ATTAWAPISKAT, KASHACHEWAN AND DEBEERS DIAMONDS, COLD AS ICE

COLD AS ICE

MNN:  18 Dec. 2011.  Kashechewan is a Cree community on James Bay.  In 2005 half their people had been evacuated due to DeBeers Diamond Mining overloading the sewage system.  In 2010 they gave $5,231,000 to eight Indigenous communities, most of which went to lawyers, consultants and the political elite; DeBeers took out $446,020,000.00 worth of diamonds. In 2005 MNN was called in to Kashachewan, just south of Attawapiskat.   COLD AS ICE, is a story about three Kanionkehaka who were kept out.  We issued an Objection to DeBeers.  It’s relevant to the Attawapiskat issue.  Please read and understand.   MNN Mohawk Nation News.

KANION’KE:HAKA WOMEN TITLE HOLDERS

P. O. Box 991, Kahnawake of Mohawk Territory

(Quebec, Canada) J0l 1B0

450-635-9345 613-575-1550

Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com 

Jan. 15, 2006.

PUBLIC NOTICE OF OBJECTION

TO DEBEERS DIAMOND MINE EXPLOITATION

OF KASHECHEWAN CREE COMMUNITY ON JAMES BAY IN NORTHERN ONTARIO CANADA

 

Re:  DeBeers Diamond Mine exploitation of

Kashechewan Cree community on James Bay in Northern Ontario Canada

 

To:

President, De Beers Diamond Mines; Queen Elizabeth II; Prime Minister of Canada; Governor General of Canada; Premier of Ontario; Indian Affairs Canada; Progressive Party of Canada; New Democratic Party of Canada; Bloc Quebecois Party; UN Office of High Commission for Human Rights; International Commission for Human Rights; Coalition Criminal Court; Royal Canadian Mounted Police; Bono;             Ontario Aboriginal Affairs; Supreme Court of Canada; Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada; Health Canada; National Defense; U.S. President George Bush;

International Peace Academy; Royal Canadian Military Institute; Canadian High Commission Trade Office in Johannesburg, South Africa (addresses/emails at end)

She:kon/Greetings:

 

We the Women Title Holders of the Kanion’ke:haka are filing an objection to the exploitation of the Crees of Kashechewan by DeBeers, Indian Affairs, Ontario Government and their agents.   This private company and these governments have no legal authority under Canadian, international or Cree law to interfere with the indigenous resources involved.  We advise you to back off immediately!

Although we are not Cree, we have a duty under the Kaianereh’ko:wa, our constitution, to help all our Indigenous brothers and sisters from the east to the west coast of Turtle Island.  We also have a duty as citizens of the world to uphold the equal and inalienable rights of all people and to defend their human rights.

The people of Kashechewan have been deprived of the most basic human rights.  There is presently a crisis of E-coli contamination of the water.  The Canadian government Department of Indian Affairs caused it and refuses to fix it.  This has been going on for 9 years.  At the end of October 2005, half of the 2,000 people were suddenly evacuated to southern Canadian cities all over Ontario.  They were put in cheap hotels and military institutions.  They were deprived of their right to their community, family relations and to have a decent standard of living.  Unlike refugee claimants in Canada, they were given no resources to ensure their survival.  They had to rely on vouchers and handouts which restricted their freedom. They could not provide for themselves and their families in these alien environments.  One family was evacuated to Sault Ste. Marie.  When they wanted to go home, Indian Affairs refused to fund their travel.  They ended up in a Women’s Shelter in Akwesasne and they’re still there.

On the weekend of January 7th and 8th, 2006, there were three deaths in the community.  One young man died of a heart attacked due to stress.  Two were shackled in a building that did not meet the most minimal safety standards.  The building caught fire and they burnt to death.  Both the toxic water and this fire are due to criminal negligence by the colonial government.

We have learned that DeBeers has a deplorable history of mistreating the indigenous people in Africa.  Their mining operations have left the earth scarred and the environment irretrievably damaged.  The original peoples were removed.  Now that the area has been abandoned, they are unable to use it.  Currently they are extending their operations to the Kalahari deserts.  They removed the Bush Men tortured and confined them to small reserves, when a large territory is needed to survive under those conditions.  They stopped them from hunting, gathering and seeking water.  Many have died as a result.  We are certain that if people knew about this they would be alarmed.  This kind of resource theft and human rights abuse is not acceptable in Canada or anywhere else.  Yet the Canadian and Ontario governments seem to be facilitating the De Beers operation against the people of Kashechewan.

DeBeers has claimed the Cree’s diamonds and promised to give Canada and Ontario royalties.  This has placed Canada and Ontario in a position of conflict of interest because both have fiduciary obligations to the Indigenous peoples.  According to Sections 109 and 132 of the British North America Act 1867, the constitution of Canada, the resources are not theirs to give away.  The document known as Treaty 9 is invalid.  It violates the constitution and international law.  Canada does not have a legal treaty with the owners, the Cree People, who are indigenous to the land.

No one can give what they do not have.  Canada and Ontario have no legal right to the resources belonging to the people of Kashechewan.  When the Canadian Minister of Natural Resources went to Europe to give DeBeers permission, he had nothing to give.

DeBeers plans to completely destroy their environment.  DeBeers has seemingly limitless financial and political resources.  They have already started an operation a few miles north of Kashechewan at the sister community of Attawapiskat.  In order to facilitate the exploitation of diamonds and other resources, belonging to the people of Kashechewan, they plan to built a huge open mine pit larger than the size of Toronto.  Accommodations have already been built near Kashechewan with good pure water, though Indian Affairs refuses to provide this necessity to the Crees.  Roads, air strips, rock waste dumps, treatment plants, fields for dewatering and mine water are in the works.   Obviously this operation and the toxins it will produce will displace the Crees or kill them.

DeBeers exploitation of the people of Kashechewan is doubly reprehensible.  First, it involves illegal exploitation of indigenous people.  Second, it is for purposes of providing materials to make weapons in this age when war has become illegal.

This is our formal notification that you are to cease and desist all of your illegal operations on the territory of the Crees of Kashechewan

Attached is a report entitled “Cold as Ice”.  We assure you that we take the human rights abuses you are engaged in very seriously.

By assuming authority over Canada, the Queen has incurred fiduciary obligations to the indigenous inhabitants of Kashechewan.  We call on the Queen to preserve her honor and assert her authority to protect the laws of the Crees of Kashechewan.

 

Onen kiwahi

 

 

Kahentinetha /s/__________________________

 

Katenies /s/ _____________________________

 

Katsitsaionhne /s/ _________________________

 

 

President, De Beers Diamond Mines, Suite 400, 65 Overlea Blvd. Toronto, Ont. M4H 1P1, linda.dorrington@ca.debeersgroup.com

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, %The Privy Council, Buckingham Palace, London, SW1A 1AA, UK press@royalcollection.org.uk;

Prime Minister of Canada, Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, Canadapm@pm.gc.ca

Her Excellency Mme. Jean, Governor General of Canada, Rideau Hall, 1 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Canada info@gg.ca

Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, Legislative Bldg., Queen’s park, Toronto, Ont. M7A 1A1 dalton.mcginty@premier.gov.on.ca

The Honorable Minister of Indian Affairs, 10 Wellington St., Ottawa K1A 0H4

Stephen Harper, Progressive Party of Canada, Ottawa, Canadaharper.s@parl.gc.ca

Jack Layton, New Democratic Party of Canada, 279 Laurier Ave., W., Ottawa Canada K1P 5J9 layton.j@parl.gc.ca

Bloc Quebecois Party, Ottawa, Canada Duceppe.g@parl.gc.ca

UN Office of High Commission for Human Rights, UN Plaza, S.2914, New York 10017

Rudolpho Stavenhagen, International Commission for Human Rights, Box 16, CH-1211, Geneva 20, Switzerland

Coalition Criminal Court, %WFM, 708 3rd Ave., 24th Fl., New York 10017

Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 1200 Vanier Parkway, Ottawa, Ont. K1A 0R2

Bono, DATA, 1400 Eye St., N.W., Suite 1125, Washington DC 20005

Gail Beggs, Aboriginal Affairs, 4th Fl. 720, Bay St., Toronto Ont. M5G 2K1

Hon. Beverley McLachlin, Supreme Court of Canada, 301 Wellington St., Ottawa, Ont. K1A 0J1 613-995-4330

Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, House of Commons, Ottawa, Canada K1A 0A6 onbox@psepc.gc.ca

Assistant Deputy Minister, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Health Canada, Jeanne Mance Building, Tunney’s Pasture, Postal Locator 1921A, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9 fnihb-dgspni@hc-sc.gc.ca

Hon. Bill Graham, Minister of National Defence, Major Gen. George R. Pearkes Bldg., 101 Col. By Drive, Ottawa, Canada K1A 0K2graham.b@gc.ca

U.S. President George Bush, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington DC 20500 president@whitehouse.gov

International Peace Academy, UN Plaza, New York, NY

Royal Canadian Military Institute, 426 University Ave., Toronto ON M5G 1S9 president@rcmi.org
Canadian High Commission Trade Office in Johannesburg, South Africa jobrg@international.gc.ca

 

 

 

cc.  All Media, Pope Benedictum XVI, St. Peter’s Sq., Vatican City, Rome Italy; Canadian Center for Foreign Policy Development,info.ccfpd@dfait/maeci.gc.ca (National Forum on Africa);

 

 

 

 

‘COLD AS ICE’:

De Beers Diamond Mines does not show its ugly face

to Kashechewan Cree

of James Bay in Northern Ontario Canada

 

Report By

Orakwa Indigenous Enterprises

January 2006

 

 

MNN Mohawk Nation News had sent out two communiqués on Kashechewan water crisis.  One described the crisis of E-coli infested water that had infected James Bay community.  Half of the 2,000 people were evacuated to Canadian cities far and wide in the province of Ontario.  The people were placed in hotels and given vouchers.  The other story was about one family who had been evacuated to Sault Ste. Marie and wanted to go home.  Indian Affairs refused to fund their travel.  They ended up in Akwesasne at the Women’s Shelter.  These two stories are reproduced in this report.  The real story is about exploitation of this community by De Beers Diamond Mines.  This report covers the failed attempt by three Mohawks on behalf of Orakwa Indigenous Enterprises to visit the Kashechewan community in northern Ontario in early January 2006.  They wanted to meet the people and get the facts of their victimization by De Beers with the assistance of Indian Affairs Canada and the government of the province of Ontario.

 

 

Orakwa, P.O. Box 991, Kahnawake of Mohawk Territory

(Quebec, Canada) J0L 1B0  kahentinetha2@yahoo.com

 

Table of Contents

 

 

  1. Introduction, 3
  2. PLAN B – REMOVE AND DISPERSE

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE – the Keshachewan Experiment. 3

3.   More to this story than meets the eye, 6

4.   MNN:  LUST FOR DIAMONDS:  INDIAN AFFAIRS AND DE BEERS

“SCROOGE” KASHECHEWAN, 6

5.   Leave for Toronto, 9

6.   Akwesasne:  Trouble at the US-Canada border crossing, 9

7.   Constitutional jurisdiction question, 10

8.   Planning around the kitchen table, 10

9.   Kay, our colleague, 10

10.  African connection:  Kalahari Bush Men

11.  Kirkland Capital of Toronto, 12

12.  Kirkland Capital Website, 13

13.  Background:  Kashechewan situation, 15

14.  Zane Bell, 15

15.  Observation of John P., 18

16.  Chief Leo Friday, 18

17.  TREATY 9, 1905, 19

18.  Arrival in Timmins, 20

19.  Wondering about Rebecca, 21

20.  WBAI Radio New York City

21.  Rebecca arrives in Timmins, 22

22.  What is R.C.M.I.? 23

23.  Rebecca blocks the ice road, 24

24.  Green Peace and the flooding, 24

25.  In the dungeon, 25

26.  Meeting with the Governor General of Canada, 25

27.  Conclusion, 25

 

 

1.  INTRODUCTION

 

My brother, Frank Taiotekane Horn, a lawyer practicing in Cornwall Ontario, called me frantically describing what was happening in Kashechewan.  He had gone there a few times with the traveling court to represent Cree defendants as a lawyer.  He gave me several phone numbers of contacts up there.  I wrote the following story on October 30th, 2005.

 

 

2.  PLAN B – REMOVE AND DISPERSE

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE – the Keshachewan Experiment

 

MNN.  Oct. 30, 2005.  Kashechewan, a remote northern Ontario Cree community of almost 2000 people has become an international scandal over reports of contaminated water.  It’s called a “fly-in” community because there is no road in.  One thousand people have been evacuated because of sicknesses created by contaminated water.

 

Ten years ago Indian Affairs designed a water treatment system where Hollow Creek joins the Albany River which drains into James Bay. James Bay is the southern part of Hudson’s Bay.  This is where Kashechewan is located. The two are fresh water rivers flowing into the salt water bay.  Fort Albany is a little way up the Albany River.

 

As they have done in so many other communities, Indian Affairs forgot about little details like health, safety and clean water.  The Indian Affairs engineer built the water plant 135 meters downstream from a sewage lagoon.  It flows right past the water intake pipe and sewage goes into the drinking water.  He forgot about the tide that comes in and backs up the sewage into the drinking water.  As a result the water pipe delivers deadly E-coli right into everybody’s kitchen tap.

 

Health Canada’s solution?  Based on their expertise and experience, they told the people to just put more and more chlorine in the water, boil it and then drink it.  Almost all have come down with severe skin infections and unknown sicknesses.  Was this one of their weird twisted experiments, or what?  You don’t need to be an Einstein to know what happened.  It’s a disaster!

 

Last year Indian Affairs, which has never hesitated to throw good money after bad, paid $500,000 for an upgrade.   But they forgot to move the intake pipe!  In the last six months Indians Affairs has sent in $250,000 worth of bottled water. To try to fix the system the people tied a rope and a wood plank to hold the water plant together.

 

Lately they have been going to the Albany River and lugging back buckets of water to drink.  Even this water is contaminated.

