Urgent Help Needed: Mohawks surrounded by OPP
The message below was sent out by MNN at 4:50 pm (April 25). Several updates have been added to the comments:
- May 1st A report-back from the solidarity action in Vancouver, and a few videos
- April 30th The OPP offensive is over now, and the blockade of Highway 6 has been taken down. Three Mohawks from Tyendinaga remain in custody. (Statements by Hazel Hill and Skyler Williams)
- April 28th Update (Opp Moved in this morning, no one was hurt.) and list of (3) solidarity actions
- April 28th Open Letter to Police Commissioner Julian Fantino
- April 27th Release from Tyendinaga. List of gov’t officials to email
- April 26th A brief update from Tyendinaga Support. (Ontario Jails Five More)
- April 25th Update from MNN and the Globe and Mail. (everything that’s happened so far)
- April 25th blockade has gone up in solidarity near Kanenhstaton (Caledonia, Ontario).
URGENT HELP NEEDED
MNN: April 25, 2008. Mohawks surrounded at the quarry in Tyendinaga. Ontario Provincial Police OPP fully armed with guns drawn. They are yelling through blow horns ordering the Rotiskenekete to come down with their hands up, or else they are going to take them out. The Rotiskenekete have told the OPP they are not coming down from there.
We have been informed that help will probably not arrive in time. The OPP have said they are coming right away. There are 20 left at the quarry. Many have already been arrested.
DO SOMETHING QUICK! WE HAVE TO SAVE OUR PEOPLE.
FOR INFORMATION CALL:
518-358-3660
Warchief: 613-243-4993,
Jan Hill 613-961-8515, 613-827-1547
Dan 613-919-1354
Rotiskenekete 613-849-1314, 613-827-4991
OPP Easter Headquarters: 613-284-4500 L.G. Beechey Chief Supt. Commander, Eastern Region
R. Don Maracle 613-396-3089, Cell 613-391-9249
GENOCIDE IS HAPPENING AT THIS HOUR AT TYENDINAGA.
THEIR POSITION IS THEY ARE NOT MOVING. THEY ARE GOING DOWN. THEY WILL DEFEND THEMSELVES. THEY ARE NOT GIVING UP THE LAND.
—————–
URGENT CALL: FRIDAY APRIL 25TH 2008- MOHAWKS OF TYENDINAGA UNDER ONTARIO PROVINCIAL
POLICE SIEGE – SHAWN BRANT ARRESTED ON FAKE WEAPONS CHARGES ON CULBERTSON TRACT – OPP CRUISERS AND VANS SURROUND – 20 DOWN BY TRAIN TRACTS ON DESERONTO
ROAD AND BRIDGE ST.
MNN. At 2:45 pm. today, Friday, April 25th, 2008, Shawn Brant was arrested for an incident that happened on Monday on Slash Road. He was attacked by Deseronto citizens who were trying to run our blockades. He had no weapons
whatsoever. The OPP are trying to make Shawn out to be the leader there. He is not.
DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF SHAWN BRANT, POLITICAL PRISONER.
The Ritiskenekete have slashed OPP cruisers windows and chased them off Deseronto Road. APTN and support from Six Nations, Kahnawake are on their way. Anyone who can go there and help should call 613-391-5132 for information.
There will probably be a raid of the illegal Thurlow Quarry that the Mohawk took over a year ago.
Shawn Brant was taken to Napanee.
Needed urgently: deer meat, fish, non-perishable food, water, Camping equipment, communications equipment, fuel, gas, propane, mobile phones, phone cards, rain coats, gas masks, towels, soap, wet wipes, tooth bushesand tooth paste, bear spray, gloves, work shoes, boots, runners, socks, radios, two-way radios, hand held radio, flashlights, tents, lanterns, wood for the fire, cooking utensils, plates and silverware, first aid.
To go there on the TransCanada Highway 401, to #49 to Slash Road, to Deseronto boundary. Or Marysville Road south to Bayshore Road, turn left all the way to the quarry.
