What Is An Elder

What is an Elder  (Microsoft Word copy of article)

A friend had a post on their wall a few days ago about what an Elder is in each person’s view.  I responded as best I could without giving it deep thought, however I have since thought about that a few times, and decided to write my thoughts down in a expanded format. I welcome your feedback and thoughts.  Nia:wen Beth for this question on your wall.

**I want to state at the start that I come from a position in this of being Hotinonsionne and so my views and perspective will be from that point of view. I mean no disrespect to my brothers and sisters be they anishinaabe or any other nation. These are my views from my point of view, and any and all other views are just as valid. Many of the points I raise in this are not original points of my own. Instead they come from different sources. Those sources include things I have read, things taught to me over the years, points raised by people I talk with on a regular basis and some go back to when I was a little guy and they were taught to me at the feet of some wise women and men.  That being said how each of us interpret those teachings and view them as adults is how we view the definitions today. These are just my views, I can only speak for me, and how I view them today.**

 

• Elders should be role models.
• Elders should be teachers to young people because of their wisdom.
• Elders should be advisors, law-givers, dispensers of justice. (Restorative Justice Circle)
• Elders should be open to everyone.
• Elders should be knowledgeable in all aspects of their culture.
• Elders should be teachers for everyone of the past history of the People.
• Elders should be teachers of language and oral history & First Speakers, recognized by there home Reservation as a Knowledge Keeper, Faith Keeper, Medicine Person etc.

 

 

Elders should be role models

Perhaps one of the most important aspects that is rarely mentioned is the role model description. Elders should be looked up to as a benchmark for all of the community to strive for.  In order for this to happen they must live a life that we would want for our children and grandchildren.  An Elder lives a life that encourages peace and understanding to all that interact with them. They not only know the great good, they live it daily and show us all that it is something to strive for.

 

Elders should be teachers to young people because of their wisdom.

Our greatest asset and gift is our children and grandchildren.  One of the most beneficial things we can do is set our young people at the feet of the Elders for teachings.  Elders have a wisdom that only comes with many summers of being on Mother Earth.  They have lived enough that they can see with clear eyes what is important, They have lived enough to not react right away out of anger and hurt, but with the wisdom of years. And can teach and counsel from that. The stories and teachings we receive at the feet of  Akhsótha (Grandmother) or  Raksótha (Grandfather) are things we will remember when we are a Grandmother/Grandfather. An Elder is someone who does not say Oh you are Mohawk, and you are Ojibwa and put such labels on people, instead the Elder says we are all Onkwehonwe  we are all people and that is what is important. Not a name label that has been put on us. Before Colonization we did not use all of these labels. We were all people on turtle Island.

 

 

 

 

 

Elders should be advisors, law-givers, dispensers of justice. (Restorative Justice Circle)

It is vital that Elders be included in the makeup of any Restorative Justice Circle. They can give a perspective that comes handed down from generation to generation, i.e. how were such things viewed in the past?  What do the teachings say about such actions? How are such things viewed from the perspective of the Kaianerekowa Hotinonsionne/The Great Law of Peace?  This is of such importance that in my opinion without at least one Elder there I cannot see how a Justice Circle can even exist.

 

 

Elders should be open to everyone

To be an Elder the person has to be open, they have to be willing to put personal prejudice aside and be willing to talk with, counsel, teach and share with Full Status,  Half Breeds, and Colonists equally. We are in a time where healing and reconciliation is not only a very popular topic of discussion but more importantly it is a topic that many people are striving for.   Open to everyone also means those that are the most unfortunate in society as well as those with the most.   Whether you are the community drunk or the millionaire in the eyes of the elder you are both loved by the Creator and equal in need of peace and healing.  Politician or Drug Addicts are in the eyes of an Elder no different: they are human beings and if they approach the Elder they each get treated with the same love and respect.  They should receive no distinction due to money, status, or beliefs.

 

Elders should be knowledgeable in all aspects of their culture

An Elder is often called upon to share or even conduct many ceremonies, rites, or traditions. This could be something as simple as a couple asking about the steps for a traditional courtship or marriage all the way up to a Sweat or ceremony at the Longhouse.

Perhaps a young man wants to go on a fast before a important event upcoming in his life. These are all things where the knowledge of the culture, the traditions, the teachings surrounding the event is vital to the success of the event, these are where the knowledge of the Elder is irreplaceable.

 

Elders should be teachers for everyone of the past history of the People

I can think of no one better suited to go into the communities and schools to teach everyone on the issues and history of our people.  There are aspects of our life, our history and our way of life that cannot be learned from a book, and certainly cannot be properly taught by someone who has not lived that life.  A Teacher in Teachers College cannot learn what it is to be Indian. Our Elders are the best and I would say the ONLY way this knowledge should be passed on to the Children of our Nation.  Not just in Native Schools but in every school from every Board of Education from BC to NFLD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elders should be teachers of language and oral history

Both of these points should be the purview of the Elders for the same reason.  If we do not use something and keep it going to the next generation then we will lose it forever. That must not be allowed to happen.  The language issue is one that I find very frightening these days. So much of the Kanien’kehá language is being shortened to the point where the original meaning is lost. I have a couple of dictionaries I use as reference at times and when one compares the language and the words used from the earliest references I have (1839) to now it is very appalling just how much has been lost. The language we used back then was beautiful and descriptive.  Now we have shortened it in our everyday conversations to the point where the meaning has been lost. **Reference books are Kanesata’ké:ha Tekawenna’thé:tha  Kanesatake Mohawk Dictionary 2014  Harvey Satewas  Gabriel  and  Iontenwennaweienstahkhwa’   Mohawk Spelling Dictionary 

The University of the State of New York   Bulletin 429 September 1977 New York State Museum **

 

We are a people whose teachings have historically been passed from generation to generation Orally. That is to say that at the feet of Our Grandmothers and Grandfathers when we were little. Stories were told that passed on our Values, our Beliefs and the Teachings of Skennenrahawi (The Great Peacemaker) given to us in the Kaianerekowa Hotinonsionne/The Great Law of Peace.  These were not things written down; these were things that were taught to us orally. By our Grandmothers, Grandfathers and then later as we became young adults by the Uncles when we accompanied them in the bush where we were taught to be men, or if we were young women taught to us in the fields by Aunts as the case may be.  Much of those teachings are lost if these traditions and ways are not continued. And they must be continued in the language since not everything carries over its full meaning when translated.  An important side effect of this that would be helpful in every society is that it instils a respect for those older members of society that is lacking in general society. When you grow up looking to the grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts for guidance and teachings when you become a teenager and you rebel like all teenagers will, you still retain that respect for those older than yourself and are less likely to commit some of the things we see in society today.  An Elder should be a First Speaker, and furthermore they must be recognized by there home Reservation as an Elder of the Community. If there home reservation does not recognize them as knowing the customs, traditions, and teachings well enough to be lifted up to that status then in my opinion neither should any community.

 

 

**Personal Note**

So those are my views on not only who/what an Elder is but also why I feel that way.  Some of the bullet points I used to group my ideas together were borrowed from S.M. Stiegelbauer  “What is an Elder”   The expanded view under each bullet point are entirely mine and no blame belongs to S.M. Stiegelbauer for those thoughts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Six Nations Land Claim Dispute Heats Up With New Caledonia Development

Source: Six Nations Land Claim Dispute Heats Up With New Caledonia Development

Why Kanien’kehá:ka may choose not to vote.

In the last week or two I have seen many posts on peoples blogs, facebook and different web pages where the theme seems to be “If your a Indian you should vote or you don’t love your people” and similar themes.   And well I can appreciate that many people wish to vote the current party out of office there is other factors for some of us to consider.

The main issue for me anyway goes back over 1000 years.  In the Kaianerekowa  (some may spell it Gayanerekowa) “The Great Law”  It states

WAMPUM #58
ANY CHIEF OR OTHER PERSONS WHO SUBMIT TO LAWS OF A FOREIGN PEOPLE ARE ALIENATED AND FORFEIT ALL CLAIMS IN THE IROQUOIS NATIONS

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There are now the Five Nations League Chiefs standing with joined hands in a circle. This signifies and provides that should any of the chiefs of the League leave the Council and the League, his crown of deer’s antlers, the emblem of his chieftainship title, together with his birthright, shall lodge on the arms of the union chiefs whose hands are so joined. He forfeits his title and the crown falls from his brow, but it shall remain in the League.

A further meaning of this is that if, at any time, anyone of the chiefs of the League choose to submit to the law of a foreign people, he is no longer in but out of the League and persons of this class shall be called, “They have alienated themselves” (Tehonatonkoton). Likewise, such persons who submit to laws of foreign nations shall forfeit all birthrights and claims of the League of Five Nations and territory:

“You, the League of Five Nations Chiefs, be firm so that if a tree should fall upon your joined hands, it shall not separate you or weaken your hold. So shall the strength of union be preserved.”

Note: This means that the Indians who follow the laws made by foreigners and it includes Canada’s Indian Act and the United States Federal Indian Law have alienated themselves from their own nations. That is why an Indian such as a Mohawk who voted in the elections devised by the Canadian or United States governments have to be reinstated in a special ceremony to regain their lost Iroquois citizenship which they lost by the simple act of voting in the Canadian Band Council or United States Tribal Council elections, as well as voting in Canada’s national or the United States national elections.

What this means is that participating in an Election of a foreign Government and for those inside the borders currently known as Canada you are placing yourself outside of the 50 fires.  Outside of the protection of The Great Law of Peace.  Instead of frowning upon or criticizing those that choose to remain true to the Old Teachings instead show some respect for the fact that they are trying to do what thousands from coast to coast cry out they want to be allowed to do.  They are standing up and saying “I choose to live by the laws of my Grandmother and my Grandmother’s Grandmother. ”  I choose to live by our traditional laws and customs.

Has the Colonial Governments done us wrong? Yes of course they have.  Do I wish there was a change to a government that might be more sympathetic to many pressing and urgent needs of my people? Certainly I do.  But just because someone decides to live by the Laws of our people does not mean they should be verbally abused. Instead let them stand proud without both sides throwing verbal eggs. We should be better.

You may choose to vote or you may choose not to. That is a decision that you make in your heart. That is your right. Just as those that choose not to have the right to do so, and unless you know there reason. Hold that stone before you throw it and make sure they are not in fact following a law that predates this country called Canada. They may be answering to a much higher law. They might be following the Law as given to us by Deganawida

Wisse (Mike Marlin)

Gayanerekowa ‘The Great Good’

Gayanerekowa ‘The Great Good’.

Native American Activist Found Dead In Jail Cell After Traffic Fine Arrest

RED POWER MEDIA

By Counter Current News

A Native American activist was recently arrested and found dead in jail under conditions very similar to those of Sandra Bland in Texas.

Rexdale W. Henry, 53, was recently found dead inside the Neshoba County Jail in Philadelphia, Mississippi, on July 14th. He had been arrested over failure to pay a minor traffic citation.

Local WTOK, reported that corrections officers reported Henry dead around 10 a.m.. But reports and logs reveal that he was seen alive and perfectly fine only half an hour before that.

Reports say that the state crime lab in Jackson are currently conducting an autopsy. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation also says that they are “looking into” Henry’s death.

But that hasn’t satisfied Henry’s fellow activists, friends and family. Just after funeral services were held on July 19th, in Bogue Chitto, Henry’s body was flown to Florida for an independently-funded autopsy…

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Fresh and healthy ways to stay hydrated this summer

Fresh and healthy ways to stay hydrated this summer

The warmer months are finally upon us. While ice cold soda from a can is very convenient, it is also very high in sugar and caffeine – two things you’re going to want to avoid on hot day.

Avoiding sugary drinks is especially important for the indigenous population, given our high probability for developing sugar-related health issues like diabetes and obesity. We compiled a few refreshing beverages here to help keep you hydrated and healthy Haudenosaunees.

Dehydration can occur very quickly in warmer temperatures when you are active. Even just an hour or two of gardening with no breaks for a drink on a warm and sunny day can tip the scales into the dry zone. Extreme thirst and dark urine are two indicators that you might be dehydrated.

The best option for rehydration is, of course, always water. On really warm days drinking a glass of water every hour is plenty to keep you sufficiently hydrated. However if you do find you are suffering from dehydration, try unsweetened coconut water instead of commercial rehydration solutions. It is sold in coolers and grocery stores quite commonly now – just make sure to check the label for any added sugars.

Infused Water

A really beautiful and refreshing drink that will impress guests is to serve infused water. The concept is so simple: fresh clean water that has fruits immersed in it. The fruits flavour the water and also add vitamins and minerals to your drink.

Cucumber water is very delicious and very popular in the summer. It’s quite easy to make. Simply peel and slice up one cucumber, add two quarts of fresh spring water and some ice, and let it sit for about an hour. That’s it! Along with being super tasty, cucumber water can give you a boost in vitamins A, C, B6 and Folic Acid. Not a fan of cucumbers? This is also really delicious to try with watermelon.

Iced Teas

This classic summer drink is pretty caffeinated. And caffeine is definitely something you’re going to want to avoid on hot days, as excessive caffeine can lead to dehydration, as well.

Additionally, if you’re reaching for a commercial brand iced tea, some are delivering as much as eight teaspoons of sugar per can. Why not try making your own?

Rooibos – or Honeybush Tea – comes from South America and is naturally caffeine-free. You can make Iced Rooibos Tea in the same way as you make regular tea – just swap out the black tea for rooibos. Boil one gallon of water and pour over six teabags. Let it steep for about four minutes, remove and discard the teabags. Then you can flavour the tea with whatever you like.

For an indigenous twist, try adding strawberries and a bit of maple syrup to sweeten it. Maple syrup has natural electrolytes that can help rehydrate you if you are using it in place of white sugar and other sweeteners.

Something bubbly

There’s just nothing like the refreshing feeling of an ice cold bubbly beverage on a hot afternoon, but it doesn’t always have to be soda. Sparkling water can be just as refreshing and convenient as a soda pop. There are plenty on the market now with flavours that range from raspberry-lime to pink grapefruit.

If you really want that sweet bubbly drink without the processed sugar, try making your own sparkling juice. Mix one half carbonated water with one half 100% fruit juice – like white grape or cranberry. Add ice and a few slices of fresh fruit for a very satisfying treat.

A Cold Brew

Beer is another go-to refresher on a hot day that carries a significant impact on blood sugar levels, as well as having dehydrating effects. A delicious non-alcoholic option is kombucha tea.

Kombucha, like beer, is a fermented beverage. While it does carry a low alcoholic content, it is not significant enough to impact hydration levels or get you drunk. However it does carry that satisfying tart and fermented flavour that a cold beer serves. Kombucha can be found bottled in health food stores everywhere in a variety of flavours.

This post was originally posted by Two Row Times the Newz For Natives, By Natives for the original of this and many more great articles visit there site. The URL for this post is http://www.tworowtimes.com/uncategorized/fresh-and-healthy-ways-to-stay-hydrated-this-summer/

Ottawa offers $239 million to settle historical Akwesasne claim

The Dundee Claim

AKWESASNE—The federal government has offered $239.8 million to Akwesasne to settle an outstanding specific claim that dates back to the 1800s, according to the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne.

The specific claim centers on 8,100 hectares of land along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River which the Akwesasne Mohawks say was never surrendered. The area, found in Quebec, is known as the territory of Tsikaristisere or the Dundee lands.

If it agrees to the settlement, 7,400 hectares of land will also be available to Akwesasne to turn into reserve territory under Canada’s additions to reserve “willing buyer, willing seller” policy.

Akwesasne would be required to release all claims to the Dundee lands if it agrees to the settlement. The settlement requires a community referendum to come into force.

The statement said the referendum would be held in the coming months following education sessions in the community.

In the early 1800s, the Crown and Akwesasne chiefs leased out lands in the Dundee area to non-Mohawks. This eventually led to tensions after the Mohawks demanded the lands be given back when the leases expired.

In 1888, the superintendent general of Indian Affairs offered $50,000 if the Mohawks agreed to surrender their interest in the lands. On Feb. 16, 1888, a document was signed that was interpreted as a surrender. The Mohawks, however, disputed the interpretation and maintained their aim was to gradually reclaim the leased lands.

About 10 per cent of the lands that had been patented to private parties were returned to reserve status between 1889 and 1927. Ottawa also purchased lands within the claimed area beginning in 1971, but the lands did not receive reserve status.

Specific claims deal with historical grievances around loss of lands or mishandling of trust monies by Ottawa.

This story was originally posted by APTN at http://aptn.ca/news/2015/05/25/ottawa-offers-239-million-settle-historical-akwesasne-claim/  It was reblogged for informational and educational purposes only and no copyright infringement was intended.

Ontario not required to fix native ‘reluctance’ towards jury duty: Supreme Court

Alvin Fiddler, deputy grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, said the high court ruling “represents a serious setback for the relationship between aboriginal people and the Canadian justice system.”

Supreme Court of Canada rules against aboriginal Ontario man who argued there weren’t enough natives in his jury pool

In upholding the manslaughter conviction against a native man Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the government of Ontario wasn’t required to tackle systemic problems contributing to the “reluctance” of aboriginals living on reserves to participate in the jury process.

Clifford Kokopenace, an aboriginal man from the Grassy Narrows reserve, was convicted of manslaughter in the 2007 death of Taylor Assin. Before sentencing, his lawyers learned that the roll from which jurors were selected consisted of 699 potential jurors, of whom only 29 were First Nation on-reserve residents — about 4.1 per cent.

But in that district, on-reserve residents made up 32 per cent of the adult population. Kokopenace’s lawyers argued his Charter rights to a fair and impartial jury were violated. Ontario’s Court of Appeal agreed.

In a 5-2 decision written by Justice Michael Moldaver, the Supreme Court ruled an accused’s right to a representative jury is “not the appropriate mechanism for repairing the damaged relationship between particular societal groups and our criminal justice system.”

The court said there is no right to a jury roll of a particular composition, nor to one that proportionately represents all the diverse groups in Canada. The court found that when Kenora’s 2008 jury roll was formed, Ontario’s efforts to include aboriginal on-reserve residents in the process were “reasonable.”

Alvin Fiddler, deputy grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, said the high court ruling “represents a serious setback for the relationship between aboriginal people and the Canadian justice system” and “sends the inevitable message that First Nations choose not to be part of the justice system, when nothing could be further from the truth.”

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said, “We know that there needs to be changes in terms of . . . aboriginal representation on juries.”

The lack of First Nations members on trial and inquest juries was the subject of a major report by former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci. His probe looked into a problem so acute it derailed an inquest into the deaths of seven young aboriginals who had to leave their reserves in northern Ontario to attend high school in Thunder Bay.

Cheryl Milne, Executive Director of the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights fears the Supreme Court decision will be a “setback” in terms of work being done by a committee formed to act on Iacoucci’s recommendations for improving the numbers of natives on juries.

