Both Articles on Alberta case.

["Craven, Jim" <JCraven@xxxxxxxxx>]

NOT YOUR AVERAGE LICENSE PLATE...
By Lisa Doerksen
Lethbridge Herald Friday, January 23, 2004
 
A Piikani reserve woman who believes she is not bound by Canadian law is
fighting for the right to drive in the province without registering her
vehicle.
 
Bella Yellowhorn has launched a constitutional challenge of the Indian
Act and Treaty 7 in an effort to be recognized as part of a sovereign
nation.
 
"I am a member of the sovereign Blackfoot Nation", said Yellowhorn. "I
do not have to abide by the Canadian status laws and all they charge us
for."
 
Yellowhorn claims she is one of a growing number of natives who have
rejected their status Indian cards from the government and are using
their own Blackfoot Nation cards.
 
Yellowhorn and her representation--James Craven, a professor at
Clark's[sic] College in Washington--will argue their position this
morning in Lethbridge provincial court.
 
Prosecutor Kurt Sandstrom, a specialist in constitutional and aboriginal
law, is handling the case for the Crown.
 
The issue stems back to May 1, 2001 when Yellowhorn was pulled over in
Lethbridge for not having proper registration for her vehicle.
Yellowhorn had outfitted her van with a homemade Blackfoot Nation
license plate.
 
"This is traditional Blackfoot Nation territory", she said. "This is my
homeland and I feel I have the right to use my own license plate in my
home country."
 
If her case is successful, Yellowhorn wants to be able to use her own
license plate on all ancestral Blackfoot lands, which encompasses most
of southern Alberta, stretching into Montana, Saskatchewan and B.C.
 
Craven, however, says the issue goes far beyond license plates.
 
"What this is about is genocide, pure and simple," he said. "It's about
the right to be a free nation, free people. We have a right to remain as
a nation and not be exterminated."
 
Craven,, who also goes by his Blackfoot name Omahkohkiaayo-i'poyi, said
he plans to shed light on the Indian Act's purpose of forcing
assimilation of Indians into Canadian life--what he calls genocide of
the Blackfoot culture.
 
"If a (Blackfoot Indian) chooses also to be a Canadian that's fine but
you can't force it on us," he said. "We're forcing Canada to look at
itself and what's being done to Indians across the country."
 
Craven said he'll take the issue to the Supreme Court of Canada or even
the International Court in Hague or the United Nations if necessary.   
 

LETHBRIDGE HERALD
The Lethbridge Herald
Saturday A, Saturday, January 24, 2004, p.a3

[By Lisa Doerksen Lethbridge Herald Forcing Blackfoot Nations[sic]
Natives to have Canadian insurance on their vehicles is akin to asking
foreign travellers to buy Canadian insurance to visit here, says a
professor helping]

By Lisa Doerksen

Lethbridge Herald

Forcing Blackfoot Nations[sic] natives to have Canadian insurance on
their vehicles is akin to asking foreign travellers to buy Canadian
insurance to visit here, says a professor helping a native woman fight a
charge of driving a motor vehicle without insurance.

"It's no different than a motorist from Montana driving onto Canadian
lands," said James Craven, a professor at Washington's Clark College, on
behalf of Bella Yellowhorn Friday at the Lethbridge provincial
courthouse. "They're not required to have Canadian insurance as long as
they have some kind of insurance."

The issue stems back to May 1, 2001 when Yellowhorn, a Piikani reserve
resident, was pulled over in Lethbridge for not having proper
registration for her vehicle. Yellowhorn had outfitted her van with a
homemade Blackfoot Nation licence plate.

She was later convicted of a charge of not having proper registration
and the insurance charge went to trial this week.

Yellowhorn claimed in court she had insurance but could not prove it
because she was unable to obtain documents from her van when it was
seized and also could not locate the Fort Macleod office she purchased
the insurance from.

Prosecutor Eric Brooks, who is handling the criminal prosecution
regarding the charge, noted the onus is on the accused to provide proof
of insurance and Yellowhorn was allowed several adjournments to give her
time to gather the information.

Judge Ron Jacobson will hand down his decision on Feb. 9.

Yellowhorn said if the case is successful, she wants to be able to use
her own licence plate on all ancestral Blackfoot lands, which
encompasses most of southern Alberta, stretching into Montana,
Saskatchewan and B.C.

In addition to fighting the charge, Craven has launched a constitutional
challenge of the Indian Act and Treaty 7 in an effort to have the
Blackfoot people recognized as a sovereign nation.

Craven told the court Friday the Blackfoot people meet all the tests for
a nation under international law, including a stable population,
identifiable land and their own identifiable governance.

The Indian Act, he said, is little more than a document designed to
force the assimilation of natives into Canadian culture--something he
calls genocide of the Blackfoot culture.

"Bella believes that as a matter of her own personal survival she cannot
and will not obey any of the (conditions) of the Indian Act," said
Craven.

He argued the Indian Act allows activity prohibited under international
genocide laws, pointing to issues such as residential schools and the
high rate of suicide on the reserve.

However, Crown prosecutor Kurt Sandstrom argued that many of the issues
raised by Craven have little to do with the matter before the court--a
provincial statute requiring proper insurance to drive in Alberta.

Alberta's provincial court is not the right place to launch arguments
based on international law, said Sandstrom, a specialist in
constitutional and aboriginal law handling the constitutional challenge.
"This court does not have the authority to impose a remedy under the
international forum."

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