MNN Receives Letter Threatening Haudenosaunee Sovereignty

COLONIALISM CONTINUES

- MNN RECEIVES LETTER THREATENING HAUDENOSAUNEE SOVEREIGNTYMNN. Needless to say, MNN does not agree with all of the interpretations put forward in the letter below that was faxed to us by a lawyer representing Bob Potts, Joan Holmes, Alan Pratt and Gerry Belisle. It seems obvious that this was intended to intimidate us so we are publishing our reply and the original threat for the interest and comments of those who wish to be kept informed of the truth concerning matters that affect us.

We would like to reassure readers that MNN does not publish information about real people unless there is evidence to support it. The web-sites from which most of the information contained in the piece the lawyer complained of are listed after his letter. Readers will note that the complainant's own websites are a major source of MNN's information.

From: MNN Mohawk Nation News

February 24, 2008.


To: Patrick Nadjiwan
Nadjiwan Law Office
915 Jocko Point Road, RR4
Nipissing First Nation
North Bay, Ontario P1B 8G5
Ph. 705-753-9815 Fax 705-753-9795
mail@nadjiwanlaw.ca

Dear Mr. Patrick Nadjiwan:

Could you please tell me whose “libel and slander act” you are referring to in your letter of February 24, 2008? Why do you think that any foreign polity has jurisdiction over the original inhabitants of Onowaregeh, Turtle Island? We would like to remind you that the Haudenosaunee never surrendered sovereignty to Canada, Ontario, or any foreign power and we do not have a libel and slander act.

We would also like to suggest that if your clients do not want to have their contact information and professional histories discussed in public, they should remove this from the internet.


Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News


The first letter from lawyer, Patrick Nadjiwan, was sent to MNN by fax at 13:37 February 24, 2008. Today, on February 25th a similar letter was sent by email with changes as indicated by the brackets. Enjoy!

Nadjiwan
Law Office
Barristers & Solicitors
915 Jocko Point Road, RR4
Nipissing First Nation
North Bay, Ontario
P1B 8G5
Ph: (705) 753-9815
Fax: (705) 753-9795
e-mail: mail@nadjiwanlaw.ca
Patrick M. Nadjiwan, H.B.S.W., LL.B.
Krista M. Yao, B.A. (Econ.), LL.B.

By Fax to (450)635-9351, by Mail and by E-Mail

February 24, 2008


Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News
P.O. BOX 991
Kahnawake of Mohawk Territory, Quebec J0L 1B0

Dear Ms. Horn:

RE: Libellous E-mail Newsletter published on February 12, 2008; and,
Libellous E-mail Newsletter published on February 16, 2008;

Please be advised that I have been retained by Bob Potts, Joan Holmes, Alan Pratt
and Gerry Belisle in relation to the above noted “Newsletter” you have written
and which you have distributed publicly.

This widely distributed Newsletter contains numerous allegations which are untrue,
disparaging, and defamatory imputations directed against my clients. These allegations
are intended to reflect negatively upon their personal reputations, as well as the
reputations of their businesses. Specifically, your libellous allegations include:

1) You make the general allegation of an illicit scheme to keep First Nations’ people
ignorant about their interests and rights and then to steal their land. This defamatory
allegation is then imputed to all of my clients in your article. We have no knowledge of
any such conspiracy and it is defamatory to my clients to falsely claim that they are
participating in any such conspiracy. This false allegation is set up in the following
paragraphs:

“Theft on a grand scale. About 26 years ago a bunch of greedy lawyers and their
hangers-on saw an opportunity. It was after the British Parliament relinquished
control over the Canadian constitution in 1982. They figured this would make it
was easier to steal our land and resources. “The Indians don’t know what they
have”, said they. “Let’s keep them ignorant and steal everything from them.”

“They came up with an idea to get control of swaths of land throughout Canada
o extract resources and set up legislative and policy defenses to protect their
business interests. Of course, they wanted to arrange things so they could put
a lot of money into their own personal pockets. They set up a prototype out
west in Alberta. Because the Lubicon Cree were well versed in their rights,
these thieves created two other bands, Woodland and Loon Lake Crees.

They made a settlement with them rather than with the Lubicons. Rem Westland,
Dan Goodleaf and Rick Van Loon engineered this one.

Eventually they got older and bolder. They started thinking about retiring and
moving to cottage country. Many of them bought recreational property in nearby
Sharbot Lake west of Ottawa. They looked around and saw opportunities to “enrich” themselves. But they had to do it under the protection of the colonial corporations
and their agents so they wouldn’t get caught. They knew how to tap into Canada ’s
public treasury to get all the money they needed”.

2) You further your claim of a nefarious conspiracy as set out in item (1) by
presenting quotations from unnamed participants in this alleged plot. These
quotations allege there was an actual conversation. Moreover, they imply that
you have sufficient evidence about that conversation that you can present
transcribed portions of that conversation to the public. We deny any knowledge
of such a plot, and we deny participating in such a scheme. It is defamatory to
my clients to claim that they were involved in this scheme to steal land from
Indians. This is contained in the following paragraphs:

“Oops! The land on which Ottawa sits is Haudenosaunee land. “Oh! No! We’ll
have to deal with those pesky Mohawks”, they said. “We’ll make it into
“Algonquin” land by twisting the historical information. We’ll get
someone like Joan Holmes and pay her lots of money to re-write history,
which is what we’ve always done anyway”.

With her Masters degree in “Canadian Studies” from Carleton and a B.A. in
“Anthropology” from Winnipeg, it was easy to lead Joan Holmes around
by the nose.

“Yeah! Yeah!” Joan Holmes was so excited. From 1983 onward she was pointed
toward all the Haudenosaunee land claims like Kanehsatake, Kahnawake, Akwesasne, Tyendinaga and Wahta to make sure that the results would go in the “right” direction. [jholmes@joanholmes.ca 613-722-7675.]

3) In the third paragraph quoted in item 2 above, you have included a quotation
directly attributed to Ms. Holmes. We deny that Ms. Holmes ever participated in
such a conversation and put you to the strict proof thereof. To allege that she was
involved in this conspiracy, agreed to the scheme, and was “excited” about issuing
false historical reports is false, defamatory and damaging to my client’s reputation.

4) You have claimed that, “Joan specialized in creating Indian bands incorporated
under the “Indian Act”, including the splitting and amalgamation of ‘bands’.” Setting
aside the simply fact that bands are not ‘incorporated’, this statement is untrue and
is intended to besmirch Ms. Holmes’ reputation as a historian by falsely attacking her impartiality.

5) You have claimed that, “Joan Holmes is the ANR Electoral Officer, Membership
Registrar and genealogist. She decides who is Algonquin. The Algonquin people
themselves have no say. This procedure doesn’t follow any kind of democratic
principle.” It is a falsehood to claim she was an electoral officer or a membership
registrar. It is a falsehood to claim that Algonquin people “do not have a say” in
the election process. In the context of this whole article, this allegation is clearly
intended to falsely allege that Ms. Holmes has unchecked discretionary power
which she is wielding in furtherance of your general conspiracy theory. This is
false and defamatory of my client.

6) You have alleged that Robert Potts was the lawyer for the Bre-X Corporation.
In addition, you have attributed to Mr. Potts a role in falsifying scientific data and
you have alluded to him having a role in a “set up” of Mr. Guzman which somehow
led to Mr. Guzman’s death. Mr. Potts did not represent Bre-x and your false
allegations are defamatory of his character. These allegations are contained in the
following paragraph:

“Robert Potts, lawyer of downtown Toronto, set up the Algonquin negotiation team.
His specialty is real estate law. He drafts trust agreements, by-laws and membership
codes. [416-593-3952 bpotts@blaney.com] He was the lawyer for “Bre-X”.
Remember them? That’s the company that raised money on the stock market
by salting ore samples to make them look like gold. There was no gold in them thar hills!
One geologist, Guzman, jumped out of a helicopter over this. He was Philippino and
might have been set up to take the rap.”

7) Next, you have alleged that, “Alan Pratt works closely with Robert Potts
[ 3550 Towood Drive, Dunrobin, Ontario. 613-832-1261 1-877-254-5415.
alan@prattlaw.ca]. He too got involved in the scheme in the mid 80s. People like
him have made a good living off us.” In this portion, you are expressly stating that
Mr. Potts is involved in the general scheme to defraud Indians of their land and
then claiming that Mr. Allan Pratt was also a participant. My clients are not aware
of any such “scheme” and deny any involvement in such a conspiracy plot. These
allegations are defamatory of their character.

