ACCUSED 'HIDING BEHIND THEIR CULTURE'

The use of culture, treaty rights, and religion by six men in their
defence on drug charges has sparked outrage among some First Nations
people.

During the 15-day trial, which ended this week, the Leader-Post
received phone calls and letters raising concerns about the reasons
the accused offered for creating a massive marijuana grow-op
potentially worth millions. The group's leader said he is a
traditional chief who was told by the "Creator" to grow "medicine" for
his people.

"They're hiding behind their culture," Eleanor Dubois said. Formerly
of the Pasqua First Nation, where the grow-op was discovered, Dubois
followed the case from her home in Alberta.

"I am offended and embarrassed by the claims that this operation was
requested by the Creator," she said. "To use culture and spirituality
to mask criminal activity is to exploit that culture and spirituality
and that is shameful beyond measure."

Joe Northwest worried the claims may reflect poorly on all of the
First Nations community. "I'm offended because I'm an elder. And this
is against my beliefs and my values to have some man mock my beliefs,"
said the Regina man. "A lot of people are saying, 'What is he doing?
. Is he just trying to make First Nations people look like fools?'
"

The controversy stems from the case of six men charged with producing
marijuana after an Aug. 21, 2005 search found more than 6,000 plants
in greenhouses. Three men were acquitted, but the jury convicted
Lawrence Hubert Agecoutay, 52, his brother Robert Stanley Agecoutay,
48, and Chester Fernand Girard, a 59-year-old white Ontario man who
paid for his adoption by the First Nations group by cultivating the
plants.

Family head Lawrence Agecoutay testified he is Chief Ka-Nee-Ka-Neet --
the seventh generation, international, traditional, inherent and
spiritual chief for the Anishnabe Federation of Sovereign Nations. A
seal on letters identifies him as the head chief of the Anishinabe
Nations of Turtle Island Indian Reserve, a "sovereign nation" with its
own laws. He used Turtle Island reserve letterhead and his certificate
of Indian status (formerly known as a treaty card) to buy tax-free
items, such as lumber, delivered to the grow-op site. (Goods sold to
residents on a reserve are tax-free.)

Carrying a sacred bundle with a ceremonial pipe into court each day,
Agecoutay said the Creator told him to grow medicine to cure cancer
and diabetes. "I'm doing the Creator's work," he said after the
verdict, adding the jurors may not have understood the issues. "They
were not educated in this area."

But some fear Agecoutay's lessons from the witness stand have done
more harm. In a letter to the editor, university student Shane
Sunshine worried about the implications for "an under-informed
public," furthering "false beliefs" about First Nation rights.

"Agecoutay and his accomplices, exploiting the tax-free status of
reserves to fund an illegal enterprise will, I fear, give credence to
the idea that aboriginals in Canada do not pay taxes. This is a silly
idea," Sunshine said.

Both Northwest and a frustrated, unidentified caller to the
Leader-Post raised concerns about Agecoutay taking a sacred bundle and
the ceremonial pipe it holds into a courtroom, saying their use is for
sacred events.

Bill Asikinack, who is Anishinabe, is department head of indigenous
studies at the First Nations University of Canada. In explaining
people's strong reaction to the case, he noted a person had to earn
their leadership in traditional Anishinabe society. "They had to have
good qualities about who they were and thus, the people would then
follow this person. But they would only follow this person if this
person was speaking properly for them," Asikinack said.

He said the Anishinabe nation, which stretches from Lake Ontario to
northern B.C., doesn't have a grand chief. "There are traditional
leaders and traditional leaders can potentially inherit the position,
but they have to earn it by being good people and being people of
respect," Asikinack said.

"Turtle Island" is a name most First Nations people use to describe
North America, but "there is no reserve called Turtle Island," he said.

After the grow-op was busted in 2005, Pasqua Chief Elaine Chicoose and
Lawrence Joseph, then vice-chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan
Indian Nations, said there is a zero tolerance to drugs.

Neither returned phone calls from the Leader-Post this week, but
Joseph, now FSIN chief, appeared on CTV News on Friday, saying he too
was offended by the use of culture as a defence to producing drugs.