WHY IS CANADA ABUSING INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND ELDERS? SURVEILLANCE, CONTROL AND THE INVISIBLE BOUNDARIES OF “INDIAN COUNTRY”
For MNN by Ieriwa’on:ni ieriwaonni@live.com
MNN. July 1, 2008.
Dear Friends and Supporters: Those of us who are close to Kahentinetha and Katenies, the friends and family who spend time with them on a daily basis, would like to thank all of you for your support and kind words.
We would like to share some of the reflections you’ve sent us. Harriet Nahanni recently died in custody in British Columbia. 500 women have disappeared without any investigation. Kahentinetha survived the trauma induced heart attack inflicted on her by the Canadian Border Services Agency at Cornwall Ontario.
Katenies and her family continue to be harassed as they have been since she filed a formal court motion in 2003 asking Canada to prove its jurisdiction over her and her Nation. Her daughter Teiohontateh has filed a human rights complaint over abuse at the same border. What is MNN’s role in “Indian Country”? There are thousands of voices out there struggling to be heard. By attacking women and elders they are trying to tell us they’ll attack anyone. Will this keep us quiet? No way. Today is July 1st ,“Canada Day”.
There’s lots of drinking, flag waving and fireworks. The colonial regime whose officers committed the June 14th, 2008 assault on these two grandmothers is celebrating the foundations of their squatter state with land and resources stolen from Indigenous peoples. Why are they in such a drunken state? The violent attacks and the violations of international law demonstrate that Canada is still at war with Indigenous people.
They’re trying to forget that every square inch they stand on is Indigenous. Section 2 of Canada’s Constitution Act, 1982 declared that everyone has the fundamental freedom of “thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication”. But does Canada respect its own constitution? No.
Canada does not support freedom of opinion. It has a propaganda mill to control the media. It doesn’t even allow scientists to speak to the public without running their findings past spin doctors. It suppresses historical facts and current evidence of its “serial killer” tendencies. It’s trying to make us invisible. This is one of the reasons why the media have ignored the attack on MNN personnel. An honest state would present the facts for public discussion. The public has no idea what is going on.
Why do operatives hired by the Canadian government want to shut down MNN? MNN is not a rant blog. MNN describes attacks on Indigenous Peoples. It puts into words what people are thinking and checks it out to see what’s true. It conducts critical investigations into Canadian and international corporate misconduct. It is based on solid research and thorough discussion. This panics those who parasite on “Indians” and on honest members of the Canadian public. Recently lawyer Patrick Nadjiwan of North Bay Ontario accused MNN of libel and slander.
MNN proved that its information came from the websites of his clients, the guys who were ready to sue MNN. They were slandering themselves. Their scam at Sharbot Lake couldn’t stand up to the light of day. Suddenly he was silent.
MNN has also come under attack by colonial state operatives. What really gets to them is the way MNN follows the principles of the Kaienerekowa, the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace. They don’t like the way MNN recognizes that we all have minds. We all have the capacity to see and hear, to think and feel. Every person’s ability to sense and understand is important. The young and the old. The steel-worker, the scholar, the tobacco-trader, the grandmother. The Onkwehonwe and the immigrant.
Each of us has a unique insight to contribute, no matter how big or small. We all have responsibilities. That means we can’t just drift along following orders without thinking or questioning.
In the past couple of years, MNN has exposed the colonial beast. The Canadian government hired young men to guard an illegal border in the middle of the Akwesasne community which was never meant for Indigenous people. They have been routinely threatening and harassing Indigenous people who have to pass there. Someone gave them orders to assault the two grandmothers. This violates the natural order. Women and elders are essential to life itself. There was no valid reason for this attempted assassination. The boundary is an artificial abomination. It was placed there by foreign invaders without any right to do so. Even so, these two grandmothers presented themselves peacefully. They waited quietly in their car for a full hour while these “black shirts” prepared their attack. Why the violence? Why the state sadism?
The appetites of the colonizers are insatiable. They do not maintain sustainable economies. They depend on the exploitation of non-renewable resources. They are conditioned to want more and more and more. Raised on mental “junk food”, they “force feed” their children fascism and call it “democracy”.
Bloated but malnourished, their senses are shut down. They cannot access the natural principles of self-determination that can be found in the “Kaianereh’ko:wa”. Their brains are starved. They have become gluttonous hungry ghosts with no control over their appetites.The Supreme Court of Canada recently ruled that CSIS cannot destroy evidence. A no brainer! This should mean the Canadian Border Service Agency cannot destroy the video tapes and other evidence of their attacks on the two grandmothers. So why does the CBSA claim nothing happened that day? Does the Supreme Court ruling on CSIS mean the CBSA is suddenly going to start thinking and acting legally? It doesn’t look like it.
How do we deal with such monsters? How do we deal with a state that uses violence to try to shut down public discussion and the law? These perverts are trying to create a climate of fear. They’re acting like the caricature of a fascist third world state. It’s not working. Many people are watching and waiting. They aren’t fooled. Canada has become a sick joke.
Some people are curious about what will happen at 9:00 am in the Cornwall Ontario court house on July 14th when Katenies appears again. Will Canada obey the default judgment? The justice of the peace who released her on June 16th was already suspicious about the irregular treatment she received. The Supreme Court of Canada is suspicious of CSIS.
Someone warned MNN: “Of course you know CSIS or RCMP have been monitoring you since MNN started…” They started way before when the Women Title Holders raised the constitutional jurisdiction question in 4 fraudulent New York State land claims in 2004 [USSC 06-165]. They all folded because they refused to respect the Indigenous law that the land can never be surrendered. Katenies raised this in Cornwall and won by default in March 2004. [Posted on MNN December 18, 2006 under “Jay Treaty”]. They can’t keep ignoring the fact that they have no authority over us, even if they have all the guns.
MNN has always advocated peace. MNN has always supported Indigenous people who resist genocide. MNN often warns about the colonial states’ use of armed force to attack unarmed demonstrators and suppress Indigenous opinion. Is Katenies a threat to the rule of law? No way. Her motion and judgment are making them shake in their socks. Yep! All of the weapons of war belong to the Canadian state. The army and the police are trying to scare people into doing whatever they say, whether or not it’s legal. But it’s not working.
As another reader pointed out: “The time has come. The mistreatment of our people is going to stop because we are all watching and telling the world about it”. People know that these two grandmothers did not bring this on themselves.
They are not responsible for the illegal and life-threatening attack they suffered. A century ago Louis Riel was hung for treason because he defended Metis rights. Today the death penalty has been banned in Canada and in international law. Canada, it is not OK for Canadian government officers to try to implement death sentences by other means such as excessive use of force and extraordinary threats and abuse?
It is not OK for border guards to put people under so much physical stress that they have heart attacks? It is not OK for the state to give their agents a license to kill Indigenous people. Ieriwa’on:niN.B. My e-mail address was written incorrectly at the end of the last article. It should be ieriwaonni@live.com. Your responses are appreciated.
This border issue legal challenge will cost money. MNN has none. Canada has unlimited funds from exploiting indigenous resources. Canada is apparently hiring top law firms to fight the Mohawks. We need counsel that will not be intimidated by this display of power.
Your financial help is needed. If you could send donations, it would be greatly appreciated: “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Thank you very much.
Phil Fontaine of AFN is a partner in CBSA’s Sustainable Development Strategy 2007-9 See Apprendix 4 for list of external stakeholders; Chris Kealey, Canada Customs Excise, Immigration Taxation Board, CBSA Media Relations 613-991-5197; Alain Joliceour, President CBSA 613-952-3200, 613-957-0612; General inquiries CBSA-ASFC@canada.gc.ca; National Aboriginal Initiative, Canadian Human Rights Commission 204-983-2189, 1-866772-4880 info.com@chrc-ccdp.ca; Canada Customs Port of Entry, Cornwall Island Ontario; Gaetan Cousineau, Quebec Human Rights, presidence@cdpdj.gc.ca; Akwesasne Mohawk police 613-575-2250 ex 2400; Mohawk Security Louis Mitchell 613-932-5183, 613-575-2340; Lance Markel, District Dir. CBSA 613-930-3234, 613-991-1214; Nurse Rachet at Cornwall Community Hospital 613-938-4240; www.,chrc-ccdp.ca; Brent Lefebvre Investigator for CBSA; Susan St. Clair, Canadian Human Rights Commission, 344 Slater, Ottawa 613-995-1151, 1-888-214-1090, 613-943-5188; National spokesperson CBSA 613-957-6500; Quebec Media Relations CBSA 514-350-6130; Handling arrest Scott Patterson; Chief MCA Nona Benedict 613-575-2250 nbenedict@akwesasne.ca; Minister Stockwell Day, House of Commons, Ottawa K1A 0A6 613-995-1702 day.s@parl.gc.ca 250-770-4480, days1@parl.gc.ca; Dave MacKenzie, Parliamentary Secretary, Public Safety, 613-995-4432;Mackenzie.d@parl.gc.ca; Melissa Leclair Communications Pub. Safety 613-991-2863; OFFICERS: 17012; 16320; 16511; 16121; 16275; Report: Mohawk grandmothers attacked by Canadian Border Services Agency guardsnooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2008/06/cbsa-attack.html
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