MOHAWKS SHOOT THE RAPIDS Press Release

 

PRESS RELEASE For Immediate publication

 

 

We indigenous are part of mother earth who continue to be targets of this ongoing genocide by foreigners. 

“Mohawk Mothers Win Superior Court Judgment.

McGill and SQI Ordered to Comply With

Settlement Agreement and to Reinstate Expert Panel”

Tio’tia:ke [Montreal]. After obtaining, one year to the day, a precedent-setting injunction halting excavation at the former Royal Victoria Hospital site to search for the unmarked graves of the victims of medical experiments, the Mohawk Mothers, also known as the Kahnistenaera, have won their bid for a safeguard order they presented at the Superior Court of Quebec on October 27, 2023.

On November 20, 2023, Justice Gregory Moore issued a judgment ordering McGill University and the Societe quebecoise des infrastructure [SQI] to abide by the Settlement Agreement they had signed with the self-represented Indigenous plaintiffs on April 6, 2023, and to respect the recommendations of the Expert Panel of archaeologists they had jointly selected. 

Justice Moore’s statement that the SQI’s and McGill’s position ending the Expert Panel’s mandate “does not set a term for the Panel’s mandate on July 17th is “too restrictive,” as the settlement agreement “does not set a term for the panel’s  involvement in the on-going search for unmarked graves” [para. 34]. According to the Judge, “The delay and costs of the overall project cannot justify the SQI’s and McGill’s unilateral reduction of their obligations under the settlement agreement, especially when doing so will cause irreparable harm to the plaintiffs” [para. 39].

For Mohawk Mother kahentinetha, the Judgment is a relief. “We’ve fought so hard for two years to search for these missing children.  Our community was targeted for genocide and our children were used as guinea pigs in these horrific experiments by the CIA to see how to kill the Indian in them.  But since  McGill and the SQI fired the Expert Panel we had no way to keep track and trust the results of the investigation, which was now being controlled by the perpetrators of crimes against our children.  The point in signing of the Settlement Agreement was to allow the Experts to do their job, and we were betrayed. We had to do it all alone without lawyers, facing such powerful institutions. It wasn’t easy but we made it. The Judge understood that the only way this can go is in a professional way, with independent experts to oversee everything and make sure our community is informed”. 

The Mohawk Mothers submitted that McGill and the SQI had failed to implement numerous recommendations of the Expert Panel, notably refusing to share data from the Ground Penetrating Radar surveys, refusing to adopt forensic precaution to protect the chain of custody of evidence, and depriving the Mohawk Mothers of access to crucial information such as contracts with specialists.

Justice Gregory Moore found in favor of the Mohawk Mothers’ argument that the purpose of the Settlement Agreement was to rely on an independent and impartial Expert Panel to provide ongoing recommendations, in order to ensure that the New Vic Project would not result in the desecration of human remains, which survivors and search dogs indicated were on the site.  

In August 2023, McGill and the SQI fired the Expert Panel, one of whom had recently resigned, after they asked to implement forensic measures and peer review data from Ground Penetrating Radar. 

Although Historic Human Remains Detection Dogs had detected the scent of human remains in the area in front of the Hersey Pavilion, McGill and SQI declared that there was no evidence of burials there, suggested it was a false positive, and started large-sale non-archaeological excavation in the zone. The Mohawk Mothers were concerned that development work in the area could start before the source of human remains in the zone was established, especially inside the Hersey Pavilion, because the dogs signalled remains next to the building’s wall and because unexplained demolition work took place there. 

Judge Moore’s court ruling will allow for the independent Expert Panel to provide updated irecommendations regarding the zone and the larger site, after being cut off from the investigation since August. 

On November 5, 2023, search dogs detected the scent of human remains in yet another zone, close to the Allan Memorial institute, where the CIA’s MK-Ultra experiments on brainwashing took place in the early 1950’s and 1960’s.

The parties will be back in court on December 1st 2023. to address a motion ordering the release of records withheld by the defendants. 

The Kanien’kehaka:ka Kahnistensera [Mohawk Mothers] is a Kahnawake based group that helps Indigenous women accomplish their traditional cultural duty  as caretakers of the land, to protect all life, including their children and ancestors. They have been engaged in a legal challenge with promoters of the New Vic project to stall future excavation of the former Royal Victoria Hospital until a proper archaeological investigation is conducted, using the traditional protocols of the Kaianere’ko:wa. [Great Peace].

https:// www.mohawkmothers.csa/Contact for press: kahnistensera@riseup.net [514]463-8835 Kahnawake, P.O. Box 991, Que. J0L 1B0.

In 1990, not so long ago, the kanienkehaka Mohawks defended the land and people which speaks who hears their own way. This is our people. This is our song. It’s about peace:  

Magik Squirrel: Mohawk War Song

MohawkMothers.ca; 

thahoketoteh@ntk.com

mohawknationnews.com

kahnistensers@riseup.net

box 991. kahnawake. que.  canada  J0L 1B0

 

“SPACES OF EXCEPTION” Genocide of Indigenous & Palestinians

Photo: Debra White Plume, Oglala Lakota, in the film, “We Love Being Lakota,” which evolved into the film, “Spaces of Exception.”


Spaces of Exception Film Exposes Atrocities and Genocide of Native People and Palestinians

 

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, November 17, 2023


MONTREAL — The film Spaces of Exception revealing the atrocities and genocide of Native people — Lakota, Navajo, and Mohawk — and of Palestinians — was shown in Montreal at McGill University. It is here at McGill that Mohawk Mothers have an ongoing court battle to search for graves of Native children at the hospital where the CIA conducted MK-Ultra torture experiments.

 
Among those who were involved in the series of films in the project were Debra White Plume and Olowan Sara Martinez, our Oglala Lakota friends of Pine Ridge, South Dakota, now in the Spirit World. Their bold stance as defenders of the water and people was manifest at the Red Warrior Camp at Standing Rock, during the resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota.
 
At McGill University, the event included the co-editors of the book, The Mohawk Warrior Society: A Handbook on Sovereignty and Survival, with Philippe Blouin and Kahentinehta Rotiskarewake. The film showing was given a small room by the university in an obvious attempt to limit the number attending.
 
‘Spaces of Exception’ is the latest in a series of films, which began with ‘We Love Being Lakota.’
 
Alex White Plume says that the ancient people, the Palestinians, and Native people have been oppressed in the same way. “They are committing genocide after genocide over there.”
 
Debra White Plume says the connection goes beyond solidarity.
 
“It is a spiritual connection.”
 
Debra said that the genocide is rooted in the quest of the oppressors to separate the people, for occupation, and to take the minerals and the land — both in Palestine and on this continent.
 

Matt Peterson and Malek Rasamny, who co-edited The Mohawk Warrior Society: A Handbook on Sovereignty and Survival, directed the feature-length documentary film Spaces of Exception.

The filmmakers said, “Profiling the American Indian reservation alongside the Palestinian refugee camp, Spaces of Exception was filmed from 2014 to 2017 in Arizona, New Mexico, New York, and South Dakota as well as Lebanon and the West Bank. It is an attempt to understand the significance of the land—its memory and divisions—and the conditions for life, community, and sovereignty.”

‘Spaces of Exception’ Standing Rock, Oceti Sakowin Camp, water protectors resisting Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota.


Filmmaker Matt Peterson said ‘Spaces of Exception’ includes the Dine’ battling relocation because of Peabody Coal at Black Mesa, the Mohawk Warrior Society and the people of Palestine.

 
“The film investigates and juxtaposes the struggles, communities, and spaces of the American Indian reservation and the Palestinian refugee camp. It was shot over the course of three years in the West Bank and Lebanon, as well as in Arizona, New Mexico, New York, and South Dakota,” Peterson said.
Spaces of Exception film trailer 

“Spaces of Exception features interviews with members of the American Indian Movement, the Mohawk Warrior Society, and Diné families resisting displacement on Black Mesa, as well as members of Fatah, Palestinian environmental and media activists, autonomous youth committees, and the families of political prisoners and martyrs.”

“The film is an attempt to understand the significance of the land – its memory and divisions – and the conditions for life, community, and sovereignty.
 

Akwesasne Mohawk ‘Spaces of Exception’
The first Native land that the filmmakers visited was Pine Ridge in South Dakota, and through activists, were able to reach Olowan Sara Martinez, whose mother had visited Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon in 1979 as part of a delegation with the American Indian Movement.


“Once she heard about our project she was excited to meet and talk with us, and from that first trip we made the short video We Love Being Lakota with Ojibway artist Adam Khalil,” the filmmakers said.

 

“The video became something of a calling card to introduce and explain our project and approach. As we continued traveling, meeting people, making and showing short films, it became easier and easier.”

We Love Being Lakota is the first in a series of videos and texts from our documentary project The Native and the Refugee, connecting the struggles taking place on Indian reservations in the United States with those in Palestinian refugee camps in the. Middle East.

Olowan Sara Martinez, Oglala Lakota, Pine Ridge

Olowan says in the film, “For us, as young Tokalas, we don’t wanna be stuck in the waiting process, waiting for a handout, waiting for something to go our way. Waiting, waiting, that’s what Fat Taker did was he trained us to wait, trained us to stand in line.”

 

“Watch out. Join or get the hell out of the way.”

The filmmakers said, “RIP Olowan Sara Martinez (1974-2022), who was instrumental in inviting us to film at both Pine Ridge and Standing Rock, and who appeared in our films We Love Being Lakota (2015), Indian Winter (2017), and Spaces of Exception (2019). She was a brilliant, eloquent, inspiring, courageous, and incredibly strong woman who will be greatly missed.”

‘Spaces of Exception’
In Montreal, Spaces of Exception held its Canadian premiere at McGill University.

The “Spaces of Exception” event at McGill University was sponsored by Stasis- groupe d’enquête sur le contemporainGRIP UQAM and the Critical Media Lab.
 
Watch “We Love Being Lakota,” with Debra and Alex White Plume, Olowan Sara Martinez, and scenes from the Occupation of Wounded Knee 1973.
 


The series


We Love Being Lakota
Adam Khalil, Matt Peterson, Malek Rasamny, 2015, 12 min
This video was taken during our December visit to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Home of the Oglala Lakota, “the fiercest warrior tribe on the continent”, the film takes a meditative look at Lakota identity in the face of US colonialism, and their relationship to the sacred land they have been pushed out of after two centuries of warfare and theft.Men’s Council of the People of the Way of the Longhouse

Adam Khalil, Matt Peterson, Malek Rasamny, 2015, 12 min
Taking place on the Mohawk territory of Akwesasne–on the borders of New York, Ontario and Quebec–this video juxtaposes footage of a special January gathering at their longhouse, featuring elder Paul Delaronde; archival footage of the Mohawk Warrior Society; and shots of the polluted, decaying industrialized remains surrounding their territory.
INAATE/SE/ (excerpt)

Adam and Zack Khalil, 2015, 10 min
“Adam Khalil and Zack Khalil (both Ojibwe) provide a raw take on their ancestral community within the Sault Ste. Marie area — documenting the harmony and debauchery of the Indigenous experience today. This experimental film, now in the works, juxtaposes the voice of the romanticizing settler with contemporary Ojibwe perspectives.” — Gloria Bell, First American Art Magazine.
 

Censored News

Ry Cooder reminds us everybody has a natural home provided by creation:

box 991 kahnawake que. J0L 1B0

MOHAWK MOTHERS DISPUTE DISBANDMENT OF EXPERT PANEL

Please post & distribute.

MNN. Nov. 1, 2023.
https://www.thetribune.ca/news/kanienkehaka-kahnistensera-appear-in-court-discuss-disbandment-of-archaeological-panel-31102023/

The Kanien’kehá:ka Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers) appeared at the Montreal Courthouse for a five-hour case management hearing on Oct. 27. The hearing came as part of the Mothers’ ongoing investigation into McGill’s New Vic Project site—where the Mothers fear that there may be unmarked Indigenous graves—alongside McGill, the Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI), the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH), the City of Montreal, and the Attorney General of Canada.

The Mothers gave the first statement before Justice Gregory Moore. Beginning with Mohawk Mother Kwetiio, the Mothers urged the court to enforce the settlement agreement, which, in Kwetiio’s interpretation, states that all parties are bound to the recommendations of the court-appointed expert archaeological panel. Kwetiio further alleged that McGill had sent contracts to the three members of the panel—which disbanded on Aug. 3—with three-month termination dates. The Mothers were not informed of these contracts until they had already been signed and were irreversible.

Kwetiio argued that Ethnoscop—the archaeological firm hired for the investigation—did not use appropriate methods to protect the forensic chain of custody of any potential evidence, as they were touching evidence with their bare hands and not using tamper-proof bags. She also stated that the defendants were strategically choosing which information they would share with the Mothers in order to continue the investigation without delays.

“There’s been a lot of cherry-picking of what [the defendants] are going to use to help themselves to further their construction, and not the investigation,” Kwetiio said in a press conference after the hearing.

The court then heard from Mohawk Mother Kahentinetha, who shared that potential anomalies were excavated on the site in rapid time which did not allow for proper significance and care to be given to each anomaly. She said that on one day, nine anomalies were excavated with a mere 45 minutes allotted to each anomaly. Kahentinetha claimed that the soil was not sifted properly, and any bone fragments found were immediately deemed to be of animal origin.

In a written statement to The Tribune, the SQI asserted that all excavation is being carried out in accordance with proper archaeological regulations by expert firms, with proper methods used to ensure soil is not mixed or contaminated.

Kahentinetha also shared that after facing verbal assault from SQI security guards on July 25, the Mothers had asked to be accompanied by Indigenous security personnel from T.D. Security while onsite. However, it took three weeks before the defendants complied with this request.

Kwetiio continued, asserting that the Mothers deserve to be treated with respect on the site and should not be subjected to “uncontrollable anger” from the defendants when they ask questions. She ended the Mothers’ statement by contending that the defendants had breached every part of the settlement agreement.

The court took a fifteen-minute break, after which Julian Falconer—the lawyer for the Office of the Independent Special Interlocutor, Kimberly Murray—gave his statement, alleging that the defendants were being denialistic. He stated that the Mothers already had an insurmountable burden placed on them throughout this case, and this burden had “quadrupled” the day the panel was disbanded. He condemned the disbandment of the panel and alleged that McGill and the SQI had replaced the panel with their own archaeological experts so that they could inform the public that they were relying on the advice of experts.

“Today was about bringing back the experts that know how to do this work, to find unmarked burials,” Murray said in a press conference after the hearing. “We have a lot of companies that can do scans. We don’t have a lot of people that have expertise in analyzing the data.”

Later, the court heard from the SQI. Their statement was delivered in French and translated for the Mothers by anthropologist and associate of the Mothers Philippe Blouin. Members of Take Back Tekanontak—an advocacy group in support of the Mohawk Mothers—were stationed outside of the courthouse after the hearing to show solidarity. In an interview with The Tribune, an organizer of Take Back Tekanontak, Diane, who chose not to give her last name, shared her belief that the lack of a court-provided English translation of the SQI’s statement for the Mothers was appalling and oppressively exclusionary.

“The Kanien’kehá:ka Kahnistensera come to court, and they speak Kanyen’kéha, their own language, and their colonial language is English,” Diane said. “It’s not okay to ask them to learn French as a second colonial language, and yet there is no translation provided for them. I cannot believe my eyes.”

McGill’s lawyer, Doug Mitchell, provided the next statement before Justice Moore. He stated that the university believes that it has abided by the settlement agreement wholly and respectfully, arguing the occasional disagreements between parties are not an indication that the agreement is being violated. He asserted that the defendants are bound by the recommendations of techniques by the panel, not to anything else.

Mitchell additionally claimed that Falconer had “theatricized” his speech to the court so that Justice Moore would rule in the favor of the Mothers.  He stated that the Mothers needed to take the emotion out of the investigation, alleging that the Mothers and Murray only wanted to enforce their interpretation of the contract and were not suffering any irreparable harm by the way McGill was carrying out the investigation.

Falconer responded to Mitchell’s statement, saying that Mitchell should apologize for asking the Mothers to be less emotional about the investigation. He also argued that all parties should acknowledge that the panel’s recommendations have not been followed, as the panel itself believes its suggestions have not been entirely executed.

“It is absolutely essential that McGill, the Quebec government, [and the] SQI come to their senses and understand that it is very short-sighted to essentially terminate a panel they agreed to be bound by in order a further a development,” Falconer said in a press conference after the hearing. “I promise you, whatever few dollars [the defendants] make on their development, the [societal cost] and the [further erosion] of trust is absolutely innumerable in terms of the size of the expense.”