*This story was originally posted by The Toronto Star http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/05/21/ontario-not-required-to-fix-native-reluctance-for-jury-duty-supreme-court.html And is reposted here for educational/informational purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended and is accidental.

Bodies Of 2 Missing Tyendinaga Mohawk Men Found In Bay Of Quinte

RED POWER MEDIA

By Red Power Media Staff

The bodies of two Tyendinaga Mohawk men missing since April 26 were recovered in the Deseronto area west of Kingston.

The bodies of missing fishermen Matt Fairman, 26, and Tyler Maracle, 21, have been found, confirmed the OPP Saturday morning.

At about 2:30 p.m. Friday, Ontario Provincial Police marine unit received a marine radio alert from a boater reporting a body in the water between the Skyway Bridge and Lighthouse Island. Shortly after transporting the body to shore, police received a second radio call advising of another body in the same location.

The men were located about 15 metres apart in the middle channel of the Bay of Quinte.

On Sunday, April 26th at approximately 1:30 a.m. the men left a residence to go fishing.  The men were reported missing at 8:43 a.m. that morning.

An anonymous donor was offering a 100 thousand dollar reward for information leading to the…

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Pope defends soon-to-be saint vs Native American objections

The Associated Press

ROME —

Pope Francis has praised the “holiness” and “zeal” of an 18th-century Franciscan missionary he’ll make a saint when he visits the United States this fall but whom Native Americans in California contend brutally converted indigenous people to Christianity.

Francis on Saturday praised the accomplishments and qualities of Rev. Junipero Serra during a homily at a Rome seminary training future priests from North America. The pope will elevate the Spanish native to sainthood in a ceremony in Washington, D.C. in Sept. 23, during his U.S. pilgrimage.

Native Americans have held protests in California, saying instead of being honored, Serra should be criticized for what they say is his role in wiping out native populations in a brutal campaign to impose Catholicism.

Francis says Serra defended natives against “abuses by the colonizers.”

Copyright The Associated Press

The Full Story and Credit goes to http://www.wsbtv.com/news/ap/top-news/pope-defends-soon-to-be-saint-vs-native-american-o/nk7kW/

I do not claim any of the credit or rights to this story I have taken it from the link provided, and re blog it for educational and informational purposes only.

We Are Prisoners Of War

This story is not my original work I am re blogging  a story that I consider important from Mohawk Nation News The original Story can be found here We Are Prisoners Of War

MNN. Apr. 28, 2015. 4 days ago a Napanee Gun Chatter website called Kanionkehaka/Mohawks criminals, “They’re killing all the fishing. We should do something about it”. Every spring when the pickerel return to tyendinaga we deal with this maniacal settler-colonialism. Unknown men on dirt bikes showed up in someone’s backyard in Tyendinaga. They beat up two guys and ran over another. Two days ago two Mohawk men went missing while fishing early in the morning in the Bay of Quinte, Tyler Maracle 21 and Matt Fairman 26.

The Ontario Provincial Police was called to help find them. Hundreds of people showed up to search the shores. A broken oar was found in the water. On the other side of the bay their jackets, cellphone and weighters were found. No boat nor bodies have been found as of yet. Cops did little. The chopper came for one hour, went on to Barry.

Like Onondaga, this community is run by the military with the help of the incorporated band council and mayors of the surrounding towns. The Councils’ job is to know about every INDIAN in the community and to keep us all in darkness.

In October 25, 1924 colonial Indian Lands Acts were illegally passed by Canada, a colony of Britain. The Corporation of Canada set up Prisoner of War Camps called “Indian reservations” and expanded the Department of Indians under direct army control. The I.R. number is the POW camp number. Commissioned and non-commissioned officers are the managers and planners.

Fences went up. Indian agents and guards tended the gate. Soldiers taught in our schools. Passes and permission were needed to leave. We lost all our land and had to work for those who stole it. The Indian agents were our sheep dogs until the 60s. Now the INDIANS can guard themselves, overseen by the band/tribal councils under the watchful eye of the army. The sheep dogs are gone. Perfect form of slavery is when the sheep are controlling themselves with no sheep dog.

The 14^th floor “war room” at Indian Affairs is part of the Department of Defense. Each area surrounding our ongwehonwe communities have multi-phased Police Operational Response Plans designed by the military. The army is involved in everything that happens in the POW camps. Police are on stand-by. The investigator in charge is in daily contact with the band councils.

Napanee Gun Chatter website are probably cops and military from nearby Trenton Air Force Base. Canada’s Bill C-51 anti-terror bill is making protesting against the government and corporations a criminal act.

The Geneva Convention in 1929 provides that POW camps are for containment of enemy combatants or belligerent captives, C51 sees us as the prime enemy of the corporation of Canada, a military corporation run out of Indians Affairs. These POW camps are being privatized to be sold and to remove us. In his 100 year plan to be rid of the Indian problem, Duncan Campbell Scott said, “We will absorb all of the Indians into the corporate body politic”. Israel and the other British colonies want to legalize genocide to maintain their illegal empire.

Our men are vital. They are charged with the protection, defence and welfare of the people. They take many forms, such as peacekeeping, teaching, speaking to the people, repossessing lost lands, maintaining human rights and diplomatic relations. We cherish our men.

Dekanawida said: “The white serpent will momentarily drop the ongwe’hon:weh, who will fall to the ground like a baby and crawl to the hilly country to heal.

*I want to say Nia:wen to  Mohawk Nation News for this story, and I take no credit for it, I am simply passing on information to those who read my blog.

Costco to Offer Wholesale Marijuana by Summer

STREET KNOWLEDGE

It takes a village to blaze a pound? This is a power move on the part of the tribes, they are using warehouser COSTCO as their personal dispensary…wonder how many people are gonna be relocating to Washington once they figure out how to stretch this ‘stimulus’ package.

 

via kitsapreport

REDMOND WA- Kirkland based wholesale megastore Costco has announced plans to offer bulk high grade marijuana under their flagship Kirkland Signature brand in all 237 Washington locations. The marijuana will be exclusively purchased from the Suquamish Tribe, which is currently awaiting federal approval to begin production on. Tribal gaming commissioners met with Costco executives more than 3 months ago to work on a tentative deal. Kirkland signature hopes to add marijuana to its laundry list of goods including baby clothes, shampoo and dad shoes by the end of June.

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Database has found over 600 missing or murdered Aboriginal men

Copied from a post by Redpowermedia at  http://redpowermedia.wordpress.com/2014/09/21/database-has-found-over-600-missing-or-murdered-aboriginal-men/

Gallery September 21, 2014 Black Powder Leave a comment

Bryan Blackstar with his niece, Moosomin First Nation, Saskatchewan. Photo via Ashley Blackstar.

Sep, 21/14

Ashley Blackstar says her brother Bryan didn’t want to be at the house party on the Moosomin First Nation, located in northwestern Saskatchewan. In the early morning hours of February 2, 2014, he was beaten to death by two young men he considered friends.

“He was killed while he was passed out,” says Blackstar. “What I heard was that he wanted to come home.”

Blackstar attended the second-degree court hearings of the two suspects for as long as she could, but found the hearings too painful.

As tragic and brutal as the unfortunate death of Bryan Blackstar sounds, it comes as no surprise to Jen Mt. Pleasant. For the past nine months, the Six Nations journalist has been profiling cases just like Blackstar’s. She has now compiled a database containing the names of over 600 missing or murdered Indigenous men in Canada, going back to the 1950s.

In Canada, racial data is “actively suppressed” from law enforcement statistics. As a result, Stats Canada does not include race in their annual count of the country’s homicides.

To collect the names of missing and murdered aboriginal men, Mt. Pleasant scoured the web for news stories. She has also used information from several police agencies and missing person’s websites across Canada. Mt Pleasant even contacted relatives of the missing or murdered persons to confirm their ancestry.

In her database, categories have been created for those that have gone missing or been murdered. Mt. Pleasant says her database includes cases where no foul play was suspected, even accidental deaths or drowning. She said she included some of those names because family members often feel there is more to the story.

Listed in alphabetical order, Mt. Pleasant intends to expand the database to research deaths from the 1920s and 1930s.

Mt. Pleasant, a former criminology university student, initially started her research on missing and murdered women and girls. “During my research I would come across a picture of a native male that had been murdered or have gone missing,” she says, adding, “It seems that not a lot of attention is given to that (aboriginal men) and everyone is just focusing on the women.”

Recently, the RCMP released a report citing 1,181 missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada since 1980. The report concluded the total number of missing and murdered aboriginal women exceeded previous public estimates.

“With the (aboriginal) women, more often than not, there’s a sexual component, there’s a lot of sexual violence,” says Mt. Pleasant. “I’m not finding that with the males, they’re dying really violent deaths.”

Ashley Blackstar and her family know this too well. Four days after the gruesome murder of her brother, the family visited the house where it happened. “There was blood splattered everywhere,” says Blackstar. “His blood was on the ground, on rocks, splattered on the side of the house, and on the steps.”

Cheryl Maloney, president of the Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association, says all these missing and murdered cases have more to do with race than gender: “Nobody has the numbers, nobody knows where to start,” says Maloney. “It just seems our people are disposable in this country.”

Maloney says if governments and agencies disclosed numbers based on race for men, like the recent RCMP report on missing and murdered aboriginal women, it would probably surprise the public. But in an email statement, Public Safety Canada says the department has no research projects planned this year on the topic of missing and murdered aboriginal men.

On the Moosomin First Nation in Saskatchewan, the family of Bryan Blackstar still mourns his death.

“He was a really kind guy, he wasn’t the type to hurt anybody or cause anybody trouble,” says Ashley Blackstar. “It hurts every day. I wish I could wake up and he could be there.”

http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/an-independent-database-has-concluded-canada-has-lost-over-600-missing-or-murdered-aboriginal-men

First Nations protesters prepare for ‘escalation’

 

**This is not my article it was copied from http://redpowermedia.wordpress.com/2014/09/17/first-nations-protesters-prepare-for-escalation/  **all credit and honor goes to them.

Sacred Sites

Gallery September 17, 2014 Black Powder Leave a comment

Paddlers will, once again, take to the water around Grace Islet on Wednesday morning.

September 17, 2014

Frustrated over the province’s refusal to issue a stop work order, opponents of a plan to build a home on Grace Islet aim to visit the site Wednesday morning.

“First Nations chiefs, elders and cultural workers will visit their ancestral burial ground on Grace Islet in Ganges Harbour to put a stop to construction there,” states a news release issued by Salt Spring Islanders for Justice and Reconciliation and Salt Spring Residents for Responsible Land Use on Tuesday afternoon.

“Island residents and others will join them on the water and land to send a strong message to the provincial government for an immediate resolution to the controversy and the protection and restoration of the site.”

Opponents of the project have campaigned over the summer at the local, regional and provincial government levels to stop work on the home. Some hoped a decision would be made after Premier Christy Clark and cabinet ministers met with First Nations chiefs from across the province last week.

“In the meantime, construction continues on the islet against the expressed wishes of First Nations, whose chiefs have now authorized an escalation of action,” reads Tuesday’s statement.

Sean McIntyre/Twitter, RCMP arrives at grace islet saltspring Wednesday morning

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations has said all work on the site has been conducted under parameters of a site alteration permit.

“While there have been slight deviations/‘discrepancies’ with respect to the footprint of the building, all rock features/cairns remain untouched,” said Greig Bethel on Sept. 2. “This technical difference does not warrant or justify a suspension of the permit as the features remain protected from any disturbance.”

http://gulfislandsdriftwood.com/news/protesters-prepare-escalation/#.VBnxtJRdWSo

First Nations protesters prepare for ‘escalation’.

Why the British Don’t Refrigerate Eggs

Why The British Don’t Refrigerate Eggs

If you’ve ever been to a supermarket in the UK, you were probably surprised (if not a little grossed out) to see stacks of eggs hanging out with nary a refrigerated one in site. As it turns out, we might actually be the crazy ones.

Business Insider did some research on the conundrum, and interestingly enough, British eggs aren’t supposed to be refrigerated because they’re not washed. As BI explains:

In the U.S., the Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires that eggs destined to be sold on supermarket shelves — called graded eggs — are washed and sprayed with a chemical sanitizer before they are sold to the public to reduce the risk of salmonella infection.

In the U.K., Grade A hen eggs may not be washed because the process is thought to “aid the transfer of harmful bacteria like salmonella from the outside to the inside of the egg,” according to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. In fact, Forbes contributor Nadia Arumugam pointed out that USDA graded eggs could not be legally sold in the U.K. (and the other way around) due to these different preparation methods.

So what does all that have to do with refrigeration? Since the US generally uses factory farm environments to raise our chickens, our eggs are far more susceptible to salmonella contamination. Which means that washing the eggs is absolutely imperative. In the UK, though, farmers prioritize producing “clean eggs at the point of collection, rather than trying to clean them afterwards.”

But as BI notes, “scientists have found that the washing process may damage an outside layer of the egg shell known as the cuticle,” which would make it easier for bacteria to sneak inside. The cooler temperatures of a refrigerator, though, help prevent eggs from deteriorating quite so fast. BI goes on to explain why salmonella just isn’t as big of a problem in the UK as it is in the US. The whole report is fascinating, though, and you can read it in full over at Business Insider here. [Business Insider via Digg]

Image: Shutterstock/Art Allianz

(Story copied from http://gizmodo.com/why-the-british-dont-refrigerate-their-eggs-1604297251 for informational and educational purposes only, no copyright infringement intended, all rights and credits remain with the original authors. )

DNA Testing Proves Native American Genealogy To Be Among the Most Unique in the World

The systematic destruction of the Native Americans, First Nations, Metis and Inuit people and their entire way of life was not only one of recorded history’s greatest tragedies, but, as with the slave trade, deeply spiritually wounding to all involved. The utter decimation of their culture is one of the most shameful aspects of our history, the extent of the damage still being down-played and denied entry into textbooks and history-lessons to this day. The inability of governments everywhere to come to grips with their dark past and allow the aboriginals who are native to this land – as well as the descendants of everyone else involved – the healing required to move forward is not only a denial of basic human rights, but a tell-tale sign of the type of current racism, economic neglect and mistreatment that would surely come to light were they to do so.

Yet many groups and factions still persist, such as Idle No More and AIM, working to bring attention to both the current and historical injustices in order to move forward in a positive manner. The importance of such efforts cannot be overstated. The threads of these ancient cultures – having existed here for tens of thousands of years prior to the arrival of the ‘pioneers’ – no matter how tenuous they may currently be, must be preserved, strengthened and woven back into a quilt that tells the unique story of not only their past, but of their bright future as well. The reasons for this run much deeper than one may suppose. The genealogy of western aboriginals has been of great interest to certain research groups for a number of years. Recent findings have proven something that many long suspected: that, genetically, the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas are amongst the most unique in all the world. {WP}

 

For two decades, researchers have been using a growing volume of genetic data to debate whether ancestors of Native Americans emigrated to the New World in one wave or successive waves, or from one ancestral Asian population or a number of different populations. 

Now, after painstakingly comparing DNA samples from people in dozens of modern-day Native American and Eurasian groups, an international team of scientists thinks it can put the matter to rest: virtually without exception, the new evidence supports the single ancestral population theory. 

“Our work provides strong evidence that, in general, Native Americans are more closely related to each other than to any other existing Asian populations, except those that live at the very edge of the Bering Strait,” said Kari Britt Schroeder, a lecturer at the University of California, Davis, and the first author on the paper describing the study. 

“While earlier studies have already supported this conclusion, what’s different about our work is that it provides the first solid data that simply cannot be reconciled with multiple ancestral populations,” said Schroeder, who was a Ph.D. student in anthropology at the university when she did the research. 

The study is published in the May issue of the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution. 

The team’s work follows up on earlier studies by several of its members who found a unique variant (an allele) of a genetic marker in the DNA of modern-day Native American people. Dubbed the “9-repeat allele,” the variant (which does not have a biological function), occurred in all of the 41 populations that they sampled from Alaska to the southern tip of Chile, as well as in Inuit from Greenland and the Chukchi and Koryak people native to the Asian (western) side of the Bering Strait. Yet this allele was absent in all 54 of the Eurasian, African and Oceanian groups the team sampled. 

Overall, among the 908 people who were in the 44 groups in which the allele was found, more than one out of three had the variant. 

In these earlier studies, the researchers concluded that the most straightforward explanation for the distribution of the 9-repeat allele was that all modern Native Americans, Greenlanders and western Beringians descend from a common founding population. Furthermore, the fact that the allele was absent in other Asian populations most likely meant that America’s ancestral founders had been isolated from the rest of Asia for thousands of years before they moved into the New World: that is, for a period of time that was long enough to allow the allele to originate in, and spread throughout, the isolated population. 

As strong as this evidence was, however, it was not foolproof. There were two other plausible explanations for the widespread distribution of the allele in the Americas. 

If the 9-repeat allele had arisen as a mutation multiple times, its presence throughout the Americas would not indicate shared ancestry. Alternatively, if there had been two or more different ancestral founding groups and only one of them had carried the 9-repeat allele, certain circumstances could have prompted it to cross into the other groups and become widespread. Say that there was a second allele – one situated very close to the 9-repeat allele on the DNA strand – that conferred a strong advantage to humans who carried it. Natural selection would carry this allele into new populations and because of the mechanics of inheritance, long stretches of DNA surrounding it, including the functionless 9-repeat allele, would be carried along with the beneficial allele. 

To rule out these possibilities, the research team, which was headed by Noah Rosenberg at the University of Michigan, scrutinized DNA samples of people from 31 modern-day Asian populations, 19 Native American, one Greenlandic and two western Beringian populations. 

They found that in each sample that contained the 9-repeat allele, short stretches of DNA on either side of it were characterized by a distinct pattern of base pairs, a pattern they seldom observed in people without the allele. “If natural selection had promoted the spread of a neighboring advantageous allele, we would expect to see longer stretches of DNA than this with a similarly distinct pattern,” Schroeder said. “And we would also have expected to see the pattern in a high frequency even among people who do not carry the 9-repeat allele. So we can now consider the positive selection possibility unlikely.” 

The results also ruled out the multiple mutations hypothesis. If that had been the case, there would have been myriad DNA patterns surrounding the allele rather than the identical characteristic signature the team discovered. 

“There are a number of really strong papers based on mitochondrial DNA – which is passed from mother to daughter – and Y-chromosome DNA – which is passed from father to son – that have also supported a single ancestral population,” Schroeder said. “But this is the first definitive evidence we have that comes from DNA that is carried by both sexes.” 

Other authors of the study are David G. Smith, a professor of anthropology at UC Davis; Mattias Jacobsson, University of Michigan and Uppsala University in Sweden; Michael H. Crawford, University of Kansas; Theodore Schurr, University of Pennsylvania; Simina Boca, Johns Hopkins University; Donald F. Conrad and Jonathan Pritchard, University of Chicago; Raul Tito and Ripan Malhi, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Ludmilla Osipova, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk; Larissa Tarskaia, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; Sergey Zhadanov, University of Pennsylvania and Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk; and Jeffrey D. Wall, UC San Francisco. 

