The Six Miles Deep Lexicon is the key to reading our work on the Haldimand Tract, Mohawk Loyalist posterity, and the Crown Honour Superfecta. This is not a generic legal glossary. It gathers the specific words, phrases, and concepts that keep showing up in the Haldimand story: everything from “posterity forever” and “ascertain upon oath” to band councils, fiduciary duty, and structural pretendianism. Each entry is written in plain language so readers, researchers, and community members can follow the arguments without having to be lawyers or historians. The goal is simple: when a term appears in our articles, court materials, or community documents, this lexicon gives it a clear, consistent meaning rooted in the original documents and living Mohawk law. As new research and cases emerge, this lexicon will grow. Treat it as a living reference for anyone trying to navigate the overlapping worlds of Crown honour, Mohawk nationhood, and the law along the Grand River.
A royal fiduciary duty is a trust-like responsibility that arises from the Crown’s own promises and relationship with Indigenous allies, independent of later domestic statutes. “Fiduciary” means the Crown must […]
A safe and comfortable retreat is the phrase Haldimand uses to describe what the Grand River tract is supposed to be for the Mohawk Nation and their allies. It is […]
Six Miles Deep is both a geographical description and a constitutional concept. Geographically, it refers to the Haldimand specification of land along the Grand River “six miles deep” on each […]
The standing gap is the space between the people the Crown clearly spoke to in its own documents and the categories modern law actually recognizes in court. It is the […]
Structural pretendianism happens when entire systems—not just individuals—treat vague or misaligned identities as if they were the real thing. Funding formulas, consultation processes, verification committees, and academic programs may all […]
A superfecta is a betting term for correctly picking the first four finishers in a race, in exact order. In Six Miles Deep language, the Crown Honour Superfecta is the […]
Taxation without clear jurisdiction happens when a government levies taxes on land or activity even though its legal authority over that territory is uncertain, contested, or never properly obtained. Historically, […]
The third-party court principle is the idea that when local or domestic systems are too conflicted or compromised to handle a dispute fairly, parties can and should turn to a […]
Transitional responsibility is the idea that moving from an unjust status quo to an honourable relationship on Haldimand lands must be carefully managed so that: Mohawk Loyalist posterity are restored […]
Treaty crowding is what happens when case law and negotiations about other First Nations and other treaties are used to overshadow or substitute for the specific Haldimand framework. Courts reach […]
“Trust vs. refuge” contrasts two very different ways of structuring land. Indian Act lands are often described as “held in trust” by the Crown for a band, with heavy federal […]
A trustee de son tort is someone who, without formal appointment, behaves as if they are a trustee over someone else’s property or rights and can therefore be held to […]
The Two Row Wampum (Guswenta) is a Haudenosaunee belt and agreement symbolizing two vessels—one Indigenous canoe, one European ship—travelling side by side down the same river, each with its own […]
Ultra vires is a Latin phrase meaning “beyond the powers.” An act is ultra vires when a government, council, board, or official does something outside the legal authority granted to […]
A United Empire Loyalist (U.E.) is, in Lord Dorchester’s scheme, a person who “adhered to the unity of the Empire and joined the Royal Standard in America” before 1783, and […]
Unjust enrichment is a legal concept that arises when one party is enriched, another is correspondingly deprived, and there is no legal justification for that transfer of benefit. It is […]
A witness of posterity is a person who stands inside the hereditary line contemplated by Haldimand and Dorchester and chooses to speak publicly about it—in affidavits, articles, court filings, or […]
A writ of mandamus is a court order that tells a government body or official: “Do your job.” It applies when someone has a clear legal duty and simply refuses […]