Kwetiio also replied to Mitchell’s statement, stating that Mitchell’s words were “deeply offensive,” and reiterating the fact that all parties would not be back in court if the recommendations of the panel had been respected.

“I think it was pretty disgusting that the defendant said ‘Oh, there’s no irreparable harm done here.’ […] There’s never a situation where any one of us is going to bargain without children of the past, present, and future,” Kwetiio said in response to Mitchell’s comment in a press conference after the hearing.

Justice Moore adjourned court with no decision made, explaining that he would need some time to review all submissions and testimonies. McGill media relations officer Frédérique Mazerolle told The Tribune in an email that McGill will provide a comment on the hearing once Justice Moore makes a decision. A tentative subsequent court date is set for Dec. 1, during which all parties will discuss the issue of archives and records related to the investigation.

“We demand that we have a proper best practice investigation for our children and for those that were disrespected on that site,” Kwetiio said. “I think our children are looking for us to find them, and this is what’s important, and I’m so glad that all these people are here today in support.”

Led Zeppelln knows the way of betrayal; “Lying, cheating, that’s all you seem to do. Messing around with every guy, putting me down for thinking of someone new . . . Your time is gonna come. Your time is gonna come. Your time is gonna come. Your time is gonna come. . . . 

Led Zeppelin - Your Time Is Gonna Come (Official Audio)
KIMBERLY MURRAY SPEAKS:

CALL TO ACTION: ONE YEAR TO GO!

                

 

Please post & distribute. 

 

 

CALL TO ACTION: ONE YEAR TO GO!                

THE GENOCIDE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IS OVER.

 

THE GENOCIDE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IS OVER.

99 years ago on Oct. 25, 1924, the Indian Lands Act was enacted as part of the Indian Advancement Act called the “100 year business plan”. Next year is the 100th year when Canada plans to eliminate the Indian problem forever by killing us and taking our land. According to the “Admiralty Law of the Seas” we are supposed to be signed away.  But it might be the perpetrators and their beneficiaries who will be eliminated. Not us. 

Historically the slaughter of us was wholesale. Those laws passed by the colonists to genocide us are part of Canadian colonial law, which is legalized murder to take everything from us, particularly our lives. The formation of Canada is based on genocide, therefore Canada is illegal. The genocidal policies and laws are made to look legal, but they are not!  They cannot be punished for squatting on our land, their ‘blood quantum” laws, stealing our land, creating POW camps called “reserves”, kidnapping our children, doing experiments on them and then murdering and burying them. Our languages and culture were outlawed.!

2024 will be the 100th year of their insidious plan for the corporation of Canada to be rid of the “Indian problem” to  incorporate us into the Canadian body politic. Duncan Campbell Scott, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, called it the ‘final solution to the Indian problem’. it’s a corporate “business plan” disguised as law. The prime minister enforces that law on behalf of the people of Canada. The first remedy may be to have the body of John A. Macdonald disinterred from his grave and shipped back to Scotland where he belongs. All statues and monuments of him can be shipped back home. The onkwehonweh will take our proper seat at the table of nations. 

Canada thought it was right on target with the “Framework Agreement” to finalize the annihilation of the indigenous people. With the stroke of their colonial pen, there would have been no more Indians. They think they can force us to become Canadians. But they did not factor in the internet in their planning. Now everyone in the world is watching while this colonial enterprise called “Canada” is coming to an end. The whole colonial system will be gone forever. Back to where they came from. The Dominion of Canada will end next year. All our land and resources will be returned to us.  Canadians can make this right by becoming a model for the world by adopting the kaianerekowa, the great peace, as the basis for their constitution. 

Canada is a Nazi project. 700 top Nazis were brought to Canada through “Operation Paperclip” and placed in high positions within the bureaucracy.  

Canada recently showed its hand by presenting one of its Operation Paperclip heroes, Nazi war criminal Yaroslav Hunka Vet. of Waffen S.S. Every Member of Parliament stood up and gave him several rousing standing ovations, while the world watched. The applause was akin to giving the ‘Heil Hitler’ salute. Welcome to Canada! Parliamentarians showed their love and allegiance for the Nazis when the world watched them giving accolades to Hunka.

Department of Indian Affairs is a department of the army. Some of us have seen the “War Room” on the 14th floor of the DIA in Hull/Ottawa. Their job is to keep the indigenous as prisoners of war because the war for our land has never ended. We want them out of our land. We live under military law which is enforced by the army. The government hopes that we will die out. Our people continue to be disappeared.

Those who take an oath to the foreign autocrat King Charles and his corporations [Canada}, ancestors and heirs forever  can either leave on the ship with their masters or they can rescind that oath and take a new one to the onkwehonweh. It is still legal for the government to kill indigenous people. Canadians need to follow the natural law also known as the great peace of this land. Their Admiralty Laws are enacted to protect them from their crimes so the perpetrators will never be held responsible.

Canadians want to celebrate the end of the Indian problem which is that they occupy Indian land free of indigenous occupation. They rely on the ‘Doctrine of Discovery ‘ for their false occupation of our land.  

The first Prime Minister John A. Macdonald wanted to make us ‘white’. He failed so he set up the “Indian Plan”. Now it is in the hands of prime minister Trudeau and his gaggle and are now the biggest criminals in Canada. They have never condemned these criminal laws and policies. In 2024 they will do it.

Mr. Trudeau, I invite you to explain how is it possible to have these genocide laws on the books? You are just another prime minister criminal that we have to deal with. Aren’t you and everyone who gets a benefit from the murders of and theft from our people embarrassed by this legislation enacted to kill us?  You and everyone who benefits from these murders is guilty.

And then to bring in and praise a Nazi to remind us of who owns the corporation/dominion of Canada. The Admiralty Law and all of their courts are no longer valid because they get their right to exist from the Doctrine of Discovery which never existed in the first place. Canadians got away with murder by classifying us as non human beings with only the rights of an animal. 

We cannot reconcile with murderers. 2024 will be the best year for us and the worst year for the corporate entity called Canada.

 

Nobel Laureate, Bob Dylan, hammers the message home: “Come, you Masters of War. You that build the big guns. You that build the death planes. You that hide behind walls. You that hide behind deaths. I want you to know I can see through your masks… I hope that you die and your death will come soon. I’ll follow your casket in the pale afternoon. I’ll watch while you’re lowered onto your death bed and i’ll stand over your grave till i’m sure that your’re dead. 

THE TERRIBLE LEGACY OF DUNCAN CAMPBELL SCOTT.  https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/the-terrible-legacy-of-duncan-campbell-scott_b_14289206

 

OUR RESOURCES ARE NOT FOR WAR!

 

Please post & distribute.

 

 

MNN. Oct. 15, 2023. This information comes from Demilitarize McGil and elsewherel.

audio:

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD: We are all sovereign members of the world.  This is about MILITARY RESEARCH AT MCGILL UNIVERSITY [MONTREAL]. Onowarekeh, turtle island, is a Land of peace and shall remain so. 

Demilitarize McGill explains, “Conventional weapons kill people and demolish structures by creating an enormous amount of explosive force containing sharp and deadly fragments. Thermobaric weapons produce a blast wave that is of longer duration. Fuel-air explosives first saturates the air with fuel, creating a cloud that expands in many directions and flows around objects. A second charge ignites this oxygen-fuel mix creating a very large explosion and pressure that can knock down structures, destroy equipment and goods and incinerate people. The US developed these weapons for Vietnam and works with the Canadian military. McGill also works with the police and intelligence agencies through their Network Dynamics Lab. They research social responses to sudden and rapidly evolving social conditions, both terror and otherwise. 

McGill’s School of Computer Sciences’ researchers are building computers [Artificial Intelligence AI] on how different segments of the population respond to perceived crises. Its school creates an “assessment system” on how different segments of the population are thinking and acting. Also being developed is “mapping the distribution of features of communities of concern. An “incident-specific” tweet collection system is created for the government. 

MILITARY RESEARCH AT MCGILL UNIVERSITY [MONTREAL]

At least 6 labs are at McGill University carrying  out research on behalf of weapons monopolies: particularly for drone warfare, missile guidance, domestic surveillance, explosives and air combat. The university has been fighting an Access to Information requested by members of Demilitarize McGill for internal communications on McGill military research since 2102. On June 21, 2016 McGill released 600 pages of documents related to the mechanical engineering laboratory’s association with defence contractors. 90 per cent of the request for information has yet to be fulfilled. Below is information on some of the military initiatives and connections that activists have uncovered over the past several years.

MCGILL’S MILITARY ROBOTICS AND DRONE RESEARCH AEROSPACE MECHATRONICS LAB.  

McGill’s Mechatronics Lab is involved in both developing of ground and airborne robots for combat operations through contracts with Defence Research Development Canada DRDC, an agency of the Department of National Defence DND. With Suffield Research Centre, they aim to “study the enhancement of soldiers’ actions in combat missions” through unmanned technology. 

Their interest is to develop technology for “autonomous landing systems for unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs” “for decisive operations in the urban battle space”. “McGill could contribute to weaponized drone technology so that drones will make their own decisions to kill and execute them. 

COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS CFD LABORATORY. https://peaceanddisarmamentmcgill.wordpress.com/cfd/

CFD receives funding from Bombardier and Bell Textron, which are involved in war production. Obama used these weapons for targeting assassinations in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia. 

Demilitarize McGill stated that simulation software FENSAP-ICE was sold to Lockheed Martin in the early 2000s through a company owned and operated by the lab’s director. Lockheed Martin used the technology for the F-35 fighter jet. 

MISSILE GUIDANCE RESEARCH.

McGill’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering collaborated on missile guidance systems with Lockheed Martin, DRDC, and military researchers in Israel from 1999 to 2010 on projects such as “Decision Aids for Airborne Surveillance”, “guidance laws for the stabilization of missile trajectories”, “lethality and lethal radiuses to determine how many were killed by missile strikes”, “track or detect methods in tracking low-observable targets”, and “problems of detecting multiple targets”. 

Lockheed Martin, and. McGill researchers are often private partner. They sell at least 21 distinct guided missile products – including the shoulder fired Javelin and air-to-ground Hellfire. The US and its allies use guided missiles developed by Lockheed Martin in such military campaigns as Iraq and Afghanistan. US military uses Hellfire missiles from Predator drones to deliver thermobaric payload targets.

HYPERSONIC WEAPONS.

The McGill Dept. of Mechanical Engineering’s Shock Wave Physics Group is the longest standing military research lab at McGill. Particularly air-breathing propulsion for hypersonic weapons and thermobaric explosives. This is a system for propelling aircraft and missiles through continuous intake of air from the atmosphere during flight and composition creates combustion when the air reacts with the fuel. 

McGill’s military-related research collaborate with DRDC’s Valcartier Research Centre on “solid fuel projectiles with long-range, shorter time-to-target and increased kinetic energy  for higher kill probability. This is part of the US development of Prompt Global Strike. This gives the US military the capability to strike anywhere in the world with a non-nuclear weapon within one hour of permission to launch.

What strikes us is that if we look at all military expenditures all legitimate needs of human kind are ignored. Instead the expenditure is on military whose major aim is to kill humanity. University students do not know what their academics are doing.  

Buffy Sainte Marie agrees that we have to stop greed, corporate laws and fear from running and ruining the world. 

“He’s five foot-two and he’s six feet-four. He fights with missiles and with spears. He’s all of 31 and he’s only 17. Been a soldier for a thousand years. He’a a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain. A Buddhist, and a Baptist, and a Jew. And he knows he shouldn’t kill. And he knows he always will. Kill you for me, my friend, and me for you. And he’s fighting for Canada. He’s fighting for France. He’s fighting for the U.S.A. And he’s fighting for the Russians. And he’s fighting for Japan. And he thinks we’ll put an end to war this way. And he’s fighting for Democracy. He’s fighting for the Reds. He says it’s for the peace of all. He’s the one who must decide, Who’s to live and who’s to die. And he never sees the writing on the wall. But without him How would Hitler have condemned them at Labau? Without him Caesar would have stood alone. He’s the one who gives his body as a weapon of the war. And without him all this killing can’t go on. He’s the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame. His orders come from far away no more. They come from here and there and you and me. And brothers, can’t you see? This is not the way we put the end to war”

Buffy Sainte-Marie - Universal Soldier

THE WORLD STANDS WITH PALESTINE:

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-world-stands-with-palestine-un.html

mohawknationnews.com box 991, kahnawake, que. canada. J0L 1B0

MohawkMothers.ca

Ed. kahentinetha2@protonmail.com

TIME TO GO HOME

 

Please post and distribute.

 

CAN ANYONE BECOME KILLERS UNDER THE RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES?

MNN. Sep.22,  2023. Does killing one group have to do with the relationship between the individual and the state? The state says this is the group for you to hate and this is how we deal with them. The citizens are the instruments of the state. When the state no longer has power or loses an election, how do they continue to undermine these targets. Who carries on the violence that was designed by the state for them? It is important to think about what the state is allowing its citizens to do with impunity when they vote them into office.  

The ruthless hatred of the indigenous becomes state doctrine. We were driven off our land and not accepted in their society. Many anti-indigenous laws were passed.  We were systematically  excluded, stigmatized, humiliated and killed.

Mass murder was one of the first steps. It was between us and them. We were studied and analyzed to find our “weaknesses”. It was a public policy process. Then it became a secret while the genocide was being carried out. They are “them” and we are the ‘others’. We are defined as different and treated different. This makes them willing to treat us different while the rest look away. That’s the basis of carrying out mass murders.  

In the beginning the whites were given permits to attack us, kill us, take our property and hide our bodies. They gathered us up and murdered us. It became routine. Then they built their houses, towns and cities on top of us. 

HOW DO THEY JUSTIFY THE KILLING?

Mass murders were committed by thinking people. Not machines. They understand what they are doing. The perpetrators plan it for the rest of their society. For example, some would only kill the children who would die if they did not have their parents. So it was not blind obedience. It was by choice. They saw themselves as morally righteous. They reasoned that if the children grew up and learned what was done to the indigenous people, we would become enemies of their state. So there had to be no memories. To them killing a human being was reasonable. We were considered non-human and expendable and were hunted down.

What will happen to Canadians when they lose their power? They did not think it was wrong to kill us. 

There were those who easily learned to kill human beings and hide their crime, which they did not think was a crime. Some enjoyed torturing the victims which they still do today. [Joyce Echequan, St. Jovite]. There were the passive ones who did what they were told to do. And the objectors who tried to object, but could not find fault with not killing the indigenous people and so they helped carry out the murders. 

THERE WAS NO NEED TO KILL OUT OF CONVICTION TO BE MOTIVATED BY STATE IDEOLOGY.

The killers did not have to be brainwashed by indoctrination, or fascism to become prolific killers. They would shoot their own mother or sister if they were ordered to.  We think they should not be allowed to walk free, but Canadian society gives  them a free pass.

Today Canadians and Americans want to forget and walk away with an “I’m sorry”.  How many invaders were involved and benefitted from these mass murders? Who was and is still behind it? In the US there are 340 million foreign citizens and in Canada 40 million more who all benefit from this genocide. The false concept of private property originated from the “Doctrine of Discovery”, which is legal fiction. There is lack of will to punish them. They keep on doing the dirty work for the state. The state passed laws to allow genocide, which are still on the books. Genocide is not illegal. Millions killed us and don’t realize how it was carefully planned and carried out.  

If you were ordered to kill, can you refrain? Such crimes against humanity must be stopped and cannot be repeated. 

Canada and US are cowards and frauds. They did not conquer us. They came here to run away from tyranny in Europe to come here and run their own tyranny. They killed our children without any empathy or due process to get rid of us all. There is no reason in the universe to kill children.  There is no statute of limitations on murder. Somebody paid to carry it out and somebody benefitted.  It was the government and its people. The same government that wants to “whitenize” us. They did it without any qualms whatsoever. They wanted to live on our land without us!

We were murdered.  It was government planned, lead and endorsed. And Canadians vote for them to continue it.  Canadians have never been asked if they agree with their governing structure.

It was quite the plan. Rez schools were in remote areas. They were concentration camps burying little children in their midst away from prying eyes. Most Canadians didn’t know what was going on by design. The children were abused and then disappeared. But their spirits will remain and direct the karma.  

 As slide master, Ry Cooder, suggests: “Now the prodigal was a forward child. His mind was not to obey. But after he left his father’s house, he thought he had gone astray.  I believe, I believe, I believe that I will go back home. . . ” 

[Now, the prodigal son was a forward child, his mind was not to obeyBut after he left his father’s house he thought he had gone astray
That’s why I believe that, I believe that I will go back homeAnd I believe that, I believe that I will go back homeWell, I believe that, I believe that I will go back homeAnd be a servant of the Lord
Now, his father saw him coming he met him with a smileHe threw his arms around him, saying, “This is my darling child”
Now, I believe that, I believe that I will go back homeAnd I believe that, I believe that I will go back homeWell, I believe that, I believe that I will go back homeAnd be a servant of the Lord
The father asked the prodigal“Son, why you been gone so long?Well, did you so love the world and forget your happy home”
The prodigal said, “I searched for true religionBut no faith and no peace could I findUntil I came to a little place called Bakersfield, that eased my troublin’ mind”
That’s why I believe that, I believe that I will go back homeAnd I believe that, I believe that I will go back homeWell, I believe that, I believe that I will go back homeAnd be a servant of the Lord (well I)
I wandered into a tavern where a music band was playin’Now, the steel guitar rang out so sweet, I feel that I was prayin’And I asked a comely waitress, is this a new teachingYeah, she said there is no God but God, and Ralph Mooney is his nameI said, let me empty your ashtray, Mr. MooneyAnd if the drunks interfere I’ll be sadBut just as long as you sit there on the bandstandAnd play your guitar like Buddha, I’ll be gladThe father asked the prodigal,Did you smell the sweet perfume and hear the angel band?He said, dim lights, thick smoke, and loud, loud musicIs the only kind of truth I’ll ever understand
I believe that, I believe that I will go back homeAnd I believe that, I believe that I will go back homeWell, I believe that, I believe that I will go back homeAnd be a servant of the Lord
I believe this, I believe that I will, yes I believe . . .]

MohawkMothers.Ca

MohawkNationNews.com

thahoketoteh@ntk.com

box 991-kahnawake-que-canada.J0L1B0 kahentinetha2@protonmail.com

MOHAWK MOTHERS DECLARE THE GENOCIDE IS OVER

Please post & distribute immediately. Thank you.

COMMENTS TO QUEBEC SUPERIOR COURT FOR DECLARATORY RELIEF AND TO OBTAIN A SAFEGUARD ORDER ON SEPT. 14, 2023. CASE #500-17-120468-221: Kaheninetha et al v. SQI, McGill University, et all.; and Intervenors Independant Spedical Interlocateur for Missing Children & Unmarked Graves…. 

MNN. Sept. 15, 2023. “Shé :kon Sewakwe :kon. I am Kahentinetha, a Kahnistensera. I’m 84 years old, a great grand mother. Much of what we are doing at McGill and SQI are based on my experience, and that of the people I’ve known.

I was born in 1940. Many of our teachers at the day school I attended as a child were soldiers who just came back from the war. They were in charge and took a military approach to help Canada to annihilate us. They moved from the European theatre and to home grown Canadian war for Indian land, which continues to this day. They are trained killers sent to train the Indigenous children. It was the army managing us. Managing our disappearance. I have known about what was done to our children, to Inuit children too, in some of these hospitals. Children strapped to their stretchers, trapped in caskets. Horrible things. They came to get the weakest and the strongest of us. Intelligence tests at the Allan Memorial Institute to screen us and incarcerate the unruly, of which they studied the mind, to understand how it is that we think, the reasons why we are still ourselves, Onkwehonweh, and never became Canadians.

I’m here for these lost children, to know what happened to them, and who did it, without lawyers and no funds, just using our way against the corporation of Canada.

That’s why I came to the crime site on Mount Royal every day, without pay, to do the words to open the day, to see how things are going, that our ancestors and children are respected and that they are being found. It wasn’t easy. The toilets were filthy. We had to walk through dangerous construction sites, high fences around, and the security attacking us. A nightmare. I was reminded of when my daughter was stabbed in the chest by a soldier in 1990. Genocide is a nightmare that I have been through and that I witnessed. My family was targeted as a traditional longhouse family. Non-Indigenous people often have a hard time understanding that. They were and are still not told the complete story. If we could get the archives we are asking for, if there was a real commitment to transparency for ethnic crimes committed on us in the post-war period, it would help us. 

Justice Moore stated in the injunction that he ordered last October that no party disputed the fact that the investigation must be “Indigenous-led”. The settlement agreement provided that Cultural Monitors appointed by the Kahnistensera must be on the site. Only a fraction of our cultural monitors have received a basic safety training, and certainly nothing that would allow us to securely monitor heavy machinery on the site. We have no real protective equipment to do that. We were expected to use filthy toilets that were on the other side of the site, in an area under construction where they were stockpiling bricks in high stacks, that could fall on us at any time. We were attacked by the SQI’s security guards, and SQI  told us they wouldn’t come back, but we just stumbled on them last Sunday still working there. They were there all the time! I don’t understand how it can be so complicated to understand what Indigenous-led means! It means something that is safe for us to do things our own way, to burn our tobacco, to make decisions together using our consensual decision making system. Now the Defendants say something new that they didn’t even tell us about before starting to drill the site. They say they built another fenced area in between all the other fences, creating an open air prison to put us in and hopefully protect us from rocks flying over and guards insulting us. By any stretch of the imagination this cannot be considered lawful, let alone safe, in any law, Mohawk or Canadian.

Being on the site was not easy in a context where the Defendants apparently do not want us to be there at all. We are facing constant pressure. The slightest attitude that doesn’t fit within non-Indigenous people’s understanding of what it means to be nice was denounced immediately. I was very sorry to learn that Sophie Mayes from the SQI resorted to pulling emails from some service providers that they had contracted who apparently did not like the way us Mohawk women conduct ourselves. I do not want to perpetuate and thus endorse the Defendants’ disturbing use of defamation and ad hominem attacks through quoting non-Indigenous third parties in their submissions. Such accusations are absolutely baseless and reflect the fundamental problem with the way the Defendants unilaterally sign contracts with service providers that end up thinking they work for them, along with non-disclosure agreements and a client-provider relation that excludes the Indigenous people who are the only party that has a vested interest in the credibility of the investigation. When someone like Brian Whiting, department manager at GeoScan, says that he was upset by what I told him when he came to see me last weekend during a GPR survey, he doesn’t say that what I was asking him about is why we cannot access the raw data from the GPR, and why experts cannot get that data and analyse it. He finally admitted that it was because he is under contract with the SQI, and his allegiance goes to who is paying. At the same time, as Kwetiio said before, Mr Whiting’s own recommendations were not followed by the Defendants regarding the unknown anomalies. The SQI and McGill simply decided to ignore them. I know the settlement agreement does not allow them to do that. Nobody on our side of the room would ever have signed such a document.

To finish, I have something to say that I learned after my affidavit was completed, and that I couldn’t include in our submissions. But it happened. An indigenous person called me, who had been contacted by Pierre Major from McGill University, starting a few weeks ago, and again these last days. McGill was searching for a cultural monitor for archaeological work at the Royal Victoria site. This was done without telling us, or involving us, as if McGill wanted to continue their work by hiring their own monitors. The settlement agreement provides that it is the Kahnistensera who appoint the cultural monitors. The person was offered a good salary, a hotel, benefits, and a McGill masters degree. Mr. Major also said a few disparaging words about us, the Mohawk Mothers. We were ‘mean’ women who were not nice to security guards on the site. Aggressive, hysterical women, basically. Obviously the person didn’t believe a word of it. He said he knows how Indigenous woman are. It’s not the first time I’m contacted by people who are approached that way by the Defendants. I ask you to stop this now and show some respect for your elders. I am your elder too. It’s clear to me that the service providers were constantly hearing bad things about us, and became very reactive and apprehensive when we approached them. But the majority of them were very nice and asked us questions, including the two technicians from GeoScan that Mr. Whiting described as upset by our presence. Actually they asked us a lot of questions, and we explained them. They told us about their work to help us explain this to our people. They participated in our ceremonies. The way it should be, very simply, to be real human beings, Onkwehonweh. That’s the way we can truly change our relationship and become free.

I know it’s my right to do this. It’s my responsibility according to the Kaianerehkowa. I am a Kahnistensera, and I declare the genocide is now over.”