Runners should be dispatched to go there to carry information from the site to supporters.
Supporters should contact OPP, Ontario government, band council chief to stop this aggression and attempted blood bath.
All nations council meeting tonight.
OPP heat is going on at the quarry. Need help now.
- If you found this article useful, please tell others about it
FYI: A blockade has gone up in solidarity at the Highway 6 bypass, near Kanenhstaton (Caledonia, Ontario). More updates will follow.
Another Update from MNN (NB the Globe and Mail has some coverage aswell, I guess, from the opposite end of the spectrum)
Tyendinaga Mohawk Aserakowa [War Chief] speaks from the front line – “We’re not leaving”. OPP: “We’re coming in at dark to take you out!”
MNN: April 25, 2008. Aserakowa 613-243-4993 still at the quarry.
Shawn Brant was doing a media interview with APTN News in Tyendinaga on Deseronto Boundary Road. Ontario Provincial Police came along with an outstanding assault charge. They arrested Shawn. They hauled him off to jail. Then the OPP closed both ends of Deseronto Road. The Aserakowa came down to see what was going on.
Steve Flynn of Aboriginal Response Team ART of the OPP showed up. We talked. Flynn told the Aserakowa about Shawn. By then we had men at both ends of the road. He talked about opening the road. Flynn said, “You walk away and we’ll walk away. Okay?” Both Flynn and the Aserkowa agreed.
“We will get in our cars and you’ll get in yours”, said Flynn. It turned out to be a set up. The Rotiskeneketeh started moving off the road. Suddenly about 10 OPP jumped about 5 of our guys, threw them in the ditch, beat them up and arrested them. They hauled them off to jail. No reasons were given for the arrests or assaults. The OPP is certain not operating on an honorable nation to nation model. It is not even offering the kind of fiduciary protection for indigenous rights as it is supposed to, according to the supreme Court of Canada.
Since when have the colonial institutions ever acted to protect Indigenous people?
After behaving like thugs and beating up our guys, the OPP pulled out their weapons and pointed them at us. For our safety, we retreated back to the quarry. We didn’t want to get shot.
Once we got there cops swarmed us from every direction. They were everywhere as far as we could see, armed to the teeth with their guns pointed directly at us all the time.
Then they came over with loud speakers, told us to come away from the quarry, down the hill, with our hands up in the air “where we can see them”.
We told them, “Fuck you. This is Mohawk land. We’re not leaving”. They raised their weapons and aimed at us again.
“You’re going to have to shoot us”, we told them.
Then there was more build up. They told us they are coming in at dark to take us out. They are moving Mohawk people off Mohawk lands at the end of a gun barrel.
The Mohawks are unarmed.
The OPP have SWAT Teams, ambulances, dogs and we can’t see if they ships in the water.
Arrested are Clint Brant, Steve Hill, Dan Doreen, Shawn Brant and Mac Kunkel. We don’t know where they’ve been taken.
Six Nations people have closed down three roads. Akwesasne guys are on the International Bridge. In Kahnawake there will be closures.
They will be coming after us at about 8:30 pm EDT, as soon as it gets dark.
We’re not moving. We know that.
We don’t know what’s going to happen. This is Ipperwash, 1990, Gustafsen Lake, Six Nations, the list goes on. If they harm any of those guys at Tyendinaga, there’s no saying what will happen.
The message from the men is that we will defend the land. That’s our duty according to the Kaianerekowa, Great Law of Peace, the law of Turtle Island.
SEND URGENT OBJECTIONS TO PREMIER MCGUINTY OF ONTARIO; PRIME MINISTER STEVEN HARPER; JULIAN FANTINO COMMISSIONER OF THE OPP: tell them to call off their thugs and stop breaking the peace. They have a obligations under international law to resolve any disagreements peacefully. They have an obligation to keep the peace, not to break it.
