The Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council is the governing body of Six Nations of the Grand River established under the Indian Act in 1924. The Elected Council consists of one Grand Chief and nine Councillors elected to four year terms, with the current council elected in November 2019.[1]
Over its history, elections for the Elected Council have had extremely low turnout-- for instance, the 2013 election had a turnout of 5.15%-- due in part to some Six Nations citizens believing the council to have usurped the power of the traditional government of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, organized today as the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council.[2]
The current Elected Council was sworn in on November 12, 2019.
Grand Chief: Mark Hill
Councillors: Sherri Lyn Hill-Pierce, Melba I. Thomas, Audrey Powless-Bomberry, Michelle J. Bomberry, Hazel Johnson, Helen Miller, Nathan M. Wright, Kerry Bomberry, Gregory Frazer
Beginning with the 4th Elected Council in 1927, until the implementation of the 2019 election code, Six Nations was divided into six electoral districts, with two Councillors (including the Chief) elected per district.
The first election under Section 74 of the Indian Act within the Six Nations Band of Indians (as it was known at the time) was held on October 21, 1924, with the first meeting of the elected council taking place the following day at the Council House in Ohsweken, Ontario. A pamphlet meant to provide information on the election announced that the reserve would "be divided into six Electoral Districts, numbered from one to six."[3] These electoral districts remained in place until the 2019 election code reform. At the time of the first election, the Secretary of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council, Chief Dave Hill, Sr., reported that only 26 people voted in the election of this council, most or all of them voting twice.
The Elected Council was known simply as the "Six Nations council" until the official name of the reserve and its governing body was changed to "the Six Nations of the Grand River" under Bill Montour sometime between 1985 and 1991.[4] Throughout the 20th century, the chief of the elected council was most commonly referred to as the "Chief Councillor", though this changed with the 49th Elected Council in 1994.
The term of each council was (more or less) one year until the 28th Elected Council in 1952, from which point the term was (more or less) two years.
| 1st Six Nations elected council | First meeting: October 22, 1924 | Hilton Hill |
| Nicknamed the "Mounties Council" by those who opposed the imposition of an electoral system on the nation by the Government of Canada. | [5] [6] |
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| 2nd Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 5, 1925 | Archie Russell |
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| 3rd Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 4, 1926 |
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| 4th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 3, 1927 | Frank Miller |
| As of 2020, Frank Miller is the longest-serving elected Chief, having served nearly continuously for a period of 18 years, from 1927 to 1945. | [7] |
| 5th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 1, 1928 | ||||
| 6th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 7, 1929 |
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| 7th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 6, 1930 |
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| 8th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 1, 1931 |
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| 9th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 3, 1932 |
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| 10th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 2, 1933 | William Smith |
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| 11th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 1, 1934 | Frank Miller |
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| 12th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 7, 1935 | William Smith |
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| 13th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 5, 1936 | Frank Miller |
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| 14th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 4, 1937 |
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| 15th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 3, 1938 |
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| 16th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 2, 1939 |
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| 17th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 7, 1940 |
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| 18th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 6, 1941 |
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| 19th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 5, 1942 |
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| 20th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 4, 1943 |
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| 21st Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 2, 1944 |
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| 22nd Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 1, 1945 | Fred J. Hill |
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| 23rd Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 7, 1946 | Enos Maracle |
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| 24th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 6, 1947 | Leonard Staats |
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| 25th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 1948 |
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| 26th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 1949 | Arnold Moses |
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| 27th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: November 5, 1950 | E. P. Garlow |
| The Indian Act saw major revisions in 1951, changing how band governments were organized. This resulted in the 27th Elected Council being the last one to be in office for less than two years, as well as being the last Elected Council to have twelve Councillors including the Chief Councillor; subsequent Councils elected under the Indian Act have twelve Councillors in addition to the Chief. | [8] |
| 28th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: January 1952 | James Powless |
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| 29th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: January 1954 |
| E. P. Garlow was elected Chief Councillor in May 1954. | [9] | |
| E. P. Garlow | |||||
| 30th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: January 1956 | Clifford E. Styres |
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| 31st Six Nations elected council | First meeting: January 1958 | E. P. Garlow |
| [10] | |
| 32nd Six Nations elected council | First meeting: January 1960 |
| Clarence Jamieson replaced Hardy Isaacs in April 1960 when the former resigned due to illness. | [11] | |
| 33rd Six Nations elected council | First meeting: January 1962 | George D. VanEvery |
| The 33rd Elected Council was the first one to include women among its Councillors. | |
