Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

January 14, 2013

First Nation Terrance Nelson: Oil Pipeline and Rail Blockades

 
By Terrance Nelson, First Nation Roseau River Ojibway
Censored News
 
Chief Fox

My sources have raised a concern that needs to be considered. Although, I have not used these two sources too much and I do not know if this information is true, it rings like the truth. I am being told that the "big money" in the States are hoping that an oil blockade in Canada takes place. The big money oil guys in the States will ensure that the price per barrel of oil skyrockets due to the Canadian pipeline blockades and they will make a lot of money. Harper will get a lot of the controlled news media support in the States and Canada to label our people terrorists when the oil blockades happen. Americans will be told that they are paying high prices for gasoline because of the "terrorists" in Canada.

What I do know is real is that Enbridge and TransCanada are pumping at the highest capacity right now. They are storing as much oil in Cushing Oklahoma and elsewhere as possible. There is at least six months of capacity. An oil blockade must last more than six months if a pipeline blockade is to be effective. So, the two sources I am in touch with maybe right. I still am not sure about their "truth" but it is enough to take into consideration for the strategy for the blockades. The oil pipeline blockades will have dramatic effects within three days of the action. The Enbridge pumping station at Gretna Manitoba pumps a million barrels a day into the States. It is in our territory.

You have made the statement in Ottawa that we must shut down the economy of Canada. I have made similar statements for many years. Grand Chief Nepinak of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs also made the same statements. The 2007 National Day of Action was a warning that has been ignored by Harper. Now we are stuck with the need to move ahead with action to back the statements that have been made. On Wednesday January 16th at noon, we will blockade two major railway systems in Manitoba. This is not "Idle no More", this is not a round dance. The 50 or so Chiefs on the  teleconference in late December have said that January 16th will be the time we implement action nationally. We will do our part. What the people in other provinces do is up to them.

We are on solid legal ground to carry out blockades of the economy. The legislation that Harper has passed is fundamentally breaching the treaties. The Treaties granted the immigrants rights that we must now revoke as a result of Harper's legislation.

 “And the undersigned Chiefs do hereby bind and pledge themselves and their people strictly to observe this treaty and to maintain perpetual peace between themselves and Her Majesty's white subjects, and not to interfere with the property or in any way molest the persons of Her Majesty's white or other subjects.”
 
Not to interfere with the property… of Her Majesty’s white subjects is a treaty right granted by indigenous people to the people who immigrated to our lands. It is a treaty right that is contingent upon Her Majesty fulfilling the conditions of treaty.

The position from our blockade will be as follows:

1.        $10 per barrel of oil collected by the Americans to be used as payment to the indigenous peoples of Canada.
2.        An end to federal funding of First Nations in Canada.
3.        Canada is our land, our resources, we give the immigrants a share of our resources, not the other way around.
4.        We will build our own Casinos on our own authority, no more provincial oversight.
 
My public statement to the Canadian Taxpayer Federation will be blunt and to the point, "take your taxpayer money and shove it up your arse".
 
As the owners of the land, we own all the resources of these lands. We finance the immigrants, not the other way around. We will give them a share of our natural resources, we are not asking them for a share of our own property, let them understand who lives on whose good graces. In Ottawa, some of the Chiefs begged for a meeting with Harper. When the railway blockades go up permanently, Harper will be asking for a meeting. When CN and CPR aren't able to transport stolen property to the Americans, Canadians will begin to understand that this was the most peaceful country in the world because we put up with the bullshit for far too long. They forgot who the immigrants are and who are the owners.
 
Matthew Coon Come has a lot of influence over the Americans. The northern Cree of Quebec power up the eastern United States. The Cree signed a $3.5 billion deal with Quebec to send electricity south. The Cree want to ensure that there is no disruptions of that delivery of electricity to the Americans. When bloodshed occurs in the west as a result of the railway blockades, the Cree cannot guarantee that the indigenous people in the south of Quebec and Ontario will honor the Cree agreement. Coon Come should be in New York and Washington asking Americans to call Harper.
 
I would ask that the oil pipeline blockades not occur for three months. We need to try other blockades until we see the results. If we need to block oil pipelines, we want support from OPEC. Ask OPEC for two days of oil stoppage to show worldwide solidarity for indigenous rights to property in Canada. OPEC needs to hear from us. OPEC will make billions if the price of oil skyrockets.
 
We have support from Arabic people. The big news media in the United States and Canada will label us terrorists but they have a big problem, the public comments of Canadians, comments of hatred of indigenous peoples that need to be heard in other countries.
 
There is the six hundred murdered and missing indigenous women in Canada, thirty thousand indigenous children in care, police brutality, housing conditions, the deliberate economic sanctions that cause 60 to 95% unemployment in many First Nations communities etc. We need to ensure that the internet is alive and that the world hears about the plight of our people. When the economy of Canada starts to collapse, the world will hear us. Look at what some of the Palestinians are saying:
 
 
The following part of the article made me smile;
 
An empathy with Native peoples goes back to Barakat’s childhood. As a young boy growing up in Palestine he saw that the Israeli media always portrayed Native peoples as savage, barbaric terrorists – the same terms used to portray Palestinians in the media, he said. “So even when we were children we would fight over who would play the cowboys and who would play the Natives, because everybody always wanted to play the Natives,” he said.

Barakat said it was no coincidence that he chose to begin the call for the Palestinians in Solidarity with Idle No More... “It’s almost an instinctive feeling to see ourselves in the indigenous struggle,” Barakat said. “It’s because of this that Palestinians in general see that what happened and is still happening to Natives in Canada and the U.S. is actually happening now in Palestine.”
 
Chief, the support around the world is growing. When the railway blockades go up, there will be a severe backlash. The people who are on the blockades need to be clear, this is not a round dance, this will have consequences but if we keep in mind that our children will not have land or rights in our country in the future, the sacrifices we make today will be worth it. We are pledged to peaceful but effective protest. We know the whiteman, we know that violence is in his nature. We must be prepared, but we do not need to be victims forever.
 
When we are arrested, others will take up our blockade. When AIM took over in Wounded Knee in South Dakota in 1973, they did so as peacefully as possible but many people died, sixty-five and more. Two white FBI died and that is all that is remembered. We do not want bloodshed but we know the whiteman, in Gustafson, in Ipperwash, in Oka, in Caledonia, in Tsuu Tina, we know the price our people had to pay for standing up. Chief Morris and his council know the price that must be paid but we know that on January 16th, we will stand.
 

No comments: