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MOTION DEMANDING THE RELEASE OF STEVE KOHLER TO THE CUSTODY OF THE SOVEREIGN TRIBAL YUPIK
Community OF ALEKNAGIK UNDER A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS ISSUED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE SOVEREIGN JURISDICTION OF THEIR TRADITIONAL TRIBAL GOVERNMENT OF ALEKNAGIK
The United States of
America and the State of Alaska lacks jurisdiction in 3DI-90-233 and in all
those matters pertaining to all the actions of the past, present or future that
comprise the record in its entirety back to the alleged offense or offenses in
or about the year 1990. Steve Kohler contends that neither the
State of ALaska nor the United States of America have sovereign jurisdiction in
the matters concerning Subsistence/Commercial Regulations within the sovereign
Aleknagik Yupic Jurisdiction as defined in Aleknagik Traditional Tribal Resolution 89-04 and Resolution 89-05 and
further contend that any authority assumed by the United States Government , or
its legislative creature, the State of Alaska, is erroneously derived from the
Treaty of Cession (15 Stat. 539) 1867 and from military occupation in the
defense of the territory of Alaska from Japanese attack in 1941. The defense
from Japanese attack terminated with the cessation of warfare hostilities
between the United States of America and Japan that occurred with the signing
of the Japanese surrender Papers aboard the battleship U.S.S. Missouri on Sept.
1945. Senate Document 152
of the 81st Congress,Second Session, "Russian Administration of Alaska and
the status of the Alaskan Natives" (1950), responded to questions of
jurisdiction arising after the end of World WarII during which the United
States built the Alaskan highway and installed thousands of troops on new
military bases which was purportedly for the defense of Alaska.The United
States has not fulfilled its obligations under the Treaty of Cession of 1867,
but has exerted authority and made claims to sovereignty and title which have
not been perfected according to its own laws and declared principles. The United States and
its legislative creature, the State of Alaska, has constructively manipulated
and semantically avoided principles of law dating back to the 1500's in Papal
Bulls, Spanish Laws and Federal Indian Law, as well as the constitution of the
United States, which prohibit taking the property which is held under
Indigenous Title. In doing so, it has illegally and improperly instituted laws
and statutes which were and are enforced under the direct enforcement of the
United States government in its quest to fulfill the final vestiges of
"Manifest Destiny" and colonial empire building in the Pacific Rim
which was a dream of a conspiracy between the Prince of Wales WIlliam Seward,
Simon Camerou and ultimately carried out in the Treaty of Cession during which
$200.000 was paid to various congressmen to insure ratification of a document which
they did not see during or before their vote. In 1867, the indigenous tribes
enjoyed all the attributes of governmental accoutrements while exercising
complete and total jurisdiction over all lands, water resources and tribal
members, while the Russians numbered less than 500 persons not including
Creoles.(Kostilivtzov Memorandum) Included in Senate
Document 152 at pages 34‑36. App.IA, are portions of Russian laws and
decrees relating to Alaska and printed in the "Complete Collection of Laws
of the Russian Empire." These decrees and laws in no way legitimize nor do
they seem to suggest legitimacy of claim sovereignty or dominion over any lands
, waters, resources or persons other than which they occupied and possessed. A translation of the
Kostlivitszov Memorandum to the Secretary of State Seward on pages 53‑57
of Senate Document 152 leaves no doubt as to what was transferred in the Treaty
of Cession of 1867. (Motion 6/30/89 attached.) (App.A, p. 53‑57. Russia did not sell what it did not own, and
Russia owned very little in terms of acreage. The transfer of ownership was a
ceremony attended by very few and the land which by right belonged to neither
was transferred with little notice but much fanfare. The natives seeking
sovereignty and specifically the Yupik Tribal Members of Aleknagik claim their jurisdiction based on their collective
indigenous heritage; namely that they are indigenous natives and that all other
entities that claim jurisdiction are merely quasi legal instruments of the
United States federal governments occupation and that all Federal Tribal Corporations under the Indian Reorganization
Act of 1934 (IRA) ch.576,48 Stat 984 (codified as amended as 25 USC sec 461, et
seq.) are subject to oversight by the Secretary of the Interior and under the
jurisdiction of the federal courts, and exist only subject to the Congress of
the United States, whereas the Sovereign/suzerain jurisdiction of the
Yup'ik predate these, "occupation generated" quasi legal,
governmental entities since before "Western" recorded history and are
therefore the only governmental entity, in the absence of tribal consent, that
has judicial competency and plenary powers to regulate subsistence/commercial
activities within its sovereign/suzerain jurisdiction and to protect the
members of its tribe, or its agents, from criminal harassment or interference
into their human rights by third party limited liability agents as declared in
their Charter and Resolutions. The State of Alaska,
by use of the Alaska State Troopers, did illegally interfere with Steve Kohler
in the discharge of his rights and duties as sovereign Yupic tribal member to subsistence
/commercial fish in a manner consistent with tribal use and custom. The sovereignty,
indigenous title and rights of the Yupik remain intact and are held in trust
within the oral history of the Elders to be used by the Traditional Council of
Elders in the time of need. At no time have the Yupik People surrendered or
otherwise extinguished their sovereignty through discovery, terra nullius,
treaty, conquest, assimilation, waste lands or idle lands,or by any other means
or device,either covert or overt, written or oral. There does exist a
body of law which purports to have jurisdiction over "Indians" and
"Alaskan Natives". There are in fact no Alaska Natives except as may
exist in legal construction. The semantic exclusion and confusion of people
from these definitions perpetrated and promoted by the federal government are a
subtle form of dehumanization and contribute to the crime of genocide. For if a
group is deprived of its language and forced to adopt the
dominate or occupying forces language, it ceases to exist if its definition as
a political group is eliminated from the language..... Death by
semantics....... The semantics and
concomitant distortions of the law have been utilized to create a
jurisdictional assertion which is based upon false foundation: that the Treaty
of cession of 1867 was or is a transfer or sale of the rightful God given
indigenous title and sovereign jurisdictional rights by the Tsar of Russia to
the United States of America. In legal reality the Treaty of Cession is just as
it says it is, a transfer of Russian possessions. Indian Law generally
assumes that the United States Congress has plenary powers pursuant to the
Indian Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.United States
Constitution art.I,sec.8,cl.3; David Getches, C.Wilkinson Federal Indian law,
p.195 (2d ed. 1986). To buttress this argument, Federal Indian Law relies on
Marshall Court decisions relating to the term known as "dependent"
nations. Worcester v.Georgia, 31 U.S.(6Pet)515 1832). Cherokee Nation
v.Georgia, 30 U.S.(5 Pet.)1(1831); Johnson v.McIntosh, 21 U.S. (8 Wheat) 543
(1823). These cases are relied upon in
cases which define sovereignty and Indian Tribes. These decisions are of such
nature as to preclude them from being the background against which this issue
must be argued and adjudicated or interpreted. There is gross error
in decisions of the Federal Courts which combine to create a political reality
based on legal premise which is incomplete in its consideration based on the
backdrop and background against which legal assumptions are made. These
political assumptions have allowed and at times encouraged the enactment of
numerous laws, regulations and agreements which purport to jurisdictionally
control "Indians" and "Alaska Natives." Appellant disagrees
and charges that the United States of America has allowed the Administration
(Executive Branch) to construe the constitution in such a way as to assume that
Congress has plenary powers over "Indians when in fact their is no statement or
wording which directly or indirectly assumes or purports to assume any plenary
powers, sovereignty or jurisdiction over"Indians." The regulation of
commerce, or the internal regulation of commerce,does not concomitantly carry
with it the unilateral right or authority to assume or limit the sovereignty of
Indian Tribes which is inherent, derived and exercised consistent with the
spiritual and religious integrations combined with the physical to create a
body of laws and controls
which has automatically been enunciated through actions which are incumbent on
certain leaders and enacted under authority of tribal law which insured the
survival of the people through efficient management, regulation and allocation
of resources which are now termed traditional and customary uses of substances
resources and are intrinsic to both the spiritual and physical health and well
being in the maintenance and support of the perpetual free access to the
necessaries of life. Steve Kohler charges
that the United States has not perfected its claims to the title in the area
defined in the Treaty of Cession of 1867; further, the United States"
claim to have extinguished aboriginal title are based on tenuous legal
concepts, invalid points of law and misinterpretation of precedent through
distortions of dicta used as conclusions of law. The indigenous tribes of Alaska are possessed
of a unique political status, namely, they have never treated or ceded any
property or rights in property by
legitimate device. The so‑called policy of 1867 barring treaties with
Indian Tribes is unconstitutional and substantially alters the powers of the
Congress to the detriment of the Indigenous Tribes of Alaska. Even under its own
laws and judged by its own standards of justice and equity. the United States
of America in its ratification and proclamation of the Treaty of Cession of
1867 purchased precisely what Russia possessed and assumed suzerain trust
responsibility which must be judged against a backdrop of indigenous
sovereignty and contemporary standards and norms, both legal and human, in
order to assert the veracity of allegations that the trust has and is
violated. Steve charges that the United States of
America has violated the constitution of the United States of America,
particularly the treaty making power and the Commerce Clause. The treaty making
