Publish to Newswire
Add an EventFrom the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
Violent attack upon occupants of the repossessed Haudenosaunee territory
IMAGE - Mohawk protesters block a road near Marysville, Ont., on Friday in support of the occupation in Caledonia. (Jonathan Hayward/Associated Press)
Contacts on site:
Dick Hill 519-865-7722,
Hazel Hill at 519-865-7723,
Janie Jamieson at 905-517-7006,
Jacqueline House at 905-765-9316.
For Immediate Release
Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake - (Onerahtóhkha/April 20, 2006)
On April 18th, 2006, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council at Grand
River announced that the Governments of Canada and Ontario have pulled
out of talks concerning the recent land repossession at Caledonia, ON.
With talks abruptly ending in this manner, it became apparent that the
Government of Canada was not interested in seeking a peaceful resolve to
this issue and have elected a violent imposition of their will.
At approximately 4:30am, the Ontario Provincial Police launched a
violent attack upon occupants of the repossessed Haudenosaunee territory
at Caledonia. The occupants there were unarmed and peaceful. Upon
learning of this violent attack, the Rotisken'rakéhte of Kahnawake
mobilized to discuss security measures to prevent any further violence
in Caledonia and Grand River.
It was resolved that the Rotisken'rakéhte at Kahnawake shall establish
defensive vigils at each entry point within our territory in support of
our brothers and sisters at Caledonia. We wish to make clear that this
is strictly a defensive measure to ensure that no further violence is
initiated by the Governments of Canada and Ontario upon our people.
The Rotisken'rakéhte at Kahnawake urge the Governments of Canada and
Ontario to stop any further plans to invade our territories.
Furthermore, we insist on the Government of Canada to return to talks
with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council to resolve this issue in a
peaceful manner.
For more information, please contact the Mohawk Nation Office;
Secretariat for the People of the Longhouse at 450.632.7639.
Men's Council Fire
Kahnawake Branch of the Mohawk Nation
Six Nation Iroquois Confederacy
-30-
--
Macdonald Stainsby
http://independentmedia.ca/survivingcanada
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
In the contradiction lies the hope
--Bertholt Brecht.
----------------OTHER MEDIA REPORTS------------------------------------------------
Six Nations Reserve repels Ontario police
OHSWEKEN, Ontario - More than 1,000 residents of Canada's Six Nations Reserve rushed to the site of a standoff between Native protesters and the Ontario Provincial Police during the early hours of April 20 after an armed police raid resulted in 10 arrests and several hospitalizations.
According to one report, two of the hospitalized were non-Native supporters of the protest. About 15 protesters were sleeping at the ''reclamation site'' when a caravan of at least eight police vehicles raided and made arrests.
According to the TV report, police were armed with drawn guns, Taser devices and tear gas, although the weapons were not used.
Protesters at the contested construction site regrouped and pushed police back to the nearby road as the call went out for support from the largely Iroquois community, Amos Key, director of the community radio station CKRZ-FM, said. The Native-run station is broadcasting a live feed from the standoff on its Internet site, http://www.ckrz.com.
Key said that urgent talks were now under way between the Confederation chiefs and officials of the provincial and federal governments.
Lisa Johnson, of the Bear's Inn in Ohsweken, was following live television coverage of the events all morning and said that residents of the reserve poured into the site as news of the early morning raid spread through the community of 22,000 and by 7:50 a.m. had gathered in sufficient numbers to force the police to leave. As of noon, no police were on the site, although talk spread throughout the community that they were regrouping in riot gear with about 1,000 reinforcements.
The arrests could total up to 15, but protesters who had been arrested were released after being fingerprinted and photographed, although they were warned that they faced jail time if they returned to the site. Several had reportedly rejoined the protesters.
The television coverage resulted by accident. An employee of Hamilton CHTV, noticed the police activity as he drove to work and notified a camera crew, which broadcast from the site all morning. All other reporters were barred from the site by provincial police.
After the OPP withdrew, protesters blocked Highway 6, also known as Plank Road, which runs by the construction site called the Douglas Creek subdivision, and a secondary road. They set a pile of tires on fire and pulled a large dump truck across the road. A large pile of tires and planks were assembled at another crossing, but at last report it had not been set ablaze.