 

The young people want to revive the ancient custom of taking drinking water upstream before the sewage.  They want to move further inland to higher ground.  Kashechewan is built on a flood plain with a dike all the way around the community to stop the floods that come with the tides.  It was Indian Affairs’ idea that Indians should spend the whole year at a seasonal camp on a flood plain.  I wonder if they used the engineers that built New Orleans as consultants!  The older people want to stay because they’ve become attached to the location.

 

Canada’s been sending aid all over the world.   Now it’s revealed that the water in 70% of Indian communities is a health risk.  It would cost Indian Affairs $1.4 billion to fix all their mistakes.  Has Indian Affairs ever sued an engineering firm for incompetence?  Or is this Plan B of the old genocide project?  Dying race and all that!  Tsk!  Tsk!   Or maybe it’s just a question of giving contracts to political hacks to pay off a few seedy debts, eh!  Everybody is in the habit of blaming the “Injuns” for draining the public purse anyway.  The whole mess is pretty damn shocking!!

 

“Kopy Kat Kanada”.  Indian Affairs sent in the army and put up some tents.   (I’m sure they’d rather go up there than to the Middle East.)  In the meantime, Ontario shuffled 1000 to Cochrane, Sudbury and parts unknown.  The elders are very upset about letting them leave as they may never come back.  They’re getting residential school flashbacks.  Everyone is haunted by horror stories about our youth adrift in the south.  Indian Affairs works constantly at dissolving distinct Indigenous communities.

 

They think they can shove us into a non-native community and we can live like everybody else.  This relocation strategy will dissolve the community.  Relocation has been a disaster every time it’s been tried.    Chief, council and everyone are trying to keep the community together.  They feel it’s urgent to do something now.

 

Kashechewan is inundated with media.  Almost everyone is getting cameras, microphones and reporters in their faces.  It’s the news of the moment.  They’ll all leave and no one will hear about Kashechewan again.

 

It’s another experiment.  Move the Indians away from their original constitutional territory onto another Indigenous nation’s land.  This separates them from their spiritual ties.  Skylnick in her book “A Poison Stronger than Love” proved removals are a big “make work” project for Indian Affairs, who always say, “We’ll make the decisions for them”.  The 1960’s experiment on relocating Indians all had to be reversed in the end.  Some were relocated to Elliot Lake, the Menominees were terminated, the Innu, were relocated to Davis Inlet.  The common thread is that by such removals they lost their land and had to be reintegrated later.  Indian Affairs never lets the people decide.  They don’t intend to do what’s decent and good for the Indians.

 

Here’s another slant.  What’s really going on here?

 

The North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA was the crowning glory of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his negotiator, Simon Riesman.  They gave away Canadian water to the U.S.

 

In NAFTA Canada cannot withhold its water from the United States.  Americans are depleting their fresh water resources and are demanding the right to get Canadian water.  One idea was to divert all the rivers that flow into James Bay into the Great Lakes.  Then send it to the Midwestern U.S. to irrigate land Americans have turned into a parched “dust bowl”.

 

Another plan was to build a dike separating James Bay and Hudson’s Bay.  Then James Bay would be drained into the Hudson’s Bay.  This would be filled up with fresh water from the rivers that flow north from the Canadian Shield.  A huge reservoir would cover the whole area.  This would be rerouted south to the U.S., or pumped into the Great Lakes and piped out.

 

The main U.S. concern is that the Mississippi is no longer viable.  The population in California is over 40 million and it’s dry.  They desperately need water.  Canada has the most, fresh water in the world.  The U.S. wants it.  The Indians are in the way.

 

To carry out this plan, all Indian communities on Hudson’s Bay and James Bay will have to be removed before the area is flooded.  The Indians are basically in the way. They live on the mouths of all the rivers draining into James Bay.  They want the northern indigenous communities to pay for the U.S. environmental catastrophe.

 

On top of all this, the U.S. is going to get Canada to build the structure which has been designed to make sure the U.S. gets all the benefits.  In fact, they already probably have signed documents making it look like the Indians consented.  What they’ve forgotten is Sections 109 and 132 of the Canadian Constitution, stipulates, that the Indians have prior interests that supercede that of Canada and its provinces.  They have to deal with us first.  Hee haw!

 

There are 100 reserves that they say have contaminated waters.  The Indians will all have to be removed.  This experiment with the Kashechewan community is only the beginning.

 

Kahentinetha Horn

MNN Mohawk Nation News

Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com

 

I asked for comments and assistance and gave the following telephone numbers for people who wanted to corroborate my communiqué:  John Wyne – 705-275-4377;  Leo Friday –  705-275-4664; Norman Wesley – 705-275-4109, 705-275-4519; Chief – 750-275-4440.  “Zane Bell” – 705-286-6118 emailzany60@hotmail.com; Ellis Kirkland – www.kirklandcapital.com

 

3.  More to this story than meets the eye

In the meantime, Zane Bell had told Rebecca Friday, the vice-chief of Kashechewan, to call me.  She had not seen the story that I had sent out as Zane had not sent it to her.

 

After talking with her about how bad the situation was and that there was no help in sight, I wrote another story on December 23rd2005.  I read it to her over the phone and then sent it out.

 

 

4.  LUST FOR DIAMONDS:  INDIAN AFFAIRS AND DE BEERS

“SCROOGE” KASHECHEWAN

 

MNN.  Dec. 23, 2005.  “Quit ‘Scrooging’ them around!”  This is what Indian Affairs and De Beers are doing to members of the Cree Nation of Kashechewan.  Remember that isolated northern Ontario community on James Bay?  That’s where the engineering geniuses at Indian Affairs designed and built a multi-million dollar water treatment plant that spewed filth and sewage into tap waters for nine years, starting almost from the day it was built.  “Just put more chlorine in it and boil it”, said Health Canada, when the people said they wanted clean water.  They’ve been sick and getting sicker.

 

In early November 1,000 people, that’s 50% of the community, were evacuated to faraway cities like Ottawa, Sault Ste. Marie, Peterborough, Timmins, Cochrane, Sudbury and Cornwall to save their lives.  Since then they have been put up in hotels and given vouchers for necessities, but little cash.  This has lead to lonesomeness and other desperate situations.  Families have been broken up.  They don’t have money to use phones to keep in touch with each other.

 

About a week ago, Indian Affairs decided to move a family of six, the husband and wife and four children ages 14, 13, 12 and 8, from Sault Ste. Marie to the Akwesasne Women’s Crisis Shelter near Cornwall.

 

Apparently the couple went drinking one time.  Who wouldn’t?  The Children’s Aid Society got involved.   Without consulting them, they spirited them to Cornwall.  No rooms at any inns were found there because of Christmas bookings.  They were taken to the crisis center.  “There were high fences and high tech gates.  It was like a prison with guards.  Our people do have to get help for their problems.  They were not told anything”, said the vice-chief of Kashechewan.  “We were initially told that Cornwall could take 1,000 people.  But there wasn’t even room for one family”.

 

The family was not told where they were being taken.  They were as good as kidnapped except there were no black hoods put over their heads.  They were never told where they would end up.

 

The family can’t go home.  Their trailer has been gutted and is getting fixed.  The water is still no good.  It has to be boiled.  In the infamous Walkerton water crisis, all the pipes were replaced.  In Kashechewan they are only going to sanitize them.  They say the water is frozen and can’t be drained.  So how are they going to sanitize them?  This situation gets worse.  Indian Affairs won’t tell the people anything.  The water is okay only for bathing and laundry if you’re not fussy about your whites.  Ontario Water Works from Red Lake Ontario are up there maintaining and monitoring the water treatment manually.  They have to stay there so nothing breaks down.

 

Indian Affairs won’t fix it because they say funding was accidentally misused.  If the community gives it back, the plant will be fixed.  It’s impossible.  There’s no economy up there.  There are no jobs and no income.  How can they pay back $120,000?  For this they are going to poison and kill everybody!  Indian Affairs keeps cutting their budget all the time.  No one has made Indian Affairs accountable for their miserable engineering job.  For three years they have been asking Indian Affairs for funds to give special training to the native people to be certified to run the plant.  No way!  This would cut out Indian Affairs jobs!  Guess what?  The request has never been approved.

 

The family in Akwesasne would like to go Sudbury to meet up with other members of their family.  Indian Affairs refuses because of the crisis they are in.  The crisis who is in, the family or Indian Affairs?  When you feel so powerless, what are you going to do?  Indian Affairs made a unilateral decision on their behavior.  Said the vice-chief, “You guys, you think you can do this to my people?  If you play dirty, we’ll play dirty too.  Your treatment is totally inhuman and we’re going to tell everybody about it”.

 

Two mysterious strangers, a man and a woman, strode onto the scene.  No one knows how they got there or who paid their way.  When the people asked what they were up to, they said they were working behind the scenes to help them.  The DART team did get a water purifier up there to purify and bottle water from the river.  The woman made up a binder outlining their dire situation to get the help they needed.  She got Band Council Resolutions to send to government ministers and to the Minister of Defense Bill Graham.  The Canadian public was told that everything was hunky dory.  But no one responded to their requests.  So they phoned and were told they never got the binders.

 

For three years Indian Affairs was working on an environmental assessment of the area.  They consulted the people a few times for half a day with not more than 10 to 15 people.  Indian Affairs approved the findings.  They gave DeBeers Diamond Mine the right go ahead and start mining.  The people did not understand the report and what DeBeers’ interest was.   Indian Affairs did not translate the complicated material into Cree syllabic.  It is a conflict of interest for Indian Affairs whose fiduciary duty is to protect the people and at the same time try to do business off their backs.  The Province of Ontario and the federal government are going to get a portion of the royalties from the mine.  The Indians, who own the land, get nothing.  They may end up losing their lives because their environment has been damaged so badly.

 

These two strangers and some community members are on a negotiation team.  Guess whose funding this negotiation team?  DeBeers!  DeBeers gave the team $114,000 to negotiate with them!  What do you think of that?  The woman attends meetings and speaks on behalf of the Kashechewan people without any people from the community present.

 

This woman is setting up a meeting in Toronto between the Kashechewan people, DeBeers and Indian Affairs.  She even found a lawyer for them from Calgary, Jim HopeRoss.  Is this starting to make sense?  How do things look when you connect the dots?  Who is helping the people of Kashechewan?  They don’t have money.  Indian Affairs refuses to help these people.  They throw them at the mercy of De Beers who pays for the negotiations which is attended by Indian Affairs.

 

She did make a budget for the vice chief to visit the people who had been deported to the various cities.  She got $50,000 to do this.

 

She also got Jim HopeRoss from Calgary as a lawyer for them.  He does aboriginal land claims, oil fields and other resource fights for people from those areas.  He told them they had a “win-win” case because they had not been told what Indian Affairs had done before DeBeers arrived on the scene and made their plans with them.  Perhaps they should consult the remaining Kalahari Bushmen in Africa as to the tactics DeBeers used to remove them off their lands in order to mine for diamonds – murder, starvation, loss of hunting and gathering rights and deprivation of water, to name a few.

 

This negotiation meeting at the Delta Hotel on January 3, 2006, at 9:00 am is of great public interest.  Three parties are involved.  Who do the diamonds belong to?  Are they a common gift to humanity, or are they private property?  Can they be claimed by De Beers, a private company?  By Canada, a colonial state?  Or by the people of Kashechewan, the original occupants of the territory who never surrendered their land?

 

What do you think?  Isn’t this an important public question?  Remember that DeBeers supplies the U.S. military through their South African mines 60% of the diamonds for their lethal armaments such as bunker buster bombs and diamond dust in the metal to make the tanks shatter proof.  Diamond mining contaminates the water table because they water blast the soil to erode it.  The water contains chemicals, salts and other environmental hazards.  The mind goes down thousands of feet.  One in Africa goes 4 miles deep.

 

Kahentinetha Horn

MNN Mohawk Nation News

Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com

 

I gave the contact number, Kashechewan 705-275-1043.

 

 

Rebecca invited me to go to the forthcoming negotiation meeting in Toronto on January 3rd, 2006.  I told her that I could not go alone.  We Mohawks traditionally attend meetings as a threesome so that each would give their own insights in the debriefing afterwards.  We agreed that we would join them as observers.

 

5.  Leave for Toronto

 

On Tuesday January 3rd Aroniakon, Katenies and I were supposed to drive to Toronto to stay with Kay Murphy and join the Crees at 7:00 am the next morning.  They were to meet with DeBeers Diamonds, Indian Affairs, Ellis Kirkland, Zane Bell and a lawyers invited by Ellis to negotiate.  (We were concerned about the lawyer.  Our experience is that the lawyer would work for a percentage of the final settlement, usually around 30%.)

 

6.  Akwesasne:  Trouble at the US-Canada border crossing

 

Aroniakon arrived at my house in Kahnawake on Tuesday morning.  We had not heard from Rebecca.  Aroniakon, without hesitation, said, “Let’s go anyway”.  Within a few minutes, we jumped into my car and left for Akwesasne.  We went by Highway 138, which is the back road that leads to the US-Canada border crossing at Dundee near Huntington Quebec.

 

About 2:00 pm we arrived at Dundee crossing.  The female U.S. customs officer on duty knew me from my five years of crossing daily to go to work at the Akwesasne casino.  Said the female customs officer, “Where y’all going?’  We said to Akwesasne.  She said, “Please pull over”.  We underwent a thorough one-hour inspection of ourselves and our vehicle.  After filling out forms and being asked some stupid questions, Aroniakon asked why we were being scrutinized.  She said, “It’s a random inspection”.  We accepted that.  Finally, we were given back our car and keys and went on our way.  We were only about 10 minutes from Katenies’s house.

 

“Was that a routine check, or what?” I asked Aroniakon as we drove into.  Akwesasne.  This Mohawk community is right on the Canada-US border at the intersection of New York State, Ontario and Quebec.  It’s a jurisdictional nightmare.  Katenies lives in the Quebec portion.  But you have to go through New York State to get to her place.

 

We finally pulled up to Katenies’s house.  She had visitors.  They were all talking about the Akwesasne situation, commenting on various issues, such as the border crossing harassment of Mohawks.  They cross daily from one part of their community to the other, sometimes ten times a day.  We had just gone through this harassment ourselves.

 

 

 

 

10.  Constitutional jurisdiction question

 

Aroniakon, Katenies, I, and others had just spent a year on the “constitutional jurisdiction” issue.  We successfully raised the question of whether New York State had gotten jurisdiction over our lands since we never gave it to them.  So how could they deal with the New York State Tribal council they had set up?  Their own entity was ready to sign a deal with them to give away our 9 million acres of land in exchange for a casino.  Perplexing, isn’t it?

 

As a result of our work, we had toppled four of the fraudulent land claims, St. Regis Akwesasne, Onondaga, Oneida and Cayuga.  New York State and their tribal government in Akwesasne are trying again to resurrect their ploys to settle these phony New York State claims to our lands and to build the casino for the tribal council.

 

11.  Planning around the kitchen table

 

We sat around Katenies’s kitchen-dining room in St. Regis Village on the territory.  We were wondering what to do.  Should Angus and I go home or should we go ahead?    Finally Rebecca Friday called me on my cell phone.  She told us she had cancelled the meeting in Toronto that they were not going down there.

 

What to do.  What to do.  She asked us if we could come to Kashechewan?  We all said, “Yes”.  She would have Air Canada plane tickets at Toronto airport for the next morning at 8:40 am. to fly to Timmins.  From there we would catch a CreeBec flight to Kashechewan.

 

Katenies quickly rummaged around her house for heavy duty winter clothes, long johns, extra socks, hats, gloves and coats.  We picked up some money to help defray gas, parking and other costs from one of our supporters on the territory.  We still needed a few things like underwear and socks.  We were only supposed to be away one day in Toronto.  So we planned to cross the bridge from the New York State portion of Akwesasne over to the Canadian city of Cornwall and visit the Wal Mart there.  From there we could catch the Trans Canada highway “401” to Toronto.  It was a 5 hour drive.

 

9.  Kay, our colleague

 

Rebecca had warned us it was warm in Kashechewan, only 40 below 0.  We arrived in Toronto at 9:30 pm.  We actually made good time.  We stayed with an old friend, Kay Murphy.  She was a longtime volunteer in the office of the Canadian Alliance in Solidarity with the Native People CASNP for over 20 years.  Her small apartment has always been open to Indians.  It’s in a high rise in the center of Toronto.

 

About two weeks earlier she had come with me and my three year old granddaughter to meet Ellis Kirkland of Kirkland Capital.  Ellis had shown up in Kashechewan last August 2005 to “help” the people.  She worked closely with Zane Bell, an environmental biologist, who had worked previously at Indian Affairs.  He had shown up in Kashechewan about one and half years ago as a volunteer??

 

10.  African connection:  Kalahari Bush Men

On the drive to Toronto the three of us, me, Angus and Katenies, talked about what we knew about Kashechewan and DeBeers.  I had found a book expose on them on the internet which revealed a lot of hanky panky on the part of De Beers in Africa.

 

On the internet site www.khoisan.org I found out more about DeBeers and their dealings with the Kalahari Bushmen in South Africa.  To say the least I found them treacherous and vicious with these people.  They had them removed onto reserves and then had them, deprived of hunting and gathering rights and water.  So they started to die off.  There had been an October 2003 ruling.  The constitutional court ruled that the Nama People (Richtersvelders) have a right to ownership of their land and its minerals, despite the fact that they have never been given title deeds and the government had always assumed that they had no rights to it.  They were affected when diamonds were discovered there.  Botswana and DeBeers were worried.  “The ruling that Indigenous People who own land under their own unwritten law have the right to have this upheld inspite of other legal systems which are subsequently imposed by the state had interesting implications for Botswana.  If the South African ruling is applied then the Bushmen own their ancestral land as well as the mineral rights underneath their territory.”

 

This can be looked up – Case CCT 19/03 Alexor Ltd. (1st Appellant) and the government of South Africa (2nd Appelland) vs. the Richtersvelder community and others.

 

On January 1, 2006 I had sent out an MNN Mohawk Nation News communiqué which apparently went all over the world which I titled “Lust for Diamonds.  Indian Affairs and De Beers “Scrooge” Kashechewan.  I received an email from AfricaNode to re-send it to them, which I did.  Then I asked them,

 

“Please tell me more about the tactics of De Beers.  The Cree People of Kashechewan are having a meeting with them and the Canadian governments on January 3 in Toronto.  We need to be prepared.  What do you think De Beers and the government are going to do?  Also, a woman has come on the scene suddenly.  She is saying she advocates for them.  We are not sure who this person is.  Has this happened with other Indigenous people where De Beers is trying to take over the land for mining?  We would appreciate any help you can give us about how these big multi national corporations overcome Indigenous people in other parts of the world.  Thank you”.

 

Kahentinetha

 

Then on January 2nd, Ntailan Lolkoki sent me another email, “… and maybe you can have a look on www.khoisanpeoples.org – for similarities.

DEAR TO ALL

 

THE SAN PEOPLE OF SOUTH AFRICA HAS NOTHING IN COMMON WITH DE BEERS.DE BEERS MAKES MILLIONS OF RANDS HERE IN RSA,BUT WE AS SOUTH AFRICANS DO NOT.THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THE WORLD MUST NEVER ALLOWED DE BEERS IN THIER COUNTRIES,BECAUSE LOOK AT HOW THEY EXPLOITED OUR COUNTRY(RSA).HERE RSA WE ARE SO USED TO SELL -OUTS,THATS WHY WE TRY ESTABLISH A TRADITIONAL IN EVERY PROVINCE IN THIS COUNTRY.IN SUCH MANNER THERE WILL BE A BOND BETWEEN FELLOW COUNTRY MEN.WE FEEL THAT YOU MUST BE AWARE OF THE DE BEERS.

 

DE BEERS DID A VERY BAD THING AND TODAY WE HAVE NOTHING.ON EVERY SITE WHERE THERE WERE MINES WITH VALUABLE MINERALS THEY SOLLED IT.THATS WHY WE URGE YOU TO BOICOT DE BEERS.WE FULLY SUPPORT THESAN PEOPLE OF BOTSWANA.

 

KEEP ON WITH THE GOOD WORK

ECOTERRA Intl.
Nairobi Node

 

This certainly gave us food for thought and a lot to worry about.

 

De Beers’ plans for Kashechewan diamonds

 

DeBeers plans to have at Kashechewan an open mine pit larger than the size of Toronto, plus clinics, change house, shops, offices, accommodations unit (which has already been build near Kashechewan with good pure water), interconnecting access, haul roads, air strips, security, freight areas, ore process plant, associated workshops, rock waste dumps, primary crushers, ramps, treatment plants, thickening plant, earth moving vehicle workshops, weather road, well field for pit dewatering and mine water.

 

DeBeers diamonds are used for industrial and military use to overthrow legitimate governments.  They are needed for airplane engines, torpedoes, warheads, tanks, artillery, weapons of war of all kinds, bearings for radar and electronics or war, stabilizers, gyroscopes, guidance systems for subs and planes, converting civilian industries into war machines.  De Beer controls the world supply of diamonds.  In the 1940’s the US needed 6.5 million carats of diamonds.  De Beers refused to sell it to them.  They had members on the UK War Production Board.  De Beers was selling diamonds to both sides, to Hitler and the allies.

 

Kimberly Process.

 

 

11.  Kirkland Capital of Toronto

 

Kirkland Capital seems to be a home office company in ritzy Rosedale in Toronto headed by Ellis Danjier Galea Kirkland.  On her extensive and fancy website she purports to be an advisor in establishing international government development strategies, free trade policies and negotiations, international finance, commerce and constitutions, management, trade and technology.

 

Ellis seems to have everything but modesty.   She is originally from Malta, attended schools here and at Harvard, which she was quick to tell me.  I went to Harvard too for a semester on Early Childhood Education, which she probably wouldn’t care to know.

 

My granddaughter and I went to Toronto on November 24th 2005 to visit my friend Kay.  The following morning I phoned Zane Bell, who lives in Peterborough, and tried to set up a meeting with him.  Thirty seconds after we hung up the phone, Ellis Kirkland called and asked me out for lunch, “I’ll come and pick you up”.  She never showed and she never called.  Later that day at 4:30 she called again and said she would pick us up at 5:30 and take us out for dinner at the Mandarin.  At 6:00 we put on our coats and left.  After had finished our dinner, she showed up at 7:30.

 

She never asked me anything about myself.  She’s dark, looks Italian.  Malta is a small island off Sicily.  Malta which has been involved in banking and shady money deals since the time of the crusades.  She did most of the talking about herself and never answered any of our questions.   She then stunned us when she said, “I’ve been working for a while on a project with elder Andrew Maracle”.

 

Kay and I were stunned.  Kay said, “We know Andrew very well.  How old was this Andrew Maracle you’ve been working with?  Is he from Tyendinaga?”  (This is another Mohawk community near Belleville and Andrew Maracle was a good friend of both Kay and I).

 

Ellis answered, “He was young”.

 

Kay said, “Andrew Maracle died about ten years ago at the age of 84!”

 

Ellis suddenly changed the subject and refused to answer any questions about her involvement with this dead man.  She did say that she had been very sick and that Indian medicines had cured her.  This is why she wants to help the Indians.  She did not tell us what the sickness was.

12.  Kirkland Capital Website

 

On her website there are no pictures or biographies of those she supposedly works with on her extensive global experience in building cities and governmental infrastructures.  She was a NAFTA North American Free Trade National co-ordinator and representative under ‘architecture and a co-signer on June 25, 1994.  She was on the Tri-national committee on architecture for NAFTA, for who?  Was it for me and you?  She was on the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.  She was on the Council of Ontario Association of Architects from 91 to 96 and president from 93 to 94.  Her license is #4-185.

 

On her website there are dozens of pictures of her numerous certificates of memberships and accreditations to such organizations as the US National Council of Architectural Registration Board.  She was on the Nevada State Board of Architecture of Interior Design and Residential Design, June 26, 1997.

 

Let’s say at this point, my skepticism about her was being confirmed.  Her website under “think tank” has 726 pictures of the Kashechewan community.  On January 2nd I picked up the phone at my home and called Ellis Kirkland in Toronto.   It rang once and she answered it.

 

“It’s Kahentinetha Horn here.  May I ask you some questions?”

 

She said, “Of course”.

 

First she apologized about the discomfort she created at that meeting on November 25th in Toronto.  “I was tired and had been in some intense meetings”.

 

I calmly asked her about her part in the NAFTA agreement, which, “As you know, the Indians in the Western Hemisphere oppose”.

 

“Oh, I was only on the architecture negotiations.  Americans have huge firms and they overwhelm us.  Now we can bid on American work on an equal basis, have access to their markets and monitor their behavior in Canada”.  She confirmed she knew that it was detrimental to the Indians and that there had been protests over it.  As she always does when the going gets tough, she quickly changed the subject and did not answer any more questions.  I did not tell her that we were invited to sit in on the meeting with Kashechewan in Toronto on January 3rd.  She had set it up with De Beers, Indian Affairs and a lawyer, Jim RossHope of Calgary, she was bringing in.

 

“Who is advocating for the Crees?” I asked.

 

“I am”, she said.  Then I asked how much she knew of the constitutional jurisdiction question.  Nothing!  So how could she negotiate on their behalf?  She also mentioned that she heard that the Mohawks had aboriginal title to the lands from the East Coast to West Coast of Canada.  She has no legal training and the people of Kashechewan have not been given access to any lawyers.  They have no internet access.  No cell phone.  The majority don’t speak English or French.

 

I verified that the Kaienereh’ko:wa, Great Law of Peace, our constitution, covered all of Turtle Island.  I gave her a brief explanation about it.  “We have a different way of relating to the settlers”, I told her.

 

“Yes”, she said, “I am well aware of the Mohawks.”  It sounded negative to me.  It seemed like Ellis didn’t want to hear anymore or her mind was somewhere else.  Suddenly she said, “I have to go now because I have a meeting in half an hour.  I have to read something before that”.  Then she excused herself and hung up the phone.

 

13.  Background:  Kashechewan situation

 

The project started 20 years ago.  Diamonds had been discovered.  Canada gave the claim to the diamonds to DeBeers.  It wasn’t theirs to give.  They did not have a legal treaty with these owners, the Cree Nation who are indigenous to the land.  Five years ago the Minister of Natural Resources Canada went to Europe to give permission to DeBeers to start the development program to begin the mining.  The first problem was that Indians lived on this land.  From De Beer’s experience with the Kalahari Bushmen, they decided to find a way to remove the Indigenous People.  They needed the help of those evil monsters, Indian Affairs.  The royalties from the diamond mines go to Indian Affairs and to the Ontario government, none to the Indians.

 

14.  Zane Bell

 

DeBeers had a contact in Canada, Ellis Kirkland and Zane Bell.  Zane had worked for Indian Affairs.  He was an ‘environmental biologist’, who looked at rocks with a member of Kashechewan.  He is tall, blue eyed with a pony tail of very light hair.  He says he’s part Indian – Mohawk, Penobscot, MicMac, and some other nation.  His wife is also researching her Indian background, which is Ojibway, and several other nations.  Quite a mixture, but he still acts like a white man.  When I talked to Rebecca Friday of Kashechewan, I said to her, “Deep in your mind and heart, is this man an Indian?”

 

She replied, “He’s a white man”.

 

Zane worked for Indian Affairs for a year and a half and suddenly resigned and went to work for Ellis.  We were thinking, “Somehow someone got a “finder’s fee” to deliver the Crees to DeBeers.  Could it be Ellis or Zane?”  A finder’s fee is money given to someone in the community like Jim Ransom or Lorraine White of Akwesasne to help the outside interests or corporation’s project to come into existence on the territory.  The finder’s fee-er’s job is to make it happen.  So we were wondering, “Who is the “point man” here for De Beers?”  The secret finder’s fee is usually given to a band chief or band manager or someone who has authority or influence in the community and is in a position to sell the people out.  We weren’t sure who it was, but we kept our eyes open.

