Indigenous guardians of the ancestral territories of the Innu, Atikamekw and Mohawk are demanding a moratorium on logging in Quebec.
This coalition is made up of the Innu collective Mashk Assi, which defends the unceded territory of Nitassinan; the Ekoni Aci movement, which brings together defenders of the Atikamekw territory of Manawan and Wemotaci; and the Kanien’kehà:ka Kahnistensera, better known as the Mohawk Mothers.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF MASHK ASSI COLLECTIVE
Due to the “ecological disaster caused by the forest fires”, a coalition of traditionalist Innu, Atikamekw and Mohawk indigenous peoples demands a moratorium on logging and mining activities north of the St. Lawrence River by the end of 2023.
Innu and Atikamekw activists block logging roads to oppose logging on their unceded ancestral territory.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF MASHK ASSI COLLECTIVE
These First Nations activists recall that the millions of hectares burned affect not only the habitat of wildlife that is crucial to their culture, but also the health of many Aboriginal communities.
With what is happening concerning the quality of the air which is unbreathable in several places, we think that it is really important to put a brake at the moment , specified Michael Paul of the Mashk Assi collective.
In addition to the moratorium, the Aboriginal people who present themselves as holders of ancestral title to their respective territories are asking for an inquiry into the causes of the forest fires.
“ The government, through its mismanagement of the forest, has created this situation of extreme danger for which it is responsible. By prioritizing profitability, the government has created monoculture coniferous forests that turn into veritable powder kegs in dry and hot weather, at the risk of public health. »
This forest management is based on cutting potential, industrial development and immediate profit. The priority place of the forest industry in forest management is too great and has created a situation of unprecedented danger. We must act immediately to break this impasse , continue the Aboriginal traditionalists.
The Chibougamau forest fire (File photo)
PHOTO: COURTESY
The coalition also calls for an independent environmental impact study to be carried out in collaboration with the United Nations Special Rapporteur and that it be chaired by the indigenous guardians of the territory. We are the custodians of ancestral knowledge that has allowed the boreal forest to survive until today. We know every corner of our territory and the families of animals with whom we share it. As recognized by a UN report, Indigenous peoples are by far the best guardians of the natural territory and the environment, everywhere on the planet , supports the coalition.
The blockage maintained in the Laurentides wildlife reserve
Three weeks ago, before the forest fires broke out and restrictions came into effect, Indigenous people from the Mashk Assi collective forced the closure of several logging sites located in the Laurentides wildlife reserve. They denounce the destruction of the forests south of Lake Kénogami.
This blockage is still in effect on Nitassinan. In particular, a permanent camp has been set up at kilometer 216 of Route 175 to monitor the comings and goings in the forest.
Since May 29, indigenous activists have been regularly patrolling Nitassinan to ensure that there are no loggings.
We are ready to go to court if it is not respected , mentioned the committed artist Michael Paul.
Innus have set up a permanent camp along the logging road located at kilometer 216 of the Laurentides wildlife reserve.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF MASHK ASSI COLLECTIVE
The Lignarex Group, which qualifies this file as delicate , is one of the manufacturers who complied by withdrawing their forestry machinery from certain construction sites. From the outset, the leaders of Lignarex said they were ready to negotiate with the Innus .
The collective has also authorized the logging company to recover the trees already felled to avoid wasting wood.
Innu artist Michael Paul Kuekuarsheu sings of the resistance of his people:
MNN. June 20, 2023. The Kahnistensera, Mohawk Mothers of kahnawake, kanesatake, and akwesasne knew Louis karonhiaktajeh Hall, and were greatly influenced by his stories, philosophy and farsightedness. This podcast reveals many of his past, current and future insights into what lay ahead for the Mohawks.
The Mohawk Warrior Society is one of the most successful militant organizations in North America. Their predecessors were key to the defeat of the French in Quebec and the United States in the War of 1812. Today, the Warriors are best known for their role in the 1990 Oka standoff against the Canadian army. In the new book, The Mohawk Warrior Society: A Handbook on Sovereignty and Survival, the movement for the first time tells its own history.
We are joined by the editors of this unique anthology of resistance, Philippe Blouin, Matt Peterson, Malek Rasamny and Kahentinetha Rotiskarewake and also by Kwetiio and Karennatha who, along with Kahentinetha, are members of the group Kanien’kehà:ka Kanistansera, the Mohawk Mothers.
Louis will always be honored by the people. The world will never forget the warrior flag he designed. Even the Kingsmen back in the 60’s honoured Louis: Ah Louie Louie. Oh no, Said we gotta go. Yeah yeah yeah. Yeah yeah. Baby. Louie Louie. Oh baby. Said we gotta go. A fine little girl. She waitin for me. Catch a ship, across the sea. Sail that ship out all alone. Me never think how. I’ll make it home. I’ll make it home. Ah Louis Louie. No no no no. Make it home. . . .
Kimberly Murray speaks after being appointed as Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools, at a news conference in Ottawa in June 2022. (Justin Tsang/The Canadian Press)
Residential school deniers tried to dig up suspected unmarked grave sites at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, not believing a May 2021 announcement from the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc that as many as 215 Indigenous children had been buried there, according to a new report.
“Denialists entered the site without permission. Some came in the middle of the night, carrying shovels; they said they wanted to ‘see for themselves’ if children are buried there,” said a Friday report from Kimberly Murray, the independent special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked graves and burial sites associated with Indian Residential Schools.
She did not say who the denialists were or when they came to the site.
But the unauthorized visits to the site are the work of a “core group” of Canadians who continue to deny, defend or minimize the physical, sexual, psychological and emotional abuse inflicted on Indigenous children in the Indian Residential School System “despite the indisputable evidence of survivors and their families,” Murray said at a Friday news conference. Read Up . . .
Indigenous advocate, Alice Cooper, scipts it well in his song, Dead Babies.
Little Betty ate a pound of aspirin She got them from the shelf upon the wall Betty’s mommy wasn’t there to save her She didn’t even hear her baby call
Dead babies Can’t take care of themselves Dead babies Can’t take things off the shelf Well we didn’t want you anyway Lalala-la, lalala-la, la la la
MNN. June 4, 2023. On April 6, 2023, The final day of mediation began at 9.15 a.m.. This photo was taken at the end around 11:15 that night.
Lawyers, judge and kahnistensera Mohawk Mothers stood together for this photo of completion of the mediation at the Montreal Court.
For details of the Settlement Agreement, April 6, 2023 – See court documents filed as CANADA PROVINCE OF QUEBEC, DISTRICT OF MONTREAL. No. 500-17-120468-221. Superior Court [Civil Division]. Between Plaintiffs kahnistensers; Defendents SQI, RVH, MUHC, McGill U., Montreal, AG Canada & AG Quebec; and 3rd Party Intervenors – Unmarked Graves & Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools.
Words from our wise elder, Red-X, whose eyes are black cavernous void leading directly into the 5th dimension. He surveyed the current state of the kaianerekowa from his silver eagle and said that the gariwiio pimple is about to burst. He said, “What will be is what creation means”. He advised that what we all need is love, and then flew to the west where the sun never sleeps and disappeared into his celestial portal.
Jeannie C. Riley sings about some experiences in some places of higher learning:
I wanna tell you all a story ’bout A Harper Valley widowed wife Who had a teenage daughter Who attended Harper Valley Junior High Well, her daughter came home one afternoon And didn’t even stop to play And she said, “mom, I got a note here from the Harper Valley PTA”
Well, the note said, “Mrs. Johnson You’re wearin’ your dresses way too high It’s reported you’ve been drinking And a-running ’round with men and goin’ wild And we don’t believe you oughta be a-bringin’ up Your little girl this way” And it was signed by the Secretary Harper Valley PTA. . . . [Harper Valley PTA]
MNN. Sat. June 3, 2023. The traditional Innu people evict logging companies from their territory and cancel modern treaty in the making.
