MOHAWK WOMEN FILE ‘DEMAND’. CANADA MUST RESPECT THE “RULE OF LAW”.

MOHAWK WOMEN FILE ‘DEMAND’. CANADA MUST RESPECT THE “RULE OF LAW”.

MNN. Aug. 4, 2008. The following “Letter of Demand” was sent to the Attorney General of Canada. We are reminding them to fulfill their obligation to us as our historic allies to protect our rights. Canada Border Services Agents has illegally erected facilities in the midst of our community of Akwesasne and is illegally interfering with our right to live peacefully among our people. In particular, criminal assaults have been conducted against members of our community, including the assault against Kahentinetha and Katenies on June 14th 2008 at the “Cornwall Ontario” check point. According to the Canadian Constitution Canada is governed by the rule of law and everyone is equal before the law. This means that Canadian officials must obey the law, just like everyone else. When they commit an assault they should be charged with an assault under the Criminal Code just like anyone else who commits an assault. According to Federal Court of Canada rules, the Attorney General must answer this letter by August 22, 2008.

LETTER OF DEMAND

Date: July 23, 2008

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

TO: Hon. Robert Douglas Nicholson
Minister of Justice & Attorney General of Canada
284 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8
613-941-6900 nicholson.r@parl.gc.ca

TAKE NOTICE THAT ON JUNE 14, 2008, KAHENTINETHA AND KATENIES, MEMBERS OF THE KANION’KE:HAKA/MOHAWK NATION, WERE ASSAULTED, BRUTALIZED, ARRESTED AND DETAINED ILLEGALLY AT THE CORNWALL BORDER.

The following are the facts giving rise to this incident.

1. On June 14, 2008 Sakowaiaks and Kahentinetha went to Akwesasne to pick up Katenies. Kahentinetha is a 68 year old grandmother. Katenies is 43 years old and also a grandmother.

2. At approximately 2:00 pm they were passing through the Canadian border control on the Cornwall portion. Akwesasne is a small community. The Canada-U.S. border has been placed in the middle of the Mohawk community. The people have to cross the border many times a day for groceries or to visit relatives.

3. Katenies, Kahentinetha and Sakowaiaks went through the border and were told to wait under the canopy. They sat there peacefully for an hour surrounded by guards. Some Mohawk elders showed up to witness. Several other vehicles were searched and released. Only Indigenous people were stopped. Eventually a platoon of about a dozen guards marched towards the car, all wearing leather gloves, flack jackets and all kinds of equipment hanging about their waist. One officer, Maurice Saucier [Badge #16121], was on the cell phone throughout directing operations during the attack on Kahentinetha and Katenies.

4. At approximately 3:00 pm Katenies was dragged violently from the back seat of the car by a gang of hefty young men and women. They knocked her down, pinned her to the ground, and forced their knees into her head and back. They handcuffed her and smashed and rubbed her face into the pavement. Sakowaiaks still remembers the sound of flesh hitting the pavement. She received bleeding scrapes and bruises on her face, shoulders, arms and legs. Katenies’ was taken into the customs building and later to Ottawa. She was not given any medical attention. She was not allowed to call her mother and her mother was not permitted to see her or speak to her. Katenies was held incommunicado for three days until she appeared in Cornwall court on June 17, 2008.

5. There were no warrants or charges out for Kahentinetha. Her ID and car keys had already been taken. Katenies’ has not been returned. Also missing are documents that were in the trunk and the shoes taken from Kahentinetha’s feet.

6. It was only after the assault on Katenies began that Kahentinetha was ordered to get out of the car. She saw what they were planning to do to her. Kahentinetha heard Maurice Saucier tell the other agents to “Take her out”. On June 14th 2008 she was afraid for her life if she got out of the car. She was right and continues to be afraid.

7. She was handcuffed, assaulted and imprisoned. Once in the cell, the attack continued. Some of the officers deliberately tightened the handcuffs she was wearing several times. This cut the circulation to her hands. The pain shot up her arms and she experienced flashes of light and pains in the middle of her chest and back. She cried for help. The guards ignored her and tightened the handcuffs more. They yelled threats at her and kept ordering her to bend down. A man stood behind her and had his hands on her pants. She received scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs.

8. Frank Horn, a Cornwall lawyer, and his son Kanatase, happened to be waiting in the line at the border. [613-935-8882]. They wouldn’t let him see his sister, Kahentinetha, until they took off the cuffs and gave her a chair to sit on. When he saw her, he immediately insisted on calling an ambulance. The Akwesasne Police stood and watched in silence. The ambulance took her to Cornwall Community Hospital and the Ottawa Ontario Heart Institute. She remained in hospital for 5 days in the trauma unit and intensive care unit. Since that time she had a relapse and was hospitalized at the Anna Laberge Hospital in Chateauguay Quebec.

9. The medical record confirms that despite excellent physical condition Kahentinetha had a trauma induced heart attack. Her recovery will take a long time. Part of her heart was killed. Her health will never be the same. Both women are now recuperating in the company of their children and grandchildren.

