Cree sisters accuse childhood abuser of Indigenous identity fraud in court
WARNING: This story con‐ tains details some readers may find distressing.
In a Peterborough, Ont., courtroom last year, three Cree sisters unfolded the dif‐ ficult stories of their child‐ hoods. They recalled the beatings their aunt by mar‐ riage routinely meted out.
They alleged Katherine Cannon, the woman acting as their foster parent, had beat them with her fists, a belt and razor strap, and abused them with death threats and racist insults in the 1960s and '70s.
The woman who called them "dirty Indians," they tes‐ tified, later became a selfstyled "chief" of the Algo‐ nquins of Ontario organiza‐ tion. They alleged her Algo‐ nquin identity was "bogus" and was adopted for person‐ al gain in the 1990s.
It took 10 years of civil liti‐ gation, but in November a judge ruled Sharon Cannon, Rosie Christie and Darlene Paddy-Cannon were telling the truth about the abuse.
"They were belittled, treated differently from oth‐ ers, hit with a belt and a ra‐ zor strap, treated as servants, and left vulnerable," wrote Ontario Superior Court Jus‐ tice S.E. Fraser.
"They lost their child‐ hood."
The lawsuit has been called important for sur‐ vivors of historic abuse, and is a rare case where allega‐ tions of Indigenous identity fraud and the associated harm were tested in court.
The sisters argued their abuser's dubious Algonquin identity claim added insult to injury, allowing her to reap fi‐ nancial benefits and political opportunity by cloaking herself in the heritage she once maligned and mocked.
The Algonquins of Ontario is a controversial organiza‐ tion, which many have ac‐ cused of being substantially non-Indigenous.
Identity fraud matters, the plaintiffs argued, because it marginalizes First Nations, robs them of opportunity and allows settlers to shape their future - a situation of "great concern" generally, the judge wrote.
Fraser held Katherine Cannon and the Canadian government liable for the abuse, and awarded each sis‐ ter $260,000. But the judge declined to rule on whether Katherine Cannon falsely claimed an Algonquin iden‐ tity, citing insufficient evi‐ dence.
Katherine Cannon denied all the allegations at trial, and she and the Canadian gov‐ ernment have appealed sep‐ arately to the Ontario Court of Appeal. Katherine Cannon did not respond to a request for comment.
In court filings, her appeal lawyer Robert Reynolds ar‐ gued Fraser reached conclu‐ sions that were "illogical, irra‐ tional, and not supported by the evidence," particularly in rejecting defence testimony. Reynolds declined to com‐ ment.
In a statement, Sharon Cannon and Rosie Christie said it was "very healing" to self-represent themselves at the retrial, and thanked lawyer John A. Annen, who represented them in the first trial, which they lost but suc‐ cessfully appealed.
The statement said they were hesitant to give an in‐ terview, citing the ongoing lit‐ igation.
"They want it known that they will never give up their fight for justice," the state‐ ment said.
Darlene Paddy-Cannon declined to comment.
A difficult journey
The sisters, now in their 60s, are the daughters of a Cree mother, Marie Paddy, a resi‐ dential school survivor, and an Irish-descended father, Gerald Cannon. The sisters are all members of Thunder‐ child First Nation in western Saskatchewan.
In September 1964, Ger‐ ald took the children to live with his mother Ethel Can‐ non near Bancroft, Ont. Ethel died shortly after, and the kids landed with Gerald's brother, Vern, and his wife Katherine.
The plaintiffs lost their nation, their culture, their language, and their community.- Jus‐ tice S.E. Fraser
Marie struggled with alcohol use, Fraser wrote in her deci‐ sion, and despite Marie's at‐ tempts to reunite with her children - no court ever actu‐ ally revoked her legal rights as a parent - they wouldn't do so until 1993.
"Marie's desire to parent was subject to the scrutiny of others. She was treated dif‐ ferently because she was an Indian," Fraser wrote.
"The level of scrutiny heaped on her is in stark contrast to the white women who cared for the plaintiffs in their childhood."
Fraser wrote that Depart‐ ment of Indian Affairs offi‐ cials drew up plans for the sisters' return to Thunder‐ child, believing it was in their best interests, but shelved the plans after the local Chil‐ dren's Aid Society refused to intervene, making the loss that followed foreseeable.
"The plaintiffs lost their nation, their culture, their language, and their commu‐ nity when they were sepa‐ rated from their mother," the judge wrote.
The Canadian government is challenging Fraser's finding of federal negligence but not the findings of abuse.
"Federal officials did not have any child welfare pow‐ ers in respect of the plain‐ tiffs," wrote Justice Canada lawyer Daniel Luxat in a notice of appeal.
A controversial identity
Last year, roughly 2,000 peo‐ ple with disputed ancestry were removed from the Algo‐ nquins of Ontario (AOO), an umbrella organization formed in 2004 to advance modern treaty talks in east‐ ern Ontario.
The ancestor from which
Katherine Cannon claims Al‐ gonquin descent wasn't re‐ moved in the cleanup, and her name is not on an Octo‐ ber 2023 list of removed elec‐ tors obtained by CBC Indige‐ nous.
Katherine Cannon identi‐ fies as Irish-Algonquin, a de‐ scendant of an Algonquin community that lived at Bap‐ tiste Lake in Bancroft, rough‐ ly 235 kilometres west of Ot‐ tawa, according to the deci‐ sion.
An AOO voters list made public in 2015 says Kather‐ ine's root ancestor is Jean Baptiste Kegic-o-manitou, born c. 1794, the father of chief John Baptiste Dufond. She claims this lineage through her mother, Gertrude Green, Fraser wrote.
A family tree filed in court lists Gertrude as the daugh‐ ter of Susan Baptiste.
But the sisters obtained Gertrude's baptismal certifi‐ cate, which says Gertrude was "of unknown parents." They also submitted Gertrude's obituary, which doesn't mention Susan Bap‐ tiste and lists John and Madeline Baptiste as her par‐ ents.
The sisters alleged Kather‐ ine Cannon personally bene‐ fited from identity fraud be‐ cause her claims can't be substantiated.
Katherine Cannon was in‐ volved in the Algonquin land claim since 1991, and served as a negotiation representa‐ tive, or "chief," for Kijicho Manito Madaouskarini Algo‐ nquin First Nation, which is not an Indian Act band or self-governing First Nation.
AOO comprises 10 com‐ munities but only one, Algo‐ nquins of Pikwakanagan, is a federally recognized Indian Act band. The nine other communities elect official ne‐ gotiation representatives for treaty talks, and some call themselves chiefs.
Katherine Cannon testi‐ fied she worked for 27 years as an AOO community repre‐ sentative, and began to draw a salary after funding was provided. As chief, she signed Indian status cards that closely resembled official federal ones. She was able to work tax-free, the plaintiffs claimed, and as chief relo‐ cated the band office to her daughter's house.
While Katherine Cannon said she always knew who she was, other testimony showed First Nations tradi‐ tions weren't present in the house when the sisters lived there, which Fraser said called that assertion into question.
"However, on the evi‐ dence before me, I cannot conclude that Katherine is of First Nations descent. Simi‐ larly, I cannot conclude that she is not," the judge held.
Fraser did express doubts about Katherine Cannon's claim, however, saying this may impact the court's as‐ sessment of her credibility something her appeal lawyer argued was incorrect, since the allegation was unproven.
The judge also found oth‐ er reasons to doubt "prob‐ lematic" aspects of Katherine Cannon's testimony, which Fraser said stemmed from "a deliberate attempt to over‐ come the vulnerabilities of the case."
Katherine Cannon took a job cleaning the local school, demonstrating "blatant disre‐ gard" for a foster care agreement that barred out‐ side work, the decision said. She testified she treated the Cree sisters as her own daughters, but this was con‐ tradicted by what happened after they left.
"Nothing," Fraser wrote. She didn't write, call or visit, the judge wrote.
The Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations said in a statement it ap‐ pealed "to seek further clari‐ fication from the court." Canada's appeal filing, how‐ ever, seeks to overturn the decision and dismiss the case against the federal govern‐ ment.
A hearing date for the ap‐ peal has not yet been sched‐ uled.