a a — 4 i ‘: Fenian Special to the Tribune In a statement of claim presented to the federal government and to the Government of Newfoundland- Labrador in early October, 1980, the Ktagamkuk IInui Saqimawoutie (New- foundland Indian Government) and the Conne River Indian Band Council, representing about 1,800 Newfoundland Micmacs, asserted aboriginal rights over their traditional hunting, fishing, and trapping territory in the southem interior of Newfoundland. This amounts to about one-third of the island. Tory Premier Brian Peckford has ag- reed to negotiate with the Micmacs, as well as Inuit and Montagnais-Naskapi groups who presented claims to large areas of Labrador. : Peckford’s decision to negotiate rep- resents a reversal of Newfoundland Government policy, and a victory for Newfoundland Micmacs. When Joey _ Smallwood brought Newfoundland into Confederation in -1949, his Liberal government refused to acknowledge the presence of Native people on the island. After Smallwood was defeated in 1971, successive Tory governments under Frank Moores and Brian Peckford re- fused to negotiate. So did the Depart- ment of Indian Affairs in Ottawa. In 1978, Hugh Faulkner, then Liberal minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, wrote that there was no historical basis for Newfoundland Mic- mac land claims, and that further re- search funding was not justified. PECKFORD AGREES TO NEGOTIATE NATIVE LAND CLAIMS Micmacs win in Newfoundland Newfoundland Micmacs faced other problems as well. There is a widespread folk belief among non-Indian Newfound- ’ landers that Micmacs were not aboriginal inhabitants of Newfoundland. According to this belief, Micmacs from Nova Scotia were brought to Newfoundland by the French colonial government in the 17th century, and paid to exterminate the aboriginal Beothic Indians. Conclusive. Evidence In their land claim, Newfoundland Micmacs have shown that these beliefs are false. They present conclusive evi- dence that the southern interior of New- foundland was part of Micmac hunting and fishing territory at least as early as the first French and English voyages of exploration, and that Micmac relations with Beothics, who occupied the north- ern interior of the island, were friendly. A rather small group of English settlers and fishermen murdered the Beothics, and then blamed the Micmacs. While there is substantial anthropolog- ical and historical evidence to support the Micmac’s claim that their ancestors did not kill the Beothics, the story of Micmac genocide is still widely believed by non-Native Newfoundlanders. Until 1968 it was contained in a widely-used grade 5 Newfoundland history text. Re- cent texts do not include it, but also do not correct it. After showing that Micmacs were aboriginal inhabitants of Newfoundland, and that they did not exterminate the Beothics, the land claim goes on to show that substantial numbers of Micmacs in Conne River and Bay St. George’s are still heavily dependent upon the moose, caribou, salmon, rabbits, etc., that sub- stained their ancestors. Negotiation of aboriginal rights is necessary to preserve and protect these bush resources for the Micmacs. Although Micmac territory in- cludes several non-Indian settlements, | the Micmacs are not claiming these. Also, they have declared their willing- ness to negotiate continued use of bush resources by non-Micmacs, an im- portant issue for many Newfoundlanders who reduce their grocery budgets by shooting moose and ducks, snaring rab- bits, etc. Micmac Identity Revived Presentation of the Micmac claim represents the culmination of a process of political revitalization. In the early 20th century, the traditional band council at the main Micmac settlement of Conne River was unilaterally dissolved by the . local Roman Catholic priest who also discouraged use of the Micmac language and traditional Micmac religious prac- tices. It was only in the late 1960s 2 early 1970s that Micmac political organization and identity revived under the direction of young and energetic leaders. By 1975, they had managed to start a sawmill, owned by the Conne River Band Council, which not only ran at a profit, but reduced unemployment m Conne River from approximately 957 t0 less than 50%. When the Newfoundla Tory government threatened to give Micmac timber rights to a multi-national paper corporation in 1975, Newfound- land Micmacs organized a successful speaking tour and media campaign to save their sawmill. In the Bay St. George’s area on Newfoundland’s west coast, effective political organization has brought substantial improvements 1 Micmac housing, and progress has beef made toward starting a Micmac logging operation. ; It seems clear at this point that the effectiveness of Micmac political organization and the strength of the Micmac land claim will force the Federal and the provincial government into meaningful negotiations. In the event that the Micmacs are forced to take thet! _ case to court, the legal position of the claim appears to be strong. Lemona Johnson, wife of slain Jamaican immigrant Albert Johnson, sits with son Albert Jr., five, during a benefit concert shortly following her husband’s death. BOY, SIX FOUND STRANGLED ) TORONTO — Members of the East Indian community here have charged the police with cover-up in the strangling death of a six year-old boy. Harpreet Singh Flora was found Oct. 26 underneath a tent trailer in the under- ground parking garage of his North York high-rise. Police say they are “95% cer- tain’ that the boy accidentally hung him- self on a piece of rope when he fell off the trailer. ae But David Harries, who found the boy’s body, charged that if the boy had fell as police suspect “his body would have been found beside the trailer not underneath it’*. Both Harries and the building superinten- dent who called police said they didn’t see PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOV. 14, 1980—Page & - ae < «we - » tp Se er IRM ANAL PRE BW GEG AT eth, Cover-up charged in death any rope near the boy, contrary to the police report. - At a demonstration Oct. 28 before the parliament buildings, enraged members of the Sikh community called the police con- clusions ‘“‘sheer nonsense’ and a cover- up. Kuldip Sumara said police were afraid to admit the death was racially motivated because ‘‘they fear it would spark distur- bances in our community. We know the boy was a victim of a pre-planned murder directed against us,’’ he said.- Sikh leaders have demanded a thorough investigation which would include the Ku Klux Klan who operated out of a tenth floor apartment in the boy’s building. TRIBUNE PHOTO — MIKE PHILLIPS. Toronto cops on trial for Johnson slaying | By KERRY McCUAIG TORONTO — The trial of two police officers charged with the slaying of Jamaican immigrant Albert Johnson is now in its second week before an all white jury. Johnson’s death on Aug. 26, 1979 sparked such controversy that the pro- vincial police were called in to in- vestigate. Normal procedure would have the Metro Toronto force investigating its own officers. The investigation brought manslaughter charges against two of the policemen involved William Inglis, 36 and Walter Cargnelli, 23. Both men have pleaded not guilty. A third officer, Gary Dicks was not charged. The Crown prosecutor is William Morrison, an attorney shipped in from Kitchener, 60 miles away td avoid crown “‘bias’’ in the case. Morrison came under fire during pre-trial hearings from the Al- bert Johnson Committee Against Police Brutality, formed immediately after Johnson’s death, for failing to prosecute his case vigorously enough. Morrison never made any effort during jury selec- tion to find a body which would have been familiar with Johnson’s racial and cultural background. He has also refused _ to submit as evidence records of con- tinual police harassment of Johnson in the months before his death. Autopsy reports and testimony from the only eyewitness to the murder, Johnson’s 9-year-old daughter Colsie, substantiate one another. Pathologist Dr. 1 John Hillsdon-Smith testified that the bullet that fatally injured Johnson en- | tered his abdomen at a 45-degree angle and travelled downward, meaning the shot would have had to be fired from above Johnson. Colsie who had ‘been upstairs pn the day, testified that her father was coming downstairs with his hands above his head in a gesture of surrender. He was ordered to kneel by police and then shot. Johnson’s wife Lemona, her sister Bevolyn Williams and Johnson’s three other children, aged 5 to 11, were in the house when the police entered but didn’t see the shooting. They were hurried out the front door by Dicks as the shots were fired. Lemona Johnson, Williams and 11- year-old Michelle all testified that Johnson had run in through the back door calling to his two sons who were in the backyard playing. When the boys en- ‘tered, Johnson closed and was trying to lock the door when Inglis and Cargnelli kicked it in and told him he was under arrest. Then with Johnson cornered be- side the kitchen stove the police wrestled with him, striking him over the head leav- ing a deep gash in the middle of his fore- head. Using his wife and daughter as shields Johnson managed to escape through two rooms and run upstairs. Shafickool Mohammed a neighbor of the Johnson’s also testified he saw this transpire. while standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Cargnelli and Inglis’ lawyer has been trying to prove self-defence based on a lawn tool Johnson was allegedly brand- ishing as he came down the stairs. The two-foot-long implement how- ever has revealed no fingerprints and the police officer investigating the incident admitted to handling it with his bare hands and carrying it around tucked under his arm. Both Mrs. Johnson and Williams under intensive grilling denied seeing Johnson with any weapon on the day of the shooting... The trial is expected to last another week.