10. None of these women is associated with any kind of criminal activity.

11. The video footage of the assaults on Kahentinetha and Katenies on June 14th 2008 have been confiscated by Canada‘s Department of “National Defense”. We are informed the only way to obtain these videos is to “waive our rights”. .

12. Some of the CBSA officers had the following badge numbers: 17012; 16320; 16511; 16121; and 16275; Some of those involved and responsible for border issues are Alain Jolicoeur, President of CBSA 613-952-3200; Lance Markel, District Director CBSA 613-930-3234; Hon. Stockwell Day, Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness 613-995-1703 day.s@parl.gc.ca; Dave MacKenzie, Parliamentary Secretary, Public Safety, 613-995-4432 mackenzie.d@parl.gc.ca; Akwesasne Mohawk Police 613-575-2250 ext. 2400; and Louis Mitchell, Mohawk Security 613-932-5183, 613-575-2340;

13. We have reason to believe that the Canadian “state” conspired to kill us. These assaults appear to have been carried out by the Canada Border Security Agency, Canada Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, Akwesasne Mohawk Police Services and Mohawk Security Officers, all agencies of the Canadian government. The courts of “Canada” are presently issuing false charges and attempting to serve warrants on Kahentinetha and Katenies.

DEMAND FOR RELEASE:

14. The individuals who assaulted the three women must be charged, tried and punished.
15. Full and complete undoctored copies of the video footage of this event.
16. Full disclosure of all files and official communications concerning the cases of Kahentinetha and Katenies.
17. $10 million for physical, psychological and punitive damages and such other relief as this court may deem fit.

Deadline for settlement:

18. An order that all Canadian government agencies will respect the time delays set out in the rules of court.

From:
Kahentinetha, Bear Clan __________________ kahentinetha2@yahoo.comj
Katenies, Bear Clan ______________________ katenies20@yahoo.com

% Box 991, Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada J0L 1B0, 450-635-9345

Address for service: for the purposes of this proceeding only, service to be made % Julio Peris, 625 Rene-Levesque West, Suite 900, Montreal Quebec H3B 1R2 – 514-933-4656 Fax 514-933-9587.

PLEASE NOTE : As can be seen, it’s becoming critical for legal actions to be taken to protect our rights. We have no funds. Canada is hiring costly law firms to suppress our rights. If you can donate anything to our cause, it will be greatly appreciated. Donate to: PayPal, www.mohawknationnews.com, or “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Nia:en/Thank you very much.

Nuclear and Indigenous Items of Interest

Posted on August 18, 2008 by gregornot

An Open Letter to Canada and All First Nation Leaders

It’s well known that Canada perpetuates discrimination against indigenous people at every level of government, but what does it mean when that discrimination causes the death of innocent people? Death that is enshrouded in bureaucracy, covered up by the government, and ignored by the so-called leaders?

Shelley Brant, from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in southern Ontario, reaches for an answer in this open letter:

An Open Letter to Canada and All First Nation Leaders

Wednesday August 6th, 2008

The recent questionable killing of yet another First Nations man, Craig McDougall 26 by police in Winnipeg has led me to write this letter:

How many more inquiries and bodies is it going to take???? How many more unimplemented recommendations???? How many more police lies and cover-ups supported by the governments in this so called great country before people wake up to the truth????? How many more planted weapons in the media and on our own people?????

This is the list of First Nations people killed by police across Canada and some have led to inquiries and some haven’t and is probably not even a complete list:

Frank Paul, a 47-year-old Mik’maq man - Vancouver- Vancouver police officer dragged the man, soaking wet and unconscious, from the downtown holding cells and dumped him in an alley across town. - Paul had died of hypothermia accelerated by acute alcohol poisoning.

Dudley George, aged 38, - Ipperwash - Ontario - was killed by a police sniper during a Native land protest at Ipperwash Provincial Park.

Craig McDougall 26 - Winnipeg - shot 4 times by police while on a cell phone with his girlfriend.

Matthew Dumas, an 18-year-old Anishnabe, - Winnipeg - was pepper-sprayed, shot twice and killed by a Winnipeg Police officer.

Dennis St. Paul - Norway House Cree Nation reserve - Winnipeg - shot and killed by the RCMP.

Donald Miles - Winnipeg - shot and killed by police.

Howard Fleury - Winnipeg - shot and killed by police.

John Joseph Harper - Winnipeg - shot and killed by police.

Helen Betty Osbourne 16 - The Pas- police complicity in the murder case of Cree teen The Pas Manitoba.

Neil Stone child 17 - Saskatoon - inquiry was released, stating that the Saskatoon police investigation into the 1990 freezing death of the 17-year-old - Saskatoon.

Rodney Naistus and Lawrence Wegner - Saskatoon- whose bodies were also found on the outskirts of town in February, 2000

Geronimo Fobister at the Anishnabe - Ontario - reserve of Grassy Narrows

Lorraine Jacobsen 40 - British Columbia - on a Kwagiutl reserve at Alert Bay - shot and killed by police.

