FIRST NATIONS DENOUNCE GROW-OP DEFENCE

REGINA -- The invoking 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 Regina 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 First
Nations communities.

"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 Anishinabe 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."

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.