Sagkeeng women removed from First Nations grand council meeting

A group of Sagkeeng women was asked to leave a grand council meeting in Winnipeg Tuesday afternoon after they prepared to ask Sagkeeng First Nation Chief Derrick Henderson to step down.

The chief declined to comment, but he made public remarks stating he will "persevere" despite his past.

Lillian (Beans) Cook, 57, and her supporters showed up to the spring assembly for Treaty 3 Anishinaabe Nation. Earlier this month, the Free Press reported Cook’s allegations that Henderson fathered a child with her when he was her teacher and she was 14 years old. Henderson hasn’t publicly commented on Cook’s account. Her supporters have repeatedly asked him to step down, and they were about to make another attempt Tuesday before they were escorted out of the meeting.

Sagkeeng is one of 28 First Nations included in Treaty 3, and the meeting is being hosted by Henderson on behalf of Sagkeeng at Club Regent Canad Inns over the next three days. The meeting is taking place in Winnipeg because of the risk of spreading COVID-19 in Sagkeeng First Nation, and several chiefs from northwestern Ontario communities were present, along with more than 70 attendees Tuesday morning.

Cook and elder Mary Starr were asked to leave the conference room shortly after they signed in and sat down. They were told there would be no opportunity for them to speak, that they weren’t registered participants and they weren’t allowed to be there.

The women left quietly, and soon afterward, Henderson offered opening remarks to conference attendees. Healing was the theme of the event.

"We have a lot of issues in our communities, the grand chief spoke about… getting along, reconciliation," Henderson said.

"We all have things in our past that we have to deal with, and I dealt with that. I’ve got a lot to deal with yet. I know that my community had me in leadership now for 13-plus years. The challenges I’ve had in my own life, I continue to persevere, continue to try and do what’s best for our people. There’ll always be issues that people will have, and we have to deal with them, but this is not the place."

Later, when he was approached by a Free Press reporter, he said, "I have nothing to say to you, sorry," and advised the reporter to speak to his lawyer.

Cook’s supporters had been handing out to conference attendees copies of a no-confidence statement they planned to bring forward, as well as copies of the Free Press coverage.

"In our opinion, you have failed to acknowledge and accept accountability over past grievous acts," reads the statement Starr said she planned to read aloud to Henderson.

Cook said she’d wanted Henderson to listen to her.

"It’s part of my healing that I get this said and done," she said.

One of her supporters, Lillian M. Cook, who was also asked to leave, said afterward she was angry and appalled by how the women were treated. She said grandmothers hold a position of significant respect in Anishinaabe culture and shouldn’t be dismissed or silenced, even if they weren’t on the agenda.

"They missed an opportunity for reconciliation," Lillian M. Cook said. "That’s what angers me."

Outside the hotel after they were asked to leave, a Treaty 3 women’s council member apologized to the Sagkeeng women and offered to organize a healing circle for them later this week.

Lillian (Beans) Cook said she is looking forward to taking part, and still wants Henderson to listen and be accountable.

"He’s talking about perseverance," she said. "How can he persevere with this on his shoulders? My perseverance should come first."

Treaty 3 Grand Chief Francis Kavanaugh was unavailable for comment Tuesday afternoon.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca