Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

April 27, 2008

Mohawk Nation News: Update from Tyendinaga



Tyendinaga Update: Sunday, April 27, 2008

What happened - How you can help - – Needs of Mohawks - Contacts of cops and politicians

Mohawk Nation News
Apr. 27, 2008. An email came from the real estate agents, Emile and Theodore Nibourg, enibourg@sutton.com. These are the guys who wanted to build condos on Mohawk land, or at least they wanted to make it look like they were building condos. They knew the Mohawks would object. They even told some of us they were hoping to get a pay out guaranteeing their profits from Canadian taxpayers when the deal fell through. What a scam! The “OPP” [who help the thieves of “Other Peoples Property”] fell for it hook, line and sinker. These are Nibourg’s puppets. You can practically see the strings. In a press statement Nibourg said, “We sent out a media release last week stating we are refraining from continuing our plans to develop the land to allow for a peaceful resolution and negotiations with the government”. We want peace too. There is nothing to resolve. If someone was trespassing on your land, what would you expect the police to do? Kick them off or kick you off? Why are the police on Mohawk land? They were not invited, Nibourg’s gone, the cops are trespassing! They are also violating international law by unlawfully confining our people. Throughout the Rotiskenrekete have not blocked any roads. Commissioner of the OPP, Julian Fantino, said, “There are no blockages except for the ones we put up. It’s all peaceful now.” Even though the Globe and Mail has published photos of the cops pointing guns at us and beating up our people, Fantino tried to deny this happened in a Canadian Press release, of April 26th. He said, “There are claims on blogs that police officers pointed their guns at unarmed women and children, broke people’s arms and beat prisoners”. Fantino went on to say, “I think it’s inflaming what is already a very tenuous, very difficult situation”. Fantino didn’t denying any of this. There’s obviously a double standards in Canadian society. A photo of an ordinary person resisting violence results in immediate charges and an arraignment in court. A photo of a cop doing the same things results in excuses, foot shuffling and obfuscation. It looks like becoming a cop makes them immune from prosecution. It’s becoming a magnet for thugs. Fantino doesn’t like it when the brutality and law breaking of his henchmen gets publicized. [MNN has photos of cops standing behind their patrol cars, pointing their weapons at us. Also, in the Globe and Mail is a photo of the cops beating one of our men in the ditch and breaking his arms.] Fantino told the Globe Mail, “The hard work and dedication of our officers in protecting the citizens of this community cannot go unnoticed”. No kidding! We have you on video beating up our people. “Those responsible for criminal activities will be held accountable”. If this is true, we expect to see some cops wearing handcuffs in court prisoner’s dock. The standoff at the quarry continues. OPP are still holding their positions, though their numbers have decreased. Talks are ongoing between Tyendinaga Mohawks and the OPP. Today the OPP sent a message to the Rotiskenrekete at the quarry on Mohawk land. “Let’s agree to walk away from this and go our separate ways and then nothing will happen”!!! Remember what happened the other day when the OPP were arresting Shawn Brant for a fake charge? They said the same thing. When our five men got into their cars, ten OPP goons jumped them, threw them in the ditch and beat them up. They broke both arms of one native man and one arm of another. Then the OPP put out a lie that one of our men had a gun. The Rotiskenrekete listened and told the officer, “Put out a statement that our men did not have guns and that you lied, and then maybe we’ll talk to you”. The community is still holding strong both inside the quarry and outside on nearby Slash Road. There are a significant number of supporters. People from other Indigenous communities arrived last night and today. Visits from allies are welcome. Come during daylight hours. The situation is less tense at this moment, but dynamics can shift suddenly.
Urgently Needed are – first aid - water - money - non-perishable foods – meat – fish - camping equipment – communications equipment – fuel – gas – propane – mobile phones – phone cards – rain coats – towels – soap – wet wipes – tooth brushes – tooth paste – gloves – work shoes – boots – runners – socks – mosquito repellent – sun block – radios – two-way radios – hand held radios/scanners – cooking utensils – plates – silverware – buckets – pails – blankets and sleeping bags - and anything else you can think of. Once again, the police have turned what should have been a non-event into a summer project.
Directions to the site: take TransCanada Highway 401 to the “Marysville/Deseronto” exit (east of Belleville ). This is the exit to Highway 49. Go south [right] on highway 49 for about 10-15 minutes. You'll pass a stop sign “Tyendinaga”. Once you hit the Slash Road , turn left. Drive until you see the people and a big bonfire.
Tyendinaga_support@masses.tao.ca. The five arrested on false charges of assaulting OPP on Deseronto Road , are Matthew James KUNKEL, 21, Clint BRANT, 29, Daniel John DORENE, 34, and Steve CHARTRAND, 32. All four men are from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory . They are scheduled to appear on Monday, April 28, 2008 in Napanee court. The names, ages and places of residence of the ten trespassing police officers who committed the assault on our men are unknown. Shawn BRANT, 44 years, was remanded into custody and is also scheduled to appear in Napanee court on Monday, April 28, 2008.
[Contact: Sgt. Kristine Rae, (613) 285-5479cell, 1-800-279-8660 pager].
