Release offers for two Akwesasne activists arrested during land rights demonstration | News, Sports, Jobs

Larry V. Thompson (left) holds a two-row wampum in Massena Town Court Tuesday afternoon after appearing in court on charges of criminal damage and conspiracy in connection with a May demonstration. At left is Wapiskisit Piesew, whom Thompson described as his “spiritual and legal advisor.” (Photo provided – Andy Gardner/Watertown Daily Times)

MASSENA — Two of the eight Akwesasne people arrested during a demonstration against a proposed Mohawk land claim settlement have been offered conditional release after charges of trespassing and conspiracy were filed against them when they were arrested May 21 on Barnhart Island.

The two who were offered offers during their appearances Tuesday afternoon are 48-year-old Brent Maracle and 26-year-old Marina Johnson-Zafiris. They were among eight people arrested at the demonstration, where 67-year-old Larry V. Thompson was digging with an excavator to build what he said was a foundation for Native American housing. All of those arrested during the event were charged with trespassing, a misdemeanor, and sixth-degree conspiracy. Thompson is also charged with second-degree criminal damage for allegedly damaging New York Power Authority land valued at over $1,500.

The other defendants whose cases are pending in connection with the May 21 demonstration are Gabriel J. Oakes, 58; Kimberly A. Terrance, 41; Isaac N. White, 42; Dana L. Thompson, 67; Donald Delormier, 35. White was at the demonstration and covered the event as a reporter for the Akwesasne newspaper Indian Time. He is seeking dismissal of his charges on First Amendment grounds.

Outside the courtroom on Tuesday afternoon, a reporter asked Thompson to give details of the homes he had planned to build on Barnhart Island when he was arrested. He said he planned to “maybe 500 buildings.” When asked how the project would be financed, Thompson said: “We have to do one thing at a time: get back the stolen land and then move on to the other part.”

On Tuesday afternoon, St. Lawrence County Assistant District Attorney Alexander Nichols offered Johnson-Zafiris and Maracle a six-month adjournment in municipal court with a view to possible dismissal.

That means they don't have to plead guilty. As long as they aren't accused of anything new within six months, the trespassing and conspiracy charges will be dropped and the files sealed. “as if it had never happened”, Judge Joseph Brown told the defendants that they neither accepted nor rejected the respective offers. Brown adjourned the proceedings to give them time to consider the offer and make a decision.

The protesters refuse to hire lawyers and prefer to represent themselves. They claim the court has no authority over them because they are indigenous people, Onkwehonweh is their language and they were arrested on land that rightfully belongs to them.

In 2022, a judge ruled that New York State had illegally seized thousands of acres of Mohawk land in the 19th century. Negotiations for a settlement between Albany and the U.S., Canadian, and traditional Mohawk councils are ongoing. The federal government also sold large parts of the reservation without congressional approval, violating the Indian Non-Intercourse Act of 1796, which is now American law. It states that Native American land cannot be sold without congressional approval. Barnhart Island is one of these disputed areas.

The protesters are demanding fair compensation for Barnhart Island, which is an integral part of the Moses Saunders Dam, which has generated billions of dollars worth of electricity for the United States and Canada.

They are also demanding reparations for generations of environmentally-related illnesses caused by the upstream industrial activities of Alcoa, Reynolds Metals and General Motors, which for decades used large quantities of PCBs – known carcinogens – in their operations. PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls, were used in industrial products before they were banned in the United States in 1976.

During Johnson-Zafiris' appearance, she asked Nichols if the evidence provided by his office included deeds and titles to Barnhart Island. Nichols said no. Johnson-Zafiris said she, like all other Mohawk women, had matrilineal deeds and titles to the land.

“It is in my ovaries, my eggs… managed and protected by the ways… of our clan mothers,” she said.

“I have a special responsibility … to protect our country, to protect it for our children and grandchildren and the unborn,” said Maracle during his performance.

They each repeated previously presented arguments why the court did not have the authority to try or convict them.

Brown took no action in either case, adjourning Maracle's case to September 24 and Johnson-Zafiris's to October 22.

Thompson appeared Tuesday in traditional dress – a feather headdress and a shirt with a purple bow. He began by placing a peace pipe, a walking stick and a two-row wampum on a table before the judge and said he was governed by the treaties they represent, not by state or federal law.

Thompson and Judge Brown clashed as Thompson gave a long speech accusing court officials of treason and making an argument in support of the claim that he said was based on international law. He said treaties made over 400 years ago between the Native Americans and the first Dutch settlers are still applicable law today, which includes the double-row wampum, a beaded belt with two purple rows on a white background, representing the Native Americans and colonizers sailing parallel in separate ships and not getting in each other's way.

As Thompson yelled his legal arguments, the judge kept trying to interrupt and explain that the local court did not have the authority to consider dismissing a criminal case, but the district court did. At the end of his speech, Thompson received applause, mostly from the 15 or so people who had been supporting him, and also from several other defendants who were waiting in the gallery to appear in court on other charges.

Brown asked Thompson a series of questions to determine his competency to represent himself if the case goes before the St. Lawrence County court. Among the questions was whether Thompson was aware that he had to follow certain legal procedures, which Thompson acknowledged.

“The court has determined that you are competent to represent yourself in court.” Brown said following the questions.

Thompson was accompanied in court by a man whom Thompson identified as his “spiritual and legal advisor”, Wapiskisit Piesew said he does not split his name into first and last names. When asked where he lives, he said the laws he is subject to do not allow him to identify himself as living in a country referred to as Canada.

Outside the courthouse following the appearances, Wapiskisit Piesew further explained his views on international law and its applicability to the case of the eight defendants in the Akwesasne case. He reiterated Thompson's statement in court that the New York State judiciary is violating international law by prosecuting these cases and is therefore guilty of treason.

“They don’t want the truth about the law to come to light,” Said Wapiskisit Piesew.

He said he believes the United States was founded as a penal colony, and his legal perspective includes a unique theory about the American Civil War.

“[The Civil War] It wasn't about black slaves. It was about the prisoners who wanted to grow marijuana,” he said.