UPDATED May 6th with new information, see the addendum at the bottom of the article.
It is without doubt that this article will make a lot of people angry, I expected that, more importantly is that it reopens the conversation, for the sake of justice we need more evidence to discover if a mans rights were violated or not, he served his sentence, yet is ostracized from his family home, separating him from his family.
Stanaslaus George Nikal claimed from day one that he was framed; unfortunately I am not the one to say if he was, is, or was not, the courts determined he was guilty based on the accusations of 4 accusers. Does that make him guilty, legally yes, but it’s also completely possible he was set up as well. The land owned by this Hereditary Chief might actually be worth billions of dollars. I am referring to this story. Read this story here
The land title now changed hands and changed families inside the Laksilyu (small frog) clan, this is NOT the Hereditary passing on of title, it violates Wet’suwet’en tradition.
In fairness I should also add, that the 4 women made the claim he did this years before, and kept silence until they were adults. Even better yet for the accusers, they get to hide their identity and hang the accused at the same time he is named for public ridicule. I don’t get a say in the matters of the law but if I did, I would love to see if and what kind of connections exist between them and Ron Mitchell the primary benefactor, this could result in a very interesting truth once revealed.
I have it on pretty good authority that his own kids also believe in Stanley’s innocence. I also believe that a review of the integrity of the 4 who testified against Stanley should be done, to verify that he was not wrongfully convicted in a numbers game where the deck was stacked against him. Again, I want to be clear, I am not saying he was innocent, what I am saying is as I see the story today, it is entirely possible that he was indeed framed.
Here you have a man so popular that nobody since him has been able to sit as both Hereditary Chief and Elected Band Council Chief at the same time, and in one sweep fall from grace to total disgrace without a shred of evidence beyond the testimony of 4 woman years after the fact. A prelude to the #MeToo Generation.
I do not read anywhere that he was guilty of forcefully imposing himself on anyone, so I cannot say that he did, it does appear to be a case of late reporting of a sexual relationship with minors, years after the fact. Again I am not justifying anything he has done, but rather looking at it from impartial eyes, not knowing what really took place. God knows and I will leave it at that for now.
Now my point here is this, if sexually assaulting four female victims (sexual intercourse with a female under 14 years of age) is not a crime serious enough to strip a chief of his title, then what is? Strange if you think of it, in modern day history nobody but 3 female Hereditary Chiefs have ever been stripped of their title. That leaves us asking what was so heinous about challenging the authority of John Ridsdale, who is no higher in rank than any of those three female Hereditary Chiefs?
By what law, what rule, what precedent did John invoke his edict, and does it carry any weight at all?
What court would uphold his decree, would the Canadian court or the world’s international court hold up his decree? I hardly think so, as no hearing ever took place, other than John’s kangaroo court likely hatched over a case of beer.
Or is this about stealing and controlling the billions of dollars in land title? Without stripping titles is there any other way to steal another family’s land title?
The same 5 Office Chiefs remind me of a hockey team that gets to not only move the goal posts on the Federal and Provincial governments, but even changing both the players and goalies on the fly throughout the game. The “LIST” seems to evolve completely without the traditional “Hereditary” and without the feasts that lead up to what is supposed to accumulate into a major event, the naming of a Hereditary Chief.
its worth looking at these “Lists” to see how they evolve for the sake of argumentative convenience, and then here the arguments they present today about how some chiefs never earned their rank according to traditional laws, remembering that this list below is part of sworn documents, documents that would be invalidated if they were made with the intent to circumvent the laws of Canada. This list was submitted to the hearings into the Northern Gateway Pipeline and each member swore to the legitimacy of their presence.
The list below is the list used for the CLG Pipeline.
Here is “The List” from 2015
Now look at the current list, also done without any attempt to follow their published protocol in regards to announcing a replacement Herditary Chief.
The process for becoming a chief using Wet’suwet’en traditional law requires the “house” to follow a procedure well spelled out, and interference by other house chiefs is strictly forbidden, however it was exactly by outside interference both Chief Woos and Chief Smogelgem become the first in recorded history to break with all Wet’suwet’en laws.
The “Predatory 5” chiefs orchestrated the entire affair from stripping of titles to picking the replacements.
The following is from the Office of Wet’suwet’en’s own website, rules they prove NOT to follow.