Gerald Chenery, a Nisga’ man - Vancouver - was shot 12 times and killed by two Vancouver cops

Michael Langan , Metis 19 - Winnipeg- Death by police taser

You stepped into Iraq with the U.S. because of a dictator who was killing his own people, yet there is no difference between mustard gas and police bullets, they are both a permanent means of death, which makes you no better!!!!!

Perhaps someone should invade Canada and come to the aid of the First Nations people in this country who are at the mercy of it’s governments and their police forces, just as Canada comes to the aid of people in other countries for the same reasons.

I will say right now that I am ashamed to live in a country so full of hatred and racism, to the point where you can’t even trust the very people who are suppose to protect you which are the police not to shoot to kill because you are a First Nations person. There is case after case after case of First Nations people being killed by police who lie and cover up their deaths, only for the ugly truth to come out later yet they get exonerated and you would like people to think these are isolated incidents. They are not, they are country wide and you turn a blind eye because it might stain your quaint reputation.

Well I am here to tell you: your secret is out and now we know why the U.N Declaration of Indigenous Rights did not get signed by Canada don’t we. It’s because in Canada we are not considered humans so therefore why should we have any rights that might empower us??????

It is quite apparent that the lives of First Nations people mean nothing in this country and I am ashamed to say it also doesn’t mean a lot to the Native leaders of this country either. If it did the people would not be left on their own to speak out on police killings or attempts, yet they remain silent, all except one group decrying the deaths of two recent First Nations men in Winnipeg.

My point???? This going on all across Canada and where is the public outcry from the First Nations leaders???????? It’s going on right here in Ontario, where is the public outcry from the First Nations leaders?????? Have we become so colonized and politicized that the human lives of our own people boil down to who they are???? Does one life means more than another????? Are we so afraid that we might not get a vote or that the government might deny us something that we can’t even speak out and stand up for what is wrong in this country together, even when life and death is at stake??????

Silence means consent as far as I am concerned and if we have lost the meaning and value of human lives, the lives of our own people then we have completely lost who we are as a people. We might as well quit the nation talk and quit the cultural talk and quit the talk about who we are as a people because they are just words, your actions as leaders of all the nations across this country tell me there is nothing left worthy of fighting for. The only things left are an illusion and come from the outside, which has no meaning when it comes to being a First Nations person in this country. I will stand here today and say that I am no longer proud to be a Mohawk woman whose leaders can’t even stand up and do what’s right for their own people and that goes for the rest of the leaders across the country too.

I hang my head in shame at both this country and the First Nations leaders it has produced who would rather be silent than stand together with their own people who are systematically being killed by the police in this country!!!!!!!!!

Canada you can take your apology and stick it where the sun don’t shine because they are just mere words that mean nothing and perhaps in another 100 years rather than do something about the deaths of First Nations people at the hands of police now, you can apologize again!!!!!!

Shelley Brant
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• a few simple questions
• First Nations Blockade - Victoria, BC
• Assembly of First Nations in Canada - 7 Point Plan

WAR CRIMES DOSSIER: ACTION ALERT !! MOHAWK ELDER MISSING !!

URGENT - ACTION ALERT RE KAHENTINETHA

Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:07:24 -0400

Michal Bryant's office number is 416 - 656 0943

I hope they shut down Canada tomorrow with the burning cars on the RR Tracks !!

My smoke is in the wind.  

Virginia

Many Rivers

ONE ELDER SAVED BY A HEART ATTACK - ANOTHER ELDER MISSING IN ACTION:   MOHAWK GRANDMOTHERS ATTACKED AT CANADA-US BORDER CROSSING ON UNCEDED HAUDENOSAUNEE LAND

Monday, June 16, 2008

Mohawk Elder and Grandmother, Kahentinetha Horn suffered a heart
attack, Saturday, June 14, 2008 during a vicious, unprovoked assault
by OPP and border agents at Cornwall, in Akwesasne community. She had
been beaten and handcuffed when she collapsed. Earlier when she was
pulled over, Kahentinetha immediately contacted her brother, a lawyer,
on her cellphone. The entire incident was being filmed as her brother
rushed to the scene just in time to call an ambulance for her.

Meanwhile, Elder and Grandmother Katenies of Akwesasne was beaten and
taken prisoner to an as yet undisclosed location. We are very
concerned about her safety. We demand to know of her whereabouts and
that she be released immediately.

A few months ago, Julian Fantino put out the word, warning
Kahentinetha not to set foot in Ontario or else... She is the
publisher of MNN and regular internet reports that are very critical
of police and government actions toward Indigenous people. Her
articles often clearly state the legalities/realities of the situation
that Canada is a corporation plundering unceded Turtle Island. The
land and resources belong to the Ongwehoneh people. Canada's huge
debt to us will bankrupt them forever.

The other day, while Stephen Harper was making a public apology to
Indigenous for the crimes of the residential schools, he was also
preparing to send the army in at 6 nations. Brantford city mayor has
requested it, stating his city police cannot handle another "Mohawk
uprising", in other words, peaceful protests against housing
development where non resident, nonNatives attack the protesters while
the police watch. The Ontario Conservatives call for military
intervention every day.