 

Zane knows the area because he’s been going to Kashechewan as a volunteer for a year and half!  Hey!  This costs money!  How can he volunteer to go up there?  It’s isolated.  There is no road.  The only way to get there is to fly or drive on the ice roads in the winter.  Airfare costs $400 from Toronto to Timmins return and $900 from Timmins to Kashechewan return.  He doesn’t pay for this.  “Who does?” we wondered.

 

We got curious about Zane.  After I sent out that article “Lust for Diamonds”, on December 28, 2005, he sent the following email.

 

“Good article:  It should stir up some response.  I appreciate your talking to Rebecca, you did get her a little confused but she is learning.

”You are quite right about Indian Affairs.  Doug Forbes, the previous Regional Director General of Ontario was the main person sent out to destroy the relationship of the three Cree communities by directing all the negotiating funds only to Attawapiskat (north of Kashechewan) and the other
communities got no funding.  The community had to get money from De Beers
just to talk to De Beers.  Indian Affairs has squeezed the community over the last 5 years allowing them to go into debt and making sure they did not have funds
to pay the staff.  So the band administrator spent money for other things on
staff pay roll.

”Indian Affairs allows the hiring of co-managers, but makes sure they can’t do the job (such as Nabil B.)  (As a general principle, it seems the less people do the more they get paid when they work for the Canadian governments).  Financial reports are never submitted on time so the spiral continues so they are over 14 million in debt.

”This is the reason I left Indian Affairs after 1.5 years to assist them.  (The question still is, who paid?)

They have absolutely no support system.  Even the Muskegowuk Tribal Council
which replaced the local Indian Affairs Moosonee Field office and the NAN Nishinabi Aski Tribal Council do not help the local communities.  They drain funding from the bands to support themselves and take directions from Indian Affairs who mostly funds the two tribal councils.

(On the plane from Timmons to Toronto Katenies picked up some magazines such as Wawatay News.  Almost every other page had a smiling picture of Stan Beardy, the point man on this Council for Indian Affairs.  It was getting annoying to keep looking at this phony smiling Jack).   Back to Zane’s email.

”This has led the council of Kashechewan to rely on an Iranian consultant (Nabil) to help them.  He has done some stuff that I will not say in paper, good or
bad?

”So what is left for the community to do?

”I have some other stuff you might want to hear.  Hope you had a nice holiday

Wabiska Mukwa

 

I left him five messages to call me and he never did.  Then shortly after the first email, another arrived.

 

“By the way, the $114,000 was the funding De Beers started to pay for the
community based negotiation team consisting of Gary Wesley and 8 other
community members, the ex-Chief Andrew Reuben, the current Deputy Chiefs
elder brother and myself as a volunteer.  That negotiation team disbanded due to mishandling of the money by the community members.  The negotiation team was replaced in May.  The Chief and Council asked me to help them.  So I introduced them to Ellis Kirkland as she knows how to deal with companies like De Beer’s.  (How’s that?)

”The information on De Beers and the Bushmen I introduced to the
community at a community meeting in April and in May. The articles are all
over Kashechewan.  The people can’t assimilate this information as yet.  But it’s in their minds.

”De Beers refused to advance anymore money to the Band negotiation team until
Ellis forced them to do so due to her ability to make press against them.

”De Beer’s is now partially owned by the Botswana Government.  They came to
Canada knowing that Canada already put the natives in concentration camps
and they think they can control the natives like they did in Africa.

”Kashechewan controls the access to northern Ontario.

”Indian Affairs split the reserve into two bands on one reserve in the 50′s when they where looking for the resources in the north, including the big water issue.

”When the De Beer’s thing all started, although they have been in the north
for over 20 years, the president of De Beer’s had a meeting in England with
the Minister for Natural Resources Canada and the next week NRCAN was the
lead agency for the federal CEAA process.

”NRCAN was pushing speed and dealing with Attawapiskat only.

”It was I and my associate Cheyanne Loan a Cree from Quebec that forced the
federal regulators to deal with the other communities.  But that is about
all we could accomplish to help the bands deal with the Feds and De Beers.

”It slowed down the activities so far but the province never negotiated with
the bands and the province gave away the land over 45 square miles to De
Beers.  No compensation to the communities except Attawapiskat who received
about 20 million which is one day’s profit of the mine and the mine will run
for over 20 years on the first strike.  There are over 20 other potential
diamond producing zones De Beers has located and claimed.

Wabiska Mukwa

 

On the same day I sent the following email.

 

“So the negotiation team has to be to the liking of De Beers or they won’t talk to them?  Colonialism is alive and well.

 

“Just what did Ellis do to persuade DeBeers to fork over the funds?  Did she have connections or did she work for them sometime in the past?  That would be the only way she could have some persuasive powers with them.  What did she offer to them so they would pass on the money?  Did it go to her or to the People of Kashechewan?  What is her relationship to De Beers?  Who are her personal contacts within DeBeers who can do favors for her while they work things out the way they want?

 

So what is it?  What is the CEAA process? Did you say that DeBeers paid those they wanted to talk to?  Who did they pay – you, Ellis and whoever you selected?  Why has the community been left dangling by Indian Affairs who are the fiduciaries?  This is a human rights issue which Canada has agreed to uphold.  What did that Iranian do and how did he come on the scene?  It seems strange that he would appear from nowhere.  Are you sure DeBeers didn’t send him in there ahead to massage them for the onslaught that followed?

 

I asked again for him to call me but he never did.

 

15.  Observation of John P.

 

Then John P., a Mohawk friend in Toronto sent me this on January 1, 2006.  “Sis, you are stating pretty much the same thing I’ve have been telling people since the water crisis came to light down here. When you take a look at when they first discovered that there may be diamonds up there, the length of time it takes to do the geological surveys, analyze the data, then try to do a proper survey in SWAMPLANDS, then factor in just when the water treatment plant was built, it starts to look pretty shady, At least to this Indian, it does.  But then again, it’s only some savage, backwoods, heathen, pagan Indians.  Who’s going to miss or care about them?  Let’s get all the riches and dollars we can from Mother Earth!!!”

 

So it looks like we aren’t the only suspicious people.

 

16.  Chief Leo Friday

 

Leo Friday is the Chief of Kashechewan band council.  Rebecca is the vice-chief.  Rebecca said that Leo has agreed to remove the people and help De Beers.

 

Ellis came up with the idea to remove the people.  She flew up there in August in a De Beers jet.  Indian Affairs had moved the Kashechewan people onto a flood plain on the River draining into James Bay.  Walls, as high as 20 feet, have been built all around the territory to keep the water out.  It’s like the levees around New Orleans.  It is a swamp land which is very damp and causes all kinds of problems in their houses such as moss, fungus and other toxic conditions.  It’s making them sick.

 

Indian Affairs doesn’t want to fix the water treatment plant because that would make the place viable.  The houses could be fixed up.  The idea seems to be to either move the people or to not bring them back to the community.

 

On January 3, 2006, Leo was supposed to bring the people to Toronto be assisted by Ellis to understand the agreement.  Then at the end of the day De Beers was supposed to come in and meet with them and maybe finalize the agreement.  Rebecca and the people held a meeting back in Kashechewan and refused to go to Toronto.  They told Ellis, “If De Beers wants to speak to us, they’ll have to come here”.  Rebecca said that Ellis was pretty upset over this turn of events and wanted to know what brought it about.  Leo and Ellis had set up this meeting.

 

17.  TREATY 9, 1905

 

Canada and Ontario have no rights to anything on this land without a treaty.  Treaty 9 is fraudulent.  Indian Affairs in 1905 selected the “Head Men” to sign this treaty.  The Indian Act council was already in place before the treaty.  This violates the constitution of Canada, Section 132 which stipulates that a treaty of surrender of land and sovereignty must be made before the Indian Act or the band council can be put in place in a community.  The head men were selected by Indian Affairs.  So the signatories were Indian Affairs nominees who were designated to sign away all the land.  This is illegal and fraudulent according to constitution of Canada, the B.N.A. Act 1867, international law and the rule of law.

 

In Treaty 9, Kashechewan Crees were coerced into opening up their land for “settlement, immigration, trade, travel, mining, lumbering,” etc.   The Crees were informed they had agreed to “cede, release, surrender and yield to the colonial governments of Canada and Ontario their rights, titles and privileges forever.”  This violates Section 109 of the constitution in which Indigenous people have “prior interests” in all lands and resources.  These rights supersede that of Canada and its provinces.  The settlers allowed the original people the right to pursue hunting, trapping and fishing on their sovereign territory.  Indian Affairs promised to set aside reserves of one mile per family.  They will allow them to sell their reserve.  Their reserve can also be expropriated for public works, railways and roads, etc. with compensation for any improvements if the government should so decide.

 

The Cree received $8 each at the signing and $4 every year for each family since then.  What a bargain for the thieves!  We wondered, “Don’t all the other territories involved in Treaty 9 have to agree if there is any change to the treaty?”  This agreement is outright genocide and violates the International Convention on the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.  Canada signed onto this!  The Indian Affairs signer was none other than that cad Duncan Campbell Scott.

 

 

18.  Arrival in Timmins

 

We arrived in Timmins at 9:30 am on Wednesday, January 4th, 2006, to catch our 10:40 flight to Kashechewan.  Rebecca had told us to go directly to the CreeBec Airlines ticket counter for our tickets for the remainder of our jaunt.  Leo was supposed to pay for this part of our journey from Timmins to Kashechewan and return to Timmins.  There were reservations but our tickets had not been paid.  I called the band office in Kashechewan and no one answered.  After calling constantly about 20 times, a receptionist answered and kept putting me on hold.  Music blared at me while a radio host spoke in Cree.  She would not come back to the phone.  I would hang up and call her right back.  Finally, I told her, “Stay on the phone.  I want to speak to Leo”.

 

“He’s on the phone”, she said.  Finally CreeBec who had been holding up the plane for us, had to close the gates and take off.

 

Finally in the afternoon Rebecca called my cell and told me how distraught she was.  She had personally paid for our tickets from Toronto to Timmins on her own credit card.  She told us, “Go to a hotel and wait for me.  I need to speak to you.  It is urgent.  Please stay”.  She suggested the Bon Aire Hotel in Timmins.  “I’ll arrive tomorrow, Thursday, at 6:00 pm and meet you at your hotel room.  I’ll call you five minutes before I get on the plane”.  This was beginning to sound clandestine, like a mystery novel.

 

We found our way to Bon Aire.  It’s a busy motel.  We got two rooms, one for me and Katenies and one for Aroniakon.  It was getting pretty cold.  The motel was full of Indigenous people who came and went, giving us glances acknowledging us as their brother and sisters.  One time I was walking back to my room and came upon two tall Cree girls in warm parkas, one red and one blue.  They looked exactly alike.  They were standing outside their rooms smoking.  “Where you girls from?” I asked.

 

“We’re from Moose Factory”, they answered.  This community is south of Kashechewan on lower east side of James Bay.  I had visited this place twice, once in the winter and once in the summer.  I knew people there.  It is a hard place to get to.  We had to drive to Cochrance, took the Polar Bear Express for six hours through wilderness, and finally got there.  It was exciting.  It is so far north, very few non natives, and then suddenly you arrive in Moosonee, the sister community of Moose Factory.  It full of life, people, skidoos, trucks and cars.  All the businesses and people are open and friendly.

 

“Hey, my former son-in-law, Victory Linklater, is from there.

 

“He’s our cousin”, said the twin in the dark coat.

 

“Can you tell him that his Mohawk mother is asking about him for me?” I asked.

 

They laughed, “We sure will.  Nice meeting you”.  They gave me his phone number and told me he was working for CreeBec Airlines at the airport in Moose Factory.  I finished walking back to my room.

 

There were about 100 rooms set out in a long row which formed an “L” at the far end.  We stayed at one of the far end rooms.  It was nice and clean.  We freshened up and went to nearby Mike’s to eat.  We kept talking about what could possibly have happened to our planned trip.

 

19.  Wondering about Rebecca

 

“Let’s just hope she gets on that flight tomorrow”, said Aroniakon.  He was worried about her.

 

“She wants to tape our meeting so she can play it all back to her people back home”, I said.  We agreed it was a good idea.

 

We wondered about Leo’s relationships with De Beers, Ellis and Indian Affairs.  Katenies commented, “They know about us and kept us from going there.  That’s what I think. But why?”

 

We then went back to our room and got on Aroniakon’s computer which we hooked up to the motel internet.  We did some research on De Beers and Ellis’ website.  We answered our emails.  Many responses had come in on the MNN communiqué, “Lust for Diamonds”, offering help and advice.  We were encouraged by this.

 

20.  WBAI Radio New York City

 

The next morning, Thursday, we listened to the Indigenous program on WBAI in New York City on the computer.  I had been invited to speak on the Kanehsatake issue.  But I had emailed them that I could not.  I was away in the great white north.  So they set up Pearl Bonspille and John Harding of Kanehsatake for the interview.  We are writing a book on their adventures called, “Who’s Sorry Now?  The Good, the Bad and the Unapologetic Mohawks of Kanehsatake”.  It is a satirical review of how Indian Affairs, the Quebec government and their point man, James Gabriel, were trying to remove these Mohawks off their land to mine the niobium they are living over.  Niobium is a mineral that makes steel and other metals stronger and lighter, for armaments and space exploration.  For twenty years the Mohawks have constantly resisted these attempts to remove them to the point that Canada organized a raid on their community.  So the whole issue got international attention.  Their interview was great!  They were there.  They could speak about the issues with passion.

 

“Their situation is similar in some ways to Kashechewan, isn’t it, Katenies?” I exclaimed.

 

“We should explain this to Rebecca to show how this is the m.o. on native people everywhere”, she replied.

 

Luckily Katenies had all our communiqués on her email archive.  She pulled it out so we could read it to Rebecca.  This way she would realize others are in the same boat as her.

 

22.  Rebecca arrives in Timmins

 

Rebecca did call us 5 minutes before she boarded her flight.  She arrived at the hotel at 8:00 pm.  “I cannot understand what’s happening, but I know something is happening”, said Rebecca.  “I need to understand the whole thing”.  She felt that getting the information will make her secure.

 

Over supper, Rebecca started to explain, “De Beers came in the 1960’s.  They went to the Dene people in the Northwest Territories in the 1980’s.  They came to Attawapiskat three years ago.  De Beers and a whole bunch of others have stakes all around James Bay.  We were never told anything!  And this is our land!”

 

Aroniakon quietly explained, “In the U.S. there is a big push to open up the Arctic for oil drilling and minerals.  It is closer to the US than the Middle East.  Canada and the US are fighting over sovereignty”.  He explained, “For the past year we have been involved in the constitution jurisdiction issue.  This is a land claims issue, a water issue.  It’s all about NAFTA.  In this agreement the US has taken over Canadian water.  In the future the US might annex Canada, taking the border right out and putting everything under their control”.

 

Rebecca exclaimed, “Did you know that there’s going to be a port built on Hudson’s Bay?  I heard about it a year ago.  We haven’t been told yet.”

 

Rebecca said that Green Peace had visited Kashechewan last year.  She had asked them, “Why did you come so late?  We just found out about the diamond mines.  Diversions have been created, such as the health issue from the foul toxic drinking water.”

 

We asked Rebecca, “Who are the people you are dealing with at De Beers?”

 

She said, “Jonathan Fowler and Jeremy White who is the Vice President.  Other names are Joe Young and Steve White of Thunder Bay Indian Affairs.  They work together”.

 

Finally, we were all tired out and decided to call it a night.  But Rebecca, Katenies and I kept talking long into the night.  There was so much for us to learn from Rebecca and she needed so much information.

 

 

22.  What is R.C.M.I.?

 

We were all up early on Friday morning.  Rebecca started recalling some strange happenings with Ellis and De Beers.  “About two weeks ago I had to go to Toronto to meet up with Ellis and De Beers.  I arrived at the airport.  Ellis’ butler picked me up.  He was grubby looking and had a small dirty junky car.  How does Ellis have someone like this working for her?” Rebecca pondered.  He must have noticed that I was looking around and thinking about it.  Anyway, the next day, he came to pick me up and he was all dressed up in a snazzy suit with a tie and he was driving a limo”.

 

I asked her, “Where did you stay in Toronto?”

 

Rebecca said this was another strange occurrence.  She couldn’t remember the name of the place.  Ellis told her it was an “Embassy”.  It was like a dark gothic museum full of guns and weapons.  Finally she remembered, “It was R.C.M.I.”  None of us knew what those initials stood for.

 

After a while we figured it out.  It was the “Royal Canadian Military Institute”.  But why would Ellis put her up there?  Ellis said she was a member and had set up a meeting with them at this place one time.

 

We looked up RCMI on the internet.  Sure enough, there was such a place as the Royal Canadian Military Institute.  Rebecca recognized the pictures of the macabre exhibits and furniture.  The website said that RCMI does “original research and studies of historic and contemporary defense issues.  They are a key component of the ongoing effort to become the leading “think tank” for military and strategic affairs”.

 

Wow!  This was getting stranger by the minute.  The head cheese is Col. Brian S. McDonald.  They are developing laws and policies to establish martial laws should it ever be necessary.  There is an “educational mandate” for something called “Strategy 2025”.

 

The RCMI website states that RCMI is involved with all kinds of organizations like the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, military colleges, CIDA Canadian International Development Agency, the Navy, Canadian Secret Service, Emergency Preparedness and Response and Department of National Defense”.

 

They are involved with the Canadian American Strategic Review, Asia Pacific Security, the McKenzie Institute, security and defense programs in universities, Arms Control Institute, Brookings Institute, Bulleting of Atomic Scientists, Global Security.org, Rand Corporation, International Institutes and Associations like the British American Security Information Council, Center for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, North American Aerospace Defense Command, NATO and, of course, the United Nations.

 

RCMI’s mission is to deal with the violence of terrorism and horrendous possibility of attacks with weapons of mass destruction.

 

Ellis told Rebecca, “Kashechewan is going to be the model for other communities”.

 

23.  Rebecca blocks the ice road

 

Rebecca talked about the agreements for the roads through Kashechewan.  They had given them to Ellis and Zane about a year ago and so far there was no feed back from them.  “The agreements we are being asked to sign are for new roads to be built right through our community.  They are demanding stringent conditions and the compensation goes directly to Indian Affairs, not to us, unless there is something left over. If there is any unrest, we forfeit any bonus payments.  De Beers has not consulted the people and the chiefs signed the agreements without letting us know”.

 

Aroniakon quickly read over the agreements and found a lot of omissions.  For one, a fixed sum will be paid for maintenance as long as it is needed by De Beers.  “They should pay every year for ever to the community consistent with inflation”, he added.

 

Rebecca got so mad that she went out and blocked the ice road.  Trucks could not go onto Attawapiskat.    Then there was a revised agreement.  The police will be sent up to stop anyone if they protest any incursions on their own land.  “If we object we’ll be arrested”, she said.

 

The arbitrator to settle any disputes will be selected by them from Ontario.  They are benefiting from the mining so how neutral can they be?  The community will have no input.  “They will contact Ontario Justice Committee and they will determine what is best for us”, she exclaimed angrily.  No independent party will be allowed to enter the arbitration process.  The entire procedure must be conducted in the English language.  The people in Kashechewan do not speak English.  They will not understand what is going on!

 

During our discussions, Rebecca began to validate her thoughts and feelings about  what is happening.  “No matter what happens, if De Beers offers a deal and you say “no”, they will go to the Ontario Court of Justice.  They will favor them because they are all getting a benefit.  We are a nation, our laws have to apply.  We have to be allowed to bring our own people into this discussion”.

 

24.  Green Peace and the flooding

“Our river, the Nispatio, is going to be dammed and diverted.  The province of Ontario secretly approved it without consulting us or getting our approval”, Rebecca told us.  “We will be flooded.  Green Peace told us that we will have to be removed!”   What have they done since their visit to help these people?

 

25.  In the dungeon

 

After her complaints, she was spirited away to Toronto.  Ellis put her up at the Royal Canadian Military Institute.  “Was this to intimidate me?” she asked.

 

Rebecca said something very startling, “That Ellis is very disciplined, like a soldier!”  We all commented that every time we had seen her she was wearing black clothes and a black trench coat like those kids wore at the Columbine school shootings.

 

Aroniakon said, “A very disciplined soldier”.  Why was Rebecca brought there?

 

Ellis told Rebecca, “Don’t use your cell phone.  Use only the Embassy phone.”  Rebecca didn’t listen.  She used her cell.  She felt like she was being watched.  “I thought I was a guinea pig for this place”.   It was full of weapons, ancient and recent.  There was even Von Richtoven’s seat from his Fokker plane from the First World War on display in a glass case”.

 

26.  Meeting with the Governor General of Canada

 

Then something else happened, that bewildered Rebecca.  Ellis took her along to meet with the new Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean.  Ellis told the Governor General that she wants to make Kashechewan community redevelopment model for the rest of James Bay.  The Governor General said she would help Ellis to do this.  It would cost a lot which would come from Indian money.  They talked about making a model for Haiti at the same time.  That’s where the Governor General comes from.

 

Rebecca said, “Ellis and the Governor General discussed plans to develop the model for James Bay and sell it to Haiti”.

 

Ellis told Rebecca, “This is a secret meeting and nobody is supposed to know about it”.  Ellis also told Rebecca that she was going to take her on a trip to China!

 

This wouldn’t have something to do with Indian reserves, and Haiti development as tax free havens, would it?

 

 

27.  In conclusion

 

In the end Rebecca said, “People are so desperate.  They notice things.  For the military to be involved this must be a big project.  The Dart Team brought water up there”.

 

“Why the Dart Team?  This must be through Ellis’ connection with RCMI”, we suddenly realized.

 

“It cost $7 million to evacuate our people.  Now the water costs $300 a bag of one litre that’s being provided from the army!”

 

‘People are fighting for jobs.  Indian Affairs created this whole situation.  They are spending $8 million to renovate badly constructed houses.  This is creating fights between members of the community.  We need an economy that we have total control over.  Indian Affairs, De Beers and the Ontario government have all the strings”.

 

Rebecca said that, “They don’t want us to know what’s going on outside so we can get information and help.  There are a lot of human rights violations going on here”.

 

CANADA EXTORTS MOHAWK CARS

CANADA EXTORTS MOHAWK CARS

MNN. Sep. 20 2009. The NYS Everett Report of March 17, 1922, found that no attempt was ever made to control the Mohawks of Akwesasne. That’s because that section lying within NYS is separate and distinct from the United States and Canada. [p. 317]. So is all of Great Turtle Island.

Aliens have only those rights we gave them under the Great Law/Kaianerehkowa, which was temporary. Should they cause loss, wrong, suffering or endanger the peace, the War Chiefs reprimand and expel them. [Wampum 74]. They have no voice in council. [Wampum 76]. Canada, US, Mexico or any foreigners cannot interfere with us.

The arrived with nothing, then stole, created paper money backed by military force and tried to take everything from us.

Red Jacket, Corn Planter and other Iroquois told US President George Washington that they’re fighting over something that doesn’t belong to them – our lands, resources and waters, including all the beds of all the waters of Great Turtle Island. [p. 186-7]

Their politicians, judiciary and military know we never gave up anything. Canada, US, Ontario, Quebec and New York State promised to protect us from them.

International law provides that title to land cannot be taken away without the fully informed consent of the lawful owners. If it’s stolen and used for twenty or a million years, they never get title.

At Akwesasne, Canada Customs goons are grabbing our cars and demanding $1000. These hoods nab us as we come over the bridge, take us out to the back and beat us up. A fleet of armored tow trucks haul away our vehicles. Canada threatens unarmed people with heavily armed RCMP, OPP, Cornwall and Akwesasne police forces.

Some of these community members carry pinkish purple cards showing they are Camel Toe Treaty people. This cult says a treaty was signed in Central Park in New York City in 409 AD. Egyptian tombs were left behind. They purport that Indigenous were signatories that brought down the Roman Empire! None of this has any basis in the Great Law or in history. Rotinoshonni:onwe have a birthright to freedom of movement on Great Turtle Island.

Before putting the military boots to us, the colonists sent in the camels to confuse, anger and scare us. We don’t want another 1990 Mohawk Oka Crisis style attack by 5,000 heavily armed soldiers. They obviously fear true facts, which can’t be blown up, shot at or destroyed.

Canada, give it up. Your imaginary line [border] doesn’t belong here.

We will never renounce our Rotinshonni’on:we birthright. Three recent Federal Court of Canada rulings confirm our sovereignty. Because we live in Akwesasne and Kahnawake, we are not residents of Canada and are not entitled to an investigation of brutal attacks and human rights violations by colonial border thugs.

These attacks show panic, weakness and impotence. Predatory banksters are trying to plunder the world with impunity.

Everybody in the world knows that two party deals for our land and possessions between foreigners are illegal.

 

MILITARY & GEOGRAPHERS PLAN INDIGENOUS DISPOSSESSION

MILITARY & GEOGRAPHERS PLAN INDIGENOUS DISPOSSESSION

MNN. Sep. 12, 2009. Colonists Canada, US and Mexico formed a political block to better control Indigenous territories, labor and resources.

In 1973, Henry Kissinger said that depopulation should be the highest priority of foreign policy towards less developed countries. The US needs our resources. [www.findsomequotes.com/henry-kissinger-new-york-times-oct-28-1973].

Indigenous are the greatest resisters of global control by international banksters. We assert autonomy, self-determination and human rights by communally holding our territory. It’s an obstacle to theft by US political and economic interests.

The US military and geographers have a plan to dissolve indigenous autonomy, self-determination and resistance.

In 2005, the US Department of Defense gave Kansas University $500,000 to map communally-held indigenous land in the Mexican states of San Luis Potosi and Oaxaca. The professors and US Foreign Military Studies Office FMSO at Fort Leavenworth Army Base are implementing the “Mexico Indigena” program to privatize Indigenous communal lands.

The Officers are trained in land and resource theft at the US Army School of the Americas. They also learn to torture and set up death squads in Latin America.

Propaganda is spread that our communities are breeding grounds of crime and insurgency. They advise doing away with our communities.

Land data and military strategy was carried out in Colombia [Mapping Colombia: Land Data and Strategy]. At the same time, the FMSO assessed so-called guerrilla armies, terrorist organizations and Indigenous defenses.

As part of NAFTA the Mexican President revoked Article 27 of the constitution that turned communal land grants over to the indigenous in 1912.

On January 1, 1994, the day after NAFTA went into effect the Zapatistas captured a third of the state of Chiapas.

Oaxaca State is extremely wealthy in natural resources. It is a site for NAFTA based mega industrial projects known as Plan Puebla Panama such as highways, railways, ports, wind energy, mines, agribusinesses, and maquiladora-style assembly plants. Indigenous communities are pushed off their land, used for cheap labor or robbed of their livelihood.

A geographer at the University of the Earth in Oaxaca City saw the danger. Mapping was combined with US military aid known as the Merida Initiative, to displace Indigenous communities, remove hot spots and control the region. Natural and mineral resources could then be stolen by government and its transnational allies.

On June 14, 2006 a teacher’s union strike in Oaxaca City erupted. It was a popular Indigenous uprising of farm workers, teachers, students, housewives, and laborers. The people wanted traditional land tenure and self-governance.

The Oaxacan People’s Popular Assembly APPO took over the state’s capitol city for six months. It was organized under the Indigenous principle of leading by obeying the people and through consensus.

They occupied state, local, and federal government offices and took over food, water, transportation and communication. The state police started murdering, disappearing, raping, torturing and drive-by shooting. The movement temporarily eroded.

The “Mexico Indigena” mapping project then moved to a biologically diverse and mineral-rich region in Oaxaca.

In southern Mexico territory and culture are together. Constant propaganda devalues Indigenous culture.