power is clearly and explicitly stated, and the statutory authority the United
States has to establish agreements with sovereigns includes the several
"Indian Tribes". Moreover the United
States of America has overruled the Commerce Clause with the assumption of a
higher level of sovereignty and the creation of the term "dependent"
nation both of which combine to eliminate or abridge inherent sovereign rights
through unilateral action without treaty or agreement through tribal consent. The United States. in
the Treaty of Cession of 1867 and according to the principles of international
law states that the United States has assumed a suzerain trust responsibility
in regard to the aboriginal inhabitants of Alaska. According to custom,
international relations typically recognize that there are time when greater
powers may be granted or assume the responsibility for protecting and assisting
lesser powers. A lesser power taking
the protection of a greater power does not alter the fact that the lesser power
still retains its full powers of sovereignty, Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. (6
Pet.) 515, 560‑61 (1832). In the Marshall Trilogy, "depending"
was clarified as a narrow concept,that while tribes were dependent on the
federal government for supplies and protection, their sovereign powers were to
be respected. Id. This concept was embodied in the League of Nations and later
mandated in the United Nations
Charter. Greater powers protecting lesser powers does not preclude lesser
powers from exercising full powers of sovereignty. The treatment of tribes in Alaska violates
the principles of sovereignty and the charter of the United Nations. The trust
responsibility toward the indigenous people of Alaska must be interpreted as a
duty to protect and assist indigenous sovereignty through a suzerain
responsibility until they achieve the full powers of self governance on a
political plane equal to that of the United States of America. It is an accepted
concept of Indian Law that limitations on tribal powers may and do exist. In
Cohen's Handbook of Federal Indian Law, he discusses three fundamental
principals that have marked the history of judicial decision on the nature of
tribal powers: (1) An Indian tribe posses in the
first instance, all the powers
of any sovereign state; (2) conquest renders the tribe subject to the legislative power
of the United States and, in substance, terminates
the external powers of
sovereignty of the tribe , for example, its powers to enter into treaties with foreign nations, but does not
by itself affect the internal
sovereignty of the tribe; (3)
these powers are subject to qualification by treaties and express legislation of Congress. Save
as expressly qualified, full powers of internal
sovereignty are vested in the
Indian Tribes and their duly constituted organs of government. Consequently, it is necessary to examine legislation and treaties limiting
tribal powers of self government, and the manner in which
the external sovereign powers of tribes necessarily
have been circumscribed by their subjection to
the ultimate authority of the United States. Cohen, Felix S. Cohen's Handbook of Federal Indian Law, pp.
241‑42 (1982 ed.). None of these tribes
has lost a war with the United States. History declares our existence. Law
describes our statutes, and no treaty or legislation are in effect legally
which abrogate or otherwise inhibit or limit inherent sovereign tribal powers
of any of the indigenous tribes of Alaska. Senate document no.
152, 81st Congress ,Second Session is adequate proof of appellant's allegations
and is legal and historical fact. the report renders the issue res judicata. Felix Cohen, under
the administration of President Harry S. Truman was attempting to coherently
apply "Indian" law as a channel to the full recognition of human rights
in a cooperation with Elenor Roosevelt, who was Ambassador to the United
Nations and Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights. Together they submitted
a definition of the term "genocide"to the Convention on the
Prevention and the punishment of the Crime of Genocide to the United Nations in
1948. This then might be considered the MAGNUM OPUS of Cohen and concomitantly,
a high point in United States "Indian"
relations; the treaty was signed February 19. 1986 and on November 4, 1988, the
Genocide Act (P.L. 100‑606) passed by Congress was signed by President
Ronald Reagan and proclaimed into law during a convention in Chicago on the
anniversary of "KRISTALLNACHT", when the Nazi brownshirts began their
campaign of terror which culminated in the holocaust of World War II. Felix Cohen explains
the ultimate foundation for Indian law in his acknowledgment in his original
handbook on Indian law; What made this work possible, in the
final analysis, is a set of
beliefs that form intellectual
equipment of a generation‑‑ a belief that
our treatment of the Indian in
the past is not something of which a democracy can be proud, a belief that the protection of
a minority rights and the
substitution of reason and agreement for force and dictation represent a contribution
to civilization, a belief that
confusion and ignorance in fields of law are allies of despotism, a belief that understanding and appreciation of their legal rights, a
belief that understanding of the law,, in Indian
fields as elsewhere, requires
more than textual exegesis, requires appreciation of history and
understanding of economic, political, social and moral problems.
These beliefs represent, I think,the American mind
in our generation as it impinges
upon one tiny segment of the many problems which modern democracy faces.It is
fundamentally to these beliefs
and to this mind that the author's acknowledgements, gratitude and
loyalty are due. Cohen, Felix S. Cohen's Handbook of Federal
Indian Law, p xi Intro. (1982 ed.). These laws,
regulations and management regimes are contrary to and inconsistent with
the Genocide Act which was enacted into law on November 4, 198 (P.L. 100‑606).
therefore since that is the supreme law of the land, it mandates that all law
contrary to it be repealed or voided, including all laws and regulations
inconsistent with it. The Treaty of Cession
of 1867 was not a transfer of anything not owned or possessed by Russia, and
Russia only had rights on some 240 acres more or less. The State of Alaska does
not legitimately exist or have legal jurisdictional authority over any lands,
resources or rights which are under the continuing protection of the elders who
hold the history and plenary powers intrinsic to their government exercised by
them in the time of need. Congress does not have plenary powers over the
indigenous tribes of Alaska. Congress has not properly attended to putting into
place constitutional authority to legislation and administrative fiats which
amount to apartheid in fact and practice Neither the State of
Alaska, if it exists, nor the United States Congress has the right to infringe
upon the sovereignty of the indigenous Yupik
Tribes and/or people of Alaska. Basic, sacred
fundamental human rights are not negotiable and indigenous title is valid .
Yupik sovereignty remains intact, Yupik jurisdictional authority is intact and
the accoutrements of Yupik government are presently restructured. The only court of
competent jurisdiction for this matter rests in the Traditional Tribal Courts
of the Yupik Tribal Communities under their direct sovereign and/or suzerain
trust responsibility. The United States of
America has a Suzerain responsibility to assume, as "supreme law of the
land" through treaties, protection and enhancement of the sovereignty and
self governance of indigenous tribes in Alaska. It is the United States and its
instruments, agents,assignees, or contractors who have conspired to deprive the
Yupik people of basic rights and to misappropriate Dina'Ina lands, resources
and water under the guise of law and protection. For too long Yupik
people have endured tyranny and external controls imposed unilaterally with the
cooperation of a few individuals acting as tribal members without credentials
or authority. All agreements or
contracts made by individuals on behalf of the Yupik indigenous governments are
legally void and of no effect, including but not limited to the Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), Pub.L.92‑203, 85 Stat.688 (1971), codified
as 43 USC sec.1601, et seq., as amended. The State of Alaska
and the United States government must
remove themselves from further administrative, legislative and judicial
interference into the sovereign jurisdiction of the Yupik people by supporting
the implementation of P.L. 99‑239, enacted January 14, 1986,called the
Compact of Free Association Act of 1985, on behalf of the Yupik people, which
calls for a conference, approved by the Secretary of State and the Secretary of
the Interior, to implement the ARTICLES OF FREE ASSOCIATION in order to define
and implement the government to government relationship which is necessary to
the survival of the Dena'Ina people and to conform to the provisions of P.L.100‑606,
the Genocide Act which was signed into U.S.federal Law on Nov.4,1988. Because the waters of
Bristol Bay are historical waters and come within the international treaty
obligations as defined in the "Juridical Regimes of Historical Waters
including Historical Bays", (U.N. DOCUMENT A/CN.4/143) these waters are
not under the sovereign jurisdiction of the State of Alaska or the United
States of America, but in fact are under the sovereign jurisdiction of the
indigenous peoples of Alaska. Thus historical waters and bays (Bristol Bay and
the Bering Sea) are protected by the United Nations whose charters and
doctrines the United States has promised to uphold, along with Japan,
Canada,China,Russia. France, Denmark,and Great Britain. Furthermore the money
made from Bristol Bay and the Bering Sea (including taxes and license) is
presently held in escrow for the sovereign indigenous title holders, and to be
made payable upon recognition of the Yupik sovereign right to govern under the
human right of self determination and from the priority granted under the
doctrine of indigenous title. Finally the recent joint resolution by the
Congress of the United States, which was affirmed by the Chief Executive of the
United States of America ,George Bush, concerning the Russian interference into
the Lithuania rights of self determination based on their Sovereign
jurisdiction, which rejected the Russian jurisdiction based on occupation which
is contrary to International commitments to Human Rights and the Genocide
Treaty, and which is directly applicable to this writ. We respectfully request that this court
release Steve Kohler to the custody of
the Aleknagik Traditional Council and that any complaints by the State of
Alaska or its agents or officers be
submitted to the jurisdiction of the Aleknagik Tribal Court for disposition and
that Steve Kohler will make himself available to any adjustment of jurisdiction
in conformity to the Universal Doctrine of Human Rights and the provisions of
the Anti Genocide Treaty. ____________________________ Patrick
Kohler President Aleknagik
Traditional Tribal Council |