Becoming a Hereditary Chief
Before nonnative contact, a Wet’suwet’en heir began their journey to becoming a hereditary chief while still inside the mother’s womb. Elders, Shaman’s and Chiefs would often feel the womb of an expectant mother and determine if the baby was destined to be a future Chief or Shaman. From the time of birth the child would be groomed or tutored to be a wise, strong and responsible leader. The child would start off with the following succession of feast names:
Birth name
Baby name
Child’s name
Adolescent name
Adult name
Sub Chief name
Wing Chief
Head Chief name
Before a person received a high-ranking chief name, they would have to travel into the wilderness to live with the animals for an extended period of time. They would learn the ways of the animal world before returning to the community to assume a Chief name. When they returned, they would have to demonstrate what they have learned. This exercise exposed the prospected chief to the human world as well as the animal world. Thus ensuring he or she had the utmost respect for both.
So let’s have another look at the horrific crime of supporting a pipeline and the consequences involved.
These three women were accused, and without the traditional house feast, without a trial, no jury, nobody but the “Predatory 5” and the royal decree of John Ridsdale are stripped of their titles.
Or so they would have you believe, the fact they have said so is not supported by either Wet’suwet’en law or Canadian Law or even international law.
OK Now let’s do a history flashback, say back to when Chief Gwen’U was the head of the Laksilyu (small frog) clan, his English name was Chief Stanaslaus George Nikal. Remembering Wet’suwet’en title is held for life, let’s look back at this case Chief Gwen’U was never stripped of his blanket, it means he still holds that name and under Wet’suwet’en still holds the title to that land. Yet somehow we find that again without Wet’suwet’en protocol, Ron Mitchell became the Herditary Chief of the Laksilyu Clan, and now heads the House of Many Eyes, the same house Chief Gwen’U was never removed from as the Hereditary Chief.
In 1995 Stanley George Nikal was convicted of sexually assaulting four female victims between 1966 and 1988 in the community of Moricetown, located between Smithers and Hazelton.
Quoting from the Province Newspaper “One of the victims suffered sexual abuse that began when she was 10 or 11 years old and continued once or twice a week for eight years.
Nikal, who was chief councillor of the local band from 1987 to 1993, received a 12-year jail term that was reduced to nine years on appeal.
He was incarcerated from 1995 until his statutory release in October 2002 and has been barred from returning to the community since then.
At the hearing, Nikal maintained that he was innocent and that he had been set up as part of a politically-motivated conspiracy within the aboriginal community.
But a forensic psychiatrist had found that the untreated and unrepentant offender had a grandiose impression of himself and posed a risk to females, especially those under the age of 18 were he allowed back to Moricetown.”
I have to admit here is where I had a real problem understanding this case ““One of the victims suffered sexual abuse that began when she was 10 or 11 years old and continued once or twice a week for eight years.” The idea of 10 or 11 sends shivers up my spine, only to be asking myself why at the age of 19, did she keep returning to be abused? I have no idea what was going on in the minds of those sentencing him when they heard that, its beyond extraordinary.
Now again look at history; the problem is the chronological order.
First, Ron Mitchell became the head house Chief Hagwilnegh took his chief name in 1985. There is something very amiss here as well, 10 years before the conviction he takes over the position of Hereditary Chief?
It was 1995 when Chief Gwen’U was convicted for crimes he committed between 1966 and 1988.
So Ron Mitchell became the head house chief, Hagwilnegh took his chief name in 1985, 10 years prior to what is shown as the date Stanaslaus George Nikal was found guilty of his convictions. So it’s clear that power shifted hands from Stanaslaus George Nikal to Ron Mitchell, and at no time was Stanaslaus George Nikal ever stripped of his Hereditary Chief title after he was found guilty and sent to prison.
The single greatest threat to Wet’suwet’en Nation comes from the abandonment of the word “Herditary” there was nothing “Herditary” about the power-shift from Stanley George Nikal “Chief Gwen’U ” to Ron Mitchell “Chief Hagwilnegh” as head of the “House of Many Eyes” of the Laksilyu Clan (Small Frog Clan)
its time for a full review of what took place here, to determine if this was one of the many inheritance grabs that have been taking place within the Wet’suwet’en Nation.
ADDENDUM
We depend on you the readers for our information, we recently received a tip that an elder (a well-known elder) was fired from the band office by Stanley Nikal, and what happened including the trumped up charges were as an act of revenge by this same person. We do have the name of that person and withhold it until we have witnesses willing to testify. The following is a quote from a tip we received.
It is starting to look like Stanley Nikal was framed as an act of revenge.
“she was asked to leave the feast for stealing from the feast money pot”
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Stanislaus George Nikal is innocent. He should have a grandeous attitude as he continues to do many great things for many, many people. I have known this man for several years and he does not have that in him. He loves his family, please give him back what is rightfully his. God Bless Chief Gwenu.