'ner and Yakoya'ner of the HCCC, are asking the Men's Fire to stop their current actions and respect the direction of our traditional leadership. We invite the Men's Fire to the next HCCC on May 7 to discuss their concerns.

The statement said the HCCC asked for patience and understanding as they worked to resolve the issue.

Men's Fire spokesman Bill Monture questioned the number of Clanmothers and chiefs present at Wednesday's meeting and declared the decision illegal because all 50 chiefs and Clanmothers were not present at the meeting.

He said a number of Clanmothers said they were not invited. When asked who the clanmothers were he and Wilf Davey another member of the group mentioned two names, one woman who has denied any involvement and the second who told Turtle Island any comments would come from the longhouse meeting Saturday.

Monture had warned after the HCCC delivered its release "There's a lot of people that are very, very angry. They're talking about coming back tomorrow, 500 strong. And it's about Aaron Detlor. The people are the Confederacy also. Yous made a decision just among yourselves," he told the dozens of chiefs and Clanmothers present. "You didn't ask the people to meet with you."

He spoke with Six Nations Police afterward and said the Men's Fire would be back to prevent Detlor from returning to his office.

"This is going to get ugly," he told the crowd that included police, chiefs and Clanmothers. You're going to have a shitload of people from the community as well. They want his ass gone from the territory. Hire another lawyer, that's all we're saying. I'm only forewarning you guys that is what's coming."

Detlor was not planning to return to the Office Thursday. "He's causing a lot of dysfunction in our community," Monture said. "To fix it is to get rid of the problem. Right now he seems to be the problem. The people here in the community are not having their voice heard."

Monture said he would be back on Monday when he heard Detlor would be returning to his office on Monday.

He said according to the Great Law, the chiefs and Clanmothers present were to have come outside to talk to the people.

The Men's Fire returned copies of the statement.

The Six Nations Elected Council released a statement saying they were aware of the incident and are "committed to ensuring a healthy, safe and secure community, Six Nations Elected Council would like to inform the community that they do not condone violence on the Territory at any time.

"The Elected Chief and Council are hopeful that those involved can come to a peaceful resolution, and are confident that the Six Nations Police will continue to uphold public safety until a resolution has been reached."