On Saturday, border agents were pulling over every Native person.
Kahentinetha and Katenies were traveling in Akwesasne in the course of
their regular activities and were caught up in the dragnet. Did
Fantino set up a trap for the two outspoken, Mohawk grandmothers? We
suspect that Kahentinetha would have been killed at a secret location
had she not had a heart attack and been taken to hospital.

Immediately following this incident, many Mohawks and supporters
started to gather at Akwesasne.

Kahentinetha and Katenies' attackers want them to accept being
Canadian or else they will kill them and anyone else who resists
colonization. This low level warfare is playing out on the "border"
between Canada and the US, an imaginary line drawn right through the
Mohawk community of Akwesasne and through Haudenosaunee territory
which is a vast area on BOTH sides of the Great Lakes.

This Great Lakes area is also a proposed center for the NWO. Many
military plans are underway including nuclear submarines in the Great
Lakes and JTF2, Aerospace Warfare Center and NATO FOB (Forward
Operating Base) at a new base being built at Trenton, near Tyendinaga
Mohawk community. Tyendinaga was attacked by OPP/SWAT in April when
Mohawks protested housing development there.

If Canadians are so damned sorry about the abuse of Native people, why
is this still happening? Why do people remain silent when Mohawk
elders and grandmothers are attacked like this? We are under constant
surveillance and threats and attacks while our land continues to be
plundered and pillaged. Was this a failed assassination attempt
ordered by Julian Fantino, commissioner of OPP and head of the biggest
gang in the area?

We must demand answers and get answers. This attempted genocide must
cease. We will never give up.

Call or write to politicians, media, action lists including
international. Get the word out now!!!

K..... will be speaking with Kevin Annett on live radio today at 4:30
pm Montreal time.

Iakoha'ko:wa
Sharbot Lake, Haudenosaunee Territory

PLEASE SEND YOUR OBJECTIONS TO: QUEENIE ELIZABETH II, Buckingham Palace,

LONDON UK; Governor General MICHAELLE "Haitian-Against-the-Nation" JEAN, 1

Rideau Hall, OTTAWA, ONTARIO info@gg.ca; Canada Prime Minister STEPHEN

HARPER, House of Commons, OTTAWA, ONTARIO harper.s@parl.gc.ca; Ontario

Premier DALTON McGUINTY, Queen's Park, TORONTO, ONTARIO

mcguinty.D@parl.gc.ca; United Nations unat@un.org; Indian Affairs Minister

Strahl.c@parl.gc.ca; Brantford Mayor Michael Hancock 519-759-3330

nborowicz@brantford.ca; Ontario Attorney General 416-326-2220 or
1-800-518-7901;

Minister Ontario Aboriginal Affairs Michael Bryant % Lars.Eedy@ontario.ca ;

Neil Smitheman, Brantford ambulance chaser n.smitheman@fasken.com
416-868-3441;

Aaron Detlor adetlor@sympatico.ca; Bev Jacobs bjacobs@nwac.hq.org;
Julian Fantino

OPP Commissioner julian.fantino@jus.gov.on.ca; s

"Paul Leblanc of \"Indian\" Affairs" ,
Sylvia McKenzie Justice Canada ,
Emanuel Chabot Public Affairs 7 Emergency Preparedness
, Louis-Alesandre Guay
<"Justice Canada lguay"@justice.gc.ca>, Gilles Rochon Aboriginal
Policing , "Chuck Strahl Minister of
\"Indian\" Affairs"

See http://www.mohawknationnews.com

Uranium Producer Warns Of Lake Ontario Pollution

Cameco, the world’s largest uranium producer, has told the Canadian nuclear regulator that its refinery might have leaked uranium, arsenic and fluorides into Lake Ontario.

The plant at Port Hope, Ontario, across the lake from Rochester, New York, and down the shore from Toronto, first refined uranium for the Manhattan Project during World War II. It has been temporarily closed since July to remove contaminated soil.

A spokesman for Cameco, Lyle Krahn, said Wednesday that a computer model created for the cleanup, which is several months behind schedule, indicated that the radioactive and toxic materials have been polluting a harbor adjacent to the factory. The harbor leads directly to the lake.

The company notified the regulatory agency, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, about the finding at a meeting last week and now plans drilling tests to confirm the contamination and to measure its extent.

“We’re anticipating that material may have been entering the harbor,” said Krahn, adding that Cameco did not know how long it would take to confirm any possible pollution.

A spokesman for the agency, Aurele Gervais, said: “The Port Hope UF6 plant matter has been ongoing for some time and the harbor issue is a recent development,” using the chemical formula for uranium hexafluoride.

In a background paper prepared for the agency’s commissioners last week, its staff concluded that the potential remained for continued water pollution from the plant.

Cameco in general and the aging Port Hope refinery, which transforms mined uranium into forms suitable for electrical power reactors, have long been targets of environmental groups and the regulatory agency.

After a flood last year closed one of the company’s mines, which produces about 10 percent of the world’s uranium, Linda J. Keen, then the head of the regulatory agency, said her commissioners and staff had a “lack of confidence” in Cameco and its management.