 

 

So as Willie Nelson reminds everyone, the party’s over. 

thahoketoteh mohawknationnews@ntk.com  MNN court correspondent

box 991, kahnawake, que. canada J0L 1B0 kahentinetha2@protonmail.com

MohawkMothers.ca

mohawknationnews.com

JUDGE TO MAKE DECISION MONDAY SEP.13/23

PRESS RELEASE 

Please post & circulate immediately.

 

MNN. Sep. 15/23. September 14, 2023. Quebec Superior Court, District of Montreal. Oral submissions by Kahnistensera vs SQI, McGill et al. Judge will make a decision next Monday: REGARDING 20 T0 70 FALSE POSITIVES  FLAGGED BY THREE DOGS & GPR [ground penetrating radar]. Mohawk Mothers. face ‘denialism’, ‘disbanding’ of Expert Panel, and other questionable actions.

Kwetiio,  Bear. Clan: “A grave matter brings me here which. is about to get disastrous. The last time we were here was to discuss the findings, by Historic Human Remains Detection Dogs (HHRDD), of the scent of decaying human remains in front of the wall of the Hersey Pavilion, the Nurses’ Residence of the Royal Victoria Hospital. Since then, in several public releases – and again in Pierre Major’s affidavit filed yesterday – McGill University quotes a study underscoring between 20 and 70 percent of false positives for HHRDD. What McGill doesn’t mention is that this number is exponentially reduced when other dogs alert. At the Hersey pavilion, three dogs flagged. McGill’s communications also didn’t mention was a 12-year-old study, which specifies that dogs become more efficient with further training – and HHRDD have gotten much better since 12 years. They don’t mention either that the study’s sample was only three dog teams, that it was only based on teeth, and that it defined false positives,: “based on alert distance from target, it is important to recognize that these false positives do not necessarily translate to the equivalent of a dog alerting in a blank area”.. They don’t mention either that the dogs in this study were not HHRDD but HRD, which smell recent human remains instead of historic, older ones, and which have an entirely different training. Another study, this one from 2021, that was cited by the Panel of archaeologists but not by McGill, states that “the probability that two dogs would have a false positive at the same box is less than 0.06%”. This is from “Applying Canine Detection in Support of Collaborative Archaeology”, by Grebenkemper et al.

We sent the full exhibit this morning and we brought copies of the relevant pages for all parties. Right in front of the wall of the Hersey Pavilion of the Royal Vic, not two but three dogs alerted. Calling this an absence of evidence is outright denialism and rejection of science. Last time we were here, Mister Justice, the Defendants denied that there was any evidence of remains. Now they are stating the same notion publicly, that no evidence has been found, that the investigation is over. They don’t mention the woman’s dress – that was handled without any forensic care when it was taken out of the ground and that was admittedly almost put in the garbage. They don’t mention the old children’s shoes, all the allegedly “animal” bones, the ball of hair or the very concerning so-called slag, this purple/maroonish substance poured all over a layer of soil, which was apparently used to “sanitize” it, and as we recently learned, perhaps also to decompose organic matter. That we don’t quite know, because the Defendants and their contractors did not deem advisable to study it further.

We were told that HHRDD dogs can detect human DNA even after bodies are decomposed. This has to be looked into. But it wasn’t done, in the absence of the Panel to recommend it. For the same reason we were not able to investigate the horrid fetid smell coming from a layer of soil, that slowly dissipated when it dried in a pile under the sun, nor the smell that came from the pipe protruding out of the Hersey building, exactly where the three dogs alerted.

Denialism is what we are facing. It is sad, sorry, and for us, retraumatizing. Constant gaslighting. The Panel and dog handlers all suggested searching a 10 meter radius around the spot. Ethnoscop asked about entering the building. The SQI refused. End of the story! They claim the investigation is over, there are no remains!  In addition to the 9 potential graves detected, of which we ended up having a (rather botched) report yesterday – not as a report shared with us, but as an exhibit shared by Mrs. Mayes from SQI after the 4pm deadline.

The GPR survey by GeoScan detected a great number of unknown anomalies in the Priority Zone which have never received any attention, even though GeoScan’s report deemed that they could be graves of children or graves without coffins, like our ancestors did. Those anomalies have been entirely pushed to the wayside by the Defendants, and silenced in all their communications. A cluster of potential graves and unknown anomalies is situated immediately next to where the Defendants started heavy excavation work on Tuesday, in defiance of the upcoming court hearing. on Sep. 14/23. Mrs. Mayes’ affidavit also includes another piece of information which we were never made aware of, even though we were the very instigators of this whole process. In Exhibit SMC-15, Mr Whiting, from GeoScan, responds to the SQI complaining that their report suggested the numerous unknown anomalies could be unmarked graves, by saying: “What I usually recommend in these cases is to absolutely approach the “potential” graves as if they are in fact graves, and investigate with full archaeological protocols. In the case of the “unknown” features, these are normally approached with a sampling strategy. In particular I usually suggest archaeological excavation/testing of the closest Unknown features to the features we ID as “potential”, say within a 10 m radius of each potential. If any of the unknowns turn out in fact to be burials, then expand the radius another 5 m and continue testing unknowns until all are negative. There may also be some unknowns or clusters of unknowns some distance away from any potentials that should be tested. Especially if they look rectangular in map view”.

Mr Whiting of GeoScan then suggests drafting a sampling strategy. The SQI do not respond to this professional advice, nor will it ever, as it is now to be assumed, because SQI executives are not experts in searching for unmarked graves, and are not qualified to manage this investigation. In fact all their actions indicate they do not wish it ever happened at all. They refused to share the data with the Panel who asked and who. were jointly selected with them through painstaking negotiations. The settlement agreement specifies that all parties must be guided by the Panel’s recommendations as to who should analyze the data. A clear breach of the agreement. They refused to share it with the Canadian Archaeological Association’s Working Group on Unmarked Graves, the top experts in Canada, for a peer review, as asked for by the Panel too. This is McGill, a world class institution and the SQI, a public body from the Quebec government, doing this. Refusing expertise. Disbanding the Panel, to simply take over the whole process.

It is unexplainable that any credible investigation would operate without project managers who know what they are doing and have expertise. Agreeing on three experts to provide recommendations was the bottom line of the agreement. To stop arguing, and let the experts decide what is the best to way to find, protect and respect human burials on the site of this hospital. This is where some of worst medical experiments in human history took place. We repeat again it: we are here to find our children, to find the truth of what happened, and who is accountable.

Cherry picking which of the Panel’s recommendations they would implement came to define the defendants’ methodology. The Panel asked to carefully excavate GPR targets and sift the soil? The Defendants rather used mechanical excavators rushing through 8 holes in a single day and immediately refilled them back, unsifted. The Panel asked to use S4 Probes in the Soil. It wasn’t done. On July 25th we were literally attacked by the SQI’s security, who grabbed our camera to erase images of their racially charged insults of Indigenous elders on the site. McGill and SQI gave us their best assurances that they would not be there anymore. Last Sunday, who do we see on the site where GPR was being done? The same security guards! After the assault we couldn’t return there for three weeks and the piles of soil excavated around the dog’s target were just left to the rain, unattended. The Panel wrote to say they should be covered.

That’s the value of having a Panel overview an investigation. The Panel also said at that time that it would be necessary to involve a forensic specialist with the Panel to protect the chain of custody of evidence. The Defendants simply dismissed their recommendation, refusing to treat the search for unmarked graves in any credible and professional way. Many other Panel recommendations that were rejected by the Defendants emphasized that it was necessary for the Panel to follow up on the implementation of the recommendations, to adapt to the reality of what is happening on the ground. The Panel reported that it needs “to be informed of the outcome of any related work – Archival research, HHRDD investigations, GPR survey, S4 probe and monitoring. The Panel will review these reports and provide updated recommendations (if warranted) within 1 month of receipt of each report”. A Panel member explained that it was a professional and ethical obligation to follow up on their recommendations.