The work was supported by NIH grants to Rosenberg and Smith and an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to Schroeder. 

Journal reference: 

Schroeder et al. Haplotypic Background of a Private Allele at High Frequency in the Americas. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 2009; 26 (5): 995 DOI: link

 

Source: The bulk of this article was originally featured on Science Daily: “Native Americans Descended From a Single Ancestral Group, DNA Study Finds“

Image: Stella Yellow Shirt, Dakota Sioux, with baby, 1899, by Heyn & Matzen Photo, Wikimedia Commons

** This article originated at http://www.wisdompills.com/2014/06/13/dna-testing-proves-native-american-genealogy-to-be-among-the-most-unique-in-the-world/  and was reproduced here for Educational and Informational purposes only. No copyright infringement was intended and all rights and credit remain with the originating authors.**

10 Medicines in your Grand River Backyard

10 Medicines in your Grand River Backyard
Nahnda Garlow Health & Wellness June 18, 2014

Want to start learning more about our indigenous medicines but don’t know what to look for? Find these ten common plants in any yard throughout Haudenosaunee Territory and bring decolonization to your medicine cabinet.

Purslane

1. Purslane – If you’re on the rez and want to impress your non-indigenous visitors, pick a young vine of Purslane off the ground and start munching away. This ground creeping vine-like power-food is delicious; similar in flavour and texture to green beans. Purslane is an excellent source of Omega-3’s & Vitamin E, and carries seven times more beta-carotene than carrots!

Chamomile

Chamomile

2. Chamomile – This flowering herb is usually used for making tea. But don’t let its light and fruity flavour fool you. Chamomile has excellent healing properties for both soothing the stomach and acts as a mild sedative.

Peppermint

3. Peppermint – Another herb used commonly in tea which happens to grow wild all over Grand River Territory. Medical studies report that peppermint can help all kinds of gastrointestinal ailments including Irritable Bowel Syndrome. But did you know this fresh herb also contains menthol; a compound which reportedly inhibits the growth of Prostate Cancer?

Wild Strawberry

4. Strawberries – Called “the leader of the medicines” many Haudenosaune will be familiar with jihsǫ:dahk. These delicate berries are commonly taken mashed and sweetened to make strawberry juice, which is an excellent treatment for constipation. Despite their small size, wild strawberries tote some big healing qualities. They are also a cleansing medicine, and can detoxify both internally and externally. Naturopathic physicians recommend wild strawberries to treat people with liver ailments. Got acne or psoriasis? Try applying a mash of the berries to the affected area to cleanse and aid in healing.

Dandelion

5. Dandelions – One person’s trash is another person’s treasure! While many a lawn gardener has poisoned and banished these springtime blossoms, their health benefits are gaining a lot of attention these days. Dandelion greens are showing up on dinner plates everywhere, but the root of the dandelion is what’s getting the most attention. In 2012, medical researchers took note of this medicine after a man diagnosed with Stage 4 leukaemia who was treating his disease exclusively by taking Dandelion Root Tea went into full remission. Subsequently, in 2013 the University of Windsor received funding to begin an on-going study of this root’s ability to kill cancer cells and shrink tumours.

Mullein

6. Mullein – These plants are beautifully majestic when allowed to grow to full size, at times reaching up to ten feet high. The leaves can be dried and used for tea to treat asthma or bronchitis. If you’re not a tea drinker, place some dried leaf in a smudge bowl and let the smoke cascade through the air. Inhaling the smoke can ease respiratory inflammation.

Wild Raspberry

7. Raspberries – Ladies, if you are lucky enough to have a wild raspberry patch in your backyard, don’t forget to harvest some of the leaves for your medicine cabinet. Red Raspberry Leaf Tea has been used by Midwives for generations to prepare women for labour. It is recommended to tone the uterus – easing menstrual cramps and shortening the second stage of childbirth. Following birth it is used to flush away the excess hormones which contribute to “baby blues” and also can amp up your milk supply. Raspberries are also a delicious way to help eradicate a urinary tract infection.

Cedar

8. Cedar – Got a cold that you just can’t kick? Put fresh cedar in a pot of boiling water for 20 minutes to cleanse the air and rid your home of germs. Cedar is also used in smudging for its spiritual cleansing properties and is often seen hanging over the doorways of people’s homes for that purpose. Cedar can be boiled and made into a tea, or used in cleansing baths to help centre a person’s spirit as well.
plantain

Plantain

9. Plantain – From cuts to bee stings to spider bites and beyond, Plaintain is known as a heal-all medicine bearing anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. It can even draw venom out from a snake bite. The leaves are commonly found in salads and taste like spinach but if you find yourself itching madly from mosquito bites try chewing up a leaf or two and applying the mash to your bites. Same goes for poison ivy, poison oak or poison sumac. Just make sure the area you’re harvesting from has not been sprayed with pesticides.

White Pine

10. White Pine – If you want to prevent your family from getting sick, boil the knots from the wood of a White Pine Tree. The tree can also purify the air in your home in the winter months. Boiling the needles, bark and resin of the White Pine to inhale the vapours also eases chest colds, laryngitis and bronchitis. Pine pitch, that sticky stuff that White Pine trees ooze, is also anti-microbial. You can apply it to small wounds to aid in healing but it is extremely sticky. Try washing it off by rubbing in some sunflower or another non-GMO oil into your skin and it will smooth right away and leave your hands smelling great.

I have added some Graphics that were not in the original story so that there was pictures of each of the medicines.                                                                                                                 This story originated at http://www.tworowtimes.com/health-wellness/ten-free-backyard-medicines-ongwehowe-onongwatriyo/  And has been reproduced here for Educational and Informational Purposes. All credit and copyright remains with the original author.

Indian Reservation

This song was played earlier at the National Aboriginal Day Celebration in #YGK, and it reminded me how much I have always loved the song.

Paul Revere And The Raiders Song lyrics below;

They took the whole Cherokee Nation 
And put us on this reservation
Took away our ways of life
The tomahawk and the bow and knife
They took away our native tongue
And taught their English to our young  
And all the beads we made by hand
Are nowadays made in Japan

Cherokee people, Cherokee tribe
So proud to live,
so proud to die

They took the whole Indian Nation
And locked us on this reservation
And though I wear a shirt and tie 
Im still a red man deep inside

Cherokee people, Cherokee tribe
So proud to live,
so proud to die

But maybe someday when they learn
Cherokee Nation will return
Will return  
Will return  
Will return
Will return

– end of Paul Revere And The Raiders Songs –
The song is republished here to honour The Aboriginal People of Turtle Island, And for Informational & Educational Purposes. No copyright infringement is intended all rights and credit remain with Paul Revere & The Raiders.

This Little Weed is one of the Most Useful Medicines on the Planet

You’ve stepped on it, ignored it, and tried to eradicate it from your lawn. However, this innocuous little weed is one of the most useful medicines on the planet, just begging to be harvested.

There are two major types of plantain in BC, Canada: Lance and Broadleaf. Generally, all 200-plus varieties of plantain yield the same results. It grows especially well in poor, rocky soil (such as driveways) and is often seen alongside dandelion. More often than not, you will see plantain growing in gravel pits and construction sites as nature seeks to regenerate the soil. Introduced to North America in the 1600s, it was once called “White Man’s Foot” by the Native Americans who witnessed that where the Europeans tread and disrupted the soil, plantain sprung up.

Plantain has often been the go-to remedy for hikers plagued by mosquitos. Because it draws toxins from the body with its astringent nature, plantain may be crushed (or chewed) and placed as a poultice directly over the site of bee stings, bug bites, acne, slivers, glass splinters, or rashes. Bandage the area and allow the plantain to work its magic for 4-12 hours. Plantain may also be used to create a balm for emergency kits, or an infusion used as a skin or general wash. It is also a notable, soothing remedy for hemorrhoids.

Plantain is renowned for its healing effect on the digestive system. This is especially useful for anyone who has been damaged by antibiotics, anti-inflammatory or pain medications, food allergies, or Celiac disease. Both leaves and seeds specifically target the digestive system for healing. The leaves may be steeped as tea, added to soups, or dried with a sauce similar to kale chips. The seeds – a type of psyllium – can be ground or soaked for bulk mucilage or absorbable fibre, which, consumed before meals, may help with weight loss.

Because plantain is a gentle expectorant and high in silica, an infusion can be helpful for lung problems, coughs, and colds.

Plantain is almost a panacea for the human body, treating everything from all menstrual difficulties, all digestive issues, to nearly all skin complaints, and even arthritis. Add to salads, chew to ease thirst, or enjoy in stir fries. This versatile wild vegetable will keep you in good health for years to come!

Resources:
– Prescription for Herbal Healing: 2nd Edition – Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
– Hygieia: A Woman’s Herbal – Jeannine Parvati
– Healing Secrets of the Native Americans – Porter Shimer
– The New Age Herbalist – Richard Mabey

About The Author

Jess Smith is a healer and raw wildcrafter living in the Fraser Valley, BC Canada. A lifelong student and advocate of herbal medicine, she grew up foraging the forests of BC. She runs a complementary healing practice, and, with her toddler, she enjoys teaching others about the wild abundance outside our doors.www.RedHawkHealing.com

http://www.thefutureofhealthnow.com/little-weed-one-useful-medicine…

This story was copied from http://higherperspective.com/2014/01/little-weed-one-useful-medicines-planet.html#O0SZgv7AeT8GE8Tf.99

No copyright infringement was intended and we take no credit for the story, it was re-published here for informational and educational purposes only. All Credit and rights remain with the original authors.

Warrior Manifesto , Warrior Society Newsletter October, 1983

INDIAN SURVIVAL CRISIS BULLETIN

NO. 2

OCTOBER, 1983

WARRIOR MANIFESTO

Man is born to be free. He has the right to live. He has the right to his own nationality. No one has the right to take away his nationality. No one has the right to force him to join another nation. Every nation has the right to exist and to an area of land for its territory where it can exercise its own system of government and society according to its customs and traditions.

In the Iroquois way, every man is a warrior – lately, the girls and even older women have demanded instructions in the arts of the warriors, handling guns, etc. They mean to have a part of any future armed struggles for survival. As a youth, every Iroquois male is taught the arts of war, so that he’ll be ready to defend his country and his people. This makes it unnecessary for the Iroquois government to have an expensive War Department with its high salaried military echelon of officers of various degrees and ranks. It makes a standing army unnecessary who have nothing to do but sit around waiting for an order to go somewhere and kill some people. After a young Iroquois learns the skills of war, his teacher sends him back to the fields or other occupations. Every Iroquois is also taught the Great Law so that he’ll know when it is violated. This is necessary because the War Chief and his men are charged with the task of seeing to it that the Great Law is followed which makes every male Iroquois a policeman and it is his duty to stop any crime being committed. There is no need for an expensive police department with a big bunch of men sitting around waiting for a crime to be committed. By the same token every Iroquois is also a fireman, so there’s no need for a fire department.

The Rotiyaner (Chiefs) legislate laws and decide issues in their Council. The War Chief and his men (called Warrior Society by the immigrants from Europe) enforce the Chief’s decisions. The Clan Mothers watch their Chiefs and see to it that no provision of the Great Law is violated. If both the Rotiyaner and the Clan Mothers go against the Great Law or do things which are against the welfare and happiness of the People, the Great Law provides the people have the power to depose them. The power lies with the people, who have to do the fighting and other work to preserve the nation. The Chiefs and Clan Mothers are of the people, elected by the people and are accountable to the people.

It is the function and duty of the Mohawk Warrior Society to defend and protect the people of the Mohawk Nation. Due to the genocidal assimilation policy of Canada, United States and other European governments in America, who mean to speed up the extinction of the Indian race, the Warrior Society has the option to proclaim to the world that the Warriors shall resist by every means, any and all motions to destroy and erase the Mohawk Nation from the face of the earth and that it shall stand on its human rights to exist as a nation, which rights are also guaranteed to all nations of the world by the United Nations. The proposed parliamentary legislation in Canada and the Congressional legislation in the United States to turn Indian lands into municipalities and counties, are acts of aggression against the Indians. Since it means the oblivion of the Indian race, the destruction of a distinct people, it is also an act of war. The moment the legislation are enforced, the government thereupon declares war on the Indians. It follows that the Indians shall fight . It’s a bad time for the white race in America to start trouble with the Indians. White scientists have created monsters which can be turned against their own people. A condition has developed when even a handful of Indians can cause havoc and create scenes of desolation from one end of the continent to the other. The white man in America has mighty fire power but as a chain is as strong as its weakest link, the white man’s chain of defense has might weak links.

During peacetime and careless moments, the Mohawk Territory was stolen from the Mohawk Nation. This manifesto includes a map of the Ganienkeh (Mohawk) Territory in Canada and the United States. It includes islands in the St. Lawrence River including the Island of Montreal. We, the Mohawk Warrior Society, do now demand that the Mohawk Territory be restored to the Mohawk Nation. Ours is the strongest naturally legal right known to man, aboriginal right. The Mohawk Nation entertains no such ideas as becoming extinct but has decided it’s time to take back what’s ours and to exercise our rights to have our own government and society on this land of our ancestors, with no interference from any foreign nation or government. The people shall live off the land and the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy known as Gayanerekowa, world’s first national constitution, shall continue as the constitution of the repossessed Mohawk land. The co-op system of economy, a most practical and worthy economic system, used by our ancestors and particularly suited to Indians, shall be used in the repossessed Mohawk Law. We shall grow food on every available acre, keep livestock and preserve the environment. Needed is a lot of land for corn fields, potatoes and other foods, hay fields and grazing land for beef cattle, dairy cattle, horses, buffalo and timber land for building materials. Other native nations of Asia and Africa have regained lost lands and human rights. Germany, Italy and Japan, after being unconditionally conquered in 1945, were given back their lands. They were not put on reservations as were the Indians. It’s too unjust! It is time the Indians in America got the same deal. Canada and the United States law claim to the civilized state and proclaim to be progressive countries. Surely, they can afford to restore some of the stolen areas of this huge land to its rightful owners where they, also, can enjoy the good life, instead of being captive nations. No nation should be so deprived it has to live on reservations under the bootheel of foreign nations. Now that the Indians have the ability not only to make peace but also to destroy the white man’s peace, it is time to require Canada and the United States to render real and true justice to the true owners of this land by restoring some of the stolen lands.

Meanwhile, the governments of Canada and the United States are passing legislation to make Indians extinct via forced assimilation. This legal massacre is without equal. This tyranny is on display in full view of the world. The world is a witness. We shall communicate with every nation on earth and their embassies at the United Nations with a request for foreign relations with the countries contacted, even if only on paper. We shall let the whole world be a witness to the victorious struggle of the Mohawk Nation to regain full attributes of nationhood.

The above article was republished for educational & informational  purposes no copyright infringement was intended and all rights remain with http://www.louishall.com/newsletters/warrior/2.html    The original site that published this. 

Six Nations – An Argument for a little Growth

COMMENTARY

People need safe drinking water and decent housing. Most of all, Six Nations needs a fair share.

By Undustrial
Published July 15, 2010

Throughout the last century, Southern Ontario has seen urban and suburban growth on a scale rivaled by few other centres. Our conurbation, the Golden Horseshoe, holds a quarter of the nation’s population and is the sixth densest area like it in North America.

Throughout the explosive growth of the last few decades, nearly every community in Southern Ontario has exploded in a wave of suburbanization, which I shouldn’t need to get too deeply into here. I also shouldn’t need to get into the obvious harm it causes.

The point I want to address is one has been left out. As our cities have rampaged through the farmlands and forests of the Golden Horseshoe, one municipal entity has shrunk nearly as dramatically, and has remained a small kernel of its former self for decades.

I’m talking, of course about, Six Nations, a reserve which once stretched around the entire region, before being clawed away in shady land deals. Billions of dollars of real estate, on which several cities – such as Brantford and Kitchener-Waterloo – now lie.

Haldimand Tract Map. The grey area with red border is the land granted by the Haldimand Proclamation, 950,000 acres granted on October 25, 1784. The solid red area is the current Six Nations reserve, 46,500 acres or 4.9% of the original. (Image Source: turtleisland.org)

Six Nations today remains extraordinary among native reserves for many reasons. It’s the only place all Six Nations (Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca, Mohawk, Cayuga and Tuscarora) all live together. It’s Canada’s most populous reserve, and one of the best known. But despite the fact that Canada’s First Nations are the fastest growing demographic, and that a shortage of land is a crucial issue on Reserves, it has not been allowed to grow.

Growth is a crucial issue for First Nations at the moment, too, since it is only in recent history (since the late ’80s) that Canada has been reforming the sexist status laws which voided so many women and children because she married a non-native man. This massive influx of Status Indians into the system has packed reserves everywhere to the brim.

This is not to suggest that the entire Haldimand Tract be returned. No serious negotiations today, either in land claims or on the national scale are demanding that white people be stripped of their land and sent back to Europe. However, if we continue to deny the community any land, we will only see more poverty and more angry roadblocks.

If there is a shortage of land in the area, then why does the government continue to grant municipal boundary expansions to every entity in the area? The “Greenbelt” itself, Premier Dalton McGuinty’s plan to “limit sprawl”, gives almost 60% of Hamilton’s traditional urban area for new development. Farmers are selling land off left, right and centre.

The fact that the single biggest issue of contention – the Douglas Creek Estates – is a suburban development should say a lot here. Did you know that an “anonymous donor” gave Gary McHale a free house for a year?

And yet, unlike the endless acres of asphalt roofs and roads which characterize views of our suburubs, Six Nations looks very different on Google Earth. Without any markers, the boundaries of the reserve are clear – it’s the big green block in the middle of the peninsula, the darkest shade of anything around it.

View Larger Map

The history of First Nations involvement in environmental decisions in this nation may not be perfect, but the track record is world’s better than those which simply involve governments and corporations. If we’re really interested in “Green Development”, why not give it to the folks who are so green you can see it from space?

Land is not the only issue here. And yet again, the contrast is stark. In a seemingly endless plan to build a boondoggle industrial park around Hamilton’s airport, water will be a crucial issue and a major expense. That’s a long way to pump water uphill.

And yet it took a decade for Six Nations to get money for a new water treatment plant, and conditions there are still abhorable. A short drive from some of Canada’s richest areas, around half must still boil their water, and over three hundred homes don’t have water service at all.

The kind of development budgets thrown around in ridiculous (that is to say, deserving of ridicule) projects like Aerotropolis is nothing but insulting when so many live in nearly third world conditions a stone’s throw south. The land is right there for the taking, or the giving.