(8) You have alleged that there was a sub-plot to fix an election within your general
conspiracy theory. That allegation is as follows:

“There are a lot of complaints about this team. Bob Potts, Alan Pratt, Nigel Marshman,
Joan Holmes and David Burke must be investigated for their part in the fixed Ottawa by-election of Algonquin negotiators. 27 people were told that their communities had been changed in order to secure the Algonquin Negotiation Representative ANR position for
Gerry Belisle, the person chosen by Bob Potts.”

This paragraph contains a number of false statements and defamatory allegations.
It alleges that the election was fixed, [this or] which is denied. It alleges that 27 people
were improperly moved from one community to another for the purpose of securing
the election of Mr. Gerry Belisle, which is also denied. Finally, it claims that all of this
was done at the bidding of Mr. Potts and with the active participation of Mr. Pratt, Mr. Marshman, Joan Holmes, and David Burke. This too is denied and all of which is clearly defamatory of my clients.

9) You have made a number of allegations about the election of Mr. Gerry Belisle.

Specifically, you have stated:

“This guy is completely rotten!

Gerry Belisle won the election even though no one from the Ottawa community voted
for him. The people who voted for him were parachuted in from Greater Golden Lake
by Joan Holmes.

Gerry Belisle is a real estate agent at Madawaska Highlands and was a local municipal
councilor. His office is a post office box in Kanata, a satellite of Ottawa.

This is a clear and express allegation that Ms. Holmes improperly moved people from one electoral district to Mr. Belisle’s district to get him elected in furtherance of the preceding conspiracy theory. This smearing of Mr. Belisle’s character is completed by stating that he worked in real estate and that he was a member of a local municipal council. Both of these
facts are presented in such a manner as to imply that he is part of [your or] the Indian land
theft scheme. We deny that Mr. Belisle’s election was in any way improper or illegal and put
you to the strict proof thereof. We also deny that he is aware of any grand conspiracy or
scheme to steal Indian land, and we deny that he is a participant in that conspiracy. It is a
lie and defamation of his character to allege either.

10) In relation to the election of Mr. Belisle, you stated, “When complaints were lodged,
Bob Potts, with the blessing of Robert Aitken [federal negotiator] and Brian Crane
[ Ontario negotiator], chose to discredit anyone who questioned him.” First, we assume that you are referring to Robin Aitken, as there is no Robert Aitken involved in these matters. Second, we deny that Mr. Potts choose to ‘discredit anyone who questioned him’. This allegation clearly intended to show an unwillingness to respond to legitimate complaints and concerns about elections, which is denied. In addition, your article claims that Mr. Aitken and Mr. Crane not only knew of this conspiracy to discredit unnamed questioners, but that they approved of it. We deny any such conversation or agreement was every formed and put you to the strict proof thereof. This too is defamatory, as it alleges that the Algonquin negotiator was working with the Federal and Provincial Crown against Algonquin interests.

11) You have also stated:

“One Algonquin told MNN, “I am scared to death of all the corruption and the slimey lawyers swarming the process such as [Robert] Potts and Alan Pratt. [Another lawyer Michael] Swinwood - well he is in a category all his own. And then there is Joan Holmes who is the “Membership Clerk”. I think the land claims process is an industry where white people are benefiting - I wish they would all go away - it is disheartening – I’m crushed by the b.s. of it all”.”

This statement, from a conveniently unnamed source, implies that this person fears for his/her life from those involved in the [your] conspiracy. As it continues, the article’s general theme claims that my clients are involved in this scheme and it impliedly claims that this person is fearful of my clients. This is false and defamatory of my clients.

12) Your article concludes with the following:

“The lack of accountability, transparency, fraudulent elections, fixed by-election, lack of information, exclusion of other legitimate communities, discrimination “7 people representing one community”, the secret meetings, abuse of the membership list, verbal abuse by the principle negotiator towards any Algonquin who questions his work ethics, the complete control by the principle negotiator has over the process are all issues of concern to the Algonquins.

Watch out for dirty tricks against MNN. Meetings are being held to find ways to discredit or radicalize anyone who disagrees with the fraudulent negotiation process.

Despite the fact that the first paragraph is actually an incomplete sentence, in the context of this article this is a list of false allegations against all of my clients. We deny all of these spurious allegations and put you to the strict proof thereof.

13) In your most recent newsletter, (Saturday, February 16, 2008, Entitled MASTER PLAN FOR PHONY ALGONQUIN SETTLEMENT OF HAUDENOSAUNEE TERRITORY” PART II –– What is the tie with the “Congress of Aboriginal People”?) you have again alleged that Mr. Potts worked for Bre-X. This compounds and continues the defamation from your preceding newsletter. The statement is as follows:

“According to colonial foreign rules Frontenac Ventures has to do a bit of drilling to get some samples of uranium ore so they can secure a claim to our land, with the help of the notoriously unsinkable shyster, Robert Potts, of Bre-X fame.”

This is a false statement and is defamatory of my client.

14) In this same newsletter, you have continued the smear tactics against Ms. Holmes.

You have stated:

“Is this another scheme where someone like “history buff”, Joan “The-Creator-of-Paper-Indians” Holmes registers CAP members?

The real Indigenous people are not “Indians” or “aboriginals”. Technicians like Joan Holmes could not only create “instant” Indians, but could decide that the real Indians are not Indians.”

As clearly indicated in its title, this is a newsletter and within that context, a newsletter must be seen as a continuation of the preceding article. It is denied that Ms. Holmes falsely or improperly registers some as an “Indian”, and furthermore, it is denied that she did so in furtherance of your alleged conspiracy. These are further acts of defamation.

Conclusion

Given that all of my clients work in the area of Aboriginal law and politics, we consider the publication of these false allegations and outright lies to be of the most serious nature. They strike unfairly at their professional reputations and attack their businesses. We will hold you, your editors, publishers, and internet service providers responsible for any and all damages which result from [the publication of] these statements to the fullest extent possible under the law. Please take this as notice under s.5.(1) of the Libel and Slander Act,[ R.S.O. 1990].

[In addition], we hereby demand that you cease and desist from making any further libelous statements. We demand that you immediately submit to me a draft of a clear and unqualified apology and retraction for publication to all recipients of the e-mail and [for posting on your web page.] to the public at large. Failing a satisfactory reply within the next three days, I will seek instructions to commence formal proceedings against you.

[Finally] We are [also] outraged that you are attempting to incite harassment of my clients and perhaps even violence. You have defamed my clients in the most egregious manner alleging that they are stealing from First Nations and then, within the body of this scurrilous document, you have published their email addresses and phone numbers. We believe that this act of bad faith and malice, in and of itself, will attract punitive damages.

Please govern yourself accordingly.


Sincerely,

NADJIWAN LAW OFFICE
ORIGINAL SIGNED
Per: Patrick Nadjiwan
patrick@nadjiwanlaw.ca
PMN:


For more information on Robert Potts, Alan Pratt, Joan Holmes and
Gerry Belisle, go to the following websites.

Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News

According to his bio at Blaney.com, Robert Potts is a member of the "Defence
Research Institute" which is a U.S. organization. http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=824584 http://dri.org/DRI/open/About.aspx?area=AFFIL
It has an international arm of International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) http://www.iadclaw.org/regionmeetings.cfm Potts defends corporations against
class action lawsuits, negligence, etc.

This article is about the 2005 election that was run by Robert Potts:
http://www.newsweb.ca/2005/April_28/Elections_to%20rejuvinate_process.html

Joan Holmes’ CV, go to http://www.ipperwashinquiry.ca/transcripts
/pdf/Joan_CV.pdf
Work experience on “genealogies and band membership, numerous projects involved an examination of issues of band membership and identification of family members for
entitlement purposes. A few projects were undertaken to examine the larger issues of
rights to band and treaty membership and exclusion from membership under the Indian
Act”.

Robert J. Potts’ involvement in “Bre-X”, go to http://www.blaney.com/lawyers_potts.htm
e specializes in Aboriginal law, insurance and corporate, defending the interests of
corporations, especially in energy and mining. http://www.lexpert.ca/deal.php?id=2018 Published in Magazine: Oct 01 1999

Alan Pratt law firm, as a colleague of Robert Potts, go to http://www.prattlaw.ca/colleagues.shtml

For complaints about the fixed Ottawa by-election of Gerry Belisle, go to Ottawa
Algonquins.com Homepage, 4th paragraph.
http://www.blaney.com/files/algonquin/ANR%20presentation%20to%2
0communities%20Sept%2004.pdfm "Algonquin Negotiation Representative Elections
September, 2004, Alan Pratt, Barrister & Solicitor http://www.bafn.ca/update.html
Posting of election results http://www.ruralrevolution.com/website/index.php?option=com_content&task=
section&id=18&Itemid=64
http://www.ontla.on.ca/house-proceedings/transcripts/files_html/2006-04-13_
L060.htm

http://www.royallepagegale.com/agents.htm

Click on News and see "Sharbot Lake" category.poster: katenies