SQI and McGill decided to manage everything themselves, through contracts and non-disclosure agreements, to be judge and jury, and to manage and argue that somehow it’s a good thing that experts are not involved and have no say. McGill University submits that the agreement has not been breached, that only monitoring was required in the zone where they excavated last Tuesday, and that there is nothing to see. “Just trust McGill”, they said in this Court last October. The Defendants do not dispute, apparently, that the spirit of the agreement was breached many times by them as well as their letters. McGill and SQI suggest that the agreement limited the mandate of the Panel to selecting archaeological techniques, and that they had no say in how they would be applied. Mcgill and SQI would entirely take over the investigation. We strongly disagree with such a distorted interpretation of the agreement. However, the Defendants state that the only way the Panel could come back would be under Section 17 of the agreement, which provides that “if following the execution of the Techniques, there are no graves identified in a given area, the excavation work can begin on a rolling basis, in a sensitive manner with appropriate monitoring that will allow a prompt reaction in the event there is some unexpected discovery, at which point McGill, SQI and the Kanien’keha:ka Kahnistensera will seek the advice of the Panel as to how to move forward.”

The last time we were in this Court after the dog’s finding, McGill and SQI argued that since this was an unexpected discovery Section 17 would apply, and they deferred to the panel asking to excavate a 10 meter radius around the target. A 10 meter radius from which the Defendants somehow managed to exclude inside the building, even though the target is just next to the wall. Now they entirely changed their interpretation, and they say that Section 17 does not apply and that there is no use bringing in the Panel. We could think that they’d rather rely on the expertise of the service providers, like GPR technicians, but that’s not even the case since they dismissed GeoScan’s recommendation to investigate unknown anomalies that are the closest to potential grave anomalies.

The Defendants now suggest that the only “unexpected discovery” that could bring back any sort of expert in the picture would be after a body is found, after a backhoe or an excavator hits human bones. Yet the SQI admitted, in an email by Sophie Mayes shared on August 1st (Exhibit MM-8), that there is no way that the Panel could be involved if a body was found: “If Ethnoscop’s professionals identify human bones on site, the latter will be legally obligated to immediately inform the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications and the Montreal Police Department (including the Coroner). Consequently, in the event of such discovery, neither Ethnoscop, the SQI, the Panel, McGill nor the Kahnistensera will have control over the following steps.” Therefore, the SQI ruled out the possibility that the “unexpected discovery” bringing back the Panel as per Section 17 of the agreement applies to human burials. The only other possible interpretation of Paragraph 17 is that an “unexpected discovery” actually means something three HHRDD alerting on human remains, or Ground Penetrating Radar yielding concerning unanalyzed data like what was unexpectedly found in the zone immediately adjacent to where the Defendants have started excavating Tuesday.

Article 13 has also explicitly been breached. It provides that “SQI, McGill, and the Kanien’keha:ka Kahnistensera agree to be (…) guided by the recommendations of the Panel as to the specialists to carry out the techniques and analyze the relevant data”. The Panel recommended the Canadian Archaeological Association CAA and themselves to analyze the data. The Defendants have simply refused. Article 1 states “that archival and testimonial work will begin immediately and the results of such work will be communicated to the Panel (defined below) on an ongoing basis to inform their work.” Given the termination of the Panel’s mandate, they won’t have time to do this, so the Defendants have breached this article. As they breached articles 2, 3 and 4, where McGill, the McGill University Health Center and the Attorney General of Canada promise expedited access to their archives, “including restricted files.”

Canada is still slowly processing an ATIP request we made more than a year ago, while McGill’s most important files on their psychiatrists’ potential involvement with Indigenous people need approval from the Canadian Army- still now, 70 years from the fact. The McGill University Health Center has provided no record at all, not even finding aids. As Kahentinetha will explain later, article 9, that allow us to appoint Cultural Monitors to oversee the respect of Onkwehonweh protocol on site, has been breached by threats to our security. And finally, by disbanding the Panel, the Defendants breached Article 11, which states that the “The mandate of the Panel is to assess and identify the appropriate archeological techniques to be used on different areas of the site to detect whether there are unmarked graves.”If its mandate is terminated, it is impossible for the Panel to assess and identify the appropriate archaeological techniques, except if we define “to identify techniques” as simply selecting them.

This is what we call a sharp dealing, breaching the spirit of reconciliation. We submit that these breaches to the agreement are prejudicial to all searches for unmarked graves throughout Turtle Island. It will affect all indigenous people for generations to come in setting precedents that will have implications for the overall relationships between us. We have a protocol called the One Dish and One Spoon. It unites all Indigenous peoples and played a huge role in the Great Peace of Montreal in 1701. The story is in the Kaianerehkowa, the Great Path that we follow as the Rotinonshonni confederacy. The Peacemaker Dekanawida showed a big dish, saying that all people share it. It’s our shared territory, our mother, that provides our subsistence. Dekanawida said that when sharing the great dish with one spoon, nobody should use sharp objects, so as to not hurt each other.

Canada has admitted genocide. At the National Gathering on Unmarked Burial in Montreal last week, the Attorney General of Canada said that “we cannot deny and we should not deny what happened in residential schools or their effect on many generations”. Our relationship has to change. Everyone wants it to change. We asked this Honorable Court to help the Defendants, all the institutions that verbally commit to reconciliation, to make that step in the 21st century to truly change the way we live alongside one another. Our duty as Kahnistensera (life-givers) is to caretake the land and the children of past, present and future generations. We are following our own law, the Kaianerehkowa. It is the way we have conducted ourselves since time immemorial to keep peace on this land and to help creation continue and grow. This place, Tiotiake, is our land, where our culture originated. Tekanontak (Mount Royal) and what is now the campus of McGill University contains the remains of one our biggest villages in all the land of the flint, Kanienkeh, our territory. Our people and children were murdered in order to get the land, to cut the connection between us, Kahnistensera, and the land. It is the greatest power: the power of the relationship between a mother and her children. We have the right to accomplish our traditional duties as Kahnistensera. It is not only the appearance of a right, it is our responsibility. The irreparable harm is not only certain to happen in the short term, it was already partially started when the Defendants started excavating, even refusing to wait until the court date. Once they disrupt those pipes which are, as McGill and SQI admitted, PERFECTLY FUNCTIONAL AT THIS TIME, they will necessarily have to excavate the whole Priority Zone area, including where the dogs detected remains. We hope that the damage already done is not too great, but it is certainly not something that anything else than a halt to the work and a reassessment of the situation can buy.

Nothing can compensate the loss of the trust of our people, of all Onkwehonwe, in the responsibility of McGill, Quebec and Canada to protect the basis of our human rights. To halt excavation until the origin of the scent of human remains is found, and until the GPR findings are studied in a serious way is the only honorable thing to do. For these reasons, I ask the court to grant the declaratory relief and safeguard order which will allow us to search for our children in a peaceful, professional, fruitful and therefore timely manner. NIAWEN:KOWA O:NEN

The late Willie Dunn put together words, ideas and laments to remind us to keep going:  O Canada:
Our home and native land
One hundred thousand years
We’ve walked upon your sands
With saddened hearts
We’ve seen you robbed and stripped
Of everything you prized
While they cut down the trees
We were shunted aside
To the jails and the penitentiaries

O Canada
Once glorious and free
O Canada
We sympathize with thee
O Canada 

MOHAWKNATIONNEWS.COM 

thahoketoteh@ntk.com MNN court correspondent

box 991, kahnawake que. canada J0L 1B0 kahentinetha2@protonmail.com

 

MOHAWK MOTHERS RETURN TO COURT AS MCGILL/SQI DRILL HOLES AT ROYAL VICTORIA HOSPITAL

 

Please post and circulate immediately.

PRESS RELEASE For immediate publication.

Kanien’kehá:ka Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers) kahnistensera@riseup.net 

 

MOHAWK MOTHERS SOON SETTING OUT  FOR ANOTHER DAY IN MONTREAL COURT

September 12th , 2023, “Mohawk Mothers Return to Court Thursday As McGill and SQI Drill Holes At Royal Victoria Hospital” Tio’tià:ke (Montreal) –

The Mohawk Mothers held a press conference at the corner of Pine and Peel sts. on September 12, 2023, at 2:30pm.

The Kahnistensera filed an Emergency Motion to halt drilling and excavation at the Royal Victoria Hospital site, which will be heard on Thursday September 14 at the Montreal. Superior Court. The Emergency Motion details breaches to the Settlement Agreement by McGIll and the SQI that the Mohawk Mothers repeatedly raised in direct talks about the way they are handling the archaeological investigation ordered by the Quebec Superior Court to search for unmarked graves of victims of medical experiments.