Our country has a reprehensible history when it comes to the history of Native Peoples. Our Indian Act was a primary legal inspiration for Apartheid in South Africa. The Residential Schools often killed over half the students they kidnapped. An apology isn’t going to cut it, and we all know it’s going to have to happen sooner or later.

Our governments have no problem annexing land for boondoggle projects like Aerotropolis, the Mid Pen Expressway, East Mountain stadiums, or vast seas parking lots and Wal-Marts. They have no problem dumping millions into suburban development. If ever there were a need for actual growth, it’s here and now.

We don’t need stadiums. We don’t need highways. We don’t need any more industrial parks, and we definitely don’t need any more suburbs. People do, however, need safe drinking water and decent housing. And most of all, Six Nations needs a fair share.

Undustrial is a writer, tinkerer, activist and father who lives in Hamilton’s North End. He chooses to remain pseudonymous as he frequen

Original Story at http://www.raisethehammer.org/article/1118/six_nations_-_an_argument_for_a_little_growth   I reposted for informational and educational purposes only,

Desai Walkingbear Jammin out with the Son

One of the most adorable video’s I have seen in a while is Desai Walkingbear Jammin out with the Son shared on facebook

(facebook post  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200660436093894)

And here is a few more Humorous Pictures to lighten your day

In The case of your Great Great Grandmother being a Cherokee Princess…It has been determined that was a lie

Your Treaty Has Expired!
Then Your Lease Is Up!!

 

Indian Problem #31
People Always assume Sherman Alexie is your favorite author

 

 

Quebec asked for FBI help during 2004 Kanesatake crisis: U.S. diplomatic cables

       Jorge Barrera
APTN National News
OTTAWA--Quebec authorities requested help from the F.B.I. after “gun slingers” from Colorado arrived in Kanesatake, the Mohawk community at the centre of the Oka crisis, to back a “resistance” force that sprung after a federally-funded raid of the territory ended in disaster, according to diplomatic cables obtained by APTN National News.

The RCMP and the Surete du Quebec also told U.S. officials they were concerned “deadly confrontations” could trigger a “full-scale raid” in the community as a result of the number of weapons stored in the territory that included “rocket launchers,” according to the documents.

The “confidential” cables from the U.S. consulates in Montreal and Quebec City were sent after the failed January 2004 raid ended in the torching of former Kanesatake Grand Chief James Gabriel’s home, forcing him to flee the community with his family.

Two U.S. diplomatic cables dealing specifically with Kanesatake were contained in a batch of confidential and secret cables provided to APTN National News by whistle-blower Web siteWikiLeaks . CBC-Radio Canada also received the cache of diplomatic cables.

Another cable dealing Kanesatake and the 2004 raid was released last week by WikiLeaks along with hundreds of other unclassified dispatches from the U.S. embassy and consulates in Canada.

The cables show that U.S. officials were at the time closely monitoring the situation in the Mohawk community near Montreal with concern following the botched raid that saw 67 First Nations police officers recruited from other Quebec communities descend Kanesatake.

The officers came in armed with assault rifles, shotguns, a sniper rifle and thousands of rounds of ammunitions under the stated mandate of targeting organized crime.

The officers, however, found themselves inside the local police headquarters trapped and surrounded by community members.

After the Quebec government negotiated an end to the situation with the help of Kanesatake’s sister Mohawk community of Kahnawake and their Peackeepers police force, it appears there was particular concern over the arrival of Mohawks from Canadian and U.S. reserves in case authorities attempted a second raid.

“Mohawks from other reserves continue to arrive in Kanesatake, including some from Colorado, to join in the resistance. Some ‘gun slingers’ have already arrived from the U.S., and more could come,” said one of the cables, from May 17, 2004 and sent by the U.S. consulate in Quebec City.

The cross border involvement appeared to trigger a request from Quebec public security ministry officials to ask for help from the F.B.I, the cable notes.

“The Quebec authorities have asked for greater coordination with the FBI on the situation,” said the cable. “Asked about U.S. role, the public security ministry officials requested…better coordination with the F.B.I in a situation where U.S. interests are involved.”

The cable also noted a similar request had been made by the public security minister at the time Jacques Chagnon.

The cable, titled Kanesatake Calm But Confrontation Continues, also delves into Kanesatake’s history to try to make sense of the situation in the community, and why the RCMP was hesitant to go in.

“The Quebec police (SQ) are more accepted than the RCMP. With long memories, the Mohawk remember that the RCMP killed one of theirs in 1916,” said the cable. “(Georges Beauchemin, secretary-general of Quebec’s Public Security Ministry) described the situation as akin to a family quarrel with people held hostage: the two embattled factions have been warring for 200 years.”

The cable described the situation in the community following the botched January raid as “several weeks of no-man’s land.”

Some community members continue to call for an inquiry to this day into the raid and the events that transpired under Gabriel’s leadership leading up to the event.

One incident came in 1999 when a man named Richard Walsh walked into CFB Petawawa pretending to be a Kanesatake police officer and obtained the confidential military file of Tracy Cross, a former Airborne Regiment soldier and police chief.

Walsh was hired by Gabriel to dig up information on community members, including Tracy Cross.

The issue is still a raw one with Cross to this day.

Walsh, who had a criminal record, was later detained by OPP and found in possession of intelligence file, including some from CSIS.

The NDP, which is now the Official Opposition following Monday’s election, has also backed calls for an inquiry into the situation at the time.

Some in Kanesatake believe that the Liberal federal government at the time wanted to ensure Oka never happened again and, through Gabriel, targeted the more sovereignty-minded members.

They saw a cynical calculation behind the decision to bring in First Nations police officers from other communities to raid Kanesatake. First Nations people shooting First Nations people would create less of political problem than if it involved non-First Nations police officers.

The situation came close to that scenario, the diplomatic cables have since revealed.

Gabriel, however, says his aim was purely to up-root a criminal element from the community, according to the cables.

He was forced from the community and “living high at government expense” in a hotel near Montreal, according to one of the cables. Gabriel told U.S. officials that Kanesatake was a haven “for marijuana cultivation, drug dealing, arms.”

Singling out two of his relatives, Gabriel described a community where between five to seven hundred pounds of marijuana grown in five underground bunkers was smuggled each week to the U.S., according to the June 23, 2004, confidential cable, from the Montreal consulate, titled: Kanesatake Grand Chief Gabriel Frustrated by Law Enforcement Inaction.

He described the involvement of the Hells Angels biker gangs, Chinese and Russian mafia groups in the drug trade that also included heroin and “other hard drug sales.” He said a local bank was awash in “American dollars,” the cable said.

Gabriel told the U.S. officials he was frustrated with the Quebec and federal government’s “unwillingness” to “bring law and order” to the community.

“Gabriel said the current situation is very different from 1990, when the Kanesatake population and Mohawks from other Quebec reserves supported the Mohawk Warrior’s stance,” said the cable. “He said the traditional Mohawk Warrior Society, which stood up during the Oka crisis, and ‘the group of thugs’ calling itself warriors in Kanesatake today are different.”

jbarrera@aptn.ca

This article was originally published at http://aptn.ca/news/2011/05/03/quebec-asked-for-fbi-help-during-2004-kanesatake-crisis-u-s-diplomatic-cables/  and all copyright and credit remains with them, it was re-published here for informational purposes only and no copyright infringement was intended.

URL Update on my blog Posts

Blog URL has been updated to https://mikemarlin.wordpress.com  please use this URL and not the journeytomyelders.wordpress.com  as the second one will no longer work to access the old posts.

The New URL’s for old posts are now as follows

Haudenosaune Confederacy Council issue Official Statement on Bill C-10

Marlene Bird assault: Fear grips Prince Albert in unsolved case

NOTICE OF ASSESSMENT

Giant weed that burns and blinds spreads across Canada | National Post

Tamara Johnson election ad ‘shocks’ Anishinabek Nation

WHITIE Compliant? You are Kidding, Right?

Canadian Police Want To Spy On All Demonstrators

Police raid house in East Vancouver, with guns drawn, on pretext of anti-pipeline graffiti

The system was never sovereign

Tripp sentencing brings up constitutional questions

Pikangikum First Nation refuses to host polling station – Ontario Votes 2014 – CBC

Ontario tax exemption: Your rights as a First Nation citizen

Correction and Strong Medicine | Two Row Times

Update from Mike and a beautiful video by Lynn Brant and Tom Porter

Cut your losses, Washington Redskins, and sack the slur – Los Angeles Times

Weapons found in home of Akwesasne man and strip club owner caught in SQ tobacco operation

No Honor Among Chiefs or Thieves

Children’s agency to leave Six Nations | Brantford Expositor

YGK Municipal Elections Part 2

Audit system targets only Aboriginal groups that receive federal cash

YGK Municipal Elections

RCMP Spending Nearly $100 Million to Spy on Mohawk Tobacco Trade

John Boots arrested for Tyendinaga train blockades

We Were Children | APTN

Reflections From A Father on Fathers Day.

Concrete action needed from PM to quell any First Nation unrest: Shawn Atleo | CTV News

Ottawa threatening to shut down land claim negotiations, says grand chief from Mohawk community at heart of Oka Crisis

Courts asked to force immediate hearing into Tyendinaga’s water issues

American Lakota woman accuses border guards of racial profiling after they probe heritage, involvement in Idle No More | APTN National News

Cree community bans FNs spirituality

Security boots elder from Winnipeg mall

‘There is no right to protest’: Montreal police deny Charter rights | rabble.ca

A Live Recording of Mohawk Storyteller Kay Olan

Bloodied First Nation woman claims she was raped but Edmonton police arrest her instead

Wednesday February 20 2013 Men’s Drum Group

Sainte-Marie sings at Idle No More rally (Video)

wakhskaré:waken (I am of the Bear Clan)

Idle No More is an opportunity to realize the promise of democracy in Canada | rabble.ca

The Rivers Of Belief – Richard J. Bartlett

Sweat Lodge Etiquette

Shawn Brant. Fighting for Something

 

 

 

 

Haudenosaune Confederacy Council issue Official Statement on Bill C-10

Haudenosaune Confederacy Council issue Official Statement on Bill C-10
Nahnda Garlow
bill-C10
June 13, 2014
SIX NATIONS – The Haudenosaune Confederacy Council, the authentic governing body of the Six Nations people, released an official statement yesterday on Bill C-10, saying they reject enforced legislation by foreign governments on sovereign territory.

The statement reads, in it’s entirety:

“The Haudenosaunee are a sovereign people with long standing relationship as Allies with the Crown. Our relationship has been clearly set out in our treaty relationship which was sanctified by the wampum passing between the Haudenosaunee and the Crown. These wampum belts include the Two Row Wampum and the Covenant Chain of Friendship, which requires our governments to respect our commitment to non-interference based on peace, mutual respect, and friendship.

For many years the Haudenosaunee have endured attempts by Canada to assimilate our people and undermine our way of life through the imposition of foreign legislation, the theft of our lands, and the theft of our national treasury monies. Despite the continued and ongoing efforts of Canada to assimilate the Haudenosaunee people we have seen the development of prosperous economies that support our families, clans, nations and our Confederacy.

Oyengwaoweh (Original Tobacco) is one of our most sacred gifts from the Creator and we continue to grow and use it in its intended manner. Modern tobacco has played a significant role in the development of our economies and while we are concerned with its commercial development and health concerns, Our Creator has granted us the inherent right to develop our economies free of unwarranted interference.

We wish to advise that we fully support the continued and ongoing efforts of all Haudenosaunee people involved in matters of trade and commerce, including tobacco. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council (HCCC) reject the notion that Canada or any other foreign government can attempt to impose or enforce legislation against our people. We remain committed to peace with open and respectful dialogue in relation to these issues however we must advise that we will take the necessary steps available to us to protect our people, should Canada not reconsider its current approach.”

Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council (HCCC)

Six-Nations-Iroquois-Confederacy-June-7-2014

This story originally was published at the link below, All credit and copyright goes to them, and no copyright infringement is meant, it was reblogged for informational purposes only.
– See more at: http://www.tworowtimes.com/bill-c10-2/haudenosaune-confederacy-council-issue-official-statement-on-bill-c-10

Marlene Bird assault: Fear grips Prince Albert in unsolved case

Marlene Bird is being treated in Edmonton for a number of serious injuries after she was found in a parking lot in Prince Albert, Sask.(Provided to CBC)

Marlene Bird assault: Fear grips Prince Albert in unsolved case
WARNING: Graphic content
Jun 13, 2014 9:09 AM CT
CBC News

The vicious assault of Marlene Bird in a Prince Albert, Sask., parking lot has put the city on edge, leaving many residents fearful that no one has been arrested after the homeless 47-year-old suffered burns so severe that both her legs had to be amputated.

Bird was found June 1 in a shopping mall parking lot in downtown Prince Albert.

“Half of her face was off,” Lorna Thiessen, Bird’s aunt, told CBC News on Thursday. “It was cut from the centre forehead down the side of her nose, her mouth, and her chin, so they surgically put that back on.”

Bird was also severely burned from the waist down. She’s being treated at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton.

“She’s had an amputation to a leg when she came [to the hospital] Monday morning,” Thiessen said Thursday. “She’s going to be undergoing another amputation on her other leg. She has third-degree burns from her lower bottom back, right down to the bone of her legs.”

Family members confirmed to CBC on Friday morning that both her legs have now been amputated.

Police in Prince Albert have released few details.

Fear in the community
“There is a fear in the community,” Donna Brooks, CEO of the YWCA in Prince Albert, told CBC News. “I was talking to one woman who is afraid of her grandmother going downtown.”

The YWCA is raising money to support Bird’s family with expenses in Edmonton. Bird is from the Montreal Lake Cree Nation.

“The family is really in need,” Brooks said. “We’ve reached out to the YWCA Edmonton who has reached out to the family, so there is some help on that end there, but they really need some support so they can be with Marlene.”

The family is also hoping someone with information about what happened will step forward.

“There is a code on the street: ‘Don’t call, don’t get anybody in trouble,'” Thiessen noted. “People are too scared to come forward; they’re scared of repercussions.”

She hopes someone will make an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Brooks added that Bird’s personal circumstances should not deter people from speaking up.

“Sometimes stuff like this gets minimized if it’s a homeless person,” Brooks said. “This was a very serious, senseless attack on one our citizens and Marlene is just as important as any other of our citizens.”

Donna Brooks, CEO of the YWCA in Prince Albert, Sask., says people in the community are fearful following the attack on Marlene Bird.(CBC)
Friends of Bird have described her as kind-hearted and quiet.

“Very nice, always nice,” Wesley Yooya, who knew Bird well, told CBC News. He said he is angry about what happened and also afraid that no one has been arrested.

“Of course there is a fear,” he said. “That could have happened to one of my family members. I’m scared for my mom. I’m scared for my sisters. I can’t watch them all the time, but that’s where that fear sets in.”

Donna Brooks, CEO of the YWCA in Prince Albert, Sask., says people in the community are fearful following the attack on Marlene Bird.(CBC)

With files from CBC’s Ryan Pilon and Bonnie Allen

This story was reblogged from a post at http://bit.ly/1sdeeOI   and is for informational purposes all credit and copyright belongs to there, and no copyright infringement is intended.

NOTICE OF ASSESSMENT

NOTICE OF ASSESSMENT
Posted on June 12, 2014

Please post and distribute.

MNN. June 12, 2014. On June 9 Kahentinetha of the Bear Clan, Kanionkehaka Mohawk Nation, sent this invoice by “Registered Mail” to the Canada Revenue Agency:

“Canada Revenue Agency 7th Floor, 555 MacKenzie Ave., Ottawa On K1A 0L5 And – Technology Centre, 875 Heron Rd. Ottawa On K1A 1B1 – 1-800-959-8281 Attention: Andrew Treusch, Commissioner of Revenue & CEO

NOTICE OF ASSESSMENT

Upon receipt of your Notice of Assessment of May 5, 2014, [copy below] I send you my assessment of your debt to me for my share of the Indian Trust Fund, also known as the First Nations Trust Accounts. The fund was set up to ensure peace between the settlers and the Ongwehonwe people. I am 75 years old and need these monies now.

The Elder Collectors: “Our Sister wants her money now!”

Rotikstenha: “Our Sister wants her money now!”

On March 1, 2013 an invoice was sent to the Government of Canada for full payment of my share of said trust. Payment is past due. We are on the verge of taking it to the next level for collection.

Full payment is demanded within 30 days of receipt of this invoice. I assess my share to be $470 million and demand payment in gold bullion only. I demand payment forthwith to my trustee whom I have appointed for this purpose: Taiotekane, [address, phone number]. Should you fail to make full payment, collection procedures for this debt will be initiated. Govern yourselves accordingly.

Kahentinetha, Bear Clan

INVOICE –

Payment to: Kahentinetha, Bear Clan % Taiotekane, Date issued: June 9, 2014
Canada Revenue Agency 7th Floor, 555 MacKenzie Ave. Ottawa On K1A 0L5 CANADA

Attention: Andrew Treusch Commissioner of Revenue & CEO

The amount is past due.
– [1] portion from Indian Trust Fund [First Nations Trust Fund] – Paid in gold bullion Notice of Assessment, WWW.CANADAPOST.CA RN 012 361 284 CA was received by Canada Revenue Agency @ 11.38 AM. Wed. June 11, 2014.

Amount Due $470 million Full payment upon receipt of this invoice

“Never mind the book, Mr. Treusch. Take the gold bullion into the longhouse over there.!

AMERICAN INDIAN EXPRESS at your service!

As Blind Faith says: “We’re ready to set sail on a sea of joy”. Blind Faith. “Sea of Joy”.

REVENUE CANADA NOTICE OF ASSESSMENT

MNN Mohawk Nation News kahentinetha2@yahoo.com For more news, books, workshops, to donate and sign up for MNN newsletters, go to http://www.mohawknationnews.com More stories at MNN Archives. Address: Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L thahoketoteh@hotmail.comfor original Mohawk music visit thahoketoteh.ws

Original Story located at http://mohawknationnews.com/blog/ All Credit and Rights belong to Mohawk Nation News. This article was copied and posted here for information purposes only.

Giant weed that burns and blinds spreads across Canada | National Post

A huge, toxic plant that can burn skin and cause permanent blindness has been found for the first time in eastern Ontario, prompting calls for a federal response to contain the spread of the poisonous plant as fear grows no province is immune.A forestry official confirmed two new findings of giant hogweed last week in Renfrew County, west of Ottawa. It has previously been spotted in Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Quebec, southwestern Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. About 50 plants were spotted in Toronto’s Don Valley two weeks ago.Contact with the weed’s clear, watery sap can be very dangerous, Jeff Muzzi, Renfrew County’s forestry manager and weed inspector.“What it does to you is pretty ugly,” said Mr. Muzzi. “It causes blisters. Large blisters and permanent scarring. What’s left over looks like a scar from a chemical burn or fire.”Even a tiny trace of sap applied to the eye can singe the cornea, causing temporary or permanent blindness, he added. The chemicals in the sap, furocoumarins, are carcinogenic and teratogenic, meaning they can cause cancer and birth defects.Most provinces have not authorized official weed inspectors to destroy the poisonous plant because it does not impinge on agriculture.Mr. Muzzi said he only began eradicating the plant because nobody else would. “It’s not really my job,” he said. “I just thought, somebody better take the bull by the horns here, ’cause this stuff is really dangerous.”Giant hogweed is already rampant in parts of Europe including England, where the rock group Genesis wrote a 1971 ode to the plant and its “thick dark warning odour.”Native to the Caucasus Region and Central Asia, it was brought to Europe and North America as a botanical curiosity in the 19th and 20th centuries and has spread rapidly. It typically grows on riverbanks, ditches and roadsides.The risk of infection was so high, Mr. Muzzi wore a Tyvek suit, protective goggles, rubber gloves, “the whole nine yards,” to remove it, he said. “Which is really nice in 35-degree weather.”The weed’s sap, which is found all over the plant, bonds chemically with human skin when exposed to sunlight and, within 48 hours, leads to inflammation, red colouring and itching, weeping blisters and eventually black and purplish scars.“It’s those flower heads you want to get rid of,” Mr. Muzzi said. “I went out, suited up, cut all the flowerheads off and bagged them. Then I nuked the plants with Round-Up.”Most susceptible to infection are gardeners, campers and children, who have been known to use the plant’s large, hollow stems as play telescopes or pea-shooters.“If a person takes a weed-whacker to this stuff, they get the sap all over,” Mr. Muzzi said.While the weed is on the federal government’s official noxious weeds list, there is apparently no national or provincial strategy in place to stop its spread.Guy Baillargeon, a biologist with the Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, called the weed an “emerging” problem, not yet a national one.“Very few people are aware of it right now,” he added. “I am not aware that this species is on any provincial list yet.”Mr. Baillargeon said a federal plan is in the works to deal with invasive species in general, but not hogweed in particular.“I believe the plant has been here long enough that it would now be difficult to eradicate it,” Mr. Baillargeon said.“So I don’t expect that things will happen overnight. But we need to talk about it.”A 2005 study of the plant’s spread in Canada said it was likely to continue for the next 25 to 100 years “with worsening ecological, economic and health effects.”National Post

via Giant weed that burns and blinds spreads across Canada | National Post.

Tamara Johnson election ad ‘shocks’ Anishinabek Nation

The Original of this story was published by CBC.ca It is Re-Blogged here for information purposes. The URL will be provided at the end of the story

Tamara Johnson election ad ‘shocks’ Anishinabek Nation
Chronicle Journal defends ‘business relationship’ with advertisers
CBC News Posted: Jun 11, 2014 8:45 AM ET Last Updated: Jun 11, 2014 8:45 AM ET

A full page Thunder Bay newspaper ad that appears to take aim at First Nations’ treaty rights is sparking some outrage.

The ad, published in the Tuesday Chronicle-Journal by Libertarian candidate Tamara Johnson has left some questioning why the paper agreed to run it.

“When I see things like that, it’s just, it’s stunning,” said Anishinabek Nation communications director Maurice Switzer.

tamara johnson political ad

An election ad that appeared in the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal has drawn a rebuke. The full-page ad for Libertarian candidate Tamara Johnson appears to take aim at First Nations treaty rights. (Nicole Ireland/CBC)

Statements in the ad include: “Crown lands are public lands. Not native lands.” “Help me stop this doctrine of entitlement.”

Statements in the ad include: “Crown lands are public lands. Not native lands.” “Help me stop this doctrine of entitlement.”

“[It’s] shocking that, in this day and age, an organization purporting to have some media expertise would allow that sort of content … in their pages,” Switzer said, adding the statements in the ad are factually incorrect.

Switzer has a long history in the newspaper industry, including work as publisher of five different daily newspapers.

“If they print, in any form, information that is erroneous or out in left field or racist or whatever, they have to be answerable for it,” he said of Thunder Bay’s daily newspaper.

Advertising ‘a business relationship’

But Chronicle-Journal publisher Clint Harris said election ads express different opinions —even if the content is upsetting. He said the ads ensure voters are informed about candidates’ views and positions.

“It’s important that we inform the public what … [the candidates’] opinions are … and when it’s advertising, it’s a business relationship. They write an ad and they let the community know what it is that they believe in,” Harris said.

“People have the right to run their political ads and there are always going to be biases and sometimes upsetting opinions. If we didn’t run the perspectives and people find out about a candidate later — what their perspective was — that would be a terrible position to be in,” he said.

‘Unconscionable form of media proprietorship’

Switzer reiterated the offensive statements in the ad aren’t just a matter of opinion, rather, there’s “a lot of the information about Crown lands and treaty rights and those things … that’s an incorrect matter of fact.”

He also said the ad falsely paints First Nations people as lawbreakers by using terms like “illegal” blockades and “no group of people are above the laws of Ontario.”

“This is just unconscionable drivel,” Switzer continued.

“But someone in the advertising department … will accept payment for the same kind of drivel. That’s just the most hypocritical … unconscionable form of media proprietorship that I can imagine.”

Read the Original Story at http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/tamara-johnson-election-ad-shocks-anishinabek-nation-1.2671822

Edit at 11:10 A.M. By Mike Marlin
Add Background information on Tamara Johnson

Tamara Johnson was previously a Candidate for Ontario Progressive Conservative Party as per article And it seems her hatred for First Nations is not new either.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/tamara-johnson-no-longer-provincial-pc-candidate-1.2548569
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario must find a new candidate for the riding of Thunder Bay-Superior North.
Tamara Johnson, who accepted the party’s nomination for the riding in April of 2013, confirmed to CBC News Sunday that she is no longer running for the PCs.
In an emailed statement to Thunder Bay news media, Johnson says she was told about the decision on the weekend in Toronto at an orientation course for candidates.
Johnson made headlines recently after she posted some controversial remarks on Facebook, suggesting that businesses on Fort William First Nation have an unfair price advantage over those across the now-closed James Street swing bridge.
Her comment drew a sharp rebuttal from Fort William chief Georjann Morriseau.
The small-business owner later took down the remarks, but told CBC she stood by them.

WHITIE Compliant? You are Kidding, Right?

The Following Story first appeared and full credit goes to The Two Row Times. It is re-blogged here for information purposes. The original URL is supplied at the bottom of this story.

Enhanced Tribal Identification Card (ETC) program.

WHITIE Compliant? You are Kidding, Right?
John Kane
Lets Talk Native
June 10, 2014

On June 2, 2014, every “member” of the Seneca Nation of Indians (SNI) received a letter from his/her President announcing the launch of the Seneca Nation’s new Enhanced Tribal Identification Card (ETC) program.

The announcement of the program was couched in terms of preventing terrorism, strengthening border security and facilitating ease of border crossing/travel as well promoting a partnership between the SNI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through their Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).

The letter begins with the declaration that “the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) requires U.S. and Canadian travelers, including Seneca Nation members, to present a passport or other WHTI-approved document that denotes identity and citizenship when entering the U.S. at land or sea borders while traveling within the western hemisphere.”

Well let’s clear up a few things right from the start. They say WHTI, I say WHITIE. And in spite of this letter’s contention that these WHITIE-compliant ETCs are designed to “continue the protection of our sovereign rights,” this could not be farther from the truth. This WHITIE requirement is a violation of the UN Declaration on Human Rights, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and a direct abrogation on our sovereignty, as well as a violation of our inherent rights and laws of nature. Note that I didn’t even bother to bring up their BS, double-talking, land stealing treaties.

There are almost too many problems with this thing to cover it here, despite the fact there are really only five requirements for WHITIE compliance. But before I get into those, let me hit a few huge shortcomings of these cards and problems with the program. First, although it is stated pretty clearly, it’s easy to overlook the most obvious flaw — this will not help with travel into Canada or any place else. The WHITIE documents are for “entering the U.S….” The SNI Application for an ETC says it even more clearly — “An ETC can be used…to return to the U.S. from Canada, Mexico and some countries in the Caribbean at land/sea border entries.

However, Canada will not accept an ETC…to enter into Canada.” So these things are not for traveling from home. They are only to prevent DHS from denying our return.

The SNI application has significant violations of privacy and goes well beyond basic identification information:

FULL LEGAL NAME, GENDER, HEIGHT, AGE, DOB, PLACE OF BIRTH, SSN, TRIBAL ENROLLMENT NO., CLAN, PASSPORT #, HOME PHONE, MOBILE, WORK, PHYSICAL ADDRESS, MAILING ADDRESS, MARITAL STATUS, MOTHER’S MAIDEN NAME, LEGAL NAME OF FATHER, WERE THEY LEGALLY MARRIED?, CHILDHOOD RESIDENCE, EMPLOYED?, EMPLOYER’S NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE, LEVEL OF EDUCATION, COLLEGE(S) ATTENDED, DEGREE(S)/YEAR(S), CAN YOU READ AND WRITE ENGLISH?

The applicant also has to sign a Confidentiality Statement that acknowledges “legal penalties associated with… providing false information” yet is provided no confidentiality agreement from the SNI, DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection or whoever the WHITIE guys are. In fact the MOA doesn’t even detail the use of this information but rather only mentions “validation of the Seneca Nation ETC information as specified in the separate service level agreement developed between the parties.”

These are among some of the issues that jump off the pages of these documents without even getting into the WHITIE requirements. An expiration date seems benign enough but “mandatory facial image capture” sounds a little creepy. This is for compatibility with federal facial recognition programs and databases. The fact that, according to the MOA, the SNI clerk will retain this “capture” even if no card is issued just adds to the creepiness. Beyond basic requirements for counterfeit protection these WHITIE cards are required to have a Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) utilizing Optical Character Recognition technology and an RFID chip that will allow “unique identifiers” to be acquired; in the case of the RFID chip, without the card ever having to come out of your pocket. These Unique Identifiers will include digital photographs and other personal information and can be acquired by readers merely in your vicinity.

But clearly the kicker in this whole program is the U.S. or Canadian citizenship requirement. The applicant MUST provide proof of “recognized U.S. or Canadian citizenship to be approved and the WHITIE card must display that citizenship prominently on its face. This requirement is essentially tantamount to saying to any of us that if we manage to step over one of the imaginary lines of the U.S. that we cannot return without a declaration of citizenship to the U.S. or Canada.

This clearly is not an oversight. In fact, in the SNI ETC Application the first note under the “PROOF OF “RECOGNIZED” U.S. OR CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP” is: *Note that in submitting evidence of “recognized U.S. citizenship”, the ETC applicant is not admitting to/accepting U.S. or Canadian citizenship and is first and foremost a citizen of the Seneca Nation.”

Well that fixes everything. NOT! Now what member of the SNI legal team thought that adding this note in the application would negate the obvious implication of the WHITIE requirement? The MOA clearly states that “Nation staff shall in every case confirm that the applicant is recognized as a U.S. or Canadian citizen.” *Note that it does not say that the applicant may qualify for U.S. or Canadian citizenship or meet to requirements for such. Again, this is not just a requirement for getting a WHITIE card but it’s a requirement that it is actually stated on the WHITIE card.

I can’t help but interpret this buried and anything but a legitimate disclaimer as an attempt to dupe the applicant. This is just devious. This is not a statement promulgated by the Seneca Nation to the U.S. State Department or anyone who would ever see these ETCs. And it certainly won’t be among the card’s “Unique Identifiers” broadcasting from their RFID chips. Where were these legal wizards, who clearly saw the problem, with their challenges to WHITIE in the first place? Where was just one of these overpriced consultants when these fear mongering, 9-11 obsessed, opportunistic WHITIE supremacists put these racist requirements together? No nation can de-nationalize another or force their citizenship upon a non-consenting people. These WHITIE cards are not Seneca Nation identification cards. They are federal IDs with tribal logos and enrollment numbers.

We need to resist these WHITIE cards. The SNI boasts, in bold print in the letters addressed to “Dear Seneca Nation Member,” (not Citizen), The Seneca Nation is just the third Indian tribe in the country to issue ETCs.

In almost 5 years since this latest attempt at forced assimilation, only two other “Indian tribes” were gullible enough to go through with this?

Well, let’s hope the Seneca people, the Onondowaka, are smarter than their administration lawyers are or at least smarter than their lawyers think they are.

– John Karhiio Kane, Mohawk, national expert commentator on Native American issues, hosts two weekly radio programs — “Let’s Talk Native…with John Kane,” ESPN Sports Radio WWKB-AM 1520 in Buffalo, N.Y., Sundays, 9-11 p.m. EDT and “First Voices Indigenous Radio,” WBAI-FM 99.5 in New York City, Thursdays, 9-10 a.m. EDT (“First Voices Indigenous Radio” programs are archived in perpetuity at firstvoicesindigenousradio.org). John is a frequent guest on WGRZ-TV’s (NBC/Buffalo) “2 Sides” and “The Capitol Pressroom with Susan Arbetter” in Albany. John’s “Native Pride” blog can be found at  letstalknativepride.blogspot.com. He also has a very active “Let’s Talk Native…with John Kane” group page on Facebook. John is an accredited media representative for the “The Two Row Times” news publication. He is a member of the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA).

– See more at: http://www.tworowtimes.com/opinions/columns/lets-talk-native/whitie-compliant-you-are-kidding-right/#sthash.1VQpJt2f.dpuf

Canadian Police Want To Spy On All Demonstrators

Canadian Police Want To Spy On All Demonstrators. Demonstrators rally against shale gas exploration on Friday, Oct.18, 2013, in Halifax. The effort was in support of protesters, some of whom included members of the Elsipogtog First Nation, who rallied against SWN Resources and its possible plans to proceed with shale gas development in eastern New Brunswick. The federal government is expanding its surveillance of public activities to include all known demonstrations across the country, a move that collects information even on the most mundane of protests by Canadians. The email requesting such information was sent out Tuesday by the Government Operations Centre in Ottawa to all federal departments. “The Government Operations Centre is seeking your assistance in compiling a comprehensive listing of all known demonstrations which will occur either in your geographical area or that may touch on your mandate,” noted the email, leaked to the Citizen. “We will compile this information and make this information available to our partners unless of course, this information is not to be shared and not available on open sources. In the case of the latter, this information will only be used by the GOC for our Situational Awareness.” The Government Operations Centre or GOC is supposed to provide strategic-level coordination on behalf of the federal government “in response to an emerging or occurring event affecting the national interest.” It assesses the requirement for developing plans to prevent or deal with emergencies such as pandemics, earthquakes, forest fires and floods. It also monitors overseas situations such as the 2011 crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. Jean Levac / Postmedia News Jean Levac / Postmedia NewsA dream catcher from an Idle No More protester covers Parliament Hill in Ottawa, December 10, 2013. But the Government Operations Centre has also been involved, as an intelligence clearing house, in compiling information on aboriginal protesters. Tuesday’s email, however, significantly expands its surveillance activities to include all demonstrations by any person or group. Wesley Wark, an intelligence specialist at the University of Ottawa, said such an order is illegal. “The very nature of the blanket request and its unlimited scope I think puts it way over the line in terms of lawful activity,” said Wark. “I think it’s a clear breach of our Charter rights.” Wark said the only lawful way a Canadian government agency, with the appropriate mandate, would have to monitor a demonstration would be if that agency could establish that the protest would constitute some kind of threat to civil order. “But it has to be specific and it has to be justifiable in law to mount such surveillance,” he added. Wark also questioned why the Government Operations Centre would issue such an order. It is mandated to assess incoming information about emergencies and threats to the security of Canada but it doesn’t have a legal mandate to issue directions, he added. Jean Paul Duval, a spokesman for Public Safety Canada, noted in an email that “such requests for information fall within the mandate of the Government Operations Centre which facilitates information-sharing for potential and ongoing events with other federal departments, provinces and territories, and its partners through regular analysis and reporting.” Wayne Cuddington / Postmedia News Wayne Cuddington / Postmedia NewsKharis Bercier, 4, fans the sweet grass as the Idle No More movement holds a demonstration at the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau Quebec to draw attention to the First nations point of view on the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 governing land use in Canada. Liberal MP Wayne Easter, the party’s public safety critic, said the order appears to be a continuation of the Conservative government’s efforts to keep track of Canadians who might disagree with government policy. “Demonstrations, as long as they are peaceful, are part of a healthy democracy,” Easter said. “This is the kind of tactics you would see in a dictatorship.” The GOC was created in 2004 by Public Safety Canada. It is connected with the operations centres of 20 federal departments and agencies, as well as with those of the provinces and territories, and other countries, including the United States. NDP MP Paul Dewar said the email is part of what he sees as a disturbing pattern on the part of government to increase its collection of information on the public. “This government is turning into Big Brother,” said Dewar. “This is clearly out of bounds from what GOC is supposed to do.” Last year the Government Operations Centre was involved in coordinating a response to aboriginal demonstrations against fracking. The GOC distributed a map of the area where the RCMP had conducted raids on protesters who had seized an oil company’s vehicles. It also produced a spreadsheet detailing 32 planned events in support of anti-fracking. Those included a healing dance in Kenora, Ont., a prayer ceremony in Edmonton and an Idle No More “taco fundraiser, raffle and jam session” planned at the Native Friendship Centre in Barrie, Ont., according to documents obtained through the Access to Information. Original Story At http://www.popularresistance.org/canadian-police-want-to-spy-on-all-demonstrators/

Police raid house in East Vancouver, with guns drawn, on pretext of anti-pipeline graffiti

Warrior Publications

by Zig Zag, Warrior Publications, June 3, 2014

At around 9AM on June 3, 2014, approximately 16 cops from the Vancouver Police Department raided a house in East Vancouver under the pretext of investigating six mischief charges related to graffiti tags dating from June, July, and October of 2013. The four residents of the house, and one guest, were removed one by one by police aiming pistols at them. One person inside the house looked out their bedroom window and saw a cop pointing his pistol at him.

The house targeted by the raid is comprised of radicals involved in Indigenous resistance as well as anarchist projects in the city (including myself, the editor of the Warrior Publications wordpress site).

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The system was never sovereign

The system was never sovereign.

The system was never sovereign
Letter to the Editor
Letters
June 4, 2014
I was taught that the meaning of the word “Onkwehon:we” is literally “the shell that holds the spirit.” Our ancestors were wise and knew that a good spirit could be found in a body that had no lineage outside of the Rotinonhsón:ni confederacy. This is why we always had the adoption process through ceremony and in accordance with the Great Law of Peace/Kaianerekó:wa. Even before European contact; as we know the Confederacy has adopted the Tuscarora Nation.

When we allow other peoples to live amongst us, we name them and are responsible for guiding them. The difference with the adoption process is that we allow the adoptee a voice in our decisions. All adoptions are chosen carefully. And could take many years of observation. If it is seen that the person or nation requesting to be adopted has a good mind, respect for our ways, our people and is willing to abide by the Great Law of Peace/Kaianerekó:wa, they would be adopted under the title of “hung about the neck”/rotisennahkéhte which means that their adoption is conditional to their good behaviour and could be annulled. There are also honorary adoptions that could be offered to an individual or nation that accomplished an action of great magnitude. Such as a person saving one of our own’s life, or accomplishing a great deed for the welfare of our people. The adoptee would have our protection so long as they abide by the Great Law of Peace. (The forced adoptions of captives during times of war were an entirely different process and tactic that served a different purpose).

The Great Law of Peace protects the identity of our children and future generations. As a matrilineal society, the men follow/live with the women. The women carry and pass down our identity and inherent rights through their clan. And are the managers of our family and land.

In our ways no one is above anyone else. This is what our identity is (humanity). I keep hearing “what distinguishes us as a people is our language”. Our ways are more than just a culture. Knowing our language does not automatically provide a person with knowledge of the Great Law of Peace, which provides us our identity.

Our people are more than a culture because our ancestors had preserved our identity through our treaties that protects our Nationhood status. Anyone can learn and practice a culture that doesn’t automatically give them the rights that the treaty people uphold and are entitled to. Citizenship entails responsibility to each other. The Great Law of Peace is based on the natural laws of creation. Religion is what the foreign governments derived from. Religious perspectives refer to our way of life as just a philosophy and that it is up for interpretation. In reality, the law of creation is our guideline to function within the natural order of creation. Anything foreign to this has proven to be detrimental. i.e. man-made democracy that supports the destruction of our society and the environment.

If an individual is proven not to abide by the Great Law of Peace, they would be given up to three warnings. If no improvement was made then they would be denied residency. And, if an individual is identified for committing treason (which the band council’s very existence commits daily), or a crime such as murder or rape (which the church has committed for centuries), or theft (which both the church and band council has committed of our lands), depending on the severity, they would be clubbed to death. If they survived the clubbing then they would be marked for life by either a severed nose or ear and casted out of the territory.

Today, in our own territories, through man-made democracy, people are subject to the band council’s mechanisms that make it illegal to protect ourselves from preventing their exploitation of our rights. Accepting this way of existence, our people remain blinded and continue to support that system which is responsible for the destruction of what our ancestors fought and died for, our human and environmental rights.

The Indian Act band council system causes our people to fight within, denies and oppresses our identity failing to recognize our dignity and rights; thereby transforming our people into objects not worthy of its respect. The tools of lateral violence are financial dependence, the elimination of our identity of nationhood, the breaking down of family and the undermining of the true leadership (Longhouse people).

Do you believe in the “old band council mentality” of blood quantum? Or our traditional (Kaninen’kehá:ka)/“Mohawk” ways? (It was noted in the records of a Jesuit priest that when non-Indigenous men would marry Indigenous women they would embrace the culture and would make it more difficult for the foreign government to assimilate our people. In other words, our people were assimilating the non-Indigenous. Subsequently, the monarch was losing their subjects to our society. This is when the foreign government established rules that if an Indigenous woman married out she had to leave which consequently, broke down the matrilineal lineage. This was never our way. This was later perpetuated by the Indian act and is what the band council is still trying to enforce upon our own beliefs that blood quantum is how we identify ourselves when in fact it’s by our clans). The imposed colonial system a.k.a. band council was never sovereign and does not work independent from the Canadian Government… never has!

In the Spirit of the Kaianere’kó:wa/Great Law of Peace,
Kahawinóntie Wakhskaré:wake, born of the clan family Tehana’karí:ne

– See more at: http://www.tworowtimes.com/opinions/letters/the-system-was-never-sovereign/#sthash.RvMUHKsl.dpuf

Tripp sentencing brings up constitutional questions

Tripp sentencing brings up constitutional questions.

Tripp sentencing brings up constitutional questions
Jim Windle
Local
June 4, 2014

BRANTFORD — It has been five years since Six Nations Police arrested Six Nations resident Don Tripp and convicted of being in possession of unregistered firearms and possession of a quantity of Marijuana.

Monday was the first day of hearings to determine sentencing for those convictions. Hearing the case is Justice Martha Zivolik who also handled the criminal trial.

Under new Aboriginal Court procedures, Tripp was allowed to plead his case by offering historical background to the case by bringing in expert witnesses on the subject of colonialism, treaty making and the real history of First Nations people and their struggles against genocide.

Around 20 supporters mostly dressed in traditional wear and Gustowas sat quietly in Courtroom #2 at the Darling Street Court House as witness Chief Delbert Riley took the court through 300 years of history in about an hour and a half.

Riley was one of the principles that negotiated with then Minister of Indian Affairs, Jean Chretien, to have section #35 of the Canadian Constitution Act added after Indigenous backlash over the first draft of the constitution, which did not do anything to protect treaties made between Indians and the Crown.

Chief Riley, now retired, was Grand Chief of the National Indian Brotherhood, the predecessor of the Assembly of First Nations, from 1980 to 1982. He of the Chippewas of the Thames, near St. Thomas, Ontario, where he resides today. He is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and also presided over the Union of Ontario Indians. He is a recognized historian of early government/Indigenous relations, treaties and agreements.

Chief Riley chose to hold the court provided eagle feather as opposed to swearing on the bible before taking the stand.

Tripp’s legal advisor is lawyer, Sarah Dover who led Chief Riley through a brief history of Canada’s dealings with the Crown, as well as the historical and traditional ways of dealing with criminal matters.
Dover began by asking about Mr. Riley’s personal background for the court.

“I am a survivor of the Mohawk Institute residential school,” Riley answered. “I was in the Mohawk Institute for five years. I went in at six years of age and came out when I was 11. Between 1950 and 1955.”

After his residential school experience, which even today he cannot talk about, he was “out on the street for two years,” he told the court. Eventually, Riley continued his education, finishing high school and attended University. Along the way had become politically active in his battle to protect the rights, treaties and culture of all Indigenous peoples, including the Iroquois, or Haudenosaunee.

Although retired, that does not mean by any means, that he is inactive. Riley is now writing papers and books on the subject of colonialism.

“It’s been a long sentencing process where evidence for sentencing has been placed before the court,” said Dover about the day’s proceedings. “We have been going through an evolution of issues related to this case.

Chief Riley has a wealth of knowledge about Canada’s legal history, including constitutional history, but particularly on residential schools.

“Right now we are putting in all the necessary pieces needed to tell a story,” explained Dover. “Once those pieces are put in place, then you can get up and tell the story.”

She explains that the last piece will be on community and clan approaches to justice that fits with this particular situation defense council would like the judge to consider in how indigenous law applies, practically to Don Tripp.

“Today was to have been the last day where evidence was to be submitted, but it won’t be. Based on the time today, as was the agreement of the Crown, there will be another day set aside for taking evidence,” said Dover.

Under cross-examination, Crown attorney David King asked Riley if he knew Tripp before these court proceedings.

“Yes, we met about a month ago at a protest meeting about Bill C-33, the education bill,” Riley answered. “I made some statements about section 35 and he picked up on it and he came to see me and asked if I could be of help in his particular situation.”

“Did he tell you what charges he has been found convicted of?” King asked.

“No,” Riley said. “That is not my area of expertise. Mine is primarily Aboriginal Treaty Rights.”

“Did he tell you that he had pleaded guilty to selling a firearm to someone who turned out to be an undercover police officer?” King asked.

Riley confirmed that he did know that, but added, “I am also aware that those treaty rights made this normal trade items for First Nations, to buy and sell and hunt with guns without any restrictions.”

But the details, he did not know.

“Did you know he has also been found guilty of possession of large amounts of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking?” asked King.

“He also told me he had a doctor’s permit for that,” answered Riley.

“He told you he had a doctor’s permit to traffic marijuana?” King retorted.

At that point Dover objected the way the question was being presented by King, saying, “The question suggests that he was trafficking, as opposed to what was said on the guilty plea, so I did not want to leave the witness with the impression that he has admitted to trafficking marijuana, which he has not.”

“I did not ask because I felt it was none of my business,” said Riley. “I prefer to confine myself to my area of expertise.”

“Are you indicating that Mr. Tripp shouldn’t even be here in front of the Canadian court?” asked King.

“First I think that there probably should be some sort of discussion or arrangement with the government on these kinds of matters, and essentially, he would be protected under section #35. That would be considered traditional (trade).”The next court appearance to conclude this part of the sentencing procedure is set for June 16th. Depending on scheduling. Possibly July 15, 16 or 17th, and then reconvene September 3rd.

– See more at: http://www.tworowtimes.com/news/local/tripp-sentencing-brings-up-constitutional-questions/#sthash.XmXsTqew.dpuf

Pikangikum First Nation refuses to host polling station – Ontario Votes 2014 – CBC

Pikangikum First Nation refuses to host polling station – Ontario Votes 2014 – CBC.

The Chief of Pikangikum First Nation, north of Kenora, says his community is refusing to host an Ontario election polling station, because of a lack of attention from candidates.
Chief Paddy Peters said he’d like to talk to candidates face to face about critical issues facing his community.
But none of the people running in the Kenora-Rainy River riding have visited.
“We don’t see them, we don’t hear them,” Peters said. “They neglect our community, they expect support from our community. To me, that’s absurd.”
“Aren’t we part of Ontario?”

‘I want the candidates to hear this’

The returning officer for the Kenora-Rainy River riding said people from Pikangikum can still vote in advance in Red Lake, Fort Frances or Sioux Lookout.
They can also vote by mail.
Peters said Pikangikum “has issues that need to be addressed by the government of Ontario” such as the lack of running water or sewage for the majority of homes in the First Nation.
He says he’s also disappointed neither the provincial government, nor the candidates have taken an interest in Pikangikum’s forestry project that is the result of 17 years of community planning.
“We want to get into the business aspect of forestry,” he said. “We’ve been asking for start-up money for two years and nothing has been done so far.”
“When you talk about prosperity, we want revenue coming in for our own people, so I want these candidates to hear this.”
Peters said this is the first time Pikangikum has declined to host a polling station.

Ontario tax exemption: Your rights as a First Nation citizen

Ontario tax exemption: Your rights as a First Nation citizenPrint Friendly    |     Contact the Editor    |     Email This PagePosted on July 25, 2013 In NewsNipissing First Nation citizen, Theresa Stevens, presents her Indian Status Card to Target employee Laura Dawkins. – Photo by Marci BeckingBy Kevin RestouleAs a First Nation citizen, you have many rights, some of which are affirmed by the federal and provincial governments through the issuance of a status card. One of them is the right to tax exemption within the Province of Ontario, but how exactly does this right work?The Government of Ontario has guaranteed the right to tax exemption to all status First Nations people on certain goods and services, regardless of location of residence. This means that if you have a federal-issued status card, purchases that you make may be entitled to an exemption from the 8% PST portion of the HST.There are two possible ways to obtain this exemption. The first is what is called the point of sale exemption, which requires the purchaser/status card holder to present their original status card at the time of purchase for the retailer to visually  confirm the card, document the registration number and process the transaction without including the 8% portion of the HST. It is important for status card holders to know that no other identification or information is required except their government issued status card. In addition, the government does not require retailers to submit copies of status cards, so photocopying the card is not necessary. The collection of this unnecessary data violates privacy rights, even if it is store policy.The second method is to fill out and submit an application form 0248E by registered mail with original receipts to the Ministry of Finance for a refund on the tax paid. Due to the refund being given through the mail, the Ministry of Finance does require that a photocopy of the status card both sides accompany the application for their visual confirmation.Retailers are not allowed make any price adjustments concerning status First Nations customers in order to compensate for the exemption as this constitutes a human rights violation on the grounds of discrimination and is against the law, even if it is store policy.The Ontario Ministry of Finance has implemented a hotline service at 1-866-ONT-TAXS 1-866-668-8297 that will accept calls from citizens to report retailers that:refuse to provide the tax exemption for First Nation customers upon presentation of a valid status card;insist on the collection of unnecessary personal information such as taking a photocopy of a status card, address, phone number, email, signature etc. as a requirement before providing the exemption;raise the price on purchased items that qualify for exemption;insist that you pay the full tax at the time of purchase and submit your receipt to the Ministry of Finance for refund;are unsure about how to process tax exempt transactions; orare confused or are under the wrong understanding about the rules for First Nations tax exemption.Calling the Ministry of Finance hotline to file a report regarding a retailer will help to:educate the retail community at large about tax exemption for First Nations;allow for policy and perspective changes of retailers and facilitate easier tax exemption processing in the future; andprotect and exercise your First Nation right to tax exemption.As a consumer, it is your right to decide which retailers you wish to do business with. If you do not agree with store policy, you have the right to go elsewhere. For more information visit http://www.anishinabek.ca/notax/

via Ontario tax exemption: Your rights as a First Nation citizen.

Correction and Strong Medicine | Two Row Times

Correction and Strong Medicine | Two Row Times.

Correction and Strong Medicine
Nahnda Garlow
Scone Dogs & Seed Beads
May 28, 2014

I can’t speak for what went on Down Below, but on the Upper End of Six Nay during the Eighties it was quite traditional for kids to team up at someone’s house with a gang of other 8-13 year olds and walk around in a pack until it started to get dark. More often than not that involved us kids on Sour Springs Road getting in a lot of trouble. Smashing something, burning something, stealing something, and taking full advantage of the absence of adults and the new hormones coursing through our veins.

Judgement becomes clouded by said hormones. One summer my brother Dan and my ‘cousint’ JD started a grass fire that got out of control and burnt down the whole bush by accident. That was epic. I can still remember my aunty and my mom both running “back the bush” with garbage bags full of water trying to wet the grass to keep our house from getting burnt down. The fire department showed up and had to hose down the whole bush so that all of our concession didn’t turn to ash and keep the flames from reaching the neighbours houses.

Oh the long and quiet walk into the unknown just before you’re gonna get a butt whoopin’! You don’t know what to expect. It’s the uncertain anticipation that you’re about a) to get the lickin’ of a lifetime or b) receive mercy from above and get off the hook just in the nick of time.

I was reminded of this long walk earlier this week when I found myself confronted with having to correct my 12 year old daughter for one of those “pack mentality” mistakes that everyone inevitably makes. My mind raced back to my own misbehaviour at her age and how the adults who cared for me; my ‘cousints’ corrected us.

My mom favoured the good old spanking. It was a quick and effective mode of correction but after I was too big to turn over the knee it began to lose potency. Dad was very good at scolding us. Quite poetically, his name in the language translates into “He scolds them”. I can still see his big finger pointing at me and the look in his eyes that meant business. More often than not, that was enough to get me to listen.

However in the odd instance that hormone infused insanity took temporary hold of my then 12 year old mind, something stronger was in order. According to Haudenosaune tradition, water was used for correction. I will never forget the time that Gramma Rovina dunked my brother Daniel’s head in the rain barrel for doing something stupid. I literally laughed out loud and made fun of him for all of about twenty seconds. Just long enough for Gramma to walk over to me, grab me by the back of the head and “correct” me for laughing at his misfortune by dunking me too. Suffice it to say, I never again found enjoyment in seeing someone else punished.

My Uncle Victor was in the US Marines and employed what he called “PT” for correction on my male ‘cousints’. Quite literally it was physical training. I’ll never forget the trip to Fort Erie when the Hill-General boys JD, Dan, Joey and Phil deployed smoke bombs at the girl ‘cousints’ and had to do push-ups and chin-ups till sundown!

The most rare moments of correction in my life, but the most sobering ones, included ohǫ:daˀ.

The most rare moments of correction in my life, but the most sobering ones, included ohǫ:daˀ. This medicine bush grows in the field and anyone from any Haudenosaune community who lived past the age of 12 probably knows what I am talking about. If you have been corrected by ohǫ:daˀ just the sight of this red bush will give you shivers and smarten you up into a clear mind. I distinctly remember my ‘cousints’, siblings and I being sent back the bush by our family to go pick our own ohǫ:daˀ.

“Why do we have to do this anyways it’s so stupid,” I would typically mouth off.

“Shut up then they’ll hear you and then we’ll get in trouble again,” my ‘cousints’ would shout back at me. I was never known for keeping my mouth shut.

“Just pick a skinny one, they’ll probly don’t hurt as much”, my youngest ‘cousint’ Whitters would say. At some point in every Haudenosaune kids reservation education they think it’s a good idea to pick the smallest and skinniest piece of ohǫ:daˀ – but they only ever make this mistake once.

My brother, in all his brave and righteous boldness would say something like, “I deserve it guys, It was all my fault. I’ll pick the biggest one and I’ll ask them to just punish me.” That usually surmounted into a beautiful act of valour in which Daniel would bravely cast himself down on one knee before the adults willing to take the punishment for all. That usually impressed all the grown ups and distracted from our correction if even only for a few minutes.

Truthfully, I can say that after being corrected by ohǫ:daˀ once, just the sight of that red twig resting on the back of the stove at my Gramma’s was enough to make me smarten up for the rest of my days.

The Original Story is Available At http://www.tworowtimes.com/opinions/columns/scone-dogs-seed-beads/correction-and-strong-medicine/

Update from Mike and a beautiful video by Lynn Brant and Tom Porter

Been a busy little while, Getting things ready, hope to move this summer, The place where we are now has not been getting repairs, The landlord repaired the upstairs apt. but has not done any down here, to the point where when I have a bath or shower it is normal to have parts of the wall joined me in the bathtub, Have found both black ants and TERMITES come pouring out of the walls, and the list goes on and on and on. So time for a move, and not taking any wood products from here to the new house. Wanted to share a beautiful song with you, so below you will find it.
**
This song is absolutely beautiful, Lynn Brant plays the guitar and sings the song in the language while Elder Tom Porter gives the translation into English.
It truly is a beautiful song, and Brings tears to the eyes. Nia:wen for the gift you have given with the song.

**

And then below some pictures of the current place, so people can see why I say screw it we are moving no one should have to live in a place with this degree of disrepair, Its not safe or healthy. And yes the one picture looking outside…that is a RAT on the step by my door. And no it’s not a pet, it lives in the basement and not by my choice.

Main Door to the left of the handle you can see where he knocked out drywall to do repairs

Cut your losses, Washington Redskins, and sack the slur – Los Angeles Times

What’s in a name? In the case of the Washington Redskins, a lot of history — and an irrefutable ethnic slur that ought to embarrass the National Football League enough to finally force some action.

Citing the speed with which the National Basketball Assn. reacted to Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s racially charged remarks about African Americans, 50 U.S. senators on Thursday urged the NFL to put pressure on Redskins owner Dan Snyder to drop the franchise’s offensive name.

Tribal organizations have strongly objected to the term, and as targets of the slur, they are in the best position to call it so.–  

It is regrettable that Virginia’s two Democratic senators, who represent a large portion of the team’s fan base, opted not to sign the letter. (Republicans, for some reason, were not invited to sign.) Tim Kaine said he supports the name change but didn’t like the tone; if so, maybe he should have sent his own concurring letter. Mark R. Warner’s office said he didn’t think it “was for Congress to dictate what the league does” and that “team names will change to reflect the times,” implying the problem will resolve itself.

