By Margaret Ellsworth
OHSWEKEN, ONT. — The Six Nations of the Grand River land-rights trial resumes Monday, Nov. 9, after a 12-day break, and the first published account of the testimony heard just before the pause shows how the community’s case rests on what was lost along with the land.
Joseph Martin, one of Six Nations’ oral history witnesses, testified about language and how it passes from one generation to the next, Turtle Island News reported on Nov. 4. Tayler Hill of Six Nations of the Grand River previously told The Buffalo Chronicle that Mr. Martin was on the stand on Oct. 26 and 27.
“I don’t know if anyone has been homeless or displaced but that’s what happened to our people by teaming up with the Crown. At war with the Crown, we were ultimately displaced from our homeland,” Mr. Martin said, according to the newspaper.
“The effects it has had on our people, physically, mentally emotionally and spiritually were tremendous. We had to leave behind our graveyards, our ancestors,” he said.
His testimony goes to the heart of the community’s argument. Six Nations sued Canada and Ontario more than 31 years ago over land along the Grand River promised to the Haudenosaunee in 1784 and over trust money from land sold off in the century that followed. Mr. Martin described those losses as continuing to harm the community today, Turtle Island News reported.
Who is next
When court resumes, Professor Alan Taylor is scheduled to begin testifying on Nov. 9, Ms. Hill told The Chronicle. The court adjourned on Oct. 28 after the witness scheduled to follow Mr. Martin fell ill and another could not start on short notice, she said, as The Chronicle reported on Nov. 1. The week of Nov. 2 to 6 “was always off from the trial,” Ms. Hill said.
Ms. Hill has also said a ruling is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 18. She did not say which matter it will decide.
The trial is being heard in Ontario Superior Court before Justice Ira Parghi. It opened Oct. 5 and is expected to run for years. The case contains 46 individual claims, which CBC News reported are valued at between $13.9 billion and $8.7 trillion.
In its third week, Canada and Ontario challenged evidence from Six Nations oral history witnesses in a voir dire, a hearing within the trial on whether evidence can be admitted. The Chronicle reported on that week in detail.
Viewing access ends Nov. 23
Community members who want to follow the trial have a deadline. Six Nations will keep litigation viewing open until Nov. 23 and will begin issuing written summaries of the proceedings, Chief Executive Officer Deb Jonathan told Six Nations Elected Council at its Oct. 27 General Council meeting, Turtle Island News reported.
“I do have to say that our viewing audience has dropped even further, but we will be keeping access to litigation viewing open for our community up to November 23,” Ms. Jonathan said.
The Elected Council posts weekly summaries on its website. As of Saturday, the most recent covered Oct. 19 to 23. Details on viewing locations are being shared through the community’s social media channels, the newspaper reported.
What Six Nations is asking for
For Six Nations, the claim is about land and money that were supposed to be held for the community. “All of our money, all of our lands were sold to run the colonial government of Upper Canada for about 60 years,” Lonny Bomberry, the community’s lands and resources director, told CBC News when the trial opened. “Six Nations was left without any land, without any money.”
Canada and Ontario dispute the claims. In an August ruling, the court held that the claim is monetary and does not seek the return of Crown land.
The Chronicle has asked Six Nations and the federal Department of Justice for comment on the resumption of the trial and the Dec. 18 ruling.
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