Comment: Corporate and governmental raid on Native Canadians! The corp. and gov’t want the land for the resources! We all need to stand up to Corporations and the State of Virginia and tell them NO TO URANIUM MINING!
Judy Rebick
Story_publish_date: August 26, 2009
“We have a choice. We still have fresh water, clean air, and forests. We can still hunt and fish and trap and we will never give up the right to protect our traditional lands and our traditional way of life.” Sam McKay, KI spokesperson. Yesterday, we heard the tremendous news that the First Nations led protest of Dump Site 41 [3] to stop the spoiling of a pristine watershed by a dump site had succeeded.
The Tiny Township City Council voted for a one year moratorium [4]. Initiated by a peaceful sit-in of women from the Beausoleil First Nation, the protest grew to include many local townspeople, support of the Council of Canadians and a growing chorus of environmentalists.
The same day, I found out that Platinex who was driven out of prospecting aboriginal land last year by a magnificent struggle of the KI leadership with the support of aboriginal and settler groups across the province, was planning to go back on to KI land. They sent a letter to KI that they would arrive on August 25 in a fly in only area. To stop them, KI needed $1,000 to fly in, a lot of money for this poor community. Now that Chief Donny Morris and the KI Council have gone up to make sure Platinex can’t start prospecting, Platinex announces that they will delay their trip a week “because of weather.” Platinex has the money to fly in there whenever they like. The people of KI have no such easy option.
No doubt Platinex is underestimating both the courage and determination of the KI leadership and I hope their support. But nevertheless after spending weeks in jail away from their families and community, after winning a court battle and getting promises from the Ontario government just last spring. Why should KI have to go through it all again? It’s not about what’s fair or right. It’s about power and money.
Last week end, at the Centre for Social Justice Retreat in Algonquin Park, I participated in an all afternoon workshop, simulating a negotiation between a First Nations group and the federal and provincial government organized by Bob Lovelace.
My nation was a poor remote small First Nation trying to keep uranium mining off our land. I was the chief negotiator. We all learned a lot through the experience but for me the most powerful learning was what it felt like to be in a negotiation with no power and a ruthless opponent who was trying to buy me off under the cover of false kindness and co-operation.
Over and over again the woman pretending to be an Ontario government representative told me she was looking out for the interests of "all Ontarions" when really she was looking for out for the interests of the corporation.
I was so angry; it took me hours to get over it. I’ve been in negotiations with government before but I was representing women’s groups that had a lot more power and resources than the native group I was pretending to represent. I acted like I had power, because I’m used to that and as a result I screwed up the whole thing.
First Nations are on the front line of protecting the environment from further destruction and degredation by the forces of greed. Where they are standing up to protect the earth, it is up to all us to stand with them and share whatever access to power in solidarity just like at Dump Site 41 and last spring when Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) and Ardoch successfully stopped prospecting on their land.
I was so moved by the people of KI, I wrote a chapter of my book about their struggle last spring. Here is an excerpt:
“Seven First Nations leaders in two different communities were jailed for refusing mining on their traditional lands. Bob Lovelace, a university professor and retired chief of the Ardoch Algonquins, located near Kingston, Ontario, along with Chief Donny Morris and his five councillors from the remote northern community of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI), six hundred kilometres north of Thunder Bay—known as the KI Six—were willing to give up their freedom to take a stand for their people and the land they feel a responsibility to protect. They opposed a powerful industry that threatened them with massive lawsuits, a court that acted in the interests of that industry, and a government that claimed neutrality at the same time as actually supporting the mining companies…
While the jailing of indigenous activists is nothing new, this was the first time that a chief-in-council, Donny Morris of KI, the official leader of the community as recognized by the Indian Act, had been jailed for following the laws protecting indigenous rights. The remote community was left virtually without leadership.
The excuse given by the Ontario government was the archaic Mining Act, which places the rights of industrial development over everything. Mining companies are given automatic licence to explore wherever they want without First Nations’ approval, without an environmental assessment, and even without the permission of the owners of private property.