Gordon Edwards, the president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, an environmental group in Montreal, said that contamination of the lake had been assumed, given the plant’s age, history and location.

“There’s a long history of contamination at Port Hope,” he said. “The whole siting of this refinery is absurd. It’s right in the center of town, it’s on flood plain and right on the lakefront.”

The plant was opened in the 1930s by Eldorado Mining and Refining to process radium and has undergone several cleanups.

The most recent effort began in July when a construction project at the factory uncovered soil contamination that led to the plant’s closing. At the time, the company said that the shutdown and cleanup would take about two months. Krahn said the 18 million-Canadian-dollar project, which involves removing soil under the plant and constructing a leakproof floor, will be finished by the third quarter.

If drilling confirms lake pollution, Krahn said that Cameco did not expect that would delay the plant’s reopening.

Maybe this is why the Rothschild's have been screaming at EXXON MOBIL about the lack of investment of alternative energies?

The plot was to get uranium out of Ontario, just up the river from Port Hope!

The Mohawk's were right. Why should we all be turned into glow worms because Dalton McGuinty says so?

Hm wonder how old Dalton is sleeping tonight, anyway.

Check my archives on Mohawk resistance!

Now read this:

More Charges Laid: Clampdown Intensifies
Support Tyendinaga Mohawks!

(May 20, 2008)

In the wake of recent road closures, OPP intimidation, and jailing of Mohawk community members, charges have now been laid by the OPP against at least 9 additional Tyendinaga Mohawks. These charges, according to police, stem from "events that occurred in and around Deseronto," between April 21 and 26. According to the OPP, the investigations are ongoing and additional charges may be laid against other Mohawks. While none of the 9 people recently charged were forced to remain in police custody, and are free to go home to their families, all carry conditions of 'no protests' and 'not to be present at the quarry site'.

Three men remain in custody at this time, awaiting trial - Clint Brant, Matt Kunkel, and Shawn Brant. Shawn Brant's trial date has been set for mid-June.

The current situation in Tyendinaga is developing into a sweeping crack-down on community members, the stifling of resistance to increased policing and further development of the Culbertson Tract, while federal monies are being poured into the Territory for policing matters and an RCMP report is released, citing federal government intentions to dedicate police "to fighting contraband, which he [Stockwell Day] said is funding organized crime and possibly even terrorists" in three Mohawk communities, including Tyendinaga.

It is important to remember that the feds' concern with Native-made smokes and sales go much deeper than their own pocket book. It is not simply the lost tax revenue that they suffer, but the fact that the lost dollars go to sustain Mohawk families and other services and allows for the Mohawk Nation to stand, as it always has, as a clear and organized force of resistance against the Canadian government's practices of assimilation and control of First Nations peoples.

It is the efforts to strengthen Mohawk Nations' economies and sovereignty that threatens the implementation of Canada's colonial agenda. The policing agendas of the Canadian government aim to crack down on this assertion of self-sufficiency and strength, not, as they claim, "organized crime".

OPP Weaponry and Escalation:

Update on the Struggle for the Culbertson Tract

Update from the Tyendinaga Support Committee (May 13, 2008)

While the quarry site, part of the disputed Culbertson Tract, has remained under Mohawk reclamation since March 2007, the Mohawks of Tyendinaga recently successfully halted another non-Native development effort on the Tract – this successful action led to a series of alarming and serious events.

In late April, a Kingston realtor, Emile Nibourg, made loud public plans to begin construction on the Culbertson Tract, culminating in a written commitment to bring a crew of "25 to 30 guys" to the site. The Mohawks of Tyendinaga responded by closing roads immediately adjacent to the proposed site, which they held for several days. While the OPP swat team was eventually brought in to remove the Mohawks from the roads, no confrontation ensued, and Nibourg backed away from his plans to build on stolen land.

Several days later, after the roads had been reopened, Mohawk spokesperson Shawn Brant was arrested during an interview he was conducting with APTN. Shawn's final words during his arrest on Friday were "This is it, justice for first nations communities: lock us up. Anybody who speaks out, lock-em up. KI6, Bob Lovelace: lock-em up...Don't fix the problems, lock-em up."

Despite the reporting in mainstream press, Shawn Brant's arrest on Friday, April 25th stemmed from an incident that took place days before. Specifically, Shawn Brant has been charged for his role in preventing further attacks on two Mohawk woman and a young child by racist rednecks from the town of Deseronto (see below for more on Shawn's arrest).

Supporters rushed to the quarry after watching or hearing of Shawn's arrest. His arrest sparked off police actions that led to the jailing of four other Mohawks, the OPP pulling their weapons on community members at the reclaimed quarry site, and a weekend of tense stand-offs and road blockades. Psychological warfare on the part of the police resulted in a tense face-off between the OPP and community members that lasted for days.

The same weekend, Six Nations community members erected a blockade of the Highway 6 bypass, near Caledonia, in support of the Tyendinaga Mohawks. This blockade was not removed until Six Nations received confirmation that the OPP had withdrawn from the Mohawks of Tyendinaga.