LIVES ARE AT STAKE.
MNN Mohawk Nation News
I think it’s paramount at this point in time that someone draw the parallels of Ipperwash in the press A.S.A.P. The police actions have been almost identical in this situation that led to the death of Dudley George, right down to the fact that they said the protesters at Ipperwash were armed in order to dispatch the riot squad. That report was released not even a year ago: how soon we forget. I don’t see this ending in a good way. They need to be shamed now for their actions before it’s too late.
Kia Ora Anhi
Firstly our solidarity to our Tyendinaga Mohawk brothers and sisters, kia kaha your cousins in the Pacific stand with you. There to be an acceleration in Canada of the state repression of its Indigenous peoples at the moment, If there is any way we can show solidarity Ahni, please inform us.
In the spirit of Indigenous struggle & unity
naku noa
na
Ana
I hope and trust that all the pro tibet canadians will defend THESE people with the same vigour…?!
A brief update from Tyendinaga Support, as of 2:30pm today:
The standoff at the quarry continues. OPP are still holding position,
though their numbers have decreased. Negotiations are ongoing between
Tyendinaga Mohawks and the OPP. The community is still holding strong
both inside the quarry and outside on nearby Slash Road. There is a
significant number of supporters and people from other First Nations
communities who have come in last night and today.
Visits from allies are still welcome
Those coming should understand that while the situation is somewhat
less tense at this moment, dynamics may shift. Visitors are also
encouraged to arrive during daylight hours.
Visitors are welcomed to bring the following:
-water -money -non-perishable food items
Directions:
take highway 401 to the marysville/deseronto exit (east of
belleville). this is the exit to highway 49. go south/right on
highway 49 for about 10-15 minutes. you’ll pass a stop sign. once you
hit the Slash Road, turn left. drive until you see people and a fire.
Ana, at the moment, and seeing as how this is going to keep happening, I would say several days of protest need to be organized in front of Canadian embassies around the world. I know it would be time consuming, but States are immune to short-term protests, especially if our numbers are less than 1000.
In other words, we have to take things one step further. We gotta be peaceful though, because the State wants nothing more than for us to get violent.. it’s like giving away free food to a starving monster. They will crush it on the ground, spin it in the media, and then move on. That’s all a state needs to “win.” Of course, it would be a tentative victory for them, but that outcome has been a major pulling force for the colonial state throughout the centuries. It’s “death by a thousand cuts.”
Anyways, I’d add that we should really start pressing the fact that all these situations across Canada and the world are one in the same. Trying to address
each one individually sets up for 1000 years of needless struggle (because it doesn’t provoke substantial change). But, say, all our struggles became one of true solidarity… it would atleast push us in the right direction.
Lastly, Simon, thanks for your comment. I’m seeing alot of people draw the (all-too-accurate) connection between Canada and China right now.
Here’s another update. Below it, a list of people you can/should direct your concern and anger toward.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
FROM TYENDINAGA MOHAWK TERRITORY:
Ontario Jails Five More First Nations People Involved in Land Struggles
(Sunday, April 27, 2008 -Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory) Five men from
Tyendinaga are in jail today bringing the total number of First Nations
people in Ontario jails for defending their land to 12.
Ontario, it appears, has opted for the incarceration of First Nations
people over the resolution of outstanding land issues as their status quo.
As for the Ontario Provincial Police, it appears the adoption of Justice
Linden’s Ipperwash Inquiry recommendations is experiencing some delay.
While in custody at the Napanee Detachment several different officers
repeatedly informed Shawn Brant that they were going to “slit his throat”
and that he was a “dead man.”
This followed a similarly disturbing incident that occurred on Monday,
April 22nd during the road closures in Deseronto when an officer on the
scene clearly and audibly commented to her colleagues “we should just
shoot them (Mohawks) all.”
Meanwhile, road closures continue in Tyendinaga and Six Nations until, as
one man said, “We finish the job.”
Contact: Jay Maracle: 613-243-4993
FURTHER CONTACTS (courtesy of this recent article by MNN)
Julian Fantino, is the Commission of the Ontario Provincial Police, julian.fantino@jus.gov.on.ca, julian.fantino@ontario.ca;
Governor General Michaelle Jean info@gg.ca;
Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada harper.s@parl.gc.ca;
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty dalton.mcguinty@premier.gov.on.ca;
Paul Leblanc of Indian Affairs, leblanc.p@ainc-inac.gc.ca;
Yvan Dery, Privy Council Office, ydery@pco-bcp.gc.ca;
Sylvia McKenzie, Justice Canada, sylvia.mackenzie@sppcc-psepc.gc.ca;
Gilles Rochon, Aboriginal Policing, gilles.rochon@psepc.gc.ca 613-990-2666;
Emanuel Chabot, Public Affairs 7 Emergency Preparedness emmanuel.chabot@psepc-sppcc.gc.ca 613-990-4353;
Louis-Alexandre Guay, the inaptly named “Justice Canada ” lguay@justice.gc.ca;
Phil Fontaine, Assembly of [Colonized] First Nations, reception@afn.ca;
Jim Potts, advisor to the inept Ontario Provincial Police on Indigenous policing who claims to be Indigenous 613-795-3907;
RCMP Royal Canadian Mounted Police, London Ontario Detachment 519-640-7267;
Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian Affairs, 819-997-0002, 819-953-1160, 613-992-2940 Fax 613-944-9376 strahc@parl.gc.ca;
Walter Walling, who organizes police attacks against Mohawks such as the Jan. 12, 2004 debacle at Kanehsatake, wallingw@ainc-inac.gc.ca;
Leona Dombrowsky, Member of Ontario Legislature, 613-962-1144, 1-877-536-6248 Fax 613-969-6381 ldombrowsky.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org;
Michael Bryant, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Ontario, 416-314-8693, Fax 416-314-2701, mbryant.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org, 416-656-0943, 416-325-7754, Fax 416-325-7755;
L.G. Beechey Chief Supt. Commander Eastern Region OPP, 613-284-4500;
Don’t post the first one I sent…Post this one…the first one wss only part of the letter…sorry.
I would like to address the myths that Police Commissioner Julian Fantino has perpetuated in the media since the arrest of Mr. Shaun Brant on Friday April 25, 2008 and the events that have transpired since regarding police action at the Mohawk protest in Deseronto:
An Open Letter to Police Commissioner Julian Fantino:
First of all Shawn Brant was not arrested during a routine traffic stop as explained by Fantino:
“Tensions boiled over in eastern Ontario near Deseronto, Ont. Friday, when one of the protesters of a land claim dispute near that community, Shawn Brant, was arrested during a traffic stop.”
Mr. Brant was arrested while giving an interview with APTN the Aboriginal People’s Television Network. This can be proven by watching their news footage on April 25, 2008 which shows Mr. Brant’s arrest and also verifies he was arrested while doing an interview with them.
Also there are no weapons on the site as reported by your men obviously when yours were drawn and pointed:
“Police say they saw a “long gun” being pointed at them from a location inside an occupied quarry, which protesters have controlled since March, 2007.”
“An order was issued to all police personnel on the scene to take cover, and guns were drawn by officers crouching behind their vehicles, but no shots were fired.”
‘The protesters said they had no weapons at the quarry.’
You also say that you are not trying to remove anyone from any land and that this has nothing to do with land claims, however, this comment shows that the protesters have indeed been ordered to leave the land they have been occupying now for close to a year.
‘Protester Jason Maracle said they will refuse all orders to leave what they consider to be Mohawk land.’
“The OPP asked protesters to leave the site or face arrest.”
Toronto Sun – April 26, 2008
“We’re not moving anywhere,” he said. “They’re going have to kill every God damn one of us to get us off our land. We’re not moving. … I guess if they want another 1990 scene, then OK, I guess we’ll have one.”
Canadian Press
April 25, 2008 at 7:46 PM EDT
What’s the public Danger when all protesters are unarmed?
“In the interest of public safety, the officers established roadblocks to permit limited access to the area,” Sgt. Rae said.”
Meanwhile, there were reports that police saw one of the demonstrators pointing a long gun at them. Sgt. Rae would not confirm this, but did say that officers were ordered at one point during the standoff to draw their weapons.”
Guess this confirms that the police actually did point their weapons now doesn’t it?
“We are staring down the ends of gun barrels,” protester Jason Maracle said in an interview from the quarry. He said the protesters had no weapons with them – declining, for tactical reasons, to say how many demonstrators remained at the site.”
Globe and Mail – June 26
Fantino, you and you alone have escalated this nobody else and as shown above you have ordered the protesters out of the quarry:
“OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino last night said the dispute is not a land-claims issue. “This violent criminal activity occurred outside of any legitimate protest and will not be tolerated,” he said. “Police officers being assaulted and injured for doing their utmost to keep the peace and protect the law-abiding community is unacceptable.
“We’re trying to keep this from escalating.”
I’m sorry Fantino but it appears that you are following the same deadly blue-print of the Ipperwash protest which led to the shooting death of Dudley George, because as the final report released last June shows, this is exactly the way it started, right down to reports that the protesters were armed:
“Protesters inside a quarry protest site told the Sun last night they were “worried” a confrontation was imminent. “We are surrounded here,” said protester Mike Brant. “They are sending the media away so we are worried they are going to take us all out.”
He said they were concerned police were going to “come in the dark with guns” which would be unfair because “we are not doing anything. All we are doing is sitting here holding out land. There is nothing wrong with that.”
The OPP said they were concerned when officers spotted a “long gun” pointed at them from within the quarry. Native protesters deny this.
Protesters have controlled the quarry since March 2007
“Several witnesses confirmed the OPP had up to 150 officers and 50 vehicles already on site in this town, 50 kms west of Kingston, near the Mohawk Territory.
Sun Media’s Pete Fisher said he was told by police that “they couldn’t guarantee my safety” and he reported that he had never seen a bigger native protest scene. A whole field was set ablaze.”
Toronto Sun – April 26, 2008
Yes you have also contended that no weapons were pointed at anyone, yet your own men and other witnesses above have said differently:
“The Commissioner went on to say OPP had not trapped anybody in the quarry, nor pulled or aimed guns, among other things.”
No Fantino your lies are inflaming the situation:
“I think it’s inflaming what is already a very tenuous, very difficult situation, he said.”
The Hamilton Spectator – April 27, 2006
Now let me draw on the similarities of Ipperwash:
(All of this information can be verified in the Ipperwash final report released in June of 2007 Volume 1 at http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/inquiries/ipperwash/report/index.html)
1. Ipperwash: The ERT and True teams were both dispatched based on false unverified information that the protesters were armed…Reports were they were in possession of hunting rifles and semi-automatics weapons…they then considered these false weapons a threat to public safety: the final report verifies there were never any weapons found after the shooting of Dudley George either in the vicinity of the park or the parking lot.
Tyendinaga: 150 armed officers pointing their weapons after false reports of seeing someone point “long gun” at them….
2. Ipperwash: Both sides fear a major event based on each others movements: O.P.P. dress to move what was escalated at one point to at least 15-20 men in a parking lot outside the Provincial Park….it was verified later by the final report that there was
only 6 men present in the parking lot and 25 protesters inside the park.
Tyendinaga: With approximately 20 protesters present, the O.P.P. deploys approximately 150 armed officers who indeed drew their weapons after a false report of a long gun being pointed at them.
3. Ipperwash: Both the True team and the ERT team consisting of 4 teams of O.P.P. officers “The criteria for calling in the True Team is a threat to life” They were also sure they had the men n the parking lot for committing mischief and also for weapons dangerous because they had been spotted with baseball bats.
Tyendinaga:. Officers arrest Shawn Brant during a supposed traffic stop and 150 armed officers are all of a sudden on the scene.
4. Ipperwash: “The O.P.P. should have communicated with the protesters that they should remain in the park and that the O.P.P. would not attempt to enter the park.” As I discuss in the following chapter the Aboriginal occupiers firmly believed that the O.P.P’s intention that night was to march into the park and arrest any protester who refused to leave the park”
Tyendinaga: The only communication to take place by the O.P.P. to date is to tell them to come out of the quarry or they will all be arrested and there has never been an assurance that they will not enter it.
As of 6:00 tonight there was no dialogue with the protesters so who is it with? If you wanted a peaceful resolution, you wouldn’t be there ordering them off their own land to begin with!
“The OPP is actively engaged in ongoing dialogue to bring the situation to a peaceful resolution in order to safely reopen the roadway to traffic as soon as possible.”
This block has everything to do with the quarry dispute.
“A large trench was dug across the highway overnight and a number of people remain present at the site of the road blockage. This road blockade is unrelated to the ongoing quarry dispute.”
O.P.P. Press release
April 27, 2008
5.Ipperwash: No involvement of the First Nations Police who could have helped diffuse the situation.
Tyendinaga:. Tyendinaga Mohawk Police were at the site of the quarry occupation until Chief of Police Larry Hay was suspended for calling the O.P.P, R.C.M.P and the Surte de Quebec police racist. After that Tyendinaga Police were taken off peace-keeping duty at the site and replaced by O.P.P.
6. Ipperwash: O.P.P. press releases full of misinformation after the shooting of Dudley George and those statements were never retracted. According to O.P.P. press releases at the time Dudley George was present on a school bus that began firing at officers as it left the park. A weapon was spotted in Dudley Georges hands by an officer who open fired. In actual fact as proven by the final report: Two teenagers were driving the bas and Dudley George was no where near the bus, there were also reports by officers of actually seeing muzzle fir on the bus, but no weapons were ever found on the bus or anywhere else. It was actually proven by the bullet entry wound was outside and kneeling down at the time of his shooting and was unarmed. Officers maintained throughout their testimony etc that there was bullet fire in their direction and that was the reason they opened fired. As stated earlier when they area and the park were searched there was never one weapon found to verify their evidence which can be verified by the final report.
Tyendinaga: We have press conferences and mistruths being perpetuated by both Commissioner Fantino himself and other O.P.P officers in the media.
7. Ipperwash: It as shown that Racism was clearly present within the O.P.P organization when officers were found on tape to have made racial slurs via radio just before the shooting of Dudley George. Afterwards the sale of t-shirts and coffee mugs with logos clearly showing they were proud of killing an Indian were sold to both members of the TRUE and ERT members of the O.P.P., which they had designed logos for themselves.
My question to Fantino is clearly what have you learned from the death of Dudley George? Nothing it is apparent, or do I think you want to learn anything otherwise you would have taken a different path to resolve these issues during both the road block in Deseronto and at the quarry site.
Shelley Brant
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory
The Opp moved on the roadblock this morning. For details, see this article on the Toronto Sun. Also see this piece by the Intelligencer
Other News:
Action of Support on Coast Salish Territory, today at 2:30pm
(Preliminary news) Emergency Demonstration set for tomorrow at the Attorney General’s Office in Toronto (720 Bay Street) 12 noon
The Caledonia blockade continues
Hello people of Tyendinaga:
I am a member of the Athabasca Keepers of the Water. A broad coalition of the Keepers in B.C., Alberta, and recently Sask. with outreach now being extended to Manitoba is in the making. At one point in the Keeper coalition meeting, the situation of the K I Nation was discussed and its relevance to the Keeper’s agenda. At the time no resolution of action was taken as there was so much business at hand. Nonetheless, I believe there was a unanimous sentiment of support for the people of KI.