The traditional guardians of the Nitassinan, the unceded territory of the Innu people whose 570 000 km2 are bigger than the territory of France, have sent two cease and desist letters to halt the current invasion of their land and attempts to extinguish their inherent rights. Here are the two letters for your attention.
RE: Notice of eviction from Innu territories and cessation of logging
To: Scierie Girard. 5872 route des Bouleaux, Shipshaw (Québec) G7P 1E3 Forestier Luc Goulet et fils. 440 rue du Coteau-Marcil, Albanel (Québec) G8M 3R3 Scierie Martel. 3000 route du Lac Est, Alma (Québec) G8B 5V2 Groupe Forestra. 4910 boulevard Talbot, Laterrière (Québec) G7N 1A3 Coop Fernand Boileau, Groupe Lignarex and other chains. 445 route 381, Fernand-et-Boilleau (Québec) G0V 1H0. Scierie du Lac-Saint-Jean inc. 41 route Saint-André, Métabetchouan-Lac-à-la-Croix (Québec) G8G 1X2. Produit Forestier Résolu. 200 rue de Quen, Dolbeau-Mistassini (Québec), G8L 5M8.
BY REGISTERED MAIL
We hereby inform you that all your employees and subcontractors must immediately evacuate Nitassinan, a sovereign and unceded territory of the Innu people, by order of the guardians of the territory. Your company is operating illegally on our territory, without having consulted the territory’s guardian families, whose authority over Nitassinan is protected by the Canadian Constitution, international law and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Only these families have the right to authorize a company to operate on the traditional territory of the Innu people. Agreements with Band Councils imposed by the federal government are null and void, as their jurisdiction is limited to reserve territory, as recognized by Canadian courts.
INNU GUARDIANS OF THE LAND
The custodians of the traditional territory of the Innu people have never ceded their ancestral rights, either by treaty or by conquest. The guardian families of Nitassinan ask you to cease all forestry activities and to leave our territory immediately. Your presence on Nitassinan constitutes a violation of innu tipenitamun, Innu sovereignty over the 571,000 km2 of Nitassinan, and uetshit takuaimatishun, the implementation of self-determination by the Innu people themselves.
Please also note that we are acting in solidarity and alliance with our Atikamekw brothers and sisters who are fighting to protect their ancestral forests in Nitaskinan. Please be advised that failure to comply with this eviction order will render you liable to prosecution for the violation of our human and ancestral rights. We consider the denial of our sovereignty and the ransacking of our territory to be a continuation of the genocide of indigenous peoples recognized by the Canadian government and Pope Francis I. By destroying our forests, you are destroying our environment and violating our right to bequeath our territory, our identity and our ancestral way of life to future generations. We ask you to stop the colonization of our territory, the destruction of the flora and fauna that make up our environment and the genocide of our people. We ask you to make a genuine gesture of reconciliation with the Innu people by respecting this eviction order in a peaceful manner.
Please inform all your employees and sub-contractors to leave our territory immediately. We ask that you take your personal belongings, equipment and vehicles and leave our territory in a timely and peaceful manner. As of May 30, it will no longer be possible for you to access our territory, except to remove your equipment, and you will be liable to prosecution. Please act accordingly.
SUBJECT: Formal notice to cease negotiations of the Petapan Treaty and other treaties
To: Attorney General of Canada Department of Justice Canada Litigation Branch 50 O’Connor Street 5th Floor – Room 531 Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8
Attorney General of Quebec Bernard, Roy (Justice – Quebec) 1 Notre-Dame Street East, Suite 8.00 Montreal, Quebec H2Y 1B6 BY
REGISTERED MAIL
We ask the Attorney General of Canada to inform his administrative bodies known as the Band Councils of Mashteuiatsh, Essipit and Nutashkuan to cease speaking and undertaking negotiations on behalf of the Innu people. These Band Councils have no jurisdiction over the traditional Ilnuash territory of Nitassinan, other than that granted by the Canadian government on reserves through the imposition of the Indian Act, which Aboriginal Services Minister Marc Miller acknowledges is racist in nature.
The Band Councils of Mashteuiatsh, Essipit and Nutashkuan in no way represent the Innu people, whose legitimate authority resides in the guardian families of the territory, of which the Mashk Assi collective is a spokesperson. We also ask the representatives of Canada, Quebec and the Band Councils to cease any media disinformation campaign giving the public the impression that the traditional Innu people would be involved in any way whatsoever in the negotiation of modern treaties, including the Petapan Treaty and any agreements resulting from Bill C-15. The Petapan Treaty is negotiated behind closed doors by lawyers representing various levels of colonial governments, and has never been seen or consulted by the members of our communities and the guardian families of Nitassinan who preserve the Innu aitun, our ancestral way of life and sovereign title to our territory.
The territory’s guardian families have repeatedly informed you that negotiations concerning our title and ancestral rights must cease. In a letter submitted in 2005 to Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, the Ukauimau aimu coalition, “words of mothers”, made up of over 270 members from different communities, denounced the lack of transparency and consultation in the process of illegally ceding ancestral territory, as well as “the usurpation of the identity of the Pekuakamiulnuatsh originally from Nitassinan and the various administrative, legislative, legal abuses, etc.., on the territory of the Nehlulnu descendants” by the federal administrative authorities of the Band Councils.
The descendants of the original Ilnuash people have repeated the same message several times since, including in a letter dated March 30, 2023, which stated that Territory Chiefs, Territory Guardians and Kukum (grandmother) circles have the obligation to protect ancestral territory. In Innu law, the land is inalienable and constitutes a legacy for future generations that must be protected and respected. In this sense, and under Innu law, these negotiations are illegitimate and illegal. The Hereditary Chiefs therefore call for an immediate halt to the process of global territorial negotiations. We hereby give you formal notice to immediately cease and suspend the negotiation of the Petapan Treaty and any other treaty, law or agreement in principle modifying our collective and individual ancestral rights, including the action plan for the implementation of Bill C-15 on the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), under pain of legal proceedings.
The Mashk Assi collective and the territory’s guardian families are implementing the obligation, under Innu law, to protect Tshikauinu Assi, Mother Earth. It is part of the collective and individual legal obligations of the territory guardian families, the Kukum circle, and the territory chiefs, to protect Assi. As guardian families of Nitassinan, holding sovereign title to the unceded territory of the Innu people, we remind you that any treaty negotiation without our participation and free and informed consent is a violation of our fundamental rights protected by international law, the Constitution of Canada and the UNDRIP.
You are hereby informed that any decision taken without the consent of the Nitassinan custodial families concerning our territory, sovereignty and rights is null and void. Any negotiation aimed at extinguishing, suspending or modifying in any way our aboriginal rights without our free and informed consent will be considered a violation of our human rights and will be prosecuted in Canada and before international tribunals. We ask that the United Nations Special Rapporteur be immediately notified of the current denial of our very existence as a sovereign Innu people, through both “modern treaties” and the granting of logging permits on our territory without our consent. We see this denial of our existence as a continuation of the colonial genocide of indigenous people who are preserving their way, their right and their ancestral territories.
We therefore remind you, for the last time under threat of legal action, that all negotiations undertaken without our consent concerning our territory and ancestral rights must cease immediately. The guardian families of Nitassinan, who have never ceded their ancestral rights, either by treaty or by conquest, urge you to immediately cease all actions that may infringe on their collective and individual rights, and on the integrity of their unceded territory. Please act accordingly.
“Dreamed I was an eskimo Frozen wind began to blow Under my boots and around my toes The frost that bit the ground below
It was a hundred degrees below zero…
And my mama cried And my mama cried Nanook, a-no-no Nanook, a-no-no Don’t be a naughty eskimo
Save your money, don’t go to the show Well I turned around and I said oh, oh oh Well I turned around and I said oh, oh oh Well I turned around and I said ho, ho And the northern lights commenced to glow
And she said, with a tear in her eye Watch out where the huskies go, And don’t you eat that yellow snow Watch out where the huskies go, And don’t you eat that yellow snow”
Inviting all allies to come stand in solidarity to protect the inherent rights of our children in a gathering and press conference scheduled for NOON on Wednesday May 31, 2023 at Kanienkehaka Kaianerekowa Kanonsesne, located at 560 SR 37 Akwesasne, NY 13655.
See message below and attached documents for basis:
May 22, 2023
Akwesasne
Kanehsatake
Kahnawake
Oshweken
Tyendinaga
Wahta
THE MESSAGE: The people of Kanienkeh have inhabited Anonwa’re:ke since time immemorial and have adhered to Kaienerekowa consistently. The Kanienkehaka have never relinquished, traded, bartered, sold, or compromised their title and responsibilities to the land and all the natural resources including air and water. The Kahnistensera execute their responsibilities as stewards of the land and consistently commit to protecting the integrity of it for the children to come.
As such, the Kanienkehaka remind our families, our territories, and those who reside upon our mother that this land was, is, or never will be up for adoption, sale, transfer or dismantlement.
If there is an individual, organization, committee, corporation or government that is in negotiations for lands on A’nonwareke, this is an illegitimate conduct. Individuals who claim to represent Kanienkehaka in any manner that is in contrary to our constitution have placed themselves outside of Teiotiokwenhakstha (see wampum #58).
Teiotiokwenhakstha is consistently enacted to maintain harmony with the natural world.
Let it be known that ANY land claims or land negotiations will NOT be recognized and are unacceptable by the Kanienkehaka.
APRIL 20, 2023. COURT STATEMENT OF KAHNISTENSERA “MOHAWK MOTHERS”, QUEBEC, MONTREAL – #500-17-120468-221
This is a historic Agreement between:
The kanienkehaka kahnistensera of Kahnawake, the Mohawk Mothers,
and
The Quebec Government, Royal Victoria Hospital, McGill University Health Centre, McGill University, City of Montreal, Attorney General of Canada and Attorney General of Quebec.
We followed the great peace which is our way since time immemorial. It is the spirit of these children that is making us seek the truth so that we can more clearly see into the future.
We came to the Montreal Supereior Court with the kaianerekowa to find a way to fsearch for the unmarked graves of our children and families. This is how the kahenkehaka [Mohawk Iroquois] are dealing with the issue of genocide. Our children’s lives were devalued. We are using our natural way, with the women at the helm supported by the men.
There will be justice for all children and families.
With the other parties we can put the spirits of our children to rest and that the entities that are responsible for their deaths will be held accountable. We will stay focused and continue searching for justice. We assume that all parties before this court and the whole world will join us in this new beginning.
MNN. Apr. 3. 2023. Canadians are beginning to be haunted by two past issues, murders of indigenous children and their unmarked graves being found. So far many thousands of unmarked graves have been discovered across Canada of children who were taken and disposed of, as well as numbers of children who were sold to colonial settlers for as little as $100. Most bodies are found near the Canadian Government Indian residential schools they were forced to attend. Many were medically experimented upon or died from mistreatment.
They pretend they do not remember but they do. The children were disposed of in horrific ways. All the residential school sites are crime scenes. The archives will soon reveal criminal wrongdoing or orchestrated genocide. The Canadian courts, ‘all admiralty’ want to “reconcile” their criminal actions by paying money. Reconciliation is an accounting term. Their main objective is to put a price on an “Indian child” so they can reconcile their registries. The Canadian courts base their whole existence upon “the Doctrine of Discovery” which the Vatican has now recinded.
We all have to look at the truth. When the invaders arrived to onowarekeh, turtle island, they witnessed our happiness. We welcomed them as our younger brothers. They decided they were going to take over the whole family because they thought they were smarter and get away with it. There is no happy ending for us, especially because our story was once so peaceful. We are a people who have a great love for each other and all living things.
We know that on this earth all living things have the same mother, she is the earth. We all have the same source energy as father. That makes us all brothers and sisters who shall survive and coexist on our mother.
Then a time came and most of us died.
They wrote in their laws of Canada that we are subhuman, the same as a bear or a deer, so they can kill us with impunity. Those running the corporation of ‘Canada’ have no moral conscience and take an oath to the emperor at the Vatican through the King of England. They do not take an oath to the people they apparently represent or to the land known they call ‘Canada’. These are the biggest criminals on our land.
The truth has been revealed while those in power turn their back and pretend they do not not see what is upon their shoulders. We have been in survival mode since October 25, 1924, when reserves were established to kill all the Indians.
The real Indian people have a philosophy called ‘karma’ and they say, there is ‘good karma’ and ‘bad karma’. The Canadian colonial society has much bad karma coming their way.
We are now opening all the boxes of secrets about the dissection and dismemberment of our most precicous children. We will once again know the happy life our grandchildren’s grandchildren deserve til infinity. Today we are going to start to put the pieces of the puzzle back together. Canadians, you will soon be facing more and more of the people you oppressed.
Because you put your private corporation on stolen land and murdered our people Canadians are stateless. We have stopped running away from you. Canada is coming to an end. We will be grateful when we are free. The compass on what we are going to do is in our minds. We are imagining who we are. We will live with creation as we were intended.
The sweet Sarah Maclachan surrenders to the unknown:
It doesn’t mean much
It doesn’t mean anything at all The life I’ve left behind me is a cold room
I’ve crossed the last line From where I can’t return Where every step I took in faith betrayed me And led me from my home
And sweet surrender Is all that I have to give
Take me in, no question’s asked You strip away the ugliness that surrounds me (Who are you?) Are you an angel?
Am I already that gone? I only hope that I won’t disappoint you When I’m down here on my knees (Who are you?)
And sweet surrender Is all that I have to give (Who are you?)
And sweet surrender Is all that I have to give
Don’t understand The touch of your hand I would be the one to fall I miss the little things I miss everything about you. . . . .
L Lots is happening and we need basic information.
Please post & distribute.
MNN. March 31, 2023. OCTOBER 25TH, 2024, IS THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PLANNED EXTINCTION OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE. INSTEAD IT WILL BE THE CELEBRATION OF THE FAILURE OF THE PLAN TO “SOLVE THE INDIAN PROBLEM”.
The Pope announced that the Doctrine of Discovery has been recinded. He acknowledges and affirms the genocide happened in Canada. Canada supports the Pope’s comments through Sections 35 and 52 of the Constitution Act of Canada 1982 that the kaianerekowa is the law of the land and and that all Canadian laws are “null and void”. This is at odds with the enforcement of the “Indian Lands Act” and the “Indian ACT. The illegitimate government of Canada has plead guilty to all the genocide, i.e. residential schools, land theft, destruction and rape of our mother, ad nauseum.
We were always a natural part of turtle island. We have been blocked from taking care of our mother. The Doctrine underlies all the land transactions throughout Canada. It lead to the increased wealth and power of Europe which was the foundation for the industrial revolution, increased globalization, capitalism and neo capitalism. The colonial power Canada is Corporation # ISO CA 3166-1 registered in the Vatican, as are all corporations, based on the fraudulent Doctrine of Discovery. Indian Affairs is a department of the army and the war will never end until the military government of Canada is neutralized. Canada is a corporation owned by a few banking families that claim to own every municipality throughout turtle island and through the birth certificates of every child born in Canada.
The greatest form of slavery is when the slaves believe they are free. 500 plus reserves were created as prisoner of war camps on October 25, 1924 [Indian Lands Acts]. The end of the 100 year plan of our demise is now over! We will be free and Canada will be dissolved. Canada is a corporate operation masquerading as a country. The Montevideo Convention of 1932 sets out the criteria for a true country, which must have its own language, culture and land. Canada has none of these. They’ve here to exploit all our natural resources.
All these criminals and their families who take oaths to the King of England must be immediately arrested and excommunicated from our land. We never invited them here. All immigrants must ask us for our permission to come here and live amongst us under the law of the land, as caretakers of all of turtle island for future generations through nature, truth and justice. The multi generational invaders can never become indigenous to this land they call Canada. They must adhere to the indigenous law of peace.
The kaianerekowa is the law of the land. The usurpers rely on the law of the water, Admiralty laws. All courts in Canada are private corporations under Admiralty law.of the seas.
KAIANEREKOWA WILL NEVER RECOGNIZE CANADA. This law has been applied in Canada militarily to hold indigenous people in place and forcefully assert their admiralty jurisdiction on us so the Crown can plunder our resources.
THEY NEED TO HALT THEIR ECOCIDAL ASSAULT ON OUR MOTHER EARTH NOW! Canada is going to be accountable for the crime of genocide. In other words, Canada is an illegal entity that is based on genocide and theft and the penalty must be dissolution of Canada. Our planned celebration of the end of Canada will be October 25, 2024, exactly 100 years after the Minister of Indian Affairs proclaimed the “100 Year Plan to be Rid of the Indian Problem”. Germany and the world did not reconcile with the Nazis. Kaianerekowa can never reconcile with genocide.
These are truths. Canada must account for these truths.
Donavan sings about the first land out of the water, onowarekeh, turtle island. and the first humans to come on the earth, us.
The continent of Atlantis was an island Which lay before the great flood In the area we now call the Atlantic Ocean. So great an area of land, That from her western shores Those beautiful sailors journeyed To the South and the North Americas with ease, In their ships with painted sails. To the East Africa was a neighbour, Across a short strait of sea miles. The great Egyptian age is But a remnant of The Atlantian culture. …..The antediluvian kings colonised the world All the Gods who play in the mythological dramas In all legends from all lands were from far Atlantis. Knowing her fate, Atlantis sent out ships to all corners of the Earth. On board were the Twelve:The poet, the physician, The farmer, the scientist, The magician and the other so-called Gods of our legends. Though Gods they were – And as the elders of our time choose to remain blind Let us rejoice And let us sing And dance and ring in the new Hail Atlantis! . . .
Recently the Kahnistenseras of Kahnawake were invited to Hart House of University of Toronto to speak about current indigenous issues.
Globe & Mail 1964 republication of Feb. 11, 1965. ProQuest Historical Newspapers : “Self-Support Indian Goal“
Kahentinetha Horn, a lissum Indian, forecast an Indian in the future of every University of Toronto student who jammed Hart House art gallery yesterday to hear her talk on the arts and culture of contemporary Indians. Miss Horn prophesied that in 35 years, Canada’s Indian population would be 1,800,000 – or roughly one out of every 25 persons. would be an Indian, she said. “You are the privileged of the privileged”, she told the students. “You are the 82 per cent of the future leaders of Canada” – I represent the despairing 1 per cent who are multiplying rapidly in Canada. Now is the time you must learn about Indians to help us achieve our main goal.” The first goal of Indians is to be able to support themselves, she said. On each Wall of Hart House gallery hung paintings by Norval Morrisseau, Ojibway Indian from Beardmore, Ont. “They conveyed a message of the past”, Miss Horn said. “Such art flows through the blood of my brothers and sisters – but most of the benefits reaches the white man’s salons?” While Indian culture certainly encompasses significant art form, the arts of Indians have leaned more to warfare and politics, Miss Horn said. “For 20,000 years, the Indians have had a struggle to survive the forces of nature. The cultural arts come only with leisure – after survival.” The greats of her ancestors, the Iroquois, were related to politics and warfare. The United Nations concepts are modelled on the Iroquois Confederacy, for example. Their arts of warfare are the reasons the students speak English today instead of French, she said. That’s why you have Prime Minister Pearson as leader instead of President de Gaulle”. Most Indians, Miss Horn said, are unemployable. “I’m afraid technical sciences will keep Indians unemployable. We haven’t time to think about our arts. We have to keep our people alive. How to keep our women alive, for example, past the age of 45. Why does one out of 10 of our babies die before the age of 4? Don’t ask me why; nobody has ever researched the reason. It’s just a statistic. We need housing, medical care, community planning, training and education. We need an interest in welfare – there’ll be one of us in thec future for every one of you.
Note to readers: The population of indigenous people in Canada today is 1.800,000.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
3rd Party Cookies
This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.
Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.
Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!