MOHAWKS: Railroad Companies Fuel Hysteria

17.05.2007 19:50:46
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE BLOCK MEGA "YARD SALE"-

RAILROAD COMPANIES FUEL HYSTERIA

by Kahentinetha Horn
Mohawk Nation News
May 17th 1007.

Power is going out of colonial hands straight to the people.The Canadian government through Phil Fontaine of the Assembly of First Nations AFN are trying to take over the agenda of the independent Indigenous Peoples of Canada. Demonstrations across the country are set for June 29th.As Chief Terrance Nelson of Roseau River Manitoba stated, “There are only two ways to deal with the white man. You either pick up a gun and deal with the issue. Or you stand between the white man and his money. On June 29th we are going to stand between the white man and his money”.The “white men” are the multinational corporations and banks that are the “blood suckers” running the colonial governments.We have a runaway locomotive of unresolved grievances, enough to bury almost every railroad track in Canada. Canada refuses to address them. They tie their federal, provincial and territorial representatives onto the railroad track to distract us. The train is still barreling ahead, a disaster waiting to happen. Phil and Jim (Prentice, Minister of Indian Affairs) seem to be chatting endlessly with each other. Hey, guys, aren’tcha gonna do something? It’s time for the world to step on all colonial bugs.Canada is being forced to deal with the land and resource issues. Phil wants to be at the land claims “table” when Prentice sets it up, candelabra and all. They want the “whole meal-deal” to themselves. They have to get rid of the owners of Turtle Island in order to exploit and sell off our resources. The pressure is coming from the U.S. They don’t want to go to Africa where there is turmoil, or other places in the world where they’ve split the countries apart.That’s why we’re being attacked and discredited? Canada wants to put the strings on their puppets when they set up their “bargain basement yard sale”, the yard being Canada. Phil and Jim want to sit together on the folding chairs at the yard sale table because they know what they’re supposed to do – to make sure we don’t get anything.Canada’s crying, “Those ‘Injuns’ are so hard. We just can’t make a deal with them. Imagine that! They want more than beads and mirrors in return for the whole yard!” Any deals made at this table would be illegal because they are not dealing with us, the real owners of the yard on behalf of our future generations.At the recent OCAP meeting in Toronto, Shawn Brant of Tyendinaga, made some provocative statements. He’s being sued by CN Rail for $108 million! What is the net worth of the average Indigenous person? Indian Affairs would never let any of us make that kind of money. They’re going after anybody who supported him, which is probably most of the public that knew what was going on and those who want to stop environmental pollution. This suit is diverting attention from the toxic waste scandal at the quarry and elsewhere.There were about 100 people at that meeting. It was the first day Shawn Brant had been out of the quarry in eight weeks. He went to court in Toronto after that to respond to the civil suit launched by CN. They have since dropped it against the Tyendinaga band council but not him.Shawn said they took over the quarry because the band council asked them to take back their land and do whatever it took – as long as it didn’t make the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte look like victims. If the band council purports to represent Shawn, then the charges should be dropped on him and anyone else too.If the CN was really interested in dealing fairly with the situation, they’d be asking for neutral mediation. Their wealth depends on goods they stole from us. How did the railroads come to think they owned so much Indigenous land? Have you ever been to a yard sale where they were selling off the neighbor’s tulip beds? Canada said, “Build us a railroad and we’ll give you some native land!”Now the band council has backed off because of Canada’s threats. Jim “Jonestown” Prentice said he would cut off all funds to Tyendinaga and to anybody that questions the government’s wrong doing. Truthfully, it is money owed to us. If they don’t pay us, then they have to leave. The rail blockage was a glimpse of what one entity makes in one day off our land. Multiply this by 200 years and see how much has been taken from us.Let’s turn the suit against them. The fact that CN is suing Shawn Brant for so much proves that they’re making obscene amounts of money off of us. $108 million for stopping the trains for thirty hours is $3.6 million an hour. CN uses our land and doesn’t pay us one cent of royalty! They even dumped polluters onto the land so that hundreds of our communities don’t have clean drinking water anymore.Chief Maracle probably doesn’t want to lose his spot at the land claims picnic table that Prentice is setting up.Shawn Brant said shutting down the railway was “punishment” for having to stay at the quarry for an extra 30 days. When is Ontario going to pull the illegal quarry permit? He added that he is haunted by the faces of more than 50,000 children who died while in the care of the Indian residential school system. This figure is many times higher when unreported deaths, kidnappings, outright murder and inter-generational ethnic cleansing are factored in. He stated he is prepared to be killed in memory of them and on behalf of those now living.He worked for the poor homeless people of Toronto for two years at $250 a week. Does CN imagine he saved enough to pay his legal bills? What have they been smoking? Well, whatever he’s got, they want it. [Let’s hope he didn’t invest it in the railroad stock, which was built with Indian trust money. The principle and interest has never been repaid to us. ]The powers that be are embarrassed by these people who sleep on the heating grates in the winter in front of the stock exchange. Those are Shawn Brant’s supporters. They have no resources to fight. What kind of guy is this Shawn Brant anyway? He and the Mohawks brought about 200 of them to Tyendinaga and fed them deer meat that they caught at Presquille Park.Asked by someone in the audience if he felt matters between native people and the government of Canada could be resolved without violence, he gave a one-word answer – “NO!” Because Canada has the power, money, lawyers and police, they negotiate in bad faith and they back it up with guns.It is up to Canada if they want to send in the army and police on us. Let the world see what is happening to us. We have no guns and no power. They took our kids to residential schools, raped and killed them. These little children were helpless. How could they fight back. If Canada was operating in good faith, why have they laid charges against Shawn Brant? Where were they when it was time to lay charges against those who stole, abused, raped and killed our children? Let the world be the judge.In Six Nations we have been peaceful throughout the reclamation of our land. The world is watching. They can see who the thugs really are, Canada.Canada, if you want to continue your atrocities, we will not be enticed into violence so you can use your guns and your court system on us. We have right and truth on our side. Stop trying to set us up to fight back so you can come in and kill us. You tried to say Dudley George had a gun at Ipperwash when the Ontario Provincial Police attacked the people and murdered him. He did not. Agent provocateurs are being sent into our communities to start violence so Canada can walk in on unarmed people.We have a greater weapon than you will ever have to defend our people and our rights. Our weapon is the truth. With this we have disarmed the army, police and the colonial government. This is making the colonial powers hysterical. We will assert our rights peacefully. It’s up to you, Canada, whether you will be peaceful too. When the time comes, our brothers, sister, friends and allies will stand with us.
Kahentinetha Horn,MNN Mohawk Nation News
kahentinetha2@yahoo.com & katenies20@yahoo.com; for updates, workshops, speakers and to sign up, go to www.mohawknationnews.com;
please sign Women Title Holders petition;
For sale “Rebuilding the Iroquois Confederacy” and “Warriors Hand Book” [$10 USD each postage included].[http://MohawkNationNews.com/news/singlenews.php?lang=en&category=22&newsnr=463]