Tag Archives: declaration

Police Attack on Haudenosaunee woman and youth in Brantford

Police Attack on Haudenosaunee woman and youth in Brantford

Wednesday September 10, 2008

BRANTFORD, Ont.

Today at approximately 11:00am my one year old son and I were leaving the King and Benton site in Brantford, Ontario. My sister left the site a few seconds behind me. Two youth were travelling with her. I stopped at the stop sign and then proceeded through. I checked my rear view mirror to see how far behind my sister was.

When I looked I saw a non-Native man with a closely shaved head pulling on her truck door with one hand while punching the driver’s side truck window with his other hand. He had a closed fist and was hitting the window with full swings. With all the threats made against our people and the violence and abuse we survive, I thought she was under attack by a group of skinheads, as there were several unmarked cars blocking her in.

I drove up to a spot where I could safely turn around. When I got back to the corner all vehicles were gone. I turned right because traffic was slow in that direction. Sure enough, the same cars had her truck surrounded but now the skinhead that was viciously, forcefully trying to attack them earlier had on an OPP vest and a belt loaded with weapons.

By then there were approximately 8 cruisers both marked (OPP and Brantford City Police) surrounding my sister and the two youth. They had one youth handcuffed. Moments later they handcuffed the second youth.

I told the police our youth are under our authority and jurisdiction as Ogwehowe women and the police had no right or authority to kidnap our children on our own territory. The police were informed our youth had EVERY authority to uphold our traditional laws.

The police were then told to cease and desist their armed invasions of our people. They were also told the kidnapping of our children needed to stop as well. They were told they keep trying to escalate things with our people and the tactics they are using is nothing short of declarations of war.

We were told how everything they were doing was “standard”. (Yes, even for an allegation of “mischief”.) As hard as it was to believe it was standard police practice, I do believe it. It was almost a year ago 9 of our people were attacked at Stirling Street for upholding their land rights by 200 fully armed RCMP, OPP, OPP Riot Squad and the Hamilton City Police . The acceptable standard to deal with our people for minor offences was most recently set in 1995 in Stoney Point when Dudley George was murdered by a paid sniper.

While we were talking about 5 officers (without permission) began searching my sister’s truck for “weapons”.

I put tobacco in the hands of the youth and told them to hold onto it and not let it go. The police told me I couldn’t do that and to get rid of it. The youth held onto it and were then placed in separate cruisers and taken to the Brantford Jail.

One youth may get out today. The other young man is up for bail tomorrow at 9:00am at the Brantford City Court on 44 Queen Street.

Also, Bawa Construction (Hampton Inn & Suites) has resumed construction despite being given several warnings they are building illegally on traditional territory in Grand River Country. I’ve been told construction will be shut down soon.

We are asking for support in the form of supplies and people both at the construction site (ASAP) and at the courthouse tomorrow. To get to the construction site take the 403 west towards London, Ont. Exit off Oak Park Road. Turn left and drive over 403. Construction site is immediately on the right hand side.

Boots Powless’ son was one of the young men targeted and arrested today.

Our people have upheld their words regarding maintaining peace. At no point have any of our people stepped out of the Kaiienarekowa. The developers and the police continuously escalate events by targeting our children, women (mothers and grandmothers) and men. There is a consistent effort to attack our women and children to protect the finances of local and international corporations.

Just like the targeting of our people and constant attacks by fully armed civil servants continue, we, as ogwohwe will continue to uphold our great-great grandchildren’s right to exist.

We are justified.

Janie Jamieson

Grand River Country

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URGENT CALL FOR SUPPORT - Six Nations at Brantford

URGENT CALL FOR SUPPORT - Six Nations at Brantford

This just in…

URGENT CALL FOR SUPPORT:

This morning, the Brantford Police arrested two young activists from 6 Nations, aged 17 and 19. The two were arrested in transit while trying to leave the campsite on Fen Ridge Court. Twenty cops in 8 unmarked cars pulled over the vehicle they were travelling in, and arrested the two teenagers who are currently in jail. Activists at the site in Brantford have asked for supporters to come to the site tonight and/or tomorrow.

The Hampton Inn site on Fen Ridge has been shut down completely for two weeks. It had also been shut down several times over the last few months by various representations from 6 Nations including Ruby and Floyd Montour, the Confederacy Council, the Men’s Fire, and now grassroots activists including Boots Powless and a newly dubbed NYM-6 Nations. The current callout comes directly from the activists on site.

The group has maintained the site beside the Hampton Inn development site in a tepee for over 60 days, upholding the declaration put forward by the Men’s Fire that these sites should be shut down pending settlement of outstanding land disputes. Further, all three sites that have been targeted from the base camp have been sited as posing ecological threats; the Fen Ridge industrial development area and the Oak Park Road development site are located in an environmentally sensitive area less than a kilometre from the Grand River.