Unlike in many previous Aboriginal struggles, both KI and Ardoch received a lot of local support in the media and from non-native communities in Thunder Bay and Kingston respectively, but they understood that to get their leaders out of jail, they needed to have their issue raised in Toronto…
The first rally on April 9, 2008, was standing room only. Ovide Mercredi and Assembly of First Nations national chief Phil Fontaine were the keynote speakers, but the audience was most moved by the presentations of Ardoch Chief Paula Sherman and Chief Donny’s wife, Anne Marie Morris, as well as by the phone call with the KI Six in jail in Thunder Bay. Another moving moment of the rally was when a native drummer from Sarnia told how his father had gone to visit KI about twenty years before to warn them not to let the industrial devastation that had happened to their land near Sarnia occur in the north...
As support was building, Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty made an announcement that he would amend the Mining Act. But requests for a moratorium on drilling so that the leaders could be released from jail went unheeded. Realizing the power of the jailing of the KI Six, the provincial government wanted them released, but the Six would only leave jail if they were given assurances that there would be no more drilling. This the government refused. So the KI Six remained in jail. They also refused to go from Thunder Bay to Toronto for their appeal, since the only option they were given was to go in shackles, and they felt that was beneath their dignity. They would participate in their appeal through video conferences.
Given the KI culture of face-to-face meetings and the central role I was playing in organizing their support, I decided to go up to Thunder Bay with Judy Finlay the week before the rally to meet them. In that meeting in the jail, Chief Donny Morris said, “When you think of when the settlers first came, they tried to slaughter us. Why? For the mineral riches on our land like gold, and now it is happening again. I have been thinking about what it means that non-Indians are organizing all this support for us. I am thinking about that a lot here. I haven’t seen this kind of thing in the past. It’s like all of you are becoming Indians. The Canadian government tried to assimilate us for generations and now it is the opposite that is happening. You are all starting to think like us about the Earth.”
Then, as a sign that Platinex, the mining company, was feeling the pressure, they agreed to stop drilling so that the KI Six could come out of jail. In a bold move, their lawyer Chris Reid petitioned for them to be released until the appeal, and they were. The KI Six could attend the rally.
We also wanted as many people from KI and Grassy Narrows as possible at both the rally and the appeal. Since it costs about one thousand dollars per person to travel to Toronto from KI, that meant a lot of fundraising. Most of the funds came from the unions and the environmental groups that were involved. We raised more than fifty thousand dollars in a couple of weeks to bring fifty community members from KI, and another fifty from Grassy Narrows, for the rally and sleepover…
The calm determination of Bob Lovelace and the KI Six, and the heroism of their communities, which were totally traumatized by the loss of their leaders and the attacks on their communities, inspired extraordinarily broad support. The alliance between the indigenous communities and outside supporters was unprecedented, both at the local and provincial level.
In Ardoch, non-indigenous peoples were speaking out in defence of Lovelace and raising money to support him and his community. In Toronto, by the end of May, we had a network of students, unions, churches, anti-poverty groups, international solidarity coalitions, and, of course, environmental groups working full out. Not since the 1980s have I seen an issue into which every single individual and organization put so much work and money.
The protest culminated in that mass rally at the provincial legislature at Queen’s Park and the four-day sovereignty sleepover, at which tepees and large tents were pitched on the grounds of the provincial legislature. The seven leaders were permanently released from prison for time served by the Court of Appeal after Lovelace had served three months and the KI Six had served two months of what were supposed to be sentences of six months for contempt of court. Their final exoneration came on the third day of the sleepover and represented a rare and important victory for indigenous peoples.
The integrity and courage of Bob Lovelace and the KI Six inspired First Nations across the country to realize they can say “No” to any development that is not in the interests of their communities or their land, and helped to build the broadest coalition of supporters I have seen in many years. This support influenced the Appeal Court decision as well.
Sam McKay, the KI spokesperson, told a press conference on the Tuesday of the four-day sleepover that he understood why southern First Nations were negotiating with industry, because their water and lands have already been destroyed. But, he argued, “We have a choice. We still have fresh water, clean air, and forests. We can still hunt and fish and trap and we will never give up the right to protect our traditional lands and our traditional way of life.”
