Police attack Algonquin families

Police attack Algonquin families at peaceful blockade of highway 117 in northern Quebec from Barriere Lake Solidarity on Vimeo.

Native Americans neglected after Gustav

More than a week after Hurricane Gustav spared the city of New Orleans, some gulf coast communities are still dealing with the storm's destruction.

One Native American community has received no government assistance despite being devastated by Gustav.

Aljazeera's Mike Kirsch reports.

Why doesn't this surprise me? The oil company wants the land, so they want the Indians to leave, therefore the government will take its good old time to help them. How sad.
They have screwed the Native Americans since they stepped foot on this continent and they are still screwing them.

This would be a good cause if anyone can help these people in any way possible. It's tough times for everyone, but even tougher for them.

Anyone know how to contact these folks?

AIM leaders drumming and singing

Taken at the '06 Columbus day protest.

First Nations Genocide in Amerikkka

The Whites and Their "Indian Residential Schools"

Indigenous activists face police at roadblock

MEDIA ADVISORY
for immediate release
July 2, 2:45 pm

Indigenous activists face police at roadblock

First Nations activists are continuing the days of action with a
blockade in Saanichton at this hour. Around 30 people are risking
arrest on West Saanich Road between Stelly's Road and Mt. Newton Cross
Road. (See map link below).

Members of the Tsartlip Band, other First Nations and their supporters
are preventing traffic from passing as they protest injustice against
native people.

"This is an action in solidarity with other First Nations across
Canada," Victoria activist Rose Henry said by phone at 2:30 pm Monday.
"We are tired of the poor living standards, tired of poverty, tired of
having no housing, and tired of the treaty process."

"The police are here now. More police are arriving," Henry said. She
requests supporters bring friends to help and bear witness, water,
banners, and other supplies for the protest. Henry said the protest
will go on until 5:30 pm today, assuming police don't move to break it
up before then.

Contact: Rose Henry 250-812-0199 cell
Map:*
tinyurl.com/ywcjbv*

ZoeBlunt (at) gmail.com

earth_first (at) resist.ca
250.361.1876

WASÁSE CALLS ON AFN TO GO BEYOND “NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION” AND SUPPORT SUSTAINED WASÁSE CALLS ON AFN TO GO BEYOND “NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION” AND SUPPORT

COMMUNIQUÉ - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(WSANEC Territory, Victoria, BC) - June 14, 2007

The chiefs of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) have encouraged people to organize and participate in a “National Day of Action” to draw attention to and educate Canadians on First Nations issues. In solidarity with those who will be taking action on June 29th, the Wasáse Movement challenges the AFN to go further than this one-day national day of rhetoric and symbolic protest. We challenge the chiefs of the AFN to truly respect their people and to engage in a real strategy of action to improve the quality of life for Indigenous people in this country.

The AFN’s motives for calling this single and limited National Day of Action are questionable. The Assembly’s May 23rd call to action references the removal of the current funding cap on band councils as a focal point for concern, and it is clear that the primary motive behind the National Day of Action is to pressure the federal government to increase funding for the band council system. The Conservative government recent response to the AFN's call for increased funding, in its "Specific Claims Action Plan", and National Chief Phil Fontaine's immediate support for the this deft and distracting move, is an indication that there is no serious intent behind the AFN's position.

More funding for band councils and tribunal for specific claims will not make a difference in the way our people are affected by land-loss, racism, and poverty. We believe creating a better life for our people means fighting for the respect of our inherent rights and the return of our lands through a sustained campaign of political confrontation and direct non-violent action. Wasáse calls on the Assembly of First Nations to go further in responding to the hearts and minds of all the people who engage in the National Day of Action by:

1. Redirecting the agenda and efforts of the AFN inward to strengthen our communities; and,

2. Supporting a strategy of sustained political action and confrontation going beyond June 29th.

“Some of us believe in reconciliation, forgetting that the monster has a genocidal appetite, a taste for our blood, and would sooner tear us apart than lick our hands… We need to stand against history and against those who would submit to it, and with the warriors who want to beat the beast into bloody submission and teach it to behave.” – Wasáse.

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION & RESISTANCE ANTI- KKKANADA DAY JULY 1st, 2007

The Real National Day of Action & Resistance ANTI-CANADA DAY July 1st
2007!

While the collaborator chiefs of the Assembly of First Nations plan to
march, acquire corporate donations and access government funds on June
29th
, other groups are calling on
Indigenous people and their allies to take grassroots ACTION on Canada
day - the day that symbolizes epic state atrocities and oppression
against Indigenous people, including: genocide, land theft and
occupation, brutality, violence and abuse, and mass child apprehension
and deaths.

Today, Canada continues its program of assault on Indigenous people.
The state imprisonment and death of Elder and Warrior Harriet Nahanee
is oneof many examples of the state's vile mistreatment of Indigenous
people, in particular those who expose and dissent Canada's illegal
theft and occupation of Indigenous lands. Harriet was a 72-year old
Pacheedaht grandmother, married into the Skwxwu7mesh Nation, who was
arrested and imprisoned for protecting the Eagle Ridge Bluff site that
is slated to be destroyed in the expansion of the Sea-to-Sky Highway
for the 2010 Olympics.