Following Shawn's arrest, Matt Kunkel, Clint Brant, Dan Doreen, and Steve Chartrand were charged and jailed. Dan, spokesperson for the earlier Mohawk road closures on Highway 2, and Steve have since been released with strict conditions. A couple from the community who were also arrested by the OPP were later were released unconditionally. Matt and Clint, along with Shawn, remain in maximum-security pre-trial custody in Quinte Regional Detention Centre in Napanee, until trial.

Ontario has opted for the incarceration of First Nations people over the resolution of outstanding land issues as their status quo. As for the Ontario Provincial Police, it appears the adoption of Justice Linden's Ipperwash Inquiry recommendations is experiencing some delay. During the road closures in Deseronto, an OPP officer on the scene audibly commented to her colleagues, "We should just shoot them (Mohawks) all." Following the arrests of the 5 Mohawks, the OPP claimed to have seen 'one long gun' at the quarry site, prompting the officers on the scene to pull their weapons out. The Mohawks at the quarry were not armed. The memories of Dudley George have not faded. And while in custody at the Napanee OPP Detachment, several different officers repeatedly informed Shawn Brant that they were going to "slit his throat".

Once again, for his role as a spokesperson in the community, Shawn Brant is facing trumped-up charges. These new charges were laid less than two weeks after Shawn Brant was acquitted of charges alleging that he threatened Canadian Forces soldiers during a demonstration to prevent development of the Culbertson Tract in 2006. Shawn is now forced to remain in jail at least until his trial on these latest charges, which is to take place in mid-June. Further updates on those charged will be coming soon.

As well as dealing with five of their community members now facing charges, the people of Tyendinaga are also facing another serious challenge. The OPP has struck a deal with the Band Council to build a new police station on Tyendinaga territory, ostensibly for the Tyendinaga Reserve Police force (employed by the OPP). Community members have questioned why the four-man force needs a bullet-proof, 5,000-square-foot facility. An identical structure on Mohawk land the Akwesasne Reserve in Quebec is now home not only to the local Reserve cops, but also to the OPP and the RCMP. The deal between the Band Council and the OPP, in which the Band will spend $1.2 million on the new station, with an additional $1 million contributed by the Province of Ontario and Stockwell Day's Federal Ministry of Public Safety, was made without proper consultation with the community. The Men's and Youth Councils, who meet at the recently constructed community longhouse, have openly voiced their opposition to the station, saying the money is needed more urgently elsewhere on the reserve. Meanwhile, construction on the new station has, as of printing time, now begun.

The Province of Ontario refuses to take responsibility for the actions of its police force, the OPP, while also continuing to abdicate responsibility for their role in the licensing of the non-Native quarry operations. The quarry itself now sits partially flooded, while the Mohawks continue their reclamation of the site until government acts to return it to them. The federal government continues to languish at the negotiation table, while making noise in the mainstream press about crackdowns on the Native cigarette industry, and the land – long acknowledged as belonging to the Mohawks – remains unreturned.

The Tyendinaga Support Committee

IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S A ... “UAV”?!?! … by Iakoha’ko:wa

MNN. May 4, 2008. The Ottawa Citizens reported on January 22, 2008, that "The Canadian military has earmarked $220 million to build a new base for the Joint Task Force 2 counter-terrorism unit, with plans calling for the secretive formation to move out of Ottawa sometime after 2010.... Hillier recommended that JTF2's new base be located at Canadian Forces Base Trenton." [[From "Counter-terrorism unit..." by David Pugliese]

Just when we thought that the human race has finally advanced to a point where everyone realized that the military solution was no solution at all. Now Rick Hillier has rescued “war games” from the dust bin. Canadian taxpayers are now forced to neglect repairs to roads, sewage systems and infrastructures of hospitals and schools, cut down education and all the legitimate concerns of the people. How juvenile this is? These little boys want to keep playing video games. There’s no “restart game” button to restore the lives that were lost or the environment that was polluted by their delusions that problems can be solved if you shoot ‘em up and blast ‘em to kingdom come.

With all the absurd but potentially lethal commotion at the Mohawk community of Tyendinaga lately, 20 minutes from Trenton CFB, we have to wonder if there may be some connection to this military game playing. Why do they want to waste so much of taxpayers’ money for those SWAT-OPP gangs to go into Tyendinaga to harass, beat and arrest people for no good reason?.

Defence Construction Canada is the Crown corporation that builds new military bases. It answers to Michael Fortier, the Minister of Public Works and Government Services. He’s NOT an elected Member of Parliament, though he’s run for office. He has a background in investment banking and worked for Ogilvy Renault, a law firm with offices in Montreal. It’s obviously a money-making scheme for someone and it’s being sold though an appeal to adolescent adrenaline.