I will forward communications to people I am in contact with.
Your message has reached the west. I admire and honor your courage. May the Great Spirit help you remain non-violent despite the injustice and history of oppression.
Harlan
Well, the OPP offensive is over now, and the blockade of Highway 6 has been taken down. Three Mohawks from Tyendinaga remain in custody.
Some Mohawks from Grand River have also been charged, see the below statement by Skyler Williams.
Aswell, to round things off here, yesterday Hazel Hill sent out an update recounting most of what happened. You can download it here (pdf).
Six Nations Defendants in Solidarity With Others Being Charged For Land Rights Stands
Statement by Skyler Williams
At The Cayuga Court House
Six Nations of Grand River Territory
April 28, 2008
My name is Skyler Williams. I am a Mohawk, Wolf, from Six Nations of The Grand River Territory. I am speaking on behalf of myself and several others that have been charged with criminal offences in connection with defending our land rights at Six Nations.
We have instructed our lawyer today not to proceed with our legal defence, so long as police have guns turned on our brothers and sisters in Tyendinaga.
Over the past months, Canada’s efforts to criminalize those of us who are standing up for our land rights has reached epic proportions. The message is clear: participate in negotiations that go nowhere as our lands are developed and destroyed – or go to jail.
Today, Six Nations is standing in steadfast solidarity with those in Tyendinaga whose lives and freedoms are in jeopardy because they are standing up for their rights. We also stand with those in Akwesasne, Kanawake and all peoples who have joined in this stand.
Also, we stand with those leaders of Ardoch Algonquin and Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug that are in jail because they refuse to betray their people and allow for mining exploration in their traditional territories.
Canada has had generation after generation to take seriously the issues that we are raising. They continue to violate the treaties, they continue to destroy traditional territory, they continue to criminalize our people. Today, our very survival is at stake, the future of our children is at stake.
Generation after generation, my people have continued to deal with Canada in the spirit of peace and friendship. However, Canada has done more than just thumb its nose at the treaties that were made in order to define our relationship and bind our nations. If Canada will not respect the treaties and will not negotiate solutions in good faith, then we will be forced to take a stand. Canada makes this stand necessary and then arrests us for making it.
It is our intention to highlight the connection between land rights struggles and criminal charges. The weight of criminal charges on native people is obvious when we are put in jail. But, it needs to be recognized that the process of defending ourselves also has a real and profound impact.
For example, there is no part of our lives that is not affected by the bail conditions that have been imposed upon us. The intent of these conditions is to demean us, force us to learn Canadian-style obedience or go back to jail. Like generations before me, I will not, I can not be forced to surrender my identity or abandon my responsibilities to my children, my clan or my nation. I have respected the conditions of my bail because my relationship to Canada is defined through treaty and I believe it would be a violation of these treaties and of the Great Law for me to betray my word – even to Canada.
We have been, to date, denied anything that resembles adequate disclosure in order to properly defend ourselves. The police and the Crown are trying to manipulate and control what makes it to court, determining for themselves the relevance of any and all evidence.
We, as Haudenosaunee people, will not be deterred. We will remain silent no more. We will continue to stand with our brothers and sisters from across Turtle Island. And finally, standing together, our voices will be heard.
- 30 -
For more information:
Skyler Williams
(519) 445-4349
A couple more Updates:
Here is a Report-back on the solidarity protest (pdf) organized in Coast Salish Territory, accompanied by the text handed out during the action.
APTN has some coverage on the protest, which I’ve just finished uploading to youtube. You can watch it here. If you want to watch the Original video, head over to this page on APTN. (they have more coverage available here.
Finally, here is another (ten minute) video on Youtube from the Tyendinaga solidarity rally in Toronto a couple days ago.
(Too bad the Mohawks themselves didn’t have cameras…)