A Callout for supporters to be physically on-the-ground as early as tonight has been issued from the camp. They are also asking for food and phone cards (”solo” brand).

To get to the site:

take the 403 to Brantford, exit at Oak Park Road, turn right at the T junction off the exit, then take the first left onto Power Line Road; the site is down the road a few hundred meters, and should be evident across from the King & Benton site. Look for the tepee, Boots has asked people to meet there first.

Keywords: Brantford,
Questions call: 519 717 7043, or 519 717 7099

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keywords: activist, activism, attack, brantford, callout, canada, cayuga, confederacy, council, declaration, defenders, destruction, development, ecology, environment, grand river, hampton inn, haudenosaunee, iroquois, land claim, mohawk, native youth movement, nym, oneida, onkwehonweh, onondaga, ontario, opp, protectors, seneca, six nations, support, supporters, tuscarora, urgent, youth

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Natives unite to fight oilsands

Natives unite to fight oilsands

Natives unite to fight oilsands

Vow to go to court to stop ‘poisoning’ of rivers

Darcy Henton, The Edmonton Journal

FORT CHIPEWYAN - Aboriginal leaders vow to go to court to stop what they say is the destruction of their land and the poisoning of their water.

Chiefs from three provinces and the Northwest Territories made the joint declaration Sunday at the conclusion of a water conference in Fort Chipewyan.

They say Alberta’s oldest European settlement is on the brink of catastrophe.

Athabasca Chipewyan Chief Allan Adam said aboriginal people cannot sit still and allow their land and water to be destroyed.

They want a moratorium on oilsands project approvals until government and industry can assess the damage caused by the developments and find ways to mitigate it, he said.

“Our message is plain and clear,” he said Sunday to a standing ovation. “We have to slow down industry to let us catch up. … If we continue to let industry and government behave the way they’ve been behaving the last 40 years there will be no turnback because it will be the total destruction of the land.”

Residents believe leakage or spills from oilsands tailings ponds has polluted the Athabasca River and is poisoning their fish and their people.

Their former community physician reported a disproportionate number of rare cancers in the community of 1,200 on the northwest corner of Lake Athabasca, but the provincial government and Health Canada have resisted calls for baseline health tests.

Adam said that if the Chipewyan, Cree and Metis people of Fort Chipewyan don’t act now, the government will have to move the entire community in 50 years because there won’t be anything left to sustain them. “We’ll be refugees in our own land,” he said.

The chiefs approved a declaration to strengthen unity in their communities, work with other organizations and “initiate legal action to assert our rights.”

“We believe that the pace of development within our territories is unsustainable and we are deeply concerned that governments are permitting development to proceed without our consent,” the resolution reads.

Mikisew Cree Chief Roxanne Marcel said her people are banding together with the Chipewyan to hold industry and government to account.

“I think this will send a strong message to government,” she said. “One First Nation is not a strong enough voice.”

Adam said the local First Nations will try to negotiate a moratorium on oilsands development and if that doesn’t work, it will launch court action alleging the government and industry has failed to consult with them as required by law.

“As First Nations people we’re supposed to stay quiet and let everything be. No more!” he said. “What is happening here in this region is affecting everybody. We, as First Nations people, have the power to let the government and industry know — no more!”

Aboriginal leaders are confident the courts will rule that the corporations have failed in their constitutional obligation to consult with them on the massive, multibillion-dollar projects and that they have not adequately assessed their cumulative impact.

“We’ve taken some bold steps and bold steps are what we need,” said Mikisew Cree spokesman George Poitras.

(Continued)

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/s … e7319bbc5f

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Lakota - Territory Reclaimed and Info

Kwe kwe,

Thought people might like some info - from what I know - to fill in some blanks on what territory is reclaimed by Lakota, and links.

  • First, here’s a little image on what the reclaimed territory might look like, on a map of the “U.S.” and “Canada”:
    Territory of Lakota Nation
  • Wikipedia has an entry on Lakota found at: Wikipedia entry
  • And last, but certainly not least, but honoured, Lakota Oyate site

You will probably also want to check out the Lakota Declaration about them not wanting to have their culture appropriated ;).

Edit: “might look like” instead of “looks like”.

Edit:

Here’s a link to the map:

map - on about.html page

Images of the maps:



Update 2008-01-03: seems that one way or another the redirect from lakotafreedom to the other “republicoflakotah” site wasn’t really supposed to happen…. Better to follow the — corrected — link I left up there ^^^, for more info. Thanks to “Lakota Freedom” for updating us about the goings on. I will fix the LJ link ASAP.

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