Holding land communally maintains indigenous culture, life and identity. The capitalists can’t overcome our birthright and natural relationship with the land. International law provides that changes can only be made with our full knowledge and consent, which we’ll never give. Removing the artificial borders between Canada, US and Mexico is for the immigrants and foreigners, not us.

 

MILITARY & GEOGRAPHERS MAP DISPOSSESSION OF INDIGENOUS

MILITARY & GEOGRAPHERS MAP DISPOSSESSION OF INDIGENOUS
MNN. Sept. 12, 2009. The three colonies of Canada, US and Mexico are forming a political block to better control Indigenous labor and to seize our resources.In 1973, Henry Kissinger in effect said that depopulation should be the highest priority of foreign policy towards the less developed countries because the US needs to steal their resources. [www.findsomequotes.com/henry-kissinger-new-york-times-oct-28-1973].

The greatest resistance to global control by international banker thugs are indigenous communities. We assert autonomy, self-determination and human rights when we communally hold our territory. This creates an obstacle to theft of our land and resources by US political and economic interests.

The US military and geographers have a plan to prey on and dissolve indigenous communities and resistance.

In 2005, the US Department of Defense gave Kansas University $500,000 to map communally-held indigenous land in the Mexican states of San Luis Potosi and Oaxaca. The professors and the US Foreign Military Studies Office FMSO at Fort Leavenworth are implementing the “Mexico Indigena” program to privatize Indigenous lands which are presently held communally.

The Officers are trained in land and resource theft at the US Army School of the Americas which also teaches torture and sets up death squads in Latin America.

The plan is to get rid of Indigenous autonomy and self-determination to get our territory and resources. Propaganda is being spread that our communities are breeding grounds of crime and insurgency and must be done away with.

Land data and military strategy was carried out in Colombia [Mapping Colombia: Land Data and Strategy]. While collecting data, the FMSO assessed so-called guerrilla armies, terrorist organizations and Indigenous defenses.

In 1992 the Mexican President revoked Article 27 of the constitution which had turned communal land grants over to Mexico’s indigenous people in 1912. The North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA revoked this.

The day NAFTA went into effect, on January 1, 1994, the Zapatistas captured a third of the state of Chiapas, who continue to resist and inspire human rights struggles elsewhere.

Oaxaca State is extremely wealthy in natural resources. It is a site for NAFTA based mega industrial projects known as Plan Puebla Panama such as highways, railways, ports, wind energy, mines, agribusinesses, and maquiladora-style assembly plants. Indigenous communities are pushed off their land, used for cheap labor or robbed of their livelihood because they are considered non-viable.

A geographer at the University of the Earth in Oaxaca City saw the danger of these mapping junkets. They were combined with talks for US military aid known as the Merida Initiative. The military planned to displace Indigenous communities, remove hot spots and control the region. Natural and mineral resources could then be stolen by the government and its transnational allies.

On June 14, 2006 a teacher’s union strike in Oaxaca City blew up into a popular Indigenous uprising of farm workers, teachers, students, housewives, and laborers. The people wanted traditional forms of land tenure and self-governance.

The Oaxacan People’s Popular Assembly APPO took over the state’s capitol city for six months. It became the de-facto government, organized under the Indigenous principle of leading by obeying the people. Organizing was done by consensus.

APPO members occupied state, local, and federal government offices throughout the city and took over food, water, transportation and communication. The state retaliated with murder, disappearance, rape, torture and police led drive-by shootings. The social movement was eroded for a while.

During this resistance, the “Mexico Indigena” mapping project moved its operation to a biologically diverse and mineral-rich region in Oaxaca.

Territory and culture are together in daily life for the indigenous of southern Mexico. Free Trade forces a loss of identity and tradition. There is constant propaganda that devalues Indigenous culture. Mannequins in Oaxaca City are tall, skinny, and very white. The most prevalent cosmetic product sold to indigenous women is skin bleach. We obviously need to reclaim our autonomy, territory and natural identity.

Negating communal land holding is to deny indigenous culture, life and identity. The US knows that our relationship with the land is the biggest threat to the capitalists. Our identity and our birthright is the land. International law dictates that changes can only be made with our full knowledge and consent, which we’ll never give. Removing the artificial borders between Canada, US and Mexico is for the immigrants and foreigners, not us.

Kahentinetha MNN Mohawk Nation News, www.mohawknationnews.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com
Note: Your financial help is needed and appreciated. Please send your donations by check or money order to “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Or go to PayPal on MNN website. Nia:wen thank you very much. Go to MNN “WORLD” category for more stories; New MNN Books Available now!

Left Turn July/Aug 2009, Simon Sedillo www.elenemigocomun.net,

poster: katenies

 

ARCTIC GRAB – SOMETHING ROTTEN IN DENMARK, NORWAY, RUSSIA, US, CANADA …

ARCTIC GRAB
– SOMETHING ROTTEN IN DENMARK, NORWAY, RUSSIA, US, CANADA MNN.Aug. 5 09. More colonial subterfuge! Canada, US, Russia, Norway, Denmark and other imperialist entities are trying to steal the Indigenous area of northern Great Turtle Island. Climate change is causing the ice to recede. They all want to cart away our minerals, oil and gas. Ruskie and US subs have surfaced in the far north.Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is standing around the North Pole, waving his arms and screaming, “I was the first crook here. So it’s all mine, mine, mine!” He wants the true inhabitants, the Inuit, to live there year round to assert Indigenous sovereignty. They can hold back the other foreigners while he and his friends gouge out the riches. To him Canada is the only imperialist that can rob us as it’s under the usurpation of the colony of Canada!

On January 28, 2006, the Women Title Holders of the Kanion’ke:haka issued a public notice of objection to this attempted seizure of our inherent right to the “Arctic Region” by these foreign states, corporations, “outsiders” and non-Indigenous interests. The Inuit, our family, are the natural custodians of this area which belongs to our unborn generations.

According to Wampum 44 of the Kaianereh’ko:wa, the Ongwehonwe Women Title Holders are the “progenitors of the soil” of Great Turtle Island. We are the Caretakers of the land, water and air. We told these capitalist blood suckers to stay away, that they have no business here.

Self-determination is a universal human right. The denial of a nation’s exis¬tence constitutes genocide, according to the many international covenants these states have pledged to uphold. Modern international law protects small peoples from incursions by aggressive states who use military and economic force to impose their will. Their turf war over our territory, waters and resources violates our customs, practices, occupation and rights.

We cannot surrender our birthright. This land is who we are. The Western Sahara decision provides that a territory cannot be incorporated in another state without the informed consent of the majority of its people. This was not done because they know that we will never agree to give up our identity.

No one made a treaty of cession with us to enter our Arctic waters and territory.

International, federal, state and provincial entities cannot violate international law and the rule of law by superseding our jurisdiction over territory that we never surrendered.

Colonialism is illegal. Past agreements and treaties only allowed foreigners to live peacefully on our land.

Any foreigner wishing to enter our territory must deal with us through nation-to-nation protocol. No foreign entity and their corporate bodies and associated or visitor such as the colony of Canada can invite outsiders onto our territory or sell off our resources.

In Canada we took an action in the Supreme Court of Canada – Kanion’ke:haka Kaianereh’ko:wa Kanon’ses:neh v. Attorney General of Canada and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario, Court File: 05-CV-030785.

We brought this constitutional jurisdiction issue before the U.S. Supreme Court. See No. 05-165: 2005. In The Supreme Court of the United States In re Kanion’ke:haka Kaianereh’ko:wa Kanon’ses:neh, Non-party, Petitioner/Movant/Appellant, The Canadian St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians, Plaintiffs, Respondents, v. The State of New York, Defendants, Respondents. Petition for Writs of Certiorari and Quo Warranto with Prohibition and Mandamus in Aid to Prevent Genocide. Rules 17.1 and 20.1.

There are two camps: our enemy and ourselves. The increasing dependence of international capitalists on neo-colonial theft makes their existence and future uncertain. They are facing serious economic and social difficulties making them desperate. Some of the symptoms are rising prices, balance of payments problems, unemployment and social unrest. Their use of more violence, armed force and coercion indicates their panic and decline in their power.

The masses are resisting the might is right strategy. The capitalists are finding themselves in an unhealthy position. We must keep confronting them with the truth, which they’re saying is unpeaceful and annoying to them.

The Arctic has become unlivable due to the environmental destruction caused by the imperialists. The Inuit have the same duties to care for our mother, Great Turtle Island. We are brothers and sisters. We follow your issues and feel all the stresses that you are going through. We hope you won’t allow yourselves to be used by any of these foreign invaders. They are trying to exploit you and nothing good will come of it.

Kahentinetha MNN Mohawk Nation News, www.mohawknationnews.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com

Go to MNN “WOMEN TITLE HOLDERS” category for more stories; New MNN Books Available now! Purchase t-shirts, mugs and more at our CafePressStore http://www.cafepress.com/mohawknews;Subscribe to MNN for breaking news updates http://.mohawknationnews.com/news/subscription.php;Sign Women Title Holders petition! http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Iroquois

OBJECTION SENT TO: Canada; United States; Denmark; Russia; Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II; Governor General of Canada; all Provinces of Canada; President of United States; Department of Justice Canada; U.S. Department of Justice; Attorney General of Canada; U.S. Attorney General; Department of Indian Affairs, Department of Interior; Stock Exchanges Toronto, Montreal, New York, London. Tokyo, Hong Kong and Zurich; The Pentagon; U.S. Army and Navy; European Union; Department of Defense Canada; Canada Steamship Lines;

poster: katenies

 

BOOBY TRAPPED ROAD TO FASCISM

MNN. June 14 2009. Fascism is when the oligarchs put together enough force to enslave society in the interests of a few. It starts with fervent nationalism. Scapegoats are picked. Genocide is planned. Properties, authority and resources are seized. Territory is expanded.THE LEADER is charismatic and backed by huge corporations. He’s an ideologue with an uncompromising belief system. He seizes power and directs the state to implement his ideas on how the world should operate. He becomes the supreme commander of the armed forces and the high court until a new election is called, if ever.

A strong central government is created under a hard line paternalistic leader. Appointees must submit to him. Rivals are silenced or eliminated through wild unfounded accusations and smear campaigns. Members of the government vote in favor of these measures in return for protection. Otherwise they could be barred from attending sessions.

The constitution is suspended by declaring emergencies. Checks and balances are removed. No questions can be asked. Power is exercised through emergency decrees blamed on an unworkable parliament or congress. Laws and decrees are passed to protect the dictator from criticism, corruption charges, criminal activities and abuse of power. His term becomes indefinite.

Other parties are banned or dissolved. State and provincial governments are abolished.

MILITARY AND PARA MILITARY power takes over the national police and military. Old army officers and reserves are called into service. Stockwell Day suggested that all agents and government employees wear uniforms.

SCAPEGOATS are created. Some are attacked and almost beaten to death. Public anger and frustration are focused on one target who have been labeled terrorists or insurgents to cause hysteria. The military takes them out of the civil court system, i.e. Guantanamo Bay. Their communities are boycotted. Agents are sent in to vandalize their properties and make them look bad. Strict penalties are set for anyone who conducts alleged phony “economic sabotage” such as protecting the environment, resources and territories.

PROPAGANDA is brainwashing to support the views of the fascists. The occult or forced conversion to one world religion causes confusion, conformist thinking and escapism. Non-followers can’t get jobs or food or services.

Media and access to information is controlled.

Small groups are infiltrated, especially the youth. Obama has created a youth corps to keep an eye on their parents and neighbors. A snitch line has been set up like the 911, Crime Stoppers and hot lines to spy on anyone anonymously.

Party supporters are sent out to distribute information and to recruit. Frequent meetings are held to feed into the frightened state of mind in troubled times.

Public meetings are stormed. Declarations are made. Destruction of opponents is demanded. Suggestions are made to set up or support a new strict government. Organizers cause dissention inside dissident groups.

Agents set up a coup-like atmosphere like marches and demonstrations. They wear out the people and give police and military practice in controlling and scaring the public.

The state makes decisions over peoples’ lives and gathers information from the cradle to the grave. Microchips from central data banks contain information on medical records, licenses, education, social services, travel, etc.

An ECONOMIC depression is created. If the head of Bank of Canada or Bank of America disagree with the emperor, they are replaced.

Local business interests are forced to cooperate with the fascists. Large multinational companies like Wal Mart are brought in to destroy small businesses.

Appeals are made to the working class, petit bourgeois like bank clerks, middle management and those who are ambitious. They see fascism as a way to rise up in the system and become heads in the new regime. Industrialists, monarchists and the monied class fanatically support fascism. Foreign collaborators, rich authoritarians, opportunists, media moguls and business men finance the party.

Labor unions are brought under control or wiped out.

Economic engineering includes debt flotation and military expansion. Financing is based on currency manipulation including credit debts. High unemployment is maintained. Arms production is accelerated. Built are dams, highways, railroads and civic works like prisons, labor camps and holding facilities for indefinite periods.

More cops are hired. Court workers and judicial officers are increased. Legal aid, social assistance, housing and other social services are cut. Child welfare agencies are given more power to seize children. Prison sentences are longer. Control mechanisms include more probation officers, judicial supervision, conditional sentences and supervisory court orders.

Women stay home. The state takes the kids. The Fuhrer becomes their father. The standard of living is kept down. Wages are reduced. People are told to make sacrifices for the mother land.

AGGRESSIVE LAW AND ORDER campaigns are started to keep the fascists in power. Periodic demonstrations like the Nuremberg rallies are set up so the head honcho can give long confusing public speeches.

HABEAS CORPUS is suspended. Freedom of speech and assembly are suppressed.

REVOLUTIONARY DEALS are kept secret. The people have to be kept asleep so they don’t ask questions.

PRETEXT EVENTS are staged like 911 to justify bringing in anti terrorism laws and repressive measures to take away liberty in the name of security.

FOOD RATIONING is established. Hydroponic centers chemically produce food to replace farmers.

EUGENICS – Get rid of “Useless eaters”, anyone who refuses to become part of the laboring or slave class is dispensed with. Pressure is put on people by limiting access to their needs.

WAR – Adjacent territories are taken over and become protectorates as part of empire building. Everybody becomes a citizen of the world under one global order. Cultures and languages are wiped out. Americans and their supporters declare themselves to be carrying out their manifest destiny.

Government must appear to be moderate. Everybody else is being stubborn. While they call for peace, these inhuman tyrants start small local conflicts before going into a large war. If you think this is a conspiracy theory, it’s already happening. Look for yourself!

Kahentinetha MNN Mohawk Nation News, www.mohawknationnews.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com

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poster: katenies

 

BEWARE “RAHNATAKIAS”– CURE FOR OBAMA FEVER IS “INDIAN” HISTORY

– CURE FOR OBAMA FEVER IS “INDIAN” HISTORYMNN. Jan. 21, 2009. U.S. President Barack Obama slipped a subtle comment into his inauguration “mind control” speech on January 20th. When Obama defined America as a nation of “Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and non-believers”, he deliberately left out Indigenous peoples. We have our value systems. We have our knowledge. He sneaked in the intention to ignore us when he said that “the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve”. To Americans the word “tribe” means the Ongwehonwe. We are the caretakers and trustees of the lands and resources of the world which the New World Order NWO or One World “Government” must steal to control the world. Our role puts us squarely in the path of this grand scheme of a few bankers, the governments they control and their deadly enforcement agencies.

Colonial “band or tribal councils” will be put in charge of indigenous people where possible such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Other Indigenous peoples will be “eliminated” or ignored. It looks like this program will be run by the United Nations “International Department of Indian Affairs” on behalf of the NWO war mongers.

Obama’s main message is, “If you don’t do it the American way, we will crush you”. It is all the more “devious” because it’s coming in this velvet glove that claims that it’s being done in a spirit of cooperation. The real message is, “we will defeat you”. A new disease is being spread called “Obama fever”. The symptoms are flag waving, millions gathering and clapping like a bunch of trained seals and hypnotic sectarian rapping. O-Ba-Ma, O-Ba-Ma! The following are comments by “Native Pride” and MNN Mohawk Nation News:

Tuesday, January 20, 2009: Obama: The New Lincoln? We Hope Not!

As the US crowns its new king, the world looks on with [media guided] hope and wonder. The former Illinois Senator has been compared to one of the most popular US Presidents, Abraham Lincoln who was seen as the Great Emancipator, Freer of the Slaves and the Healer of a Divided Nation. Obama swore his oath of office on Lincoln’s Bible.

Buried in that era of slavery and Civil War are a few chapters of the American “Indian” Holocaust of 115 million, the biggest in all humanity, that began long before Lincoln and continues today. While Mr. Lincoln was earning a fake place in history, he signed the Homestead Act in 1862. This was a law offering huge tracts of our lands to foreign white settlement. It was put through without consultation, without consent and without regard for the rights and needs of our people. Eventually 1.6 million homesteads were granted on our land and 270,000,000 acres of our territories were privatized between 1862 and 1986, which is 10% of all lands in the U.S. In the conflicts that raged over this illegal action, thousands of Ongwehonwe men, women and children were killed and millions of acres of our territories remain unlawfully occupied. This has nothing to do with honesty, courage, fair play and tolerance. Obama’s speech demonstrates clearly his concept of loyalty and patriotism has nothing to do with respect for the Ongwehonwe of Turtle Island and our future generations. [www.nathankramer.com]

Two days after Lincoln signed the “Emancipation Proclamation” in 1863, he signed an order to hang 38 Dakota Sioux in Mankato Minnesota. There were only about 40 adult men of fighting age left out of 400 “prisoners of war”. The U.S. agent refused to feed the Indigenous people and was selling the rations that were meant for them. The men begged for food for their people who were starving to death. He told them to eat grass. They killed him and stuffed his mouth with grass. [Visithttp://www.republicoflakotah.com]

These details of American history are rarely visited. John F. Kennedy basks in the glow as a champion of civil rights. He had no problem violating human rights and the treaty with the Seneca Nation. In 1960 he broke a campaign promise and approved the flooding of thousands of acres of Seneca land and the construction of the Kinzua Dam in upper New York State.

Today New York State has a black Democratic Governor, David A. Paterson. He has just signed an illegal document authorizing the destruction of the existing economies of eleven Ongwehonwe communities in the state. It is obvious the Americans are the big bullies they’ve always been since King Henry VII issued the “Cabot Charter” in 1496. It authorized the capture and plunder of any lands belonging to non-Christian people that might be found. [Avalon.law.yale.edu/15ph_century/cabot01.asp]

Many Ongwehonwe have embraced this new U.S. President Barack Obama. Many of us do not. We hope that he will not earn the traditional title, “Rahnatakias”, which is our word for U.S. President. It means “town destroyer”. In 1779 the first President, George Washington, ordered the genocide of all Rotino’shonni:onwe, Iroquois people, our communities and food sources in the lands between Wyoming and the Canadian border. He eliminated over a hundred thousand of us by famine and disease. [www.joycetice.com]

No, Obama is not our president. He is the 44th man to hold the title of Rahnatakias on behalf of the colonists who are occupying our territories. The valid nation-to-nation relations with Ongwehonwe are always a low priority or non-existent for any colonial administration.

People are looking to Mr. Obama for a solution. The true test of his promise of change will come in the treatment of the Ongwehonwe. Is he going to be another two faced reformer, a Washington, a Lincoln or a Kennedy, who preaches equality and freedom while crushing us under his heel? We refuse to be put under colonial “Federal Indian Law” headlocks.

The U.S. will not stop its decline by continuing to dispossess and oppress us. They have to meet us on the original nation-to-nation terms. We have never surrendered our jurisdiction over ourselves or our resources or our territories. They have to acknowledge the crimes of the past. They have to reign in their colonizing beast. They have to stop feasting on the dead bodies of our ancestors. They have to stop dancing so hard on our lands and resources that they starve and suffocate the generations to come.

Native Pride and MNN Mohawk Nation News Comment to:http://www.letstalknativepride.blogspot.com Posted by MNN Mohawk Nation News Staff,http://www.mohawknationnews.com katenies20@yahoo.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com

Note: Your financial help is needed and appreciated. Please send your donations to PayPal athttp://www.mohawknationnews.com, or by check or money order to “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Nia:wen thank you very much. Go to MNN “United States of America” category for more stories; New MNN Books Available now! Purchase t-shirts, mugs and more at our CafePressStore http://www.cafepress.com/mohawknews; Subscribe to MNN for breaking news updates http://.mohawknationnews.com/news/subscription.php; Sign Women Title Holders petition!http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Iroquois

poster: katenies

 

DID YOU VISIT YOUR RELATIVES TODAY?

27.11.2008 20:16:49
DID YOU VISIT YOUR RELATIVES TODAY?

IS THIS PALESTINE OR SOON-TO-BE-ONGWEHONWE COMMUNITIES?

MNN. Nov. 25, 2008. It’s called “warehousing of surplus humanity”. All humans are equal. No one can decide that we are surplus. The object is to remove the target people from existence. This is real, folks!

First, the territory of the targets is occupied. Their communities, work, education, finances and colonial apparatus are controlled by the outside forces. The agenda is carried out by the bureaucrats and military. They are trained in oppression using non-lethal weaponry to stay within the bounds of the UN human rights conventions.

A fascist state needs an uneducated non-resisting people. To achieve this, lots of interference in every day life, schooling and economy are priorities. The youth are specially interfered with. Places of work, schools or commerce are not set up within the communities forcing them to work or attend school or shop outside.

The target group is usually isolated from anybody who could help them. They are demonized. There is a media blackout so that the perpetrators can “warehouse” other victims later on who will be unprepared and unable to defend themselves.

Eventually walls are put up around the targets with checkpoints everywhere. Food and essentials are stopped from going in and out. Electricity is turned off. Water is undrinkable. The bus breaks down. Detours are set up everywhere forcing them to spend hours to carry on their normal lives. “Flying [mobile] check points” are set up everywhere on a permanent or temporary basis. They can arrive and stay for minutes or hours at any place anytime. Anybody can be arrested for going to meetings to discuss their plight.

The situation gets worse. Blockages of the community become more often and more severe. Sometimes nothing goes in or out. Electricity is cut off more often so that raw sewage flows in the streets. Houses can’t be heated. Refrigerated food goes bad.

To instill fear schools, institutions, hospitals and even homes are threatened or burnt down or trashed. Teachers, workers and service providers stop giving services “to protest the blockades” or “dangers” they are forced to work in. Papers, books and communications are kept out or controlled. No one gets trained to be a doctor or professional which are necessities in such communities. 90% have no job. It comes to a point where some families can only send one child to school or out to work. Each family is allowed one member to have a job.

Because of the system of checkpoints and walls, workers and students have to leave home and live near schools or their place of work to avoid 4 hours a day of travel which normally takes 20 minutes.

The targets are constantly reminded they are being watched. The police or special army units walk into their homes, at 2:00 am, without knocking, ask for ID and then take them to the police station. They study the personality of the targets and look for collaborators or spies to work with them. They take unflattering pictures after the interrogation or torture so the targets look like criminals.

Nighttime is the worst time. The targets are kept awake. They could be taken away at any moment. Soldiers come inside, point guns and start beating anyone in their sight. They yell, “Give me your ID”. People are forced outside without shoes or proper clothing. Hundreds of their community members are on their knees in the streets, sometimes until 3 am. Names are called out by the police on speakers. Some are taken away and interrogated for 5 hours and asked if they saw anyone throw stones or speak badly of them. This excuse is usually bogus.

There are 7 to 8 hour waits at the checkpoints. Students or workers can only go home once every 6 to 7 months to visit their family. They have to sneak there and sometimes have to hide out all night. They can’t use the main roads and are forced to go into the woods or mountains. All of these atrocities are video taped by the oppressors with cameras everywhere. These are for study, training, propaganda and their own perverted pleasure.

The students or workers have to leave 2 hours before class or work to go 5 minutes away. Everybody is fingerprinted at the checkpoints. All their bags are checked. Their iris is scanned and their biometric identification with all manner of information and misinformation is scanned.

Curfews are set up throughout the communities and towns. Mobile military checkpoints are put on tanks and jeeps with snipers watching over them. Communities, schools or institutions are closed down at will. The strategy is to make sure students cannot study or people cannot work, meet or move around. If they object, the children, women and men can be “detained” or beaten or even shot.

The main gates have high security electronic doors. There are “blind” checkpoints where military jeeps suddenly appear and demand IDs. People are forced to wait for minutes or hours. No one can complain during this examination. The police or military can invade the community or shoot and throw tear gas at anytime if they perceive a security threat. Anyone can be jailed. Young men are in put in prisons. Beautiful young girls are forced to take off all their clothes and crawl on their hands and knees through the checkpoints. They are made to eat food that is forbidden by their culture or they are allergic to.

Palestinians say this is how they are being treated by the Israelis. Canadian police and military are being sent to Israel for training on “crowd control”. Many of these fascist tactics were used on us during the 1990 Mohawk Oka Crisis. 5,000 Canadian soldiers surrounded three of our communities [Kanehsatake, Kahnawake and Akwesasne] behind razor wire and fully armed troops. It was because we opposed the desecration of our burial and ceremonial sites. We were surrounded by walls of police, soldiers, armaments and checkpoints for 78 days. We had to wait for hours to get through them while suffering specially designed humiliation from the soldiers and police.

Canadian soldiers went into Mohawk homes purportedly looking of weapons. They smashed everything and even s–t on the floors. Many of us were arrested for no reason or for “political activities”, which is called “administrative detention”.

Canada is no goody-goody! Canada collected much secret “information” about us. They refuse to disclose it because their misconceptions and misinterpretations could be challenged. Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to change the laws so that the youth as young as 14 years old can be sent to adult prisons! This looks like it’s aimed at our Ongwehonwe youth.

How can such cruel conditions be created by members of a well-educated nation whose ancestors were subject to unspeakable abuse? Canada is bringing back these practices that originally came from here. The South Africans learned “apartheid” from Canada. Laws and policies were passed here to mistreat and demoralize us and cut down our population. The colonial strategy included genocide, the pass system and mental and moral abuse. Hitler praised Canada and the U.S. for their thoroughness in getting rid of the “Indian problem”. He copied the reservation and residential school systems for his concentration camps. Like Canada he tried to instill hopeless, to break down our spirit and to kill us off. It will never work. We will always be here on our land.

Karakwine & MNN Staff Mohawk Nation News www.mohawknationnews.com
katenies20@yahoo.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com

Note: Your financial help is needed and appreciated. Please send your donations to PayPal atwww.mohawknationnews.com, or by check or money order to “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Nia:wen thank you very much.

Go to MNN “Canada” category for more stories; New MNN Books Available now! Purchase t-shirts, mugs and more at our CafePressStore http://www.cafepress.com/mohawknews; Subscribe to MNN for breaking news updates http://.mohawknationnews.com/news/subscription.php; Sign Women Title Holders petition! http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Iroquois

THE OTTAWA PLANNERS. Public Safety [Danger]: Minister Peter “Pumpkin-Eater-and-Trough-Licker” Van Loan; Suzanne “Hurts-to-be-Herself” Hurtubise DM 613- 991-2895; Myles “Away-from-Reality” Kirvan ADM 613- 990-2633, 613-949-0322; Chantal “Dirty-Fingers-in-Every-Pie” Bernier ADM Community Safety [Endangerment] and Partnerships (613) 993-4325; Scott “ODB” Broughton Sr ADM Emergency [Mis]Management and National [In]Security (613) 991-2820; Lynda “Useless-Forked-Tongued-Drone” Clairmont ADM, same as “ODB” (613) 990-4976; Daniel “Pepsi-and-May-West” Lavoie DG Communications (613) 990-2743; Elisabeth “Botox-from-Head-to-Toe” Nadeau ADM, Corporate Theft (613) 990-2615; Kristina “Fingers-Getting-Itchier-and-Itchier-to-push-the-Trigger” Namiesniowski ADM Strategic Policy (613) 949-6435; Eva “Nosey-Nit-Picker” Plunkett Inspector Field “General” of CSIS (613) 949-0675; Richard “Diarrhea-Mouth” Wex ADM Policing, Law Enforcement & Interoperability (613) 990-2703. The biggest safety risk for us Ongwehonwe is this ADM cabal of agents;
Health Canada, partners with the US through the Canada-US Joint Radiological Response Plan, under the Federal Nuclear Emergency Plan, Foreign Affairs & International Trade Minister Lawrence “Chinese-Food-Glutton-at-Taxpyers-Expense” Cannon 613-992-5516 Fax 613-992-6802 Cannon.L@parl.gc.ca.

 

WTF, W.O.L.A.? : ‘W.O.L.A.’ FLOGGING “OLD WASHINGTON MULE” IN ‘LATIN’ AMERICA’

‘W.O.L.A.’ FLOGGING “OLD WASHINGTON MULE” IN ‘LATIN’ AMERICA’

MNN. Dec. 8th, 2007. Late last Wednesday night a call came from Akwesasne, “What’re you doing?” The response was, “Nothing!” The next question was, “Wanna go down to New York City for a meeting?” The answer was, “Sure!” The next morning two Mohawks, one from Kahnawake and another from Kanehsatake, met up with two other Mohawks from Akwesasne in Upstate New York for the long drive in the pick up truck to the big Apple.

The meeting was across from the Empire State Building. WOLA is the “Washington Office on Latin America”. It started in 1973 under the Jimmy Carter administration and was connected to the “Trilateral Commision”. Today they work with the “Council on Foreign Relations” and are funded by Ford, Carnegie, Rockefeller and other big-time right wing foundations and corporations. The main honchos were Joy Olson, Vicki Gass, Margaret Crayhan* and Kenneth Paul Erickson [kenneth.erickson@hunter.cuny.edu], all “scholars”. WOLA’s secretary-treasurer and president is Charles Currie, SJ [Society of Jesuits] which governs the “Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities” in Washington DC. http://www.wola.org

They were surprised to see us four Mohawks there. No one talked to us or introduced themselves. They couldn’t figure out where we came from, even though they were on Haudenosaunee territory.

A 14-page executive summary was handed out called, “A Fresh Approach to U.S. Policy in Latin America”, which is meant for whichever party wins the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Democrats or Republicans, it’s all the same! This looks like hard core evidence of the U.S. President’s plan for our people in South America.

“There are about 300 million people in ‘Latin’ America , the majority being Indigenous people. More than half live in poverty, 80 million in extreme poverty”. The oligarchs have greatly escalated their income and wealth since 1990 by deforestation, mining, logging and industry which have contaminated the air, land and water throughout the hemisphere. This rape of the land has caused suffering and devastation to Indigenous people.

George Bush’s failed policy was criticized. They’re coming up with a new “partnership” between the U.S. and ‘Latin’ America [and Canada too! It sure looked like they were dictating Canadian policy. Hey, haven’t they heard that feudalism is illegal?] Their main concern is combating the immigration and drug trade that has been coming into the U.S. They cited international criminal cartels, immigration, proliferation of arms into the “wrong hands” and the security of the minority oligarchs who control these countries on behalf of the U.S. and Europe. The long and the short of it is that if any profit is to be made, the U.S. oligarchs want a share. They’ll take our assets but not our liabilities from the damage they’ve caused to the environment.

Because of the tremendous disparity between rich and poor, violence is escalating. When the poor don’t even have enough to live on, what have they got to lose? According to WOLA, “42% of all homicides in the world are happening in Latin America which has 6% of the world’s population!” Where are these guns coming from? This sets up the excuse to go in there with more and lethal cops. They forgot to mention all the violence the U.S. is causing worldwide, such as in Iraq and Afghanistan . They need to create a calamity to get control of South America like they engineered in the Middle East?

Their idea of a “fresh approach” is for the new U.S. president to visit ‘Latin’ America to tell them about his new fresh approach for them; to strengthen the colonial “democratic” government the U.S. is trying force on everybody all over the world [which is also known as “social restructuring”]; to support the U.N. Millenium Development Goals as set out by the U.S.; to pep up the Mexico-U.S.-Canada partnership to control all trade and commerce on Turtle Island; to reform immigration so that everyone has “documents” or they are left to die; to curtail drug use by stopping the messy spraying program that has been going on since 1981; to close Guantanamo Bay detention facility so detainees can be put somewhere else “out of sight and out of mind”; and to lift the ban on travel to Cuba so the gambling lords can get back in and take over the island and the lucrative tourism trade.

The Latin American oligarchs fear the Indigenous people who want a share of their own resources. “Insecurity is a growing concern”, WOLA said. Latin America ’s growing independence is especially a “problem”.

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are losing their influence since Hugo Chavez started paying off their loans and debts. You’d think that the WB and IMF would be happy that these people paid off their debts. No way, Jose! It means they have no KONTROL. Oh! oh! Venezuela, Argentina, Paraguay, Ecuador, Brazil and Bolivia just set up their own central bank, to “wean the regions off IMF and WB”. They want to make it easier for the poor to get loans. The U.S. and Europe are losing control and influence fast!

‘Latin’ America was run by deadly military dictatorships that were set up and trained by the U.S. at the “School of the Americas”, formerly in Georgia. Now that democratic institutions through fair elections are taking over, past subversive brutality and oppression promoted by the U.S must change. Colonists are not used to egalitarian sharing of power and resources. In light of this, “Policing, the judiciary [and prison systems] must be upgraded”, WOLA said. USAID in Venezuela recently got $48 million to destabilize President Hugo Chavez in the recent referendum on the constitution. Venezuela has shown it does not need the U.S. and have cut off all ties, which worries the U.S. They referred to the U.S. relationship with Hugo Chavez as “two scorpions in a bottle… no matter who bites first, both will die”.

WOLA’s idea of consultation is to speak to the oligarchs. Their main concern is that U.S. credibility is low. [As if this is news!] Anti-Americanism is running high worldwide [Same old, same old. We’re not wondering why!]

The oligarchies are U.S. and European puppets of a passé paradigm playing “I’m the king of the castle” on their little dung heaps, when everyone else has gone off to the strawberry festival. Trouble is they are obsessed with turning the whole world into a dung heap. Their long range plan is to set up one world government with one ruler. Dream on. Haven’t they read their history? This has never worked. Nature loves diversity. It even has a place for crazies like them.

WOLA’s main idea is the training of modern professional para-military police and other law enforcement and criminal justice officials, with what appears to be oligarchical oversight. They foresee police academy training and indoctrination, human rights [meaning forcing us to be their slaves], due process, leadership development, more effective patrol structures directed at the communities [like curfews?], internal and external controls, and community-oriented policing. [Don’t forget folks, these people want to be the only game in town. If they get their way, we’ll all be forced to play cops and robbers whether we want to or not. They have a lot of private jails to fill and they’re planning more.] Specialized police units with specific policing techniques and equipment [probably taught by the likes of BlackWater!] Develop detective units and a comprehensive “snitching” system to help police gather evidence to increase conviction rates.

They’re looking for more ways to criminalize us. The U.S. says their policies “protect civil and human rights, facilitate family linkages across borders and regularize the immigrants’ status in the U.S.”!! They must be deliberately blind! The wall that cuts through the middle of Tohono O’odham territory on the so-called Mexico-U.S. border is leading to deaths from exposure and dehydration. The $40 billion de-foliage spraying program along with the fall of the U.S. dollar have made drugs cheaper. [Are the drug cartels switching to the Euro?] Spraying killed off crops leading to starvation, death and birth defects forcing people to look for somewhere else to go so they can survive. [‘Agent Orange ’ all over again, like in Vietnam!] Heaven help those who try to go to the U.S. which authored the destruction of their homelands.

U.S. wants democratic governments where people can vote “until they get it right”. By right they mean “might” – “It’s my way or the highway, not the one that runs across our [imaginary line] border. We don’t want to see you. We just want to tell you what to do.” In other words, the U.S. has become a caricature of the British when they sought their own independence from them.

Once again we witnessed people making policy for somebody else. Colonialism! Colonialism! Colonialism! They were very careful about it, like someone trying to make love so there is no pregnancy. Every word was weighed carefully and ‘condomized’ before it was presented, so that we could not see the “banality that hides the evil”. But, Hey! Man! A rape is a rape even if you’re wearing a condom. Do they think that people can’t see when evil is staring them in the face? Some are even forced to go along with a rapist when they see they have no choice. Threats are couched in light language, bubbling altruistic froth over the real purpose – to maintain coercive power and control.

WOLA is an expert at “government-speak”. Those hungry for power know what is being said, that they plan to kill the real people of ‘Latin’ America. They said it so nicely. They thought they were so convincing that the ‘Latin’ Americans can’t wait for it to happen! They may be in for a surprise!

*Margaret Crayan’s expertise is Latin American history and politics, religion [including the Catholic Church], human rights, truth commissions, women, the military, extensive field work in Latin America including Cuba, “Post Authoritarian Societies” [?], civil society [meaning the police]. She has published 80 papers and is working on “Religion and Politics”. The Council on Foreign Relations published her research on the “City and the World: New York ’s Global Future” in 1997.

Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News

poster: katenies

 

Yesterday:KANONHSTATON. Today: TYENDINAGA. Tomorrow: BEYOND THE ANDES…

Yesterday:KANONHSTATON.
Today: TYENDINAGA.
Tomorrow: BEYOND THE ANDES…

by:Viviana Avila.

There have been a series of recent events that have directly affected indigenous communities, within the Latin American and continental context. This is not a new occurrence; everything started more than 500 years ago, and everyone knows what the armed, cultural invasion brought to our continent. The damage has not been repaired, despite all the time that has passed by, and the regrets that have been said by western civilization.

The dignity of the indigenous peoples and nations of the continent has not been crushed, despite the planned genocide of assimilation imposed upon these millennial cultures. On the contrary in the last few decades, the organization and struggle for their intrinsic rights has been more vigilant with each passing day, as with the increasing grades of consciousness and disposal to struggle for their sovereignty and self-determination. Some more than others, but incentive is alive and has begun to go forward.

We see it end to end in our continent, in the south beyond the Andes; that long and narrow stretch of land, bathed along a contaminated ocean by transnational corporations known as Chile. Those who lust for power have taken over our territories, thanks to the permission given by the cowardly governments that have opened their doors to these companies in exchange for the scraps the empire throws at them, so they can thicken their dirty filthy pockets. They are traitors to their people and to their roots; they wallow in their corrupt state of lies and unbounded ambition. Inheritors of the Pinochet regime, and administrators of his politics and fascist constitution.

Immoral, racist representatives of a sick society that have launched themselves against an unarmed people; intimidating, incarcerating and murdering youth and elders. Assaulting and terrorizing entire communities, on the search for young liberators wearing military boots, worse than in the times of the dictatorship. Mapuche is the name that is criminalized; their courageous organizations, the men and women dignified of their race. What a historical shame for those in the government calling themselves socialist. What a shame for women to have representatives as deceitful as that who leads the country of Chile. You would have to be deceitful to lie and say to the UN that the Mapuches incarcerated by her neo-liberal system are not political prisoners, but “common delinquents.”

The shame that they forgot about their history. The shame of being the legal crooks of lands that do not belong to them; for wanting to develop a second colonization on Mapuche territory, that is nothing more than the extermination of a noble millennial people. One day they will be judged by history. Meanwhile, we leave the natural forces to look after and protect the ancient people with their part in this history. We men and women hold the other part, those that are not willing to let a second colonization happen in Arauco, in Malleco, nor in any other part of Mapuche territory.

Here in Canada, the same thing is happening. Perhaps in a different form, but the pillaging is seen despite the camouflage of grand terrains of flora; immensities of incalculable beauty. Large… everything is large. When one comes to this country everything shines, deceiving, as were the colonizers, as is the current empire, unnecessarily large, inflated with arrogance…. Savage; when it arrives at the indigenous reservations in the darkness, assaulting, clawing, submitting defenseless beings, seizing children, hitting elders and women, arresting youth… Advancing through ancient territory with their infernal machinery. Their factories poisoning the water. The contamination and indigenous poverty makes you shudder in the north, where the great cellulose companies destroy the forest and turn the water that runs through the streams into the color of oxide; burning eyes as you look, and your insides as you drink….

This may seem like a fable, an odyssey, but it is not. It is present north to south, east to west, in this immense show model known as Canada. Here as in the south of the continent, history repeats itself. The repression and displacement of cultures and territories are the product of the same patron of values: money. Universal corrupter of consciouses. The most horrendous injustices that a human being could conceive have been committed in its name. However the peoples and nations have said enough, and have begun to go forward as Che Guevara once said; their march of giants will not be detained. Forced for years to dwell in sacrifice and misery, the indigenous Nations throughout the entire territory have begun their march…

A little more than a year a ago on February 28, 2006, Hadonashonee, Six Nations of the Grand River Territory had to take over their own lands to stop the illegal construction of a housing development (the Douglas Creek Estates), in Kanonhstaton, the protected place. To this day, men and women confront with great courage and dignity, the defense of their territory in harsh climatic conditions and economic pressures on behalf of the government in the talks to recover their land. They are in constant harassment from the police authorities, and the racist population in its surroundings. Despite all the pressures and efforts remove and divide them, Six Nations of the Grand River Territory are more solid and united as ever under the banner of truth, dignity, and solidarity of their own people, and of brotherly peoples that have not been absent from the Reclamation site.

Recently, another front of struggle has arisen from the heart of the Mohawk peoples in Tyendinaga, in defense of their territory and displacement… The taking over of land in their own territory, protest through highway and rail blockades; the different actions of the indigenous peoples have the same cause:the struggle for the defense of their ancient territories, the preservation of their culture, autonomy and the right to decide and influence in their own matters.

That is why we say with much strength: yesterday Kanonhstaton, today Tyendinaga, tomorrow Beyond the Andes. The prophesy of the Eagle and the Condor will yet be realized.

The Women’s Coordinating Committee Chile-Canada

email: wccc_98@hotmail.com

poster: katenies