After the roads were blocked, residents continued to reach the site by walking to the surrounding forest.
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096412857
----------------------------------------
Six Nations: 'They've started a war!'
The recent massive early morning police raid on an encampment of Indian protesters at Six Nations Reserve in Canada left little doubt that authorities in that country are ready to play hardball over Indian claims, particularly when people make a stand over long-simmering disputes.
The police action struck with abrupt violence the morning of April 20. Armed and with weapons drawn, hundreds of Ontario Provincial Police invaded the encampment, clashing with activists at approximately 4 a.m.
Arrests took place and at least one clan mother was reported as injured during the assault. The Six Nations quickly regrouped and within hours, hundreds more arrived to reinforce and retake the disputed property. Tires were set ablaze on the main road, Highway 6, which runs through town.
As of the deadline for this edition, it is being reported that as many as 1,000 OPP are suiting up in riot gear for another charge on the compound, while perhaps as many Native protesters have come in to support their compatriots.
Canada, it would appear, has another Indian war in the making.
Reports confirmed that the warriors at the encampment kept their no-weapons stance as police moved in. However, the early morning raid unleashed a massive wave of sympathy for the beleaguered Native occupants, who were quickly reinforced by Six Nations residents, who formed a solid line and ''walked back'' the police from the contested camp area.
The OPP raid was the worst possible move to make at this juncture; it has already produced an intense radicalization at the Six Nations Reserve, and a response is forthcoming from other Haudenosaunee communities.
The ''end-game'' raid attempt on the encampment was predictable after talks between the protesters and Canadian authorities broke down two days earlier. What is less predictable is the reaction by activists and warriors across the Six Nations, where the argumentation against peaceful protest and in favor of physical confrontation will no doubt intensify.
Shame on Canada. Shame on a policy of carrot-and-stick against Natives that promises justice but only delivers the violence of the haughty and mighty.
Canada, like most every country in the Americas, sometimes has to face the reality of its sordid policy of dismantling the rightful land properties of Native peoples. Sometimes brusquely - by war - but in the past century, mostly by stealth and encroachment, First Nations peoples have seen first ''the Crown'' and then Canada pretend to own lands that were clearly Indian property and over which Indian title has not been relinquished.
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096412859
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Police separate protesters in Caledonia
Last Updated Mon, 24 Apr 2006 22:54:01 EDT
CBC News
About 500 residents of Caledonia, Ont., let their frustrations boil over on Monday night when they confronted police and native protesters at a blockade in the town.
Ontario Provicial Police arrest a young protester in Caledonia as residents moved toward a native blockade. (CBC)
The residents held a rally earlier in the evening, calling on authorities to end the seven-week-old native demonstration at a housing development in Caledonia, which is about an hour west of Toronto.
There are plans to build 250 homes on the 40-hectare site, which the natives say is on their land.
At Monday's meeting, about 3,000 non-native residents voiced their mounting frustration over the blockade, then some in the crowd moved toward the native blockade.
Police stopped the non-native demonstrators before they could reach the blockade, but the crowd took out its anger by bashing a police vehicle. One resident was arrested.
Site occupied 2 months
The native demonstrators, mostly members of the nearby Six Nations reserve, first occupied the site on Feb. 28 to stop construction of the housing project by Henco Industries on land they say was stolen from the Six Nations more than 200 years ago.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/04/24/caledonia060424.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blockade of CN rail line lifted
CN Rail won a court injunction on Friday ordering the removal of a group of Mohawks who stopped rail traffic between Montreal and Toronto for most of the day.
Mohawk protesters block a road near Marysville, Ont., on Friday in support of the occupation in Caledonia. (Jonathan Hayward/Associated Press)
Mohawks from a reserve in eastern Ontario had stopped at least a dozen freight trains and disrupted Via Rail passenger service. The move was in support of natives who are staging a protest at a construction site in Caledonia, about 90 kilometres southwest of Toronto.