Source URL (retrieved on Aug 27 2009 - 10:08pm): http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/judes/2009/08/power-no
Links:[1] http://rabble.ca/taxonomy/term/335
[2] http://rabble.ca/sites/rabble/files/node-images/babyprotest.jpg
[3] http://stopdumpsite41.ca/
[4] http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/686373
[5] http://rabble.ca/user
[6] http://rabble.ca/user/register
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/judes/2009/08/power-no
Judy Rebick
Story_publish_date: August 26, 2009
“We have a choice. We still have fresh water, clean air, and forests. We can still hunt and fish and trap and we will never give up the right to protect our traditional lands and our traditional way of life.” Sam McKay, KI spokesperson. Yesterday, we heard the tremendous news that the First Nations led protest of Dump Site 41 [3] to stop the spoiling of a pristine watershed by a dump site had succeeded.
The Tiny Township City Council voted for a one year moratorium [4]. Initiated by a peaceful sit-in of women from the Beausoleil First Nation, the protest grew to include many local townspeople, support of the Council of Canadians and a growing chorus of environmentalists.
The same day, I found out that Platinex who was driven out of prospecting aboriginal land last year by a magnificent struggle of the KI leadership with the support of aboriginal and settler groups across the province, was planning to go back on to KI land. They sent a letter to KI that they would arrive on August 25 in a fly in only area. To stop them, KI needed $1,000 to fly in, a lot of money for this poor community. Now that Chief Donny Morris and the KI Council have gone up to make sure Platinex can’t start prospecting, Platinex announces that they will delay their trip a week “because of weather.” Platinex has the money to fly in there whenever they like. The people of KI have no such easy option.
No doubt Platinex is underestimating both the courage and determination of the KI leadership and I hope their support. But nevertheless after spending weeks in jail away from their families and community, after winning a court battle and getting promises from the Ontario government just last spring. Why should KI have to go through it all again? It’s not about what’s fair or right. It’s about power and money.
Last week end, at the Centre for Social Justice Retreat in Algonquin Park, I participated in an all afternoon workshop, simulating a negotiation between a First Nations group and the federal and provincial government organized by Bob Lovelace.
My nation was a poor remote small First Nation trying to keep uranium mining off our land. I was the chief negotiator. We all learned a lot through the experience but for me the most powerful learning was what it felt like to be in a negotiation with no power and a ruthless opponent who was trying to buy me off under the cover of false kindness and co-operation.
Over and over again the woman pretending to be an Ontario government representative told me she was looking out for the interests of "all Ontarions" when really she was looking for out for the interests of the corporation.
I was so angry; it took me hours to get over it. I’ve been in negotiations with government before but I was representing women’s groups that had a lot more power and resources than the native group I was pretending to represent. I acted like I had power, because I’m used to that and as a result I screwed up the whole thing.
First Nations are on the front line of protecting the environment from further destruction and degredation by the forces of greed. Where they are standing up to protect the earth, it is up to all us to stand with them and share whatever access to power in solidarity just like at Dump Site 41 and last spring when Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) and Ardoch successfully stopped prospecting on their land.
I was so moved by the people of KI, I wrote a chapter of my book about their struggle last spring. Here is an excerpt:
“Seven First Nations leaders in two different communities were jailed for refusing mining on their traditional lands. Bob Lovelace, a university professor and retired chief of the Ardoch Algonquins, located near Kingston, Ontario, along with Chief Donny Morris and his five councillors from the remote northern community of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI), six hundred kilometres north of Thunder Bay—known as the KI Six—were willing to give up their freedom to take a stand for their people and the land they feel a responsibility to protect. They opposed a powerful industry that threatened them with massive lawsuits, a court that acted in the interests of that industry, and a government that claimed neutrality at the same time as actually supporting the mining companies…
While the jailing of indigenous activists is nothing new, this was the first time that a chief-in-council, Donny Morris of KI, the official leader of the community as recognized by the Indian Act, had been jailed for following the laws protecting indigenous rights. The remote community was left virtually without leadership.
The excuse given by the Ontario government was the archaic Mining Act, which places the rights of industrial development over everything. Mining companies are given automatic licence to explore wherever they want without First Nations’ approval, without an environmental assessment, and even without the permission of the owners of private property.
Unlike in many previous Aboriginal struggles, both KI and Ardoch received a lot of local support in the media and from non-native communities in Thunder Bay and Kingston respectively, but they understood that to get their leaders out of jail, they needed to have their issue raised in Toronto…
The first rally on April 9, 2008, was standing room only. Ovide Mercredi and Assembly of First Nations national chief Phil Fontaine were the keynote speakers, but the audience was most moved by the presentations of Ardoch Chief Paula Sherman and Chief Donny’s wife, Anne Marie Morris, as well as by the phone call with the KI Six in jail in Thunder Bay. Another moving moment of the rally was when a native drummer from Sarnia told how his father had gone to visit KI about twenty years before to warn them not to let the industrial devastation that had happened to their land near Sarnia occur in the north...
As support was building, Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty made an announcement that he would amend the Mining Act. But requests for a moratorium on drilling so that the leaders could be released from jail went unheeded. Realizing the power of the jailing of the KI Six, the provincial government wanted them released, but the Six would only leave jail if they were given assurances that there would be no more drilling. This the government refused. So the KI Six remained in jail. They also refused to go from Thunder Bay to Toronto for their appeal, since the only option they were given was to go in shackles, and they felt that was beneath their dignity. They would participate in their appeal through video conferences.
Given the KI culture of face-to-face meetings and the central role I was playing in organizing their support, I decided to go up to Thunder Bay with Judy Finlay the week before the rally to meet them. In that meeting in the jail, Chief Donny Morris said, “When you think of when the settlers first came, they tried to slaughter us. Why? For the mineral riches on our land like gold, and now it is happening again. I have been thinking about what it means that non-Indians are organizing all this support for us. I am thinking about that a lot here. I haven’t seen this kind of thing in the past. It’s like all of you are becoming Indians. The Canadian government tried to assimilate us for generations and now it is the opposite that is happening. You are all starting to think like us about the Earth.”
Then, as a sign that Platinex, the mining company, was feeling the pressure, they agreed to stop drilling so that the KI Six could come out of jail. In a bold move, their lawyer Chris Reid petitioned for them to be released until the appeal, and they were. The KI Six could attend the rally.
We also wanted as many people from KI and Grassy Narrows as possible at both the rally and the appeal. Since it costs about one thousand dollars per person to travel to Toronto from KI, that meant a lot of fundraising. Most of the funds came from the unions and the environmental groups that were involved. We raised more than fifty thousand dollars in a couple of weeks to bring fifty community members from KI, and another fifty from Grassy Narrows, for the rally and sleepover…
The calm determination of Bob Lovelace and the KI Six, and the heroism of their communities, which were totally traumatized by the loss of their leaders and the attacks on their communities, inspired extraordinarily broad support. The alliance between the indigenous communities and outside supporters was unprecedented, both at the local and provincial level.
In Ardoch, non-indigenous peoples were speaking out in defence of Lovelace and raising money to support him and his community. In Toronto, by the end of May, we had a network of students, unions, churches, anti-poverty groups, international solidarity coalitions, and, of course, environmental groups working full out. Not since the 1980s have I seen an issue into which every single individual and organization put so much work and money.
The protest culminated in that mass rally at the provincial legislature at Queen’s Park and the four-day sovereignty sleepover, at which tepees and large tents were pitched on the grounds of the provincial legislature. The seven leaders were permanently released from prison for time served by the Court of Appeal after Lovelace had served three months and the KI Six had served two months of what were supposed to be sentences of six months for contempt of court. Their final exoneration came on the third day of the sleepover and represented a rare and important victory for indigenous peoples.
The integrity and courage of Bob Lovelace and the KI Six inspired First Nations across the country to realize they can say “No” to any development that is not in the interests of their communities or their land, and helped to build the broadest coalition of supporters I have seen in many years. This support influenced the Appeal Court decision as well.
Sam McKay, the KI spokesperson, told a press conference on the Tuesday of the four-day sleepover that he understood why southern First Nations were negotiating with industry, because their water and lands have already been destroyed. But, he argued, “We have a choice. We still have fresh water, clean air, and forests. We can still hunt and fish and trap and we will never give up the right to protect our traditional lands and our traditional way of life.”
Source URL (retrieved on Aug 27 2009 - 10:08pm): http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/judes/2009/08/power-no
Links:[1] http://rabble.ca/taxonomy/term/335
[2] http://rabble.ca/sites/rabble/files/node-images/babyprotest.jpg
[3] http://stopdumpsite41.ca/
[4] http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/686373
[5] http://rabble.ca/user
[6] http://rabble.ca/user/register
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/judes/2009/08/power-no
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