"Band council bylaw not being enforced"

Six Nations Band council may be finding itself having a difficult time trying to enforce eviction orders issued under its local residency bylaw.

Neighbors living on Townline near Tuscarora Road said they have sent petitions to band council demanding three men, who are not band members and have proved to be a source of repeated complaints from area neighbors and who grew up on Townline Road near Tuscorora Road, leave Six Nations.

But according to residents the three men keep returning.

Residents sent a petition to band council demanding that Dan, Russell and Michael Lethbridge, sons of Doreen Lethbridge­-Curley be removed from the community.

Doreen Lethbridge-Curley gained status when she married a local man. The couple split, but Lethbridge-Curley remained at Six Nations where she raised her three sons from a previous relationship.

Doreen Lethbridge-Curley could not be reached for comment.

Staats said council has issued an eviction order against the three men. "But they maintain a Hagersville address and claim they're just visiting their mother here."

Staats said other band members have tried the same technique. "We'll have to speak to the police about enforcing the trespassing bylaw."

Meanwhile neighbors said they are growing tired of what appears to be a reluctance by Six Nations police to enforce the bylaw. "We've called the Six Nations police and they don't do anything about these guys," said Bernice Hill, a local resident.

Hill said she and her husband, both band members, returned to the community a few years ago to retire here. "We built our retirement home here and all we've had is trouble. If I could find someone to buy my house I'd be out of here in a second. But we're retired and we put everything into our house and they just keep causing trouble."

Staats said he has received several complaints from the neighborhood.

"I know there have been problems. We are going to have to do something about enforcing the bylaw."

Staats said non-native women who gained status when they married native men prior to the enforcement of Bill C-31 in 1985, do not lose their status when the marriage breaks down.

He said that gained status has never been challenged in court. "From what we have seen so far, and I don't think anyone has really challenged that yet, they don't lose their status in a divorce or separation."

Staats said there are no statistics on how many non-native women gained status when they married Six Nations men and are still residing here.

However, the lands and membership committee maintain that about 24 per cent of the total band members of almost 20,000 people are considered bill C-31 members or people who regained status with the passing of the bill in 1985.

Six Nations statistics also show of the 189 marriages reported last year 82.5 per cent were to non­-natives while half the births at Six Nations reported are registered with only one status parent. Children with only one status parent can no longer pass their membership onto their children.