Warner is right in one regard: It is not up to Congress to dictate this change. But this was not a piece of legislation; it was a personal statement of 50 senators’ objections to a patently racist term. It’s hard not to conclude that Kaine and Warner, unlike Maryland Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin, put fear of losing fan votes ahead of taking a principled stand.

And it is a slur. Defenders of the name point to an etymology that began with Native Americans calling themselves “red skins” to differentiate themselves from the European settlers, the “white skins.” Those linguistic roots, however, do not trump the evolution of the term into an ethnic slur; it’s been a pejorative for a very long time. The National Congress of American Indians and other tribal organizations have strongly objected to the term, and as targets of the slur, they are in the best position to call it so.

The team has been called the Redskins since moving from Boston in 1937. That’s 77 years; we don’t think a team called the “Darkies” would have been tolerated for that long, although there’s really not much difference. The team’s owners have complained over the years that renaming the team would anger fans and make meaningless the millions of dollars that have been spent marketing the team. To which we respond: It’s past time for a change. Cut your losses.

We should note too that the NFL, as a business association, is tax exempt (though the individual teams are not), which means American taxpayers are an unwilling party to this embarrassment. This page has argued before that Snyder should drop the offensive name, and we renew that call now. Change the name, and end the insult.

Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times

 This Story was originally published at the link listed under here. I re-posted it here for informational purposes only, no copyright infringement is intended and all rights and credit remain with the original author.

Cut your losses, Washington Redskins, and sack the slur – Los Angeles Times.

Weapons found in home of Akwesasne man and strip club owner caught in SQ tobacco operation

“ Kahnawake Peacekeepers police force said it would not execute any arrest warrants related to tobacco investigations.”

By Jorge Barrera
APTN National News
Mohawk police officers uncovered a cache of weapons Wednesday inside the home of an Akwesasne man whose strip club was allegedly used to store North Carolina-grown raw tobacco after it was smuggled into Canada by an Italian Mafia-run network, APTN National News has learned.

A Surete du Quebec-led police operation unfolded across the Montreal region and in the border-straddling community of Akwesasne Wednesday morning aimed at dismantling an alleged tobacco smuggling network that moved raw tobacco across the Canada-US border to the Mohawk community of Kahnawake near Montreal for cigarette manufacturing.

Akwesasne Mohawk Police officers, acting on Surete du Quebec (SQ) warrants, arrested Anthony David Jr., 49, his wife Tracy-Ann David-Dogget, 47, David’s daughter Fallon David, 31, and son-in-law Christopher Thompson, 26, in Akwesasne. When the Mohawk police searched Anthony David’s home in St. Regis Village, Akwesasne, they uncovered a number of weapons.

The suspicion of weapons and drugs moving through Akwesasne drew the Akwesasne Mohawk Police into the SQ investigation, said the force’s Chief Jerry Swamp.    ‎

“The investigation started as a tobacco file. The Akwesasne police became involved when weapons and drugs were identified going through the community,” said Swamp.

David is expected to face additional weapons charges. He is already facing fraud, conspiracy and organized crime charges.

David and his three family members were all transported by the Akwesasne police across the St. Lawrence River by boat to Cornwall, Ont., from where they were then transported to Montreal. St. Regis Village, which is on the south shore of the river, is part of the Akwesasne reserve in Canada, but it is only accessible by road through the U.S.

David also operates an unlicensed cigarette factory on the U.S. side of Akwesasne that primarily manufactures unmarked “rollies,” which are cigarettes sold in plastic bags.

David is also an owner of the Sweet Dreams strip club in Dundee, Que., where the SQ allege some of the tobacco was stored before it was taken to Kahnawake. The strip club was also raided Wednesday, said Sgt. Joyce Kemp.

The 18 month-long investigation that led to the arrests of about 30 people, including two from Kahnawake and a total of five from Akwesasne, began on a tip from U.S. authorities. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been tracking tractor trailer shipments of tobacco from North Carolina heading north.

The SQ said Wednesday that the operation, dubbed Project Lycose, was one of the largest ever in North America targeting the underground tobacco trade.

The Quebec force claimed the network’s smuggling defrauded the government tax coffers of about $30 million. About 400 officers participated in the raids which included the involvement of the RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency, the Akwesasne Mohawk Police, several municipal police forces and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The SQ said the smuggling network was allegedly headed by a Mafia-linked businessman named Nicola Valvano, from Saint- Leonard, Que. Montreal Mafia members would buy the unprocessed tobacco from North Carolina and then transport it to Canada hidden in transport trucks carrying cedar mulch. The trucks, registered under false companies, would then take the tobacco to locations near Montreal and remain there for between 24 to 72 hours before rolling to Kahnawake where the tobacco would be used by local cigarette factories.

The Mafia-linked members allegedly split the profits of the operation 60-40 with their Mohawk partners, said Kemp.

The SQ also arrested two Mohawk men from Kahnawake Wednesday, Devery Bauersfeld, 52, and Kanentiio Ross, 36.  The SQ were searching for another man, Michael Rosetti, 50, who is not Mohawk but is married to a Mohawk woman from Kahnawake.

The Kahnawake Peacekeepers police force said it would not execute any arrest warrants related to tobacco investigations.

A Kahnawake Mohawk Council source told APTN National News that the arrested men were well known in the community and had been involved in the cigarette trade for “many years.” The source said they are viewed as family men with children involved in sports like hockey in the community.

“How far are they really linked into organized crime?” said the source. “Or are they only related through tobacco but are being roped into this whole process? They are just normal people in the community.”

According to diagram of the organization provided by the SQ, the Kahnawake men were identified as “Purchasers in Kahnawake.”

The SQ said it seized about 40,000 kilograms of tobacco which is worth about $7 million on the black market and would have resulted in a $10 million tax loss if turned into cigarettes. Police also seized $45,000 in cash and 1,300 marijuana plants.

This story originally appeared at Weapons found in home of Akwesasne man and strip club owner caught in SQ tobacco operation. It was re-bloged here for informational purposes only, no copyright infringement is intended and all rights remain with the original author

No Honor Among Chiefs or Thieves

• 

  John Kane

• Lets Talk Native
• April 29, 2014

** This story is from the Two Row Times Site, I have only copied and pasted it here. To read it on the original site along with many fantastic stories to go http://www.tworowtimes.com/opinions/columns/lets-talk-native/no-honor-among-chiefs-or-thieves/    **

I have to begin my column this week by stating up front that I am Haudenosaunee. I support traditional governance based on the Kaianerehkowa and a culture grounded with the Ohenton Karihwatehkwen (Words Before All Else) and the Tiohateh (the Two Row Wampum). I must emphasize that it is traditional governance I support rather than “traditional government.”

There are those who would suggest that the Haudenosaunee have existed with all these things firmly in place in an unbroken testament to our strength and durability as a people. I wish that were true. I wish our people had continued to reject the Bible and the booze. I wish they always held our women in the reverence that we like to claim. I wish we protected and preserved our lands and language for our future generations. I wish we maintained the concepts of governance by the people and the understanding that people who were recognized for the best characteristics were placed as honorable servants to their people rather than rulers placed above them. But most of these wishes would bring me back several hundred years.

We lost our way several times long before the first white man ever appeared before us. Our Thanksgivings are reminders of those times and of the time we came back together to right ourselves. The Kaianerehkowa represents the last time wise men among us reminded us who we were and what we were created for. In it are the descriptions of the characteristics we were to strive for. No, it didn’t say don’t drink, gamble or dance. It placed honor on a man who proved himself as a husband, a father and an uncle. What that means should be self-evident. The Kaianerehkowa lays out the process to maintain peace and resolve conflicts. It lays out checks and balances and defies any notion that any of us have authority or higher standing than any others. of us. It also made clear that all those things that went into the Kaianerehkowa should be retold and recited each year in every Haudenosaunee community and recited at a gathering of all 49 families of the Haudenosaunee and any new families that joined to enjoy the peace under the Kaianerehkowa every five years.

This basic call for maintenance through constant education and “removal of the dust” that accumulates with time surely could have prevented where we now find ourselves. This summer such an event is planned for the Seneca community of Tonawanda and at this point there may be no community in more need. But Tonawanda is certainly not the only community in need. Between assimilated elected councils with pitiful voter turnout and no connection to our culture or what defines us, and councils of “chiefs” that claim to be “traditional” with a twisted view of their authority or privilege, our communities are barely recognizable as Haudenosaunee.

I have seen unspeakable corruption and behavior out of men claiming to be chiefs while loyalists chant “honor the chiefs.” As these men hide behind the banner of being “traditional” they discriminate against some and disregard others while consolidating power, wealth and recognition as royal families.

I could review much of the fairly recent ugly history that would explain the mess that is now the Oneida Nation of New York and the current power struggle over leadership, control and federal recognition in Cayuga that involves “traditional” chiefs, their lawyers and reliance on the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Our ways? The Kaianerehkowa? Certainly not! But one of the most blatant abuses of power today by those that claim to be “traditional” is, indeed, in Tonawanda.

Tonawanda is a small Seneca community that claims to be “traditional.” The resident population is less than 500 with half of those being non-Native and the majority of the Native population being non-Tonawanda Seneca, meaning only about 20-25 percent of the residents are “enrolled” Tonawanda Seneca. There is a relatively sizeable Christian population with notables that have historically included men like Ely Parker who actually served as a chief on the Tonawanda Chiefs Council. While there is one modest Longhouse and quite nice tribal offices, there is also a sizeable church within the community as well as churches attended by residents off-territory. The contemporary notion that Tonawanda is a “traditional” community has drawn deep lines separating people along family lines, occupations, religious beliefs and even gender. There exists a sense of superiority for these ‘traditional” leaders and their loyal followers over the vast majority of the rest of the residents.

None of this could be more exemplified than by the current situation where a Tonawanda Seneca business owner, out of favor with the “chiefs,” dies and despite a well documented will that clearly laid out his intent to leave certain significant assets to his Tonawanda Seneca daughter, has those intentions usurped by the deceased’s greedy brother, mother and, at least, certain Tonawanda chiefs. Literally, the uncle and grandmother conspired to defraud a young woman out of her inheritance from her father and ultimately they are assisted by corrupt chiefs to pull it off. As it stands today, both the home, valued at over $3 million, and the businesses that have generated significant wealth over the years, have been seized by the chiefs and it is being done under some guise of “traditional” law or custom. The plain and simple truth is that the daughter of the deceased has been determined arbitrarily as undeserving of the inheritance and that is cause enough for a corrupt and dysfunctional “government” to do as it likes against whomever it wishes.

There is nothing in any legitimate or noble culture, traditional or otherwise, that would deny a man the right to leave his daughter assets that she would otherwise have the right to own or receive. And there is nothing in the Kaianerehkowa that would remotely suggest or empower a chief to seize an inheritance. This case is simply a theft by those that believe they are above the people and what is decent and right.

It will be a singular moment of reckoning when men guilty of such a crime have to sit before all of us at a Kaianerehkowa recital knowing the abuse they have inflicted even as that very abuse is being condemned before all. I will sit in anxious anticipation of those days with only one hope – that they will reflect on their actions and correct them before we all come together.

– See more at: http://www.tworowtimes.com/opinions/columns/lets-talk-native/no-honor-among-chiefs-or-thieves/

Children’s agency to leave Six Nations | Brantford Expositor

Children’s agency to leave Six Nations | Brantford Expositor.

Faced with the threat of legal action and getting nowhere in negotiations with the elected band council, Brant Family and Children’s Services is leaving Six Nations.

The agency, formerly the Children’s Aid Society, will close its extensive native services branch in Ohsweken at the end of June when its lease runs out.

“It became clear over the past month that we would not be able to successfully negotiate a continued physical presence on the reserve,” said board chair Lesley Brubacher in an emailed statement on the weekend.

“We were facing legal action which we could not financially support within our current budget. With the end of our lease approaching, it presented a natural opportunity to … relocate off-reserve.”

The impending move will leave Six Nations with no on-site child protection system. Brant children’s services will continue to have full responsibility for child protection on Six Nations but must operate from the Brantford area until Six Nations finishes developing its own approved agency.

That’s a process that could take years.

Brant children’s services has been working with Six Nations to bring about a fully native agency, but some on the reserve have demanded the agency leave, citing a list of grievances from several families.

The band council withdrew its blessing for the agency to remain on the reserve. And the situation came to a head in March when elected Chief Coun. Ava Hill sent the agency a letter giving it until March 31 to be off the territory, threatening legal action.

Brubacher said she is concerned about the 75 Six Nations children who remain in kinship care on the reserve, or in licensed foster homes there, plus any other children who may be in need of help.

“The board is concerned with child safety, response times, worker safety and community relationships when our agency is no longer operating from within the Six Nations.”

When the native services offices closes, Brubacher said the board feels the agency won’t be as efficient in delivering services or have the same access to native homes.

Brubacher said she is proud of the 36-member native services team, noting that it has endured criticism, controversy and uncertainty with “unwavering dedication” to child welfare. She commended team leader Sally Rivers.

“They remain focused on providing the best care they can to the families and children they work with,” she said.

Agency executive director Andrew Koster said he is saddened by the situation.

“We have a long history of collaboration and co-operative work from the 1950s and on. “¦ We helped find homes for children on the reserve after the Mush Hole (residential school) closed.”

Koster said that the agency put forward an application for on-reserve care, developed a proposal for a youth lodge and helped relocate children from the U.S. who weren’t able to cross the border to be with family on Six Nations.

“In spite of all that, in the last few years it became obvious there was resistance to our involvement by some in authority on Six Nations,” Koster said.

“There were a small number of complaints by clients that were presented as if it was widespread and there were a number of incorrect statements about kids in care.”

At one point the agency had 65 Six Nations children in care but the community was told there were 500.

Koster said that, while the agency couldn’t change the minds of elected band councillors, he feels indebted to the confederacy chiefs.

“They took the time to look at both sides of the issue. I will always appreciate that and so will our staff.”

YGK Municipal Elections Part 2

We are fortunate in Kingston to have some City Councillors who are connected to us via Social Media. When I sign onto Facebook and twitter each day I am able to see posts from

Williamsville Councillor Jim Neill on either Facebook or Twitter,

Kingscourt-Strathcona  Councillor Sandy Berg who is active on both Facebook and Twitter as well,

This is just two of many Councillors that are available on Social Media. These two Councillors post the link to there Social Media Profiles on the City  Website at Mayor & Councillors .  Many of the Councillors have Facebook and/or Twitter and are very open to interaction with the residents of Kingston. I urge people to use this tool to get to know there representative, especially since we do have a Municipal Election coming in the fall. Is your Councillor representing you? How do you know if you don’t interact with them.  I was utterly shocked the other day actually got to see mine.  Mind you I was walking past his house and he was coming out the door while his dog was taking him for a walk. And I actually got a hi from him after I spoke, that is improvement, Since in the 9 years I have lived here that is only the second time i knew he existed. The other time was when I sent him an email stating I was interested in serving on a City Committee, I got a quick that’s good citizens should email back. That’s it. 9 years , and that is the total extent of interaction.  Here is my observations to this point on some of our City Council.  Before I list them I will say this.  My opinion of them as City Councillors is just that MY OPINION and it in no way shape or form is coloured by there political affiliations.  I can honestly and easily state there are people as City Councillors who I think do a great job who I would not vote for if they were running for provincial office because of political affiliation but I would canvass for them municipally because they serve there constituents municipally well and honestly.  Here is my first list. It is not a complete list of City Councillors I will have more this week.

District 9 Williamsville Councillor Jim Neill – from what I have observed on Social Media (Facebook & Twitter) , on Televised Council Meetings, on steaming media as well as he is one of the Councillors who believes in making himself available to residents who need to see him at a local coffee shop when necessary. Williamsville is served very well by Jim Neill.   Jim is a hard working man, passionate about the issues that affect the residents of Williamsville and Kingston.  I believe that Jim Neill serves to the best of his ability as Councillor of Williamsville, interacting with the residents via  all available methods.

 District 8: Kingscourt-Strathcona Councillor Sandy Berg – An amazingly compassionate and intelligent Councillor. I had the privilege  to serve with Sandy on the K.A.T.C. for two years. She is active on Twitter and Facebook, And can be seen active on issues with Council Meetings.  If a person has a question they can message Councillor Berg and you are assured that the response you get is both well thought out and researched so that the information you get is accurate and up to date.  I believe that Sandy Berg serves the people of Kingscourt-Strathcona to the best of her ability, with interaction available to residents via all available methods.

District 4: Lakeside Councillor Dorothy Hector – A very diligent worker and a lady that I feel deserves recognition for her work internationally, those citizens who only watch Council on TV and don’t follow the Councillor on her homepage, or via Social Media are missing out on an outstanding citizen and councillor.  Councillor Hector has served this country both as a Civilian and in the Canadian Forces, both domestic and all over the world. A hard worker who is available on Social Media and Via her personal website to her constituents, and she also serves as a representative on FCM (Federation of Canadian Municipalities)  Dorothy Hector serves  her area with a work ethic that is undeniably one of the best in the country.

District 3: Collins-Bayridge Councillor Lisa Osanic –  Another social media Councillor who has a passion for many of the issues facing the residents of #YGK.  The residents of her district are served with passion, intelligence and determination that are second to none. I have not had a chance to interact with Councillor Osanic but from all I have seen I have no doubt that it would be an experience I would walk away from knowing that a City Councillor researched and cared about my issue and the answer I was given.  I am confident that Councillor Osanic Serves her district well.

District 11: King’s Town Councillor Rob Hutchison is my districts Councillor and I wish that I could give as in-depth a report on him as I was able to give on Councillor Neill, Berg, Hector etc. but I can’t. Which is a shame since he represents me on City Council. I did not have a chance to meet him last election, Not even a door knock or a flyer in my mailbox during his last campaign.  I managed a one line email reply a couple years ago when I sent him an email expressing interest in serving on a city committee, and last week a hello as I met him on the street, in the approximately 9 years here. That is all I have managed to achieve for interaction. My opinion is I am not well served BUT I am hopeful that there will be an increase in his reaching out to residents this summer, where I can then meet with him and see if it will change in the future. If not…well there is an election coming.

That is my list for this post, I will add more people and possibly amend my opinion on those listed here as the week and months progress.  I list what I see no matter the political affiliation they have, if they do a good job I say so, if they do a poor job I say so, even if they are in the same party as me.  No free rides, Represent the people who put you there, or get off the wagon, The people of this city DESERVE the best representation we can get. We elect people to Represent our concerns and needs, not to govern over us.