The Deputy Minister is Francois Guimont, also an appointed career bureaucrat. The DM "provides the overall vision and direction for the department, and oversees 12,000 employees..." According to the Ottawa Citizens these guys provide the “overall vision”. In other words, forget about democracy. Canadians are not war-like. this is a bill of goods that’s being stuffed down people’s throat. This is not a product of public discussion. We have not hear of Canadians calling for a greater use of arms. Guimont worked in the Privy Council Office and the Ministry of the Environment. [He's a "bottom feeder"!]

Defence Construction Canada (DCC) deals with one client only, the Department of National Defense (DND). Scott Stevenson is the ADM/IE (Assistant Deputy Minister/Infrastructure & Environment). He oversees all the details of everything for the military! He’s a military man, a graduate of Queens University and an economist. This “mega gamester” has made it into the big league. He’s living every megalomaniac school boy’s dream.

Rem Westland, another “gamster” held the position of ADM/IE in 1998-99 while he was Director General of Realty Policy and Plans from 1997-2003 at DND. It wouldn’t surprise us if he worked with Stevenson.

Westland has a cottage on Sharbot Lake, 40 minutes north of Kingston. In an exclusive interview with MNN he admitted that Sharbot Lake is Haudenosaunee land. But why is he keeping quiet while a phony Algonquin land claim plays itself out? Westland’s background puts him in a strategic position for whatever military plans are underway to develop the area.

Just this week, we heard on the news how manufacturing jobs in Ontario are down from 80,000 in 2001 to 60,000 in 2007. GM has just laid off 1000 skilled workers at its Oshawa plant, the other side of Trenton. Will the GM workers end up building the new training base that DCC will oversee quite likely at Trenton? Someone’s got to have the answer.

Pugliese stated, "Public Works and Government Services Canada has already purchased three properties [about 130 hectares] adjacent to CFB Trenton for the Defense Department... Another 270 hectares are also being looked at for purchase."

What kind of training will go on at this new base? The military has so many new lethal toys to test. It could involve nuclear submarines and ships in Lake Ontario or planes overhead. Trenton has a big airport. With so much buzz in the military news these days about UAV's (unmanned aerial vehicles), we wonder if that has something to do with it.

People should know about those little UAV's, what they look like and what they can do. You never know when you might see one and wonder what it is.

UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES

UAV's are a growing part of 21st century warfare. They are mostly used in surveillance roles but also can be equipped to attack targets by remote control, sometimes at great distance. They are widely used by the occupation forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Imaginative names are given to UAV's like “Raven”, “Hawk” and “Warrior”. The smallest UAV's can be put into a back pack and assembled on the ground by one person. They look like toy planes. Some UAV's can stay in the air for days and travel at speeds up to 200km/hr. Depending on how they are powered, they can be very quiet. The Canadian military uses the Skylark I, a small UAV made by Elbit, an Israeli company and sold to DND by Thales Systems Canada which has offices in Ottawa and Kingston.

The Skylark was designed to spy on the Palestinians. It can "look over the hill" and "around the corner" and record images day or night. It is durable in all weather conditions. Elbit's larger Hermes UAV can shoot and drop bombs.

According to the Elbit web site, "Skylark I can be used for both defense and homeland security applications including perimeter security, border and coastal surveillance, anti-terrorism surveillance and a variety of “law enforcement” “missions" like attacking Indigenous communities. Like hey! You wouldn’t want these guys to be deprived of fun just because was no legitimate targets, would you?

A device called a "ShotSpotter" can be mounted on a UAV in order to detect exactly where a shot has been fired from. It requires sensors that are placed on rooftops or street poles. It's used by various US Police Departments like Rochester, NY in Haudenosaunee Territory and Minneapolis, MN in Lakota Territory.

Could they be trying out the UAV's on the Mohawks at Tyendinaga? It doesn't sound like their toys work on those who keep pulling disappearing acts. Maybe their “peeping tom” toys don’t work on the socially “invisible” Indigenous? Since the colonists don’t want peaceful solutions, these guys think this is just another “technological challenge” to ‘git’ us!

This must be a joke. First they spent billions of dollars trying to kill us off, to make us invisible, deleting us from their history books and refusing us a fair say. Now they’re spending billions trying to build a technology of infra red heat seeking missiles and high tech gadgets to find those of us who survived their genocide. Don’t these idiots know we’re human beings? Nothing justifies treating us like targets.

IAKOHA'KO:WA

See pictures of UAV's and more info on the internet at these links:

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/raven-uavs-winning-gold-in-afghanistans-commando-olympics-01432/

http://www.spacewar.com/uav.html

Contact the bureacrats who know about these still
secretive plans to build a new military base:

DND ADM/IE There is no contact info for the
ADM/IE on their web site. He doesn't answer to
the common people anyhow. Try scott.stevenson@forces.gc.ca

webmaster@forces.gc.ca

Mailing address:
Department of National Defence
Assistant Deputy Minister (Public Affairs)
Web Services
National Defence Headquarters
Major-General George R. Pearkes Building
101 Colonel By Drive, 2 NT
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K1A 0K2

Phone: 613-945-1011

Facsimile: 613-992-4739

TTY/TDD*: 1 800 467-9877

Minister's Office
The Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay
Minister of National Defence
National Defence Headquarters
Major-General George R. Pearkes Building
101 Colonel By Drive
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K1A 0K2

Phone: 613-996-3100 Facsimile: 613-995-8189 TTY/TDD* : 1 800 467-9877

MacKay.P@parl.gc.ca

PWGS There is no contact info provided for these guys. You have to ask for it.

Deputy Minister Guimont francois.guimont@pwgsc.gc.ca,
Minister Fortier michael.fortier@pwgsc.gc.ca

Public Works and Government Services Canada
Portage III
Gatineau, Québec
K1A 0S5 General Inquiries: questions@pwgsc.gc.ca


DCC Head Office
Defence Construction Canada
Constitution Square, 19th Floor
350 Albert Street
Ottawa ON K1A 0K3
Tel: (613) 998-9548, Fax: (613) 998-1061 1-800-514-3555
e-mail: info@dcc-cdc.gc.ca

Ontario Region
Defence Construction Canada
Howard Maitland Building
780 Midpark Drive, Suite 205
Kingston ON K7M 7P6
Tel.: (613) 384-1256, Fax: (613) 384-7747

TRENTON
Defence Construction Canada
8 Wing / CFB Trenton
14 Alert Blvd., Room 218
Astra ON K0K 3W0

Tel: (613) 392-2811 Fax: (613) 392-8630

Rem Westland Write Rem at <remw@thecrg.com>. Or call him at 613 748-3945 (home) or 613 596-2910
x525 (office) or 613 279-2143 (cottage). His mailing address is 157 Acacia Ave., Rockcliffe, ON K1M 0R4

http://www.thales-systems.ca/
Thales Canada, Systems Division
1 Chrysalis Way
Ottawa, ON K2G 6P9
PH: (613) 723-7000
FAX: (613) 723-5600

3107, avenue des Hotels
Sainte-Foy, Quebec G1W 4W5
Phone: (418) 844-3027
Fax: (418) 844-1966

inquiries@ca.thalesgroup.com

POSTED BY MNN MOHAWK NATION NEWS

www.mohawknationnews.com

See Category: “ Sharbot Lake “

More update on the Tyendinaga activity, Mohawks

The fellow who answered said the stand-off was still the same at this moment.

I asked if he could tell the OPP not to instigate, that we heard the police were armed, with dogs.

He said they had dogs because there was a situation last night where some of their officers were injured.

I asked why the OPP were there, when it was Mohawk land, that the issues were for the courts to decide, not armed police instigating conflict.

He said, 'thank you ma'am, we're very busy here', and hung up.

L

Urgent action: please call OPP re: Tyendinaga

hi, info is at:

http://ottawa.indymedia.ca/en/2008/04/7456.shtml

please call

OPP Easter Headquarters 613-284-4500 L.G. Beechey Chief Supt. Commander Eastern Region

We've found in the past, regarding treatment of an aboriginal woman by Eastern headquarters, that calling the regional OPP directly, politely, and repeatedly, is efficacious.

other options as well at ottawa indymedia site update.

L

i just called OPP re: Tyendinaga

OPP Easter Headquarters 613-284-4500 L.G. Beechey Chief Supt. Commander Eastern Region

The fellow who answered said the stand-off was still the same at this moment.

I asked if he could tell the OPP not to instigate, that we heard the police were armed, with dogs.

He said they had dogs because there was a situation last night where some of their officers were injured.

I asked why the OPP were there, when it was Mohawk land, that the issues were for the courts to decide, not armed police instigating conflict.

He said, 'thank you ma'am, we're very busy here', and hung up.

L

CTV on Tyendinaga

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080426/native_protesters_080426/20080426?hub=Canada

Aboriginal People's Television Network news on Tyendinaga and Shawn Brant

http://www.aptn.ca/streaming/index.php?wmv=friday/six




MAY 8: Protest McGuinty - Aboriginal Solidarity Rally



SUPPORT ABORIGINAL HUMAN RIGHTS
Protest Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty

12pm. Thursday, May 8, 2008
Westin Ottawa Hotel (11 Colonel By, Just South of Rideau St)

No New Ipperwash

Join ACT for the Earth for a rally in solidarity with Robert Lovelace, the
KI-6, and the Tyendinaga of the Bay of Quinte, during Premier McGuinty's
speech to the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce. Join us in calling on the Premier
to put a stop to the persecution of Indigenous peoples for the sake of
corporate greed!

www.ACTfortheEarth.org

Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:40:26 -0400
Subject: [Stop-spp-action] report from Mohawk barricades

Hello,

The fires are burning hot, the wind whipping up, with good laughs and people circulating between barricades and the gravel pit near Deseronto.

Women of the community, men, young people, with friends from Ottawa and Toronto, had stayed up all night, some headed out, more came in for the coming night.

News arrived by cell phone and car, the Six Nations in distant solidarity were given a half-hour 'ultimatum' to leave by police, they responded with 600 more joining their stand. Others held the Mercier bridge. Here, the calm message was that everyone was in 'for the long haul', and another night surrounding the OPP, who were attempting to block access to the gravel pit where a number of Mