Listening to CBC Radio2 yesterday, I heard Canadian Prime Minister Harper refer to the tar sands in Cree territory as “our resources”, and to the Canadian Government’s plans to export Cree property to China by building a pipeline across the territories of other First Nations as “our right to sell these resources in the international market”. Harper’s proprietary remarks, of course, are nothing new to the mindset of thievery that holds the market sacrosanct, but coming on the heels of his historic summit with First Nations, it seems he has laid down the gauntlet for Canada’s version of The Fourth World War.
Before we get wrapped up in the Canadian conflict between its indigenous peoples and the market sector, though, it might be beneficial for us to reflect on the status of this world war against the tribal and poor. Toward that end, I would encourage IC readers to explore some of the classic issues of Fourth World Journal and Forum for Global Exchange on the Center for World Indigenous Studies website.
In the September 2006 Fourth World Journal article GWOT and the Joker, Marc A. Sills gave an overview of wars against Fourth World nations by market-oriented states. Some things have changed since then, but some things haven’t; most noteworthy, perhaps, is the settler mission as expressed so typically by Prime Minister Harper.