I will also be ranting and raving in the next week or two on the Turtle Fence Issue.  This is an issue very close to my heart.  I find it incredible that we tout ourselves as a “Smart City”  (Kingston,Ontario Canada named to Smart21  )   and my favorite ” The Environment & Sustainable Initiatives Department ” What a great name  responsible for such things as 

• Environmental management support to operational divisions of the City
• Management of closed landfills and other environmentally sensitive properties
• Research and development of environmental policy
• Brownfields rehabilitation planning and projects
• Community and Corporate Sustainability Planning

On there page under the heading Nature, Forests & Gardens they write and I quote.

“Whether it is a pristine forest, an urban park or a backyard garden, our green spaces and the trees, plants and animals that live in them are valuable components of our environment that contribute to climate moderation, biodiversity, quality of life and local food security.”   

Before I get on a long rant right now I will cut it short, but needless to say this council may have a department that writes that, but many of our council does not have the backbone to act on it and protect the turtles, And I will be calling them out by name in the coming weeks, And in the fall election I will be remembering who votes against the turtles, and I will be working for those that are for the Turtles.

Mike Marlin                                             Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/michaelcmarlin          Twitter- https://twitter.com/Mike_Marlin                                                                   Google+-https://plus.google.com/102878292688936015752

 

 

 

 

Audit system targets only Aboriginal groups that receive federal cash

APTN National News
While thousands of organizations across Canada receive grants and loans from the federal government, only Aboriginal groups that receive that cash are having their recipient audits made public.

Each quarter, Aboriginal Affairs posts a series of audits of Aboriginal groups that receive grants or loans.

APTN contacted several government departments including Treasury Board, Health Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Status of Women and while they conduct audits, the results are not made public.

APTN’s Nigel Newlove now with more.

This story originally was posted on the following website, I posted it here for informational purposes only, no copyright infringement was intended and all credit and rights remain with the original author.

Audit system targets only Aboriginal groups that receive federal cash.

YGK Municipal Elections

Residents of  YGK will be heading to the polls on  October 27, 2014. But my question’s for you are these.

1. Have you seen your City Councillor since the last election? Do they make a point to see you. Do they make sure you know how to contact them if needed.

2. Has your Council Member made any attempts to solicit your opinion on major matters of importance to your geographic area.  We currently have a municipal system of Districts (what use to be known as Wards).  The importance of this is that each area is theoretically guaranteed to be represented in there concerns since the member representing that area is elected by there constituents.  Such attempts could be regular blogging and asking for feedback, District meetings at a local Civic Arena etc.  , town hall style meetings on issues, coffee shop drop ins where they let the area know they are available to be met say on a monthly basis 3rd Saturday at Tim Horton’s  etc., these are all ways that the person YOU elect can make themselves available to you there employer. Social Media is huge now, is your representative making use of it in finding out what YOU think on the issues facing OUR City.

3. Did you even meet your City Councillor/Candidate last Election. I have lived in this house for a few years, And last Municipal Election not only did I not get a knock on my door, I did not even receive a flyer in my mailbox from my City Council Member.

The reason I suggest you ask yourselves these questions now, so far in advance is these are the things you need to ask yourself of your City Councillor BEFORE they start the Spring/Summer Campaigning.  How available are they to you in between the elections since we all know they make themselves pretty available during the election period. We do have a few good ones, that are available to people on a regular basis even in between elections.  They make themselves available on Social Media as well to the residents of Kingston.  What about your representative are they one of them.  And never forget We Elect Representatives , they are there to represent our Concerns,  We do not elect people to Rule over us.

Over the coming weeks I will be posting more on my feelings on this including who I have noticed meets  all, most, some , or none of the above points raised.

** In case you don’t know who your Councillor Is since you never see them here is the list
District 1 Countryside Councillor Jeff Scott
District 2 Loyalist-Cataraqui Councillor Kevin George
District 3 Collins-Bayridge Councillor Lisa Osanic
District 4 Lakeside Councillor Dorothy Hector
District 5 Portsmouth Councillor Liz Schell
District 6 Trilliam Councillor Bryan Paterson
District 7 Cataraqui Councillor Rick Downes
District 8 Kingscourt-Strathcona Councillor Sandy Berg
District 9 Williamsville Councillor Jim Neill
District 10 Sydenham Councillor Bill Glover
District 11 King’s Town Councillor Rob Hutchison
District 12 Pittsburgh Councillor Bryan Reitzel

 

For more information on the 2014 Municipal Election in #YGK (Kingston,Ontario) go to http://www.cityofkingston.ca/city-hall/elections

RCMP Spending Nearly $100 Million to Spy on Mohawk Tobacco Trade

MAR 26

By Muna Mire, Vice, March 26 2014

The same Conservative government that dismissed a federal inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women as too costly, has allocated $91.7 million over five years in its budget for a high-tech surveillance operation along the Quebec-Ontario border with the US in order to find and shut down Mohawk-run underground tobacco operations. The funds were set aside specifically for a “Geospatial Intelligence and Automatic Dispatch Centre,” which will rely on a number of different and costly surveillance technologies.

 

“Law enforcement partners need to have a clear understanding of the border environment in order to identify potential threats. This is most effectively and efficiently accomplished through the use of technology, including sensors, radar, cameras and underwater acoustics,” an RCMP media relations officer told VICE.

The RCMP’s costly new policing and surveillance initiative will continue to target the Mohawk border community of Akwesasne, from which black market tobacco is moved up and along routes to Kahnawake near Montreal and Tyendinaga near Belleville, and where a Mohawk blockade was held recently calling for an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women. It was at this protest that the OPP deployed camera drones, technically referred to as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), as just part of a package of expensive technology and weaponry used to monitor and disperse the Tyendinaga blockade.

The OPP have defended their use of drones–that run the government around $30,000 apiece—explaining that UAVs are an inexpensive way to conduct necessary investigations. The legal status of UAVs remains murky, but it seems their use is not permitted over populated areas. You can’t fly drones over people, according to Transport Canada. At the protest itself, the cadre of police and their seemingly endless supply of manpower, vehicles, and equipment greatly outnumbered the handful of Mohawk protesters and journalists on site. With this new use of drone cameras and the allocation of a large chunk of funding for further RCMP surveillance and crackdowns on contraband tobacco, Harper has shown that his government financially prioritizes policing Indigenous communities, instead of getting them justice.

The government war on contraband tobacco has been in motion for some time now. Between 2007 and 2011, the RCMP seized nearly four million cartons of First Nations contraband cigarettes, with a retail value of about $80 million. In 2013, the Conservative government introduced a series of laws, packaged in the omnibus bill C-10, imposing mandatory minimums for people who get caught smuggling tobacco (with cigarettes, 50 or more cartons). According to police, cigarettes are not only smuggled across the border (since the territory at Akwesasne spans beyond the border on both sides) but the cigarettes are then sold at a cheaper price to largely non-Indigenous clients looking to circumvent costly federal and provincial taxes.

“This initiative will significantly enhance law enforcement coverage of the border environment that is being exploited by organized crime to facilitate cross-border criminal activities, including the smuggling and trafficking of contraband and humans,” the RCMP told VICE. “We will be implementing measures that will support and expand current intelligence-led efforts by enhancing current border technology, focused on the goal of disrupting organized crime groups, that are operating along the border between the Quebec/Maine border and Oakville, Ontario,” said the same media relations officer.

Prior to 2007 when the trade began to go underground, Mohawk properties like the Rainbow Tobacco Company did business nation-to-nation across provincial and national borderlines. But since then, the RCMP crackdown has nearly bankrupted Rainbow, which had its cigarettes seized illegally by a number of provincial governments. While circumventing taxes imposed at borders remains in something of a legal grey area, there is a case for the “sovereignty through cigarette” argument that Rainbow and others have made for independent nation-to-nation trade. Regardless, the interference of the provincial government in a federal matter in illegally seizing cigarettes led to a court battle Rainbow Tobacco has not recovered from, financially. In addition to this, it came out later in court documents that the RCMP pressured the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) into revoking Rainbow’s federal tobacco license in 2012.

But tobacco is central to many Indigenous communities, both culturally and economically.

It’s a huge economic force within the Mohawk community, which has depended on the tobacco trade for jobs. Tobacco is both political and lucrative; the Mohawk community found that like Big Tobacco, they too were reaping financial reward. This has historically allowed the Mohawk community to not only remain relatively independent in terms of institutionalized support from the government, but also politicized enough to take a stand against the government where they see injustice—in calling for a federal inquiry, or at Oka, for example. Shawn Brant, a Mohawk activist from Tyendinaga who trades tobacco for a living, believes the increases in policing and surveillance are a direct attack on Indigenous communities.

“I think this [initiative] isn’t about targeting the tobacco trade, I believe [this] is about targeting an aspect of our community that actively speaks out against government’s colonial and apartheid policies and that’s the tragic reality,” Brant said of economic loss to the Mohawk community.

According the “History of Rainbow Tobacco” found on the company’s website, “the cigarette industry is currently a major employer of Kahnawakeron within the reserve proper and is one of the major reasons the unemployment rate within the community has steadily decreased in the past 5-10 years.” It goes to on to say that “in 2009-2010, the Kahnawake Tobacco Association (KTA) estimated that approximately 1700-2000 community members were employed in the tobacco industry.” Those numbers aren’t insignificant.

While costly, the federal budget estimates that these recent changes and the RCMP’s new border policing and surveillance initiative will bring in some $685 million in revenue in 2014-15 for the government. What is not included in this calculus, apparently, is the cost of dismantling the economic base of the Mohawk and other Indigenous communities. Such an oversight, particularly when taken with a refusal by this government to invest in the safety of those same communities and their missing and murdered women, makes it plain to Brant and others what Stephen Harper’s priorities are.

“I believe the agenda of government to expend resources to target tobacco, on one hand claiming to be a law and order government, a tough on crime government, a government that is committed to safety and the protection of victims within society, is [an] irony that people can observe when they’re faced with the same government refusing to take any justice initiatives on the issue of murdered and missing women and girls. And I think that’s the hardest pill to swallow, […] the assertion that they are a government that is tough on crime, yet failing to provide justice to First Nations women and girls. [Instead they] impose mandatory minimum criminal sentences, jail sentences, on those people who use tobacco as a means to support their family and develop economies within impoverished First Nations communities,” Brant said.

This story was re- posted from Warrior Publications, And I intend no copyright infringement, it was posted here for informational purposes only, all copyright and credit remains with the author, The orginal website is http://warriorpublications.wordpress.com/2014/03/26/rcmp-spending-nearly-100-million-to-spy-on-the-mohawks-black-market-tobacco-trade/

Warrior Publications

By Muna Mire, Vice, March 26 2014

The same Conservative government that dismissed a federal inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women as too costly, has allocated $91.7 million over five years in its budget for a high-tech surveillance operation along the Quebec-Ontario border with the US in order to find and shut down Mohawk-run underground tobacco operations. The funds were set aside specifically for a “Geospatial Intelligence and Automatic Dispatch Centre,” which will rely on a number of different and costly surveillance technologies.

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John Boots arrested for Tyendinaga train blockades

Warrior Publications

OPP at the CN railway near Tyendinaga, Mohawk Territory (in Ontario), March 8, 2014.

CTV News/The Canadian Press, March 24, 2014

NAPANEE, Ont. — Provincial police say they have charged a man in connection with two protests that occurred this month in Tyendinaga Township in eastern Ontario.

John Boots, 43, of Akwesasne First Nation, was arrested on Saturday and charged with two counts of mischief.

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We Were Children | APTN

We Were Children | APTN.

Reflections From A Father on Fathers Day.

6:33 A.M June 16, 2013 I just stepped inside from sitting on the Porch. I went out as usual shortly after 5 A.M. with my smudge , my Drum, and those other things that I choose to incorporate into my morning Greeting And Thanksgiving to the creator for giving me another day. When that was complete I made myself a coffee and a couple of pieces of toast and peanut butter. (yes there is a point to this and I will get to it shortly) Sitting there having my toast the first thing that I noticed was “rocky” which is what my Daughter Cassandra and I call the one squirrel who visits me daily. He was perhaps three feet away from me sitting on his hind legs staring at me like as if to say “Well Mike did you bring enough out to share?”  and it struck me here I am, I have a home to live in, cable TV, Phone, Internet, there are 4 computers in the house, and all the other things in life, I have a beautiful spouse who loves me, Children whom I get to see (two boys who live with me, two daughters who don’t) And I can’t say that I have seen a day where I have been “Hungry” in quite a while. (those who know me and the size of my stomach will attest to that LOL) and it is father’s day, a day where Fathers traditionally in the urban settings sit around and do next to nothing, or the do those things that they enjoy ie. Hunting, Fishing, etc. But if I just open my eyes there are those around us, be it “Rocky The Squirrel” who is in front of me begging for scraps of my toast, or The Elderly Man in front of the Sleepless Goat Cafe on Princess Street (Insert appropriate names from your region) who today are begging for food just to survive. I don’t write this to make anyone feel bad, In fact I write it for just the opposite reason, So that each of us will feel blessed. Give thanks to the creator of your choosing that you have a home, food, if you are reading this than internet access. And this fathers Day do not dwell upon what you don’t have, use to have, or might have had. Instead be happy and content with what you do have.  I know that I came away from that moment with a much deeper gratitude for everyone that is in my life. Including those of you who happen to read this. I give thanks  for each of you. So Father’s, Grandfathers, and to all I  hope that this day you find peace and contentment and be happy with what you have. I know that I feel very blessed for what I have today. I have a spouse who loves me, I have children whom I love and love me, I have family whom I love. And I have Elders and Friends whom I respect and love dearly.  And the list of friends grows daily. Nia:wen to all of the Fathers out there. Thank You for being Fathers. Be Happy with who you are today.

Concrete action needed from PM to quell any First Nation unrest: Shawn Atleo | CTV News

Concrete action needed from PM to quell any First Nation unrest: Shawn Atleo

National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Shawn Atleo waits to appear before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal hearings in Ottawa, Feb. 25, 2013. (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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 Heather Scoffield, The Canadian Press

Published Sunday, June 2, 2013 6:25PM EDT 

OTTAWA — The extent of First Nations unrest this summer depends in large part on how much concrete action Stephen Harper authorizes on entrenching ancient treaty rights, says National Chief Shawn Atleo.

In a wide-ranging interview to discuss the relationship with Ottawa, the head of the Assembly of First Nations gave mixed reviews to the process launched with great fanfare in January when Harper and Atleo last met.

“Business as usual just causes ongoing conflict,” Atleo told The Canadian Press. “Expressions of good faith — and implementation of those commitments (from last January) — are what is required.”

PHOTOS

Native dancers rally during an ‘Idle No More’ gathering on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. (Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Atleo says talks between senior government officials and First Nations from some parts of the country over how to fully implement historic treaty rights seem to be inching ahead. Atleo and many First Nations leaders argue that full recognition of the treaties will lead to improvements in conditions across the board — in education, housing, and the sharing of the bounty from Canada’s natural resources.

“We’ve seen signals on the part of the government that it is prepared to do that,” Atleo said.

But at the same time, the federal government continues to fight First Nations in court over child welfare funding, continues to impose legislation without consulting those it will affect, and resists widespread calls for a national inquiry into hundreds of missing or murdered aboriginal women, the national chief added.

Plus, the government has been withholding much of the documentation needed to understand the impact of residential schools.

At the same time, there is lingering discontent within many First Nations about major changes made to environmental oversight through federal legislation over the past year.

“There’s always been this pattern that, ‘well, let’s just do one or two things now, and the rest, you know, we can deal with later,”‘ Atleo said.

“No. Transformative change is required because we are still in a big moment of reckoning.”

As aboriginal young people become more educated and more connected through social media, they are increasingly skeptical of the establishment, whether it be the federal government or the complex structure of chiefs under the Indian Act, Atleo added.

“They…will not be swayed by press releases or statements from governments that say what they’re doing is working and that it is enough. Because it isn’t,” Atleo said. “They are making it very clear by expressing themselves. And they will be heard.”

Atleo and Harper, along with key members of their teams, held a highly contentious winter meeting on January 11, just as the Idle No More protest movement gathered strength in communities across the country.

As the leaders met, large crowds of First Nations activists and environmentalists rallied loudly in the streets, demanding more accountability from both sides.

At the same time, Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence denounced the meeting since it did not include the governor-general or a wide range of chiefs, and persisted with a liquids-only hunger protest. Some chiefs openly discussed blockades and economic disruption, forecasting more upheaval this summer.

A shaken Atleo left the meeting with a commitment from Harper to empower his top officials to negotiate fundamental aboriginal rights, focusing especially on education and resource revenue sharing.

And indeed, insiders on all sides say there is considerable movement.

The new aboriginal affairs minister, Bernard Valcourt, has travelled widely and made some announcements about new regional arrangements for education, speeding up the process to settle specific claims, and working with First Nations to review the comprehensive claims process.

“While this progress is important and will have a positive impact on First Nations, we need to build on it and sustain the momentum that is being created. We will continue to work with First Nations to make concrete progress on our shared priorities,” said Jason MacDonald, a spokesman for Valcourt.

Activists are already signalling they are not prepared to wait.

“To me, it’s like they (the government and the Assembly of First Nations) are buying time to get through the summer,” said Russ Diabo, an outspoken long-time First Nations activist from the network Defenders of the Land.

His group has joined forces with Idle No More organizers and other experienced groups to stage a “Sovereignty Summer” that will protest resource projects and pipelines across the country, backed up by demonstrations in cities.

With the British Columbia government dealing the Northern Gateway pipeline proposal another blow last week, opposition will focus around the Line 9 pipeline proposal. That plan would carry bitumen from Sarnia to Montreal, said Clayton Thomas-Muller, spokesman for Sovereignty Summer.

The Line 9 focus implicates Highway 401, one of Canada’s biggest and busiest thoroughfares connecting southern Ontario to Quebec.

“Communities are getting ready to make a very significant point over the summer,” Thomas-Muller said.

In the interview, Atleo mentioned frequently that the ancient treaties included a commitment to peace and friendship, and that elders are constantly reminding youth of this requirement. He pointed to the “grace and strength” of the Nishiyuu walkers who trekked to Ottawa this winter and were joined by hundreds of supporters — only to find the prime minister in Toronto greeting panda bears from China.

The walkers responded with dignity, saying they had a gift for Harper when he is ready to hear them, Atleo said. But he warned that such non-violent response should not be taken for granted, pointing to conflicts at Oka, Que., Gustafsen Lake, B.C., Caledonia, Ont., and the fact that the country’s jails are dominated by aboriginal prisoners.

“We want to see things improve and be better,” Atleo said. “Let’s make sure we remember that we’ve had exchanges that result in conflict and physical harm.”

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/concrete-action-needed-from-pm-to-quell-any-first-nation-unrest-shawn-atleo-1.1307890#ixzz34e3j7yXA

Original Story was published at the Link Below, and was reposted for informational purposes only no copyright infringement was meant

Concrete action needed from PM to quell any First Nation unrest: Shawn Atleo | CTV News.