Batchewana First Nation decries MNR charges (13 photos)

Two members of Batchewana First Nation are currently before the courts facing charges of hunting and fishing violations.

And they shouldn't be there, says band Chief Dean Sayers.

"This has no business before a foreign court," Sayers said during a peaceful demonstration held outside the provincial court offices at the Civic Centre this morning.

"We're demanding that the province, the Crown and their attorneys pull this matter out of their courts," he said. "This is our jurisdiction, it's our sovereignty, it's our territory and we'll deal with it."

Sayers said the provincial government, through the Ministry of the Environment, is exercising assumed jurisdiction of the community's traditional land and it cannot continue.

"If you look at our relationship with the settlers via different treaties and agreements you will notice that we never gave up our obligation to the Creator," Sayers said. "As we speak today there are a couple members of Batchewana First Nation that are accountable to the Creator and not to the government of Ontario for their actions."

Sayers said the group of Batchewana First Nation members gathered by the west entrance of the Civic Centre this morning were there to drum, sing, smudge and burn the sacred medicines so the province will be reminded that it's a foreign government on Batchewana First Nation territory and should conduct itself accordingly.

"We as a First Nation will deem when there have been infractions and we'll compliment when there's good things done as well," he said. "That's part of our responsibilities of managing the territories."

Batchewana First Nation Band Council is currently dealing on its own with both members who before the Provincial Court and the infractions they've been charged with.

One member was charged with hunting infractions, another with fishing commercially without an Ontario licence.

"There is an assumed wrongful jurisdictional issue on the part of the province and the Crown here and we can't let that go without contesting it," Sayers said. "We're demanding that these issues be pulled out of the courts and we will deal with them if we deem there is an issue."

Sayers said the band is not even sure there were infractions committed by the two individuals charged by MNR conservation officers.

"There has been so much harassment in the last while that it's almost at a state of outright war with the Ontario government right now," he said. "It can't continue and we cannot allow our people to be harassed any more."

Sayers said the band plans to continue to try to educate people about this issue and to lobby its allies including the Chiefs of Ontario, the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians as well as the Assembly of First Nations.

"I spoke to the national chief, Phil Fontain, yesterday in Thunder Bay," said Sayers. "He fully embraces the efforts of the First Nation."

The band would like to see some sort of mediation process put in place, said Sayers.

"We'd like to look toward a resolution process that is a table where First Nations and visiting governments sit down and try to come to some kind of agreements in a lot of issues outside of the courts," he said. "This is a recommendation not only from our band leadership but from the national First Nations level and even the Crown seems to have an appetite for that sort of resolution."

Sayers said the basic problems with the courts, other than the fact that they are out of their jurisdiction in this case, is that the legislation is archaic, does not respect the current realities of First Nations rights under the Canadian Constitution, as well as being expensive and very slow-moving.