Despite her frail health, Harriet was sentenced to fourteen days at
the Surrey Pretrial center; a men's prison and notorious hell hole.
While in jail, where she was inflicted with abuse, and not given
proper medical care in a cell with tens of other inmates subject to
racist treatment, Harriet Nahanee contracted pneumonia. After one week
of release from custody, she was hospitalized and passed away within a
week. Harriet represents hundreds of other Indigenous people who are
criminalized and abused by the Canadian state when they choose to
stand up against and not assimilate into Canadian capitalist society.

Harriet was well known for her use of the Royal Proclamation to
explain how unceded Indigenous lands are illegally occupied and
governed by the Canadian government. The Canadian and provincial
governments continue to attempt to extinguish Aboriginal title and
rights (through litigation and the BC treaty process), dispossess
Indigenous people from their lands, and destroy traditional
territories through mega-development projects.

There are over 500 murdered and missing Aboriginal women in Canada,
yet Canada does not acknowledge this as a 'Justice file,' or as the
responsibility of the justice system. Instead, the unjust deaths are
treated as 'cultural,' and put under a 'Canadian Heritage file.' Where
do the AFN collaborator chiefs stand on this issue? Where were they at
the Pickton trial? Why do they not mention Aboriginal women on their
Day of Action?

Today, there has been more Indigenous children in foster and state
(MCFD) care today then there ever was in residential school (tens of
thousands of Indigenous people who were forced in residential school
are now filing legal cases against the church and state of Canada).
This should be alarming as the number of Indigenous people in abusive
and assimilating residential schools (which instituted cultural
genocide and slave labor) was immense. Children continue to die and be
sexually and physically abused in MCFD care today, as well as
suffering further isolation from their cultural roots.

Everyday in Canada, hundreds of incidents of police brutality
against Indigenous people, namely youth, take place. Police and RCMP
in Prince George and other areas have sexually assaulted Indigenous
girls, police and RCMP have run Indigenous youth over with their cars
in northern communities and other areas, and police and RCMP have
murdered many Indigenous people all over Canada (starlight tours,
deaths in custody, shooting to death, tazering to death, beating to
death, etc.).

Canada remains one of the only countries that does NOT have an
independent body to investigate police and RCMP brutality, murders and
hate crimes. Instead they investigate themselves, and as a result many
police and RCMP literally get away with murder. When Pivot Legal
Society announced the completion of its report, including affidavits
documenting police brutality and violence, the police chief (Jamie
Graham) just simply "retired."

Vancouver BC's hosting of the 2010 Olympics has already aggravated
Canada's abject poverty and homelessness that Indigenous people are
overrepresented with. The estimated number of homeless persons in
Canada ranges from 100,000 to 250,000, 25-30% which are Indigenous
people. Due to skyrocketing housing prices and a lack of affordable
housing and social housing (more focus is made on accommodating hungry
visitors (tourists)), the number of homeless people will surely rise
during the lead up to the 2010 games.

Canada's Dirty History is Repeating Itself...
REFUSE TO ACCEPT YOUR OPPRESSION!

ANTI-CANADA DAY
JULY 1st, 2007

THE REAL NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION & RESISTANCE

Refuse to Accept:

*The unjust state death of Elder and Warrior Harriet Nahanee *Over 500
murdered and missing Indigenous women *Theft and occupation of Indigenous
lands *Child apprehension of Indigenous children *Police, state and
military
violence and brutality *Abject poverty with thousands Homeless
*Criminalization of dissent

Meet at Grandview Park (at Commercial Drive) at 1pm, March to follow For
more information contact: anti.canada.day@gmail.com


Take Action in your own communities!
Let the AFN collaborator chiefs know they don't represent you!
Let Canada know you reject their program of assault!
Native People rise up and take back the land!

Incident At Oglala - The Leonard Peltier Story

Silence, they say, is the voice of complicity.
But silence is impossible.
Silence screams.
Silence is a message,
just as doing nothing is an act.
Let who you are ring out & resonate
in every word & every deed.
Yes, become who you are.
There's no sidestepping your own being
or your own responsibility.
What you do is who you are.
You are your own comeuppance.
You become your own message.
You are the message.

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse

Leonard Peltier

http://www.leonardpeltier.net/

This youtube is a clip, for the entire video go to:
Part one:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5790917753412875220

Part two:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8089944787131579351

Winona LaDuke speaks on Genetic Engineering, Biodiversity and Decentralization

Winona LaDuke speaks on Genetic Engineering, Biodiversity and Decentralization: A view from the Native American. 2003

"Across the continent, on the shores of small tributaries, in the shadows of sacred mountains, on the vast expanse of the prairies, or in the safety of the woods, prayers are being repeated, as they have for thousands of years, and common people with uncommon courage and the whispers of their ancestors in their ears continue their struggles to protect the land and water and trees on which their very existence is based. And like small tributaries joining together to form a mighty river, their force and power grows. This river will not be dammed."