| 34th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: January 1964 |
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| 35th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: January 1966 |
| Richard Isaac replaced George D. VanEvery as Chief Councillor on March 2, 1967, resigning from his position as one of the District 6 Councillors. He was replaced in that position by Clifford Lickers on March 11, 1967. On that same day, Leonard Staats Jr. was appointed to some Councillor position, and William Roy Longboat was appointed to replace John Capton. | ||
| Richard Isaac | |||||
| 36th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: January 1968 |
| George Bomberry passed away in November 1969. | [12] | |
| 37th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: December 1969/January 1970 |
| Gordon Hill is also listed as a Councillor for the 37th Elected Council. | ||
| 38th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: December 1971 |
| Victor Porter resigned in October 1972. Gordon Hill, Sidney Henhawk, and Vincent Sandy are also listed as Councillors for the 38th Elected Council. | ||
| 39th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: December 18, 1973 |
| Ronald C. Monture was elected to his District 5 position in a by-election on January 5, 1974. Two by-elections took place in District 4 during the 39th Elected Council: on May 4, 1974, Robert J. Montour took the place of Morris Smith (who had died that April); then, in late May 1975, Wilma General was elected to replace Elmo Powless who had been absent from meetings since March 1 that year. Robert J. Montour died in November 1975. | ||
| 40th Six Nations elected council | First meeting: January 1976 |
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| 41st Six Nations elected council | First meeting: December 1978 | Renson Jamieson |
| Jeffrey Burnham resigned in March 1979, and was replaced by appointee Raymond Hill. | |
| 42nd Six Nations elected council | January 1980 - December 15, 1981 | Wellington Staats |
| Wellington Staats would become the second-longest serving Chief, after Frank Miller. | |
| 43rd Six Nations elected council | January 5, 1982 - December 20, 1983 |
| Alton VanEvery and Amos Keye Jr. are also listed as Councillors for the 43rd Elected Council. | ||
| 44th Six Nations council | January 3, 1984 - December 17, 1985 |
| Leonard Staats passed away in December 1985. John Staats resigned. Those two were replaced by Ervin Harris (possibly replacing Staats, appointed in July 1984) and Kenneth Hill. | ||
| 45th Six Nations elected council | January 7, 1986 - December 15, 1987 | William Montour |
| Kenneth Hill resigned in March 1987, replaced by appointee Gregory Sandy in April. | |
| 46th Six Nations elected council | January 5, 1988 - December 18, 1989 |
| [13] | ||
| 47th Six Nations elected council | January 3, 1990 - December 17, 1991 |
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| 48th Six Nations Elected Council | January 7, 1992 - December 7, 1993 | Steve Williams |
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| 49th Six Nations Elected Council | January 4, 1994 - December 5, 1995 |
| This was the first time the head of the council was officially referred to just as "Chief" rather than "Chief Councillor". | [14] [15] |
In August 1995, the 49th Elected Council voted to change the Six Nations electoral system. Elections for Council would no longer be subject to the Indian Act, and would be governed by a custom electoral system. Despite lacking widespread support, the change to the electoral system was approved by the federal government two days before the advance poll for the upcoming election in October 1995. Changes from the Indian Act system implemented under the 1995 election code included:
These councils were sometimes referred to as "custom" councils.
The implementation of a new election code was criticized, as community members felt Council had not engaged in the appropriate consultation required for such an action. In early 1996, author Brian Maracle and his sister Marilyn Maracle (who had been a candidate for chief in the '95 election but withdrew her nomination) disputed the legality of the custom electoral system, asserting that, in addition to inadequate community consultation, "the "custom" of Six Nations in choosing its leadership was through the age-old Hodenosaunee [sic] Confederacy."[18] The two sued the band council and Minister of Indian Affairs in federal court with a goal of having the election nullified. In April 1998, the Maracles proposed an out-of-court settlement that was accepted by the elected council. The settlement required the band council to revert to the previous election system and to state publicly that they "wouldn't try to install another elections code without first getting the community's approval."
The 50th Elected Council sent two resolutions to INAC, asking to be placed back under Indian Act election guidelines, agreeing with the Maracles that there had been no widespread support for the custom election code. However, councillor Dave Hill and chief Wellington Staats told a local newspaper that INAC officials seemed uninterested in acting on the band council resolutions, and the 1998 election was held under the custom electoral system. In response to the council proceeding with the election under the custom system, the Maracles threatened to request an injunction against the election in the month before it was scheduled to take place.
| Council | Term | Chief | Councillors | Notes | References |
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| 50th Six Nations Elected Council | December 19, 1995 - November 17, 1998 | Wellington Staats |
| A by-election was held in February 1996 as a result of Kevin Isaacs appealing his removal from the 1995 election as polls opened. The councillors elected to District 4 in 1995 were replaced at this by-election by Glenda Porter and Stephen C. Bomberry. | [19] |
| 51st SNGR Elected Council | January 5, 1999 - November 20, 2001 |
| In February 2001, Roger Jonathan was elected in a by-election to fill the District 3 seat left vacant by the ousting of Les Sowden in December 2000. At the same time, David General was elected to fill a District 5 seat left vacant by the passing of John Peters. | [20] [21] [22] | |
| 52nd SNGR Elected Council | December 4, 2001 - December 6, 2004 | Roberta Jamieson |
| Linda Irene Staats resigned November 2003. George Montour replaced her in an April 17, 2004, by-election. | [23] [24] |
| 53rd SNGR Elected Council | December 7, 2004 - December 3, 2007 | David M. General |
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| 54th SNGR Elected Council | December 4, 2007 - December 6, 2010 | William K. Montour |
| Wray Maracle was elected to District 4 through a by-election on January 19, 2008. | [25] |
| 55th SNGR Elected Council | December 6, 2010 - December 3, 2013 |
| B. Darryl Hill replaced George Montour in a March 10, 2012, by-election. | ||
| 56th SNGR Elected Council | December 3, 2013 - December 7, 2016 | Ava G. Hill |
| B. Darryl Hill resigned in July 2015, replaced by Hazel Johnson in a September by-election. | [26] [27] |
| 57th SNGR Elected Council | December 7, 2016 - November 12, 2019 |
| Kerry Bomberry replaced one of the District 5 Councillors following a by-election in February 2018. | [28] [29] [30] |
The election code was modified again in 2019. Changes to the 1995 election code included:[31]