The Mohawk protesters from the Tyendinaga reserve about 20 kilometres east of Belleville, Ont., lit bonfires beside a CN track.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/news/national/2006/04/21/caledonia-friday.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This posting contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this posting for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Dick Hill 519-865-7722,
Hazel Hill at 519-865-7723,
Janie Jamieson at 905-517-7006,
Jacqueline House at 905-765-9316.
For Immediate Release
Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake - (Onerahtóhkha/April 20, 2006)
On April 18th, 2006, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council at Grand
River announced that the Governments of Canada and Ontario have pulled
out of talks concerning the recent land repossession at Caledonia, ON.
With talks abruptly ending in this manner, it became apparent that the
Government of Canada was not interested in seeking a peaceful resolve to
this issue and have elected a violent imposition of their will.
At approximately 4:30am, the Ontario Provincial Police launched a
violent attack upon occupants of the repossessed Haudenosaunee territory
at Caledonia. The occupants there were unarmed and peaceful. Upon
learning of this violent attack, the Rotisken'rakéhte of Kahnawake
mobilized to discuss security measures to prevent any further violence
in Caledonia and Grand River.
It was resolved that the Rotisken'rakéhte at Kahnawake shall establish
defensive vigils at each entry point within our territory in support of
our brothers and sisters at Caledonia. We wish to make clear that this
is strictly a defensive measure to ensure that no further violence is
initiated by the Governments of Canada and Ontario upon our people.
The Rotisken'rakéhte at Kahnawake urge the Governments of Canada and
Ontario to stop any further plans to invade our territories.
Furthermore, we insist on the Government of Canada to return to talks
with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council to resolve this issue in a
peaceful manner.
For more information, please contact the Mohawk Nation Office;
Secretariat for the People of the Longhouse at 450.632.7639.
Men's Council Fire
Kahnawake Branch of the Mohawk Nation
Six Nation Iroquois Confederacy
-30-
--
Macdonald Stainsby
http://independentmedia.ca/survivingcanada
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
In the contradiction lies the hope
--Bertholt Brecht.
----------------OTHER MEDIA REPORTS------------------------------------------------
Six Nations Reserve repels Ontario police
OHSWEKEN, Ontario - More than 1,000 residents of Canada's Six Nations Reserve rushed to the site of a standoff between Native protesters and the Ontario Provincial Police during the early hours of April 20 after an armed police raid resulted in 10 arrests and several hospitalizations.
According to one report, two of the hospitalized were non-Native supporters of the protest. About 15 protesters were sleeping at the ''reclamation site'' when a caravan of at least eight police vehicles raided and made arrests.
According to the TV report, police were armed with drawn guns, Taser devices and tear gas, although the weapons were not used.
Protesters at the contested construction site regrouped and pushed police back to the nearby road as the call went out for support from the largely Iroquois community, Amos Key, director of the community radio station CKRZ-FM, said. The Native-run station is broadcasting a live feed from the standoff on its Internet site, http://www.ckrz.com.
Key said that urgent talks were now under way between the Confederation chiefs and officials of the provincial and federal governments.
Lisa Johnson, of the Bear's Inn in Ohsweken, was following live television coverage of the events all morning and said that residents of the reserve poured into the site as news of the early morning raid spread through the community of 22,000 and by 7:50 a.m. had gathered in sufficient numbers to force the police to leave. As of noon, no police were on the site, although talk spread throughout the community that they were regrouping in riot gear with about 1,000 reinforcements.
The arrests could total up to 15, but protesters who had been arrested were released after being fingerprinted and photographed, although they were warned that they faced jail time if they returned to the site. Several had reportedly rejoined the protesters.
The television coverage resulted by accident. An employee of Hamilton CHTV, noticed the police activity as he drove to work and notified a camera crew, which broadcast from the site all morning. All other reporters were barred from the site by provincial police.
After the OPP withdrew, protesters blocked Highway 6, also known as Plank Road, which runs by the construction site called the Douglas Creek subdivision, and a secondary road. They set a pile of tires on fire and pulled a large dump truck across the road. A large pile of tires and planks were assembled at another crossing, but at last report it had not been set ablaze.
After the roads were blocked, residents continued to reach the site by walking to the surrounding forest.
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096412857
----------------------------------------
Six Nations: 'They've started a war!'
The recent massive early morning police raid on an encampment of Indian protesters at Six Nations Reserve in Canada left little doubt that authorities in that country are ready to play hardball over Indian claims, particularly when people make a stand over long-simmering disputes.
The police action struck with abrupt violence the morning of April 20. Armed and with weapons drawn, hundreds of Ontario Provincial Police invaded the encampment, clashing with activists at approximately 4 a.m.
Arrests took place and at least one clan mother was reported as injured during the assault. The Six Nations quickly regrouped and within hours, hundreds more arrived to reinforce and retake the disputed property. Tires were set ablaze on the main road, Highway 6, which runs through town.
As of the deadline for this edition, it is being reported that as many as 1,000 OPP are suiting up in riot gear for another charge on the compound, while perhaps as many Native protesters have come in to support their compatriots.
Canada, it would appear, has another Indian war in the making.
Reports confirmed that the warriors at the encampment kept their no-weapons stance as police moved in. However, the early morning raid unleashed a massive wave of sympathy for the beleaguered Native occupants, who were quickly reinforced by Six Nations residents, who formed a solid line and ''walked back'' the police from the contested camp area.
The OPP raid was the worst possible move to make at this juncture; it has already produced an intense radicalization at the Six Nations Reserve, and a response is forthcoming from other Haudenosaunee communities.
The ''end-game'' raid attempt on the encampment was predictable after talks between the protesters and Canadian authorities broke down two days earlier. What is less predictable is the reaction by activists and warriors across the Six Nations, where the argumentation against peaceful protest and in favor of physical confrontation will no doubt intensify.
Shame on Canada. Shame on a policy of carrot-and-stick against Natives that promises justice but only delivers the violence of the haughty and mighty.
Canada, like most every country in the Americas, sometimes has to face the reality of its sordid policy of dismantling the rightful land properties of Native peoples. Sometimes brusquely - by war - but in the past century, mostly by stealth and encroachment, First Nations peoples have seen first ''the Crown'' and then Canada pretend to own lands that were clearly Indian property and over which Indian title has not been relinquished.
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096412859
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Police separate protesters in Caledonia
Last Updated Mon, 24 Apr 2006 22:54:01 EDT
CBC News
About 500 residents of Caledonia, Ont., let their frustrations boil over on Monday night when they confronted police and native protesters at a blockade in the town.
Ontario Provicial Police arrest a young protester in Caledonia as residents moved toward a native blockade. (CBC)
The residents held a rally earlier in the evening, calling on authorities to end the seven-week-old native demonstration at a housing development in Caledonia, which is about an hour west of Toronto.
There are plans to build 250 homes on the 40-hectare site, which the natives say is on their land.
At Monday's meeting, about 3,000 non-native residents voiced their mounting frustration over the blockade, then some in the crowd moved toward the native blockade.
Police stopped the non-native demonstrators before they could reach the blockade, but the crowd took out its anger by bashing a police vehicle. One resident was arrested.
Site occupied 2 months
The native demonstrators, mostly members of the nearby Six Nations reserve, first occupied the site on Feb. 28 to stop construction of the housing project by Henco Industries on land they say was stolen from the Six Nations more than 200 years ago.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/04/24/caledonia060424.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blockade of CN rail line lifted
CN Rail won a court injunction on Friday ordering the removal of a group of Mohawks who stopped rail traffic between Montreal and Toronto for most of the day.
Mohawk protesters block a road near Marysville, Ont., on Friday in support of the occupation in Caledonia. (Jonathan Hayward/Associated Press)
Mohawks from a reserve in eastern Ontario had stopped at least a dozen freight trains and disrupted Via Rail passenger service. The move was in support of natives who are staging a protest at a construction site in Caledonia, about 90 kilometres southwest of Toronto.
The Mohawk protesters from the Tyendinaga reserve about 20 kilometres east of Belleville, Ont., lit bonfires beside a CN track.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/news/national/2006/04/21/caledonia-friday.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This posting contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this posting for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Add Your Comments
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!
Donate
$230.00 donated
in the past month
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.
Topics
More
Search Indybay's Archives
Advanced Search
►
▼
IMC Network