Some have been released but we don’t know their conditions.
Support Action: The OPP blocked off the bypass on Highway 6. The Six Nations went there to burn fires on the bypass and stand in solidarity with the Mohawks of Tyendinaga. At 6:45 pm, Saturday, April 26, the OPP told the Rotiskenrekete to remove themselves from the bypass within half an hour or else they would be raided. Rotiskenrekete responded with a one middle finger salute to corporate Canada ’s “security guards”, followed by the profound words, “FU!” On Saturday, a large delegation of Mohawks of Kahnawake demonstrated at the foot of the Mercier Bridge going into Montreal handing out statements, speaking to the drivers and passengers and generally putting out information on the resistance to “desecrating the land” and asking them to “defend mother earth” and the Mohawks at Tyendinaga. A comment from an AIMer came in: “This is definitely showing the difference in how people are treated by the "Powers That Think They Are" over protests. Sharbot Lake gets the OPP presence, but not the “swarming”. Could that be due to the non-native locals being part of the objections to the mine?” Down in Tyendinaga, the locals haven’t realized the implications of polluting the ground water or using the quarry for illegally dumping of toxic waste. Instead they demonstrate against us.The following message of support went to Ontario Premier McGuinty, "Don't repeat the crimes of the Harris government at Ipperwash. Stop the OPP and military now!" from Elizabeth Rowley [rowley@cpc-pcc.ca Provincial Leader, Communist Party of Canada ( Ontario ) (416) 469-2446 FAX (416) 469-4063 http://www.communist-party.ca/ E-mail info@cpc-pcc.ca]: “We call on you to act immediately to withdraw the police and military who are attacking unarmed Mohawks at Tyendinaga. This appears to be a repeat of the events that lead to the murder of Dudley George in Ipperwash [in 1995].. you have the power and authority to act immediately to save lives by stopping this attack. What is needed is a political solution, … and an end to resource exploration and all development [of Indigenous] lands…”
The following message came from ECOTERRA International, AfricaNode, Nairobi, on Apr. 26, 2008, “Kwe, We say: The fish always starts stinking from it's head! So why should we spend international calls to make the consciousness of the Band Office Chief, who suffers from the same oppression, more miserable. We want to attack the ones, who really are the real aggressors! The Prime-Minister of Canada is one - whom else should we address (e.g. highest Police Commander in charge of this nonsense).We demand our native men be released from the colonial jails immediately.
Here are some of the colonial culprits. The Tyendinaga band council office is administrator of illegal colonial government policies. They do not support our people in defending the land. The colonial chief is R. Don Maracle 1-613-396-3426; 613-396-3089 Cell 613-391-9249; Julian Fantino, is the Commission of the Ontario Provincial Police, julian.fantino@jus.gov.on.ca, julian.fantino@ontario.ca; Governor General Michaelle Jean info@gg.ca;Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada harper.s@parl.gc.ca; Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty dalton.mcguinty@premier.gov.on.ca;Paul Leblanc of Indian Affairs, leblanc.p@ainc-inac.gc.ca;Yvan Dery, Privy Council Office, ydery@pco-bcp.gc.ca; Sylvia McKenzie, Justice Canada, sylvia.mackenzie@sppcc-psepc.gc.ca; Gilles Rochon, Aboriginal Policing, gilles.rochon@psepc.gc.ca 613-990-2666;Emanuel Chabot, Public Affairs 7 Emergency Preparedness emmanuel.chabot@psepc-sppcc.gc.ca 613-990-4353;Louis-Alexandre Guay, the inaptly named “Justice Canada ” lguay@justice.gc.ca;Phil Fontaine, Assembly of [Colonized] First Nations, reception@afn.ca;Jim Potts, advisor to the inept Ontario Provincial Police on Indigenous policing who claims to be Indigenous 613-795-3907;RCMP Royal Canadian Mounted Police, London Ontario Detachment 519-640-7267;Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian Affairs, 819-997-0002, 819-953-1160, 613-992-2940 Fax 613-944-9376 strahc@parl.gc.ca;Walter Walling, who organizes police attacks against Mohawks such as the Jan. 12, 2004 debacle at Kanehsatake, wallingw@ainc-inac.gc.ca;Leona Dombrowsky, Member of Ontario Legislature, 613-962-1144, 1-877-536-6248 Fax 613-969-6381 ldombrowsky.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org;Michael Bryant, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Ontario, 416-314-8693, Fax 416-314-2701, mbryant.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org, 416-656-0943, 416-325-7754, Fax 416-325-7755;L.G. Beechey Chief Supt. Commander Eastern Region OPP, 613-284-4500;Canadian Embassies in your country. Here’s an email from a UK supporter, “Hey there, must be getting old. It took longer than I expected it to, but we've got the embassies covered. We are harassing the media, but equally the media cannot go to the embassies without crashing head first into us. We've got your backs Brothers and Sister. Zoi.”
TO VERIFY AND FOR INFORMATION CALL:
Akwesasne Rotiskenekete 518-358-3660Tyendinaga Aserakowa [Warchief]: 613-243-4993Jan Hill [Longhouse] 613-961-8515 613-827-1547
Dan 613-919-1354
Rotiskenekete 613-849-1314 613-827-4991 613-577-1355
Kahentinetha HornMNN Mohawk Nation NewsClick News & See Category: “ Tyendinaga “4/27/08, 10:44am EDT.
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is outragious!!

The police and local towns people should be ashamed of their behavior.

When is this kind of crap going to end??

Blessings to you.
Phylicity LoneWolf

Anonymous said...

THIS IS VERY SHAMEFUL & VERY RACIALLY MOTIVED ACTION AGAINST THE MOHAWK PEOPLE!! THIS KIND OF STUFF NEEDS TO STOP!! I DO NOT THINK THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO TREAT THE MOHAWK PEOPLE THAT WAY AT ALL!! IF IT WAS MY LAND I WOULD DEFEND IT THE BEST WAY I COULD!!