The Kahnistensera are shocked that McGill and SQI have pressed ahead with construction on September 11, 2022 by drilling a large number of holes marking the beginning of a series of excavations.

The same day, McGill University issued a message to all its staff and students, declaring that the investigation of the zone is complete and that no evidence of graves was found. The Mohawk Mothers see these as major provocations, as the investigation is far from complete. McGill’s message emphasizes favourable findings while concealing or downplaying several discoveries that confirm the possibility of unmarked burials at the New Vic site. These discoveries require further follow-up to determine whether the New Vic work can safely proceed.

On August 29, 2023 the Mohawk Mothers filed a motion for a safeguard order to enforce the settlement agreement signed by all parties in April 2023. This follows a landmark injunction stopping work in October 2022. The Kahnistensera flagged several breaches to the letter and spirit of the settlement agreement: McGill and SQI disbanded the panel of three archaeologist experts agreed upon by all parties to make recommendations on the findings.

The Kahnistensera’s court files show that McGill and the SQI refused to follow several recommendations from the archaeologists, such as sifting the soil of areas where anomalies of potential bodies were located. Court documents also reveal that the SQI refused to share data from Ground Penetrating Radar GPR with the Canadian Archaeology Association CAA and the panel of experts. They silenced numerous “unknown” anomalies that the GPR report say could possibly be graves of children without coffins. Several artifacts, including a dress, children’s shoes and bones excavated in a zone where search dogs detected the scent of human remains have not yet been examined by experts. The origin of the scent of human remains picked up by search dogs has not been established.

The Kahnistensera state the SQI and McGill have refused to allow the search dogs to return to the site to sniff the piles of soil that were excavated or to determine whether the smell came from inside the building, where archaeologists were denied access.

“Since disbanding the Panel, McGill and SQI have basically decided to take over the whole investigation. They have been opposed to it even happening from the start,” said Kwetiio, a Mohawk Mother. “Their behaviour goes against the court order that this would be Indigenous-led”, she said, “This could have been done the right way and provide closure to survivors and the families.”

On July 25th the work stopped for three weeks after the Mohawk Mothers and Cultural Monitors were attacked by security guards working for the SQI. The guards assaulted a person to take his phone and erase a video, while someone else recorded racist insults and threats against the Mohawk elders and cultural monitors.”

According to Kahentinetha, “On September 11 we saw these same two security guards on the archaeological site. The SQI told us they had been removed”. Even though the settlement agreement allowed Indigenous cultural monitors to be on the site and monitor the work, Kahentinetha says they now fear for their safety. “The security guards who attacked us are still there, while SQI and McGill want to rush in large-scale excavation for their New Vic project. In fact they drilled those holes yesterday without us being present. They didn’t even give us safety training for working in zones under construction with heavy machinery, and we don’t have the proper equipment. The settlement agreement said we have to be there, but the conditions are extremely dangerous.” The Kahnistensera had already flagged violations of construction safety regulations such as masonry material stacked higher than 1.8 meters next to an unsanitary toilet that cultural monitors were expected to use. “Are we still being treated like animals, like a problem to get rid of, in the heart of Montreal, where the villages of our ancestors sit,” said Kahentinetha. “But we will not take genocide anymore, both Canadian and Mohawk laws affirm this,” she said.

The Kanien’kehá:ka Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers) is a Kahnawake-based group that helps Indigenous women carry out their traditional cultural duty as caretakers of the land, to protect all life, including their children and ancestors. They have been engaged in a legal challenge with promoters of the New Vic project to stall future excavation of the former Royal Victoria Hospital site until a proper archaeological investigation is conducted, using the traditional protocols of the Kaianere’kó:wa (Great Peace).

Let us look at the kahnisensera portrayed as ‘Dixie’ in this song, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”, by The Band. “Virgil King is the name and I ride the Danville train. Til Stoneman’s Calvary came and tore off the tracks again. It was the winter of ’65. We were hungry and barely alive. I took the train into Richmond that day. It was a time i remember oh so well. Chorus: The night they drove old dixie down and all the bells were ringing. The night they drove old  Dixie down, and all the people were singing. they were ….”

Quebec Superior Court #500-17-120-468-221 kahentinetha et al v. SQI, McGill et al.

The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

SEE https://www.mohawkmothers.ca/

Contact for press: kahnistensera@riseup.net Kahnawake, P.O. Box 991, que. canada J0L 1B0

 

MOHAWK MOTHERS MOMENTUM: “SHOOTING THE RAPIDS”

Immediate Release. Please post & circulate. 

kahnistensera tanon rotiskenrakete ronteiakwanekiakeh

eso kahnistensera wakontenhetsteh skaiatariowano

MNN. Aug. 7, 2023. On the “Indigenous lead” site where the unmarked burial of indigenous children are being sought at the New Vic site, McGill and SQI Security are refusing to hire a professional Indigenous security firm. The “cultural monitors” and elders working alongside the archaeological work crew were attacked by SQI & McGill security and now the indigenous refuse to return to work until their safety is guaranteed.  Also, SQI wants to interpret the GPR Report that found ‘anomalies’ of remains in the GEOSCAN Report, a private company. SQI & McGill have terminated the Tripartite Panel that was set up by Quebec Superior Court to oversee the search for the children, so they could start working on the Royal Vic Project. The court needs to uphold its orders. 

Remembr, no guards wwre there when our children were being murdered and buried.

SQI & McGill do not have the expertise to interpret the findings, which needs to be done by trained archaeological forensic experts. One of the members of the Panel has quit and another states that the anomaly found by GEOSCAN is a burial site and SQI office technocrats cannot determine that. This could prejudice all GPR searches that are carried out in Canada by indigenous people.

SQI & McGill have given us no choice but to consider enforcing the Settlement Agreement that we signed in April.

Many experts find this extremely damaging to the whole investigation. Canada is allowing SQI to act above the law and above a court order. It appears that international human rights organizations will now be needed. Canada continues on its criminal path while Quebec acts as a cheerleader rooting for the colonizer.

Quebec spends public money in their fight against us the Mohawk Mothers. Once again they are trying to silence us about their murder of our children whose spirit is at our side right now.  They reject professional expertise. The public has to now ask the question, “What the f… is really going on?” 

The Mohawk security group in Kahnawake has a right and is qualified to work anywhere on turtle island. McGill University, Royal Victoria Hospital, Allan Memorial Hospital and the City of Montreal all squat on unceded Kanienkehaka Mohawk land, which they must acknowledge by law before every meeting so they never forget. They are rejecting an indigenous company from providing security to the “Indigenous lead” process taking place to find indigenous children that may be buried on Mohawk land. We wonder if this was part of Prime Minister Duncan Campbel Scott’s “100 year plan” to be rid of the “Indian problem” permanently. We are reminded of a song which Sinead O’Connor sang during the well known “Pope-incident” in Saturday Night Live in 1992, when she shouted, “Children, children. Fight! Fight!”. 

SQI is our message to Quebec: It’s time for you to “STOP & QUIT IMMEDIATELY” 
———————————
Until the philosophy,
Which holds one race superior
And another inferior,
Is finally and permanently
Discredited and abandoned,
Everywhere is war.
Until there is no longer first class
Or second class citizens of any nation.
Until the color of a man抯 skin,
Is of no more significance then
The color of his eyes,
I e got to say “war”.
That until the basic human rights,
Are equally guaranteed to all,
Without regard to race,
I e got to say “war”
Until that day the dream of lasting peace,
World-citizenship and the rule of
International morality will remain
Just a fleeting illusion to be pursued,
But never obtained.
And everywhere is war.
Until the ignoble and unhappy regime
Which holds all of us through,
Child-abuse, yeah, child-abuse yeah,
Sub-human bondage has been toppled,
Utterly destroyed,
Everywhere is war.
War in the east,
War in the west,
War up north,
War down south,
There is war,
And the rumors of war.
Until that day,
There is no continent,
Which will know peace.
Children, children.
Fight!
We find it necessary.
We know we will win.
We have confidence in the victory
Of good over evil
FIGHT THE REAL ENEMY !

 thahoketoteh@ntk.com court reporter

contact www.mohawkmothers.ca

kahentinetha2@protonmail.com

READ MORE: https://montreal.citynews.ca/2023/08/07/mohawk-mothers-feel-pushed-aside-in-the-search-for-unmarked-graves/