--"Like Tributaries to a River"

Voices from the Gaps http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/laduke_winona.html

During her talk, Winona speaks about the following issues and organizations:

Honor The Earth: a voice for the earth... a voice for those not heard www.honorearth.org

California Interfaith Power and Light: Our faith, our planet, our responsibility - a religious response to global warming www.interfaithpower.org

Save Wild Rice: Protecting Wild Rice from Genetic Engineering www.savewildrice.org

NativeEnergy: Supporting and building new renewable energy projects www.nativeenergy.com

White Earth Land Recovery Project www.nativeharvest.com

Black Mesa Trust www.blackmesatrust.org

Black Mesa Indigenous Support www.blackmesais.org

Black Mesa Water Coalition www.blackmesawatercoalition.org

The Gwich'in Steering Committee: Formed in 1988 in response to increasing threats to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to leasing for oil. www.gwichinsteeringcommittee.org

Glen Canyon Institute: Dedicated to restoring a healthy Colorado River through Glen Canyon www.glencanyon.org

National Resources Defense Council: The Earth's Best Defense www.nrdc.org

Related videos and websites:

Peabody Coal/Cortez Gold: The Ongoing Rape of Indigenous Land, Water and Air

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4677532421130427782

Sacred Species

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8679732113106497385

Sacred Land Film Project

www.sacredland.org «

A RADICAL BLACKFOOT TEACHES THE ECONOMICS OF GLOBALIZATION

Jim M. Craven (Omahkohkiaayo i'poyi), Professor of Economics and Business Division Chair at Clark College/Vancouver, speaks at the Globalization of Homelessness and Poverty Community Lecture Series, Washington State University/Vancouver. January 27th, 2005

From the website: www.aradicalblackfoot.blogspot.com

Peabody Coal/Cortez Gold: The Ongoing Rape of Indigenous Land, Water and Air

Peabody Energy/Cortez Gold Mines Barrick/Kennecott Joint Venture: The Ongoing Rape of Indigenous Land, Water, Air and Culture.

Honoring ... all » Our Indigenous Women Activists Tour 2006 Portland, Oregon June 11th, 2006

Carrie Dann Western Shoshone Nation

Louise Benally Dineh (Navaho) Nation

Julie Fischel, attorney Western Shoshone Defense Project



WESTERN SHOSHONE DEFENSE PROJECT www.wsdp.org

"Mission: To affirm Newe (Western Shoshone) jurisdiction over Newe Sogobia (Western Shoshone homelands) by protecting, preserving, and restoring Newe rights and lands for present and future generations based on cultural and spiritual traditions."

"We are who we are because our nation survived here. It is written on our earth." Bernice Lalo, Western Shoshone

"The destruction of these sacred places represents a continued genocide against the Western Shoshone."

http://www.wsdp.org/alerts.htm

NO DIRTY GOLD CAMPAIGN

http://nodirtygold.org/western_shoshone_nation_usa.cfm





BLACK MESA INDIGENOUS SUPPORT www.blackmesais.org

"Relocation is Genocide"

"Entering Sovereign Dine Nation. All people who respect the land, life and laws of the Dine are welcome."

Senate bill SB1003: The Navajo faced with relocation oppose the bill and say relocation would strip them of their indigenous way of life. Since 1974 over 15,000 Navajo and 100 Hopi have been displaced from their ancestral homes in Arizona. Opponents say that the Navajo are being moved off their land so coal companies can mine it. The Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates that less than a few hundred Navajo remain on Black Mesa and John McCain's Senate Bill 1003 would require their imminent removal by 2008. But the remaining Navajo REFUSE TO BE MOVED.

Sacred Land Film Project http://www.sacredland.org/endangered_sites_pages/black_mesa.html

Identity, Justice and Respect: An Honourable Vision for A New Australia

We the peoples, whose voices have been silenced,
We the peoples, of First Nations, of many nations,
We the peoples, the marginalised and privileged children of terra nullius, the asylum children of poverty and war,
We the peoples of Australia seek a better way, a better life and a better nation.

As it stands, Australia is a divided nation, built on invasion and mourning, wealth and poverty.
As it stands, Australia is the bastard child of the British Empire,

So what does Australia stand for?

How can we be a mature nation when the First Nations are denied self-determination, human rights, land justice and voice?
How can we be a mature nation when those seeking the safety of our shores are demonised and imprisoned.
How can we be a mature nation when there is such disparity of wealth and access to services.
How can we be a mature nation when our aspirations are about our hip-pockets and not our values and vision.
As it stands, we are a nation suffering from arrested development – lacking in honour and moral fibre.

A nation’s identity comes from a compassionate inclusion of all of its cultures.
A nation’s identity comes from a willingness to face the truth of the past, the challenges of the present and a willingness to create justice for the future.


Your Voice is a movement/party for the future.
Your Voice stands against policies of exclusion and denial.
Your Voice stands with those who want to create a nation built on justice for the First Nations, treasuring the diversity of our many cultures and respect for the lands and waters of the creator spirits.
Your Voice stands with those who want fairness and rights for all peoples and all individuals.

We therefore put the following policies before the nation based on our themes of identity, justice and honour.

http://www.yourvoice.org.au/

Native flashpoints simmering as backlog of stalled land claims grows

This is pure KKKanda propaganda, and sounds if they are going to steamroll their process through irregardless of the wishes of First Nations.Calling broad based social movements militant when the truth is that are led by Elder women & men, just gives them justification to use all of the states resources to repress these communities standing up for their ancestral rights for their grand children's, grandchildren.

at 17:37 on April 23, 2007, EST.

OTTAWA (CP) - Anger over decades of federal stalling on native land claims is set to erupt in flashpoints across Canada, says former Ontario premier David Peterson.

After mediating several cases, he warns of "a new militancy" among First Nations who've felt ignored for too long. Ottawa must move faster on legitimate claims before growing frustration turns deadly, he said in an interview.

"There's a lot of potentially explosive situations out there."

Peterson says more confrontations are on the way.

"There is hardly a rail line, a road, a pipeline, a hydro line that doesn't somewhere go across disputed property.

"But one of the great frustrations for the aboriginal community is no one has sat down and seriously engaged in discussion about this."

A stack of dusty studies, including a recent Senate report, has slammed the slow pace of settlements.

Native leaders complain that Ottawa acts as both judge and jury - when it acts at all.

Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice himself says the system is broken. The number of backlogged claims has soared to about 800 from 250 since 1993.

Prentice said he will soon ask cabinet to approve an action plan. The question is whether he can sway the Conservative government to make potentially costly changes.

The price of not acting may be much higher, observers say.

A new generation of native activists - increasingly youthful, restless and often unemployed - has lost patience, says Peter Russell, a constitutional expert at University of Toronto.

"We're going to have more and more of these flashpoint events. It's an urgent, urgent matter.

"It divides us all. It's very costly and it's unnecessary.

"We have to scream: Government, move! Please!"

Growing tensions flared over the weekend as a splinter group of Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte paralyzed freight and passenger rail traffic with a blockade on a busy Toronto-Montreal line near Deseronto, Ont.

Protest leader Shawn Brant blamed the slow pace of talks around use by developers of a quarry on disputed land. He also said the protest that ended early Saturday is just one in a planned campaign of economic disruption.

On Monday, affiliated demonstrators dumped what they called "toxic waste" from that site on the steps of the Ontario legislature in Toronto.

People inconvenienced by the weekend chaos were understandably angry, Russell says.

"But we're the culprits as much as the First Nations people. We, and our governments, have not been willing to get a process in place that's fair and expeditious. Until we do so, we're going to have more of this - and it'll be miserable."

It's not unusual for legitimate claims to be stalled for decades, as small armies of lawyers and negotiators get rich with little incentive to speed things up, Peterson said.

"I've seen trivial things take 10 years to do. There are professional negotiators who go on forever doing this because there's a lot of people making a lot of money off it."

Peterson has intervened in many cases, including a series of ugly scuffles between native demonstrators and town residents last year over a housing development in Caledonia, Ont.

"It was the worst mass riot going on. People were confronting each other. And the worry was that somebody would be shot."

Good negotiators who understand the sometimes "intense frustration" of dealing with native consensus methods are crucial, he says.

Tensions will only grow between native and non-native communities until Ottawa "rolls up its sleeves" and revamps its policies.

Police who respond to the often super-charged Catch-22 of a native blockade must weigh law enforcement against the potential for all-out mayhem.

Some critics say police and the courts must crack down.

"We know these situations have to be dealt with very carefully," says Sgt. Kristine Rae of the Ontario Provincial Police. "And it has to be done in association with all of the involved parties.

"The main goal for each and every one that does occur is a peaceful resolution."

Power rests with Ottawa to settle the land claims that fuel most incidents, she said.

"'If things are sped up and it helps prevent the demonstrations, I think that's only a good thing for not just the police, but all the communities as well as demonstrators."

From Eagle Ridge to Sutikalh

Harriet resisted the development that threatned her land at Eagle Ridge Bluff. But she also visited other land reclamations and supported her Indigenous allies in their efforts to resist the exploitation on their lands. And as we know the corporation's, government's and VANCOC's appetite and thirst for mega development has not been satisfied yet. They want to carve up the province at an abominal rate, making sure the land is "accomadating" for the hungry visitors that will come in 2010.

On May 2, 2000, members of the St'at'imc nation and their allies established a permanent camp near Melvin Creek, located off Highway 99 between Mt. Currie/Pemberton and Lillooet, in the southern Interior region of BC.

Known as Sutikalh, the St'at'imc winter spirit of the area, the camp was set up to stop government and corporate plans to build a $500 million all-season ski and recreation resort in an untouched Alpine mountain area.

Part of the Cayoosh Moutain Range, the region is a transition zone from the coast to the Interior. It is habitat to Grizzly bears, cougar, bobcat, wolverine, deer, hawks, owls and many other small animals. It also contains one of the largest herds of Mountain Goats now remaining in North America.

The area has been occupied and used by the St'at'imc for as long as 10,000 years, following the retreat of the last glacial period which carved out the steep-sided valleys and jagged mountain tops.

Along with food gathering, the area was also used by shamans, who went to the mountains for purification, spiritual renewal and training. These traditions continue to be practised today at Sutikalh, where people come to gather foods, medicines, pure fresh water, and to participate in cultural and spiritual activities.

To this day the area remains unceded, unsurrendered St'at'imc territory, in which neither Canada nor BC have legal or moral authority to govern, claim territory or even carry out business.

That both levels of government continue to impose their authority is a violation of Canada's own laws and its highest courts (i.e., the 1763 Royal Proclamation and, to a lesser extent, the 1997 Delgamuukw Supreme Court Decision).

Ugly people wreck havoc on other peoples lives, Beautiful people resist.

Ski resorts and shopping malls are morgues.
Resist the opprssion, resist the atrocities this May:

Sutikalh 7 Year Anniversary Gathering

Come to Sutikalh camp on Saturday May 5, 2007 to celebrate 7 years
of resistance & sovereignty against a proposed ski resort in
St'at'imc territory.

Camp is located off Hwy. 99 midway between Mt. Currie & Lillooet.
Bring
camping gear if you plan on staying weekend (sleeping bag, tent if you
have
it, etc.)
http://harrietspirit.blogspot.com/

For more info contact:
Rosalin Sam 604-894-2400 sutikalh2003@telus.net
Ramona Joe 604-894-2462

Band occupies Manitoba hydro station

Members of a northern Manitoba First Nation have occupied a hydroelectric generating station and say they will not leave until provincial officials agree to meet with them.

The Pimicikamak Cree Nation from Cross Lake has had band members camped out at the nearby Jenpeg generating station since last Thursday.

Band members are protesting against a long delay in implementing the Northern Flood Agreement, an agreement among the federal and provincial governments, Manitoba Hydro and five First Nations affected by flooding caused by hydroelectric projects on the Nelson and Churchill rivers.

Four of the five First Nations have settled their compensation under the agreement, but the process is still ongoing with the Pimicikamak Cree Nation.

Band official Mervin Garrick told CBC the band will stay on the site as long it takes to get a meeting with the government parties involved.

"We've been very, very patient, but with 30 years of waiting and nothing really concrete happening, then people have to take action," he said.

"We have to try and make the government responsible and get them to recognize and implement the agreements that were signed with the First Nations."

Manitoba Hydro officials had agreed to a meeting in Winnipeg today, but Garrick says it's pointless to get together with only one party.

The band will block Highway 6 if progress is not made soon, Garrick said. The highway is the main link between southern Manitoba and the city of Thompson and other points north.

The premier's office was not immediately available for comment.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2007/04/16/jenpeg-protest.html

"Ultimate hypocrisy": Indigenous poverty – now and then

In 2003, the NB Court of Appeal ruled that Joshua Bernard, a Mi’kmaq logger, had been wrongfully convicted in April 2000 of illegally harvesting spruce logs on Crown land. It also ruled that Mr. Bernard was the beneficiary of a treaty right, and could earn a “moderate livelihood”. The government went to the Supreme Court of Canada which promptly overturned the lower court. Following the Appeal Court’s decision, Andrea Bear Nicholas relates to the facts of the matter in this prophetic 2003 article. “The Ultimate Hypocrisy” Indigenous poverty – now and then. In 2003, the NB Court of Appeal ruled that Joshua Bernard, a Mi’kmaq logger, had been wrongfully convicted in April 2000 of illegally harvesting spruce logs on Crown land. It also ruled that Mr. Bernard was the beneficiary of a treaty right, and could earn a “moderate livelihood”. The government went to the Supreme Court of Canada which promptly overturned the lower court. Following the Appeal Court’s decision, Andrea Bear Nicholas relates to the facts of the matter in this prophetic 2003 article. Andrea Bear Nicholas From the Maliseet Nation @ Tobique Chair in Native Studies, St. Thomas University, Fredericton, New Brunswick. This article was written on 3 September 2003 and was printed in “Shunpiking” in the fall of 2005. In all of the hand wringing about the effects of the Bernard Decision on non Aboriginal people there has been practically no one unconnected to Aboriginal People who applauds the decision. This worries me, and it tells me a lot. Clearly either no one knows, or no one is speaking about, the most important element of this story. – the generations and centuries of suffering and desperation experienced by Indigenous People, as a result of the thefts of their lands, resources,, and way of life., a theft that explains the conditions of that Aboriginal People still suffer today. How do we know about the suffering? A most revealing source is to be found in the abundant government records that show a dramatic increase in appeals for assistance from and on behalf of “starving, sick, and infirm Indians” beginning in the 1820’s. It can be found in the death records of Aboriginal families who commonly suffered multiple deaths in short periods from the combined effects of recurrent disease and starvation. Another rich source lies in 19th century descriptions of Aboriginal People, usually written by visitors with no stake in hiding the poverty. In contrast to government reports we have such descriptions as the following written in 1873: “Thus shod in her native moccasins, with her battered features and stealthy gait. She may be seen prowling about the streets in broad daylight, at once a conspicuous and sad picture of utter wretchedness and poverty.” While such writings are starkly revealing of the wretched condition in which Aboriginals were living, they tend to blame Aboriginal people themselves for their poverty, and suffering, a tendency that only serves one purpose extremely well – that of concealing the true reasons for the poverty. For a deeper understanding of the connection between Aboriginal poverty and the theft of their lands one needs to read only a few books, such as Gustaavus Myers’ History of Canadian Wealth (1987), or Neu and Therrien’s Accounting for Genocide (2003). Beginning in the days of the pre Loyalists, when New Brunswick was still part of Nova Scotia, it became a standard practice of government officials to help themselves, and their cronies, to the best lands in the province. As Brebner (1969) has put it: “Naturally the Halifax officials had their fingers in the pie from the beginning” In ten short years more than three and a half million acres of Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet), and Peskotomuhkatiyik (Passamaquoddy) lands had been granted away for a song; and a pattern of patronage and personal corruption had become entrenched. These grants also represented an enormous violation of imperial law, particularly the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which declared that no one could take possession of Indian Lands unless they had first been ceded or sold by Indian nations to the crown. Within a few years after the American Revolution, however, every inch of Maliseet land on the Wolastoq (St. John) River up to and beyond Woodstock had been granted and settled by upwards of 10,000 Loyalists, in complete violation of the Royal Proclamation. For Wolastoqiyik (Maliseets) it was the beginning of yet another Diaspora, for the land and the river had been their sole source of life for millennia. Even small patches of land that had been previously reserved for Maliseets were now granted away. Of course the wealthiest and most powerful Loyalists got the largest grants, some consisting of thousands of acres of prime land. And it was from those lands, the lands of the Aboriginal People, that the descendants of the Loyalists became wealthy, simply from the “increment of the lands granted to them”. (Myers p.81) With huge demands for timber in Great Britain, and rich forest resources on both private and public lands (the so called Crown Lands), enterprising farmers and wealthy landowners alike turned early in the 1800s to full-time lumbering. First there was the masting trade, then the square timber trade, and by 1825, “New Brunswick was supplying nearly twice as much timber as the rest of British North America”. As the richest group of their landowners, many of the old loyalist families became the fabulously wealthy “timber barons who controlled provincial affairs and forest resources simultaneously”. (Naylor, pp. 177-185) In effect, these few families were the main beneficiaries of the enormous revenues from a resource stolen directly from Aboriginal People. To compound the tragedy, the massive lumbering almost completely denuded large areas of woodlands, which practically eliminated hunting as a major source of sustenance for First Nations. And if the forests were not denuded by the lumberman, they were soon denuded by the great Miramichi fire of 1825, which fed on piles of dry scrap wood left everywhere by careless lumberman. Meanwhile the rise of the deals industry (sawn logs) meant that not only would the rivers be regularly choked with logs, but also with sawmills and sawdust, which quickly took their tool on fish, another important source of sustenance for First Nations. Beginning in the 1830’s the provincial legislature began promoting the sale of huge chunks of un-granted lands (really Aboriginal lands) to foreign interests in order to boost provincial coffers and stimulate immigration. And in 1837 the legislature finally wrested full control of the remaining 11 million acres of so called “crown” lands from the Loyalist – dominated executive branch in New Brunswick only to turn them over to capitalists and railway promoters who were poised to “plunder” both public monies and the “crown” lands. Within a few decades over a million and a half more acres soon passed into the hands of the wealthy railroad promoters, who, for the most part, were the legislature themselves! In Myers words “almost the whole personnel of the government of the Province of New Brunswick were among the incorporators” of one railroad in 1851. In addition to voting huge government subsidies for the project, they also voted themselves a huge land grant five miles wide on each side of the railroad for its entire length. (Myers, pp. 163-164) Now suddenly the abject poverty of Aboriginal People in the Maritimes becomes perfectly comprehendable, for it appeared only after the timber barons began raping the forests, and it worsened as railroad promoters/legislators began grabbing and developing prime lands for personal benefit. With hunting and fishing territories being lumbered or settled so rapidly nearly every Aboriginal person in the province becames desperately dependant on assistance from the very people who were robbing them blind. As if to pretend it had nothing to do with the rape and plunder, the New Brunswick government began very early showering Aboriginal people with regular displays of attention and false generosity in what proved to be the ultimate hypocrisy. That maliseet, passamaquoddy, and Mi’kmaq people were now reduced to starvation and begging in their own lands is a huge blot on New Brunswick history. It is also a story that has remained virtually unchanged, and unknown, into the present, and for very good reason. Unbelievably, this story of the dispossession of First nations in the Maritimes did not end with Confederation. In fact, the patronage and conflict of interest on the part of railway promoters who were also government legislators soon escalated into widespread price fixing, bribery, blackmail, and fraud. Only now it was most federal parliamentarians who also engaged in these practices. (Myers 289-90) Meanwhile, their patronage appointees in the Department of Indian Affairs exercised increasingly coercive control over First Nations, and willingly engineered many questionable deals for lands on reserve on behalf of their railway bosses in Parliament. Uncovering and detailing the improprieties of these deals will be the subject of investigations for years to come. At the provincial level Native hunting and fishing territories on so-called “crown” lands continued to be sold or leased for a pittance to huge lumbering interests closely connected with government. With the advent of the Multi-national corporations in the 20th century this story continued to repeat itself. Wealthy and powerful government officials and their friends continued to gain huge profits from the resources of the land, while Maliseets, Mi’kmaqs and Passamaquoddies became increasingly shut out of any benefit, other than as lumber-men and guides, from their ancient hunting and fishing territories. And they continued to be the poorest of the poor. From time to time governments would shower Aboriginal People with attention, and sometimes money, to feign friendship and compassion while arresting and criminalizing Aboriginals for accessing resources, on both reserve and “crown” lands. Through it all one would never have known that Aboriginal access to the resources of their lands had been solemnly promised in an important preconfederation treaty, the treaty of 1725/26. But since the Aboriginal People no longer had an actual copy of that treaty they were usually arrested, charged, stripped of their gear, and thrown into jail, even though several copies of the treaty existed in government archives in Halifax and Ottawa. And for a while Aboriginals were even forbidden by the Indian Act to hire services to defend themselves. It was only by our own efforts that a copy of this treaty was finally located in 1983, and for the first time ever, two Maliseet hunters won recognition in court to access game resources unmolested. With so many powerful interests at stake, however, the New Brunswick government refused to respect this newly discovered treaty, though bound to do so under the 1982 Constitution Act and the 1985 Supreme Court decision in the case of Simon. Instead, it chose to appeal the case of the two Maliseet hunters, not once but twice. And when it lost the last time it chose instead to offer huge bribes to First Nation communities to give up accessing resources in return for money and jobs. Had the province respected the treaty it would have moved to bring its own laws into line with it, in the same way that Aboriginal nations have been required to keep their laws consistent with federal and provincial laws. The province could also have taken the opportunity to re-educate the public on the matter of the newly found treaty. Instead, not a word was spoken, either in newspapers or in any school textbooks published after 1983. It is difficult not to see this quashing of information as yet another attempt to hide the truth, in the interest of maintaining the wealth and power of the few who benefit most from “crown” lands. The strategy certainly worked when court decisions recognizing Aboriginal rights were handed down in 1997 and 2000. Instead of directing their anger at a government that had historically enriched its own members and friends, and hidden the truth of the treaties and the original theft, the people of New Brunswick openly directed their anger and frustration at Aboriginal People. While the Bernard decision speaks only of Miramichi Mi’kmaqs, the implication is that Mi’kmaqs, Maliseet and passamaquoddies, alike, can no longer be shut out of access either to the (Crown) lands or to the natural resources they never surrendered. That no one outside of the Aboriginal community is applauding the decision suggests that the stage is being set for yet another confrontation in which ordinary people will get used (once again) as tools to protect the wealthy and powerful interests now benefiting from “crown” lands. Many of these ordinary New Brunswickers have built their livelihoods around the extraction of natural resources that were stolen from Aoriginal people, but they were never told the truth. It is time now that the truth, as enunciated by former justice Daigle in Bernard, be given due attention. Aboriginal people in this province never surrendered either their lands or accesses to the resources. If the province does not show some leadership in public education on these matters, then there is little question that Aboriginals will be forced once again to defend themselves from the misdirected anger of non-Aboriginals. Negotiation now appears to be the only way through this situation. Unfortunately, the Provincial government has done nothing to demonstrate leadership in this area either. At a meeting with chiefs held this week to “discuss” the moose hunt, the position of the provincial government was predetermined, and the meeting was only a pretext to announce that position as a unilateral ultimatum. If this was negotiation then Aboriginal people are headed for a rough ride. Considering that the Bernard decision has implications for all resources, including moose-hunting, the ultimatum seems to indicate the province’s stubborn determination to continue taking the hard line of arresting Aboriginals and litigating each resource separately. What the province seems to be gambling on is hope that Aboriginals and litigating each resource separately. What the province seems to be gambling on is the hope that Aboriginal leaders might be desperate enough to trade off access to yet another resource for the crumbs of money and jobs, as in the fishery agreements. Though the Bernard decision is a strong and promising chip for Aboriginal leaders. It is obviously not strong enough to force the province to the negotiating table as partners just yet. Granted, the province clearly intends to appeal the Bernard decision, but with a year to negotiate before implementation, , it seems to be studiously avoiding the inevitable, and still treating Aboriginal people as beggars and underlings to be controlled by mandate, muscle, and money. And it is beginning to look ridiculously like the tail wagging the dog. As for the strategy of throwing money at Aboriginal People, the lie now needs to be exposed in the recent initiatives of so-called cooperation and sharing in such areas as archaeology, economic development, and highway building. Such wining and dining has always been intended to buy our good will in the hope that we will go away and never ask the big questions, like how much money the province and its wealthy friends have been earning from lands and resources stolen from us. As long as the theft has gone un-recognized and un-addressed by the courts the province got away with playing the game. Now the tide has turned. With the Bernard decision, it is hoped that Aboriginal communities will be able to stand firm and not be pressured into bargaining away our access to any more resources at the very moment that the courts have begun to recognize our claims to Aboriginal title. If not, we will have lost for winning. http://www.infoshop.org/inews/trackback.php?id=20070412092002655

Making a Stand at Desert Rock

On December 12th, 2006 community members in Burnham, New Mexico established a blockade to prevent preliminary work for the proposed Desert Rock coal-fired power plant. More info:

www.desert-rock-blog.com

http://www.indigenousaction.org/

Sutikalh settlement area

Press Release

(April 11, 2007, St’át’imc Territory, Lillooet BC) On April 4, 2007, during the St’át’imc Chiefs Council’s monthly meeting, the final approval for the formalization of a settlement area in Sútikalh (Melvin Creek Cayoosh Creek range) was provided.

This area has received much public attention since an application was put forth by Nancy and Al Raine (NGR Consultants Ltd) for the development of a large-scale ski resort in the area. The ensuing authorization for the ski resort development by the provincial government was extremely controversial.

On August 17, 2000, the St’át’imc Chiefs provided correspondence to Al Raine and the provincial government reconfirming their unified opposition to the planned development based upon the continuing existence of St’át’imc title throughout the territory including the area chosen for the proposed ski resort.

Following direction from St’át’imc people, the St’át’imc Chiefs Council has enabled the development of the Nxekmenlhkálha Lti Tmícwa (land use plan) which is accompanied by the Land and Resource Application Process. These two documents which outline the procedures for land use decision-making form the basis for the formal decision to establish Sútikalh as a settlement area under the authority of the St’át’imc.

When the provincial government began its unilateral considerations and decision-making processes on the Cayoosh ski resort application, several St’át’imc people were concerned to the point of moving into the area to protect it from the proposed development project. Grand Chief Saul Terry, Chairperson of the St’át’imc Chiefs Council states, “St’át’imc people have been living in the Sútikalh area for seven years now and going through this process of establishing the area as a settlement area is more of a formality in order to ensure that the area is protected”.

During his recently completed term as the St’át’imc Chiefs Council Chairperson, Chief Garry John was very instrumental in supporting the on-the-ground efforts to protect the Sútikalh area. Chief John states, “Our people have extensive ties to this entire area and the evidence is there to support our title. The St’át’imc people have provided consistent and unanimous direction regarding the protection of the Sútikalh area.”

The land use decision-making authority being exercised by the St’át’imc Chiefs Council and St’át’imc people is based upon existing St’át’imc title. The process utilizes the values and principles within traditional ecological knowledge systems and this, in turn, provides the model used for the formal establishment of a settlement area by the St’át’imc Chiefs Council.

For further information, please contact:

Grand Chief Saul Terry, SCC spokesperson Chief Garry John

Office: (250) 256-7523 Office: (250) 259-8227

FAX: (250) 256-7119

http://www.statimc.net/
http://sutikalh.resist.ca/index.html

Manitoba chiefs hint at civil unrest

By Alexandra Paul

Manitoba’s aboriginal chiefs laid out a timetable of civil acts this spring leading up to a national day of protest June 29.

The campaign is an effort to focus attention on frustrations over grinding poverty and political inaction on century-old treaty promises for land and resources, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs leader Ron Evans said Thursday.

If demonstrations and marches don’t work then aboriginal leaders will take more drastic measures, possibly including roving blockades of rail lines, he and other chiefs told reporters.

“We are hoping we don’t have to go there,” Evans said.

Evans outlined the strategy following an emergency meeting of chiefs from many of the 63 first nations in Manitoba who are angry over rising tensions with Ottawa. Winnipeg, with 70,000 aboriginal people, is often called the aboriginal capital of Canada. Another 75,000 live on province’s First Nation communities.

On April 25, there will be a rally of aboriginal people from every corner of the province at the legislature.

In May, First Nation chief will invite federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice to the province to discuss aboriginal grievances.

If all that fails, then First Nations will stop co-operating on development projects across the province, from proposed hydro dams to logging and mining enterprises.

“Many projects that this province needs to build the economy require the support of First Nations,” said Evans, listing corridors for hydro lines and pipe lines. “They run through First Nations lands and to make those projects success, they need our support,” Evans said.

Tension are rising between aboriginal people and the federal government everywhere in Canada but the escalation appears more pronounced in Manitoba.

“The spotlight is on Manitoba, and with the country watching we will take the lead,” Evans said.

Last weekend, a draft Canadian military manual on counter-insurgents named radical aboriginal groups as potential terrorists.

Last week, Dakota Ojibway Treaty Council and the 35-member Southern Chief Organizations called an emergency meeting to consider roving rail blockades this summer without bothering with demonstrations.

In March, Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice threatened funding cuts to native organizations that took part in blockades. Evans threatened to pull first nations out of development projects around the province, effectively halting talks to build hydro dams, power transmission corridors and pipelines, a warning he made again Thursday.

Chiefs say they all agree the problem is grinding poverty and a sense of economic despair — but action to fix it has polarized them.

Some, led by former national Chief Ovide Mercredi, want to use peaceful means of dissent such as demonstrations to draw public support for the aboriginal plight.

A younger generation of leaders like Dakota Ojibway Treaty Council chair Chief Terrance Nelson say only drastic measures, like rail blockades, will satisfy the level of anger among aboriginal youth that only needs a spark to explode.

Leaders say they will start talking to aboriginal people from remote northern communities to urban ghettoes to get out the vote for select candidates in federal and provincial elections widely anticipated this year.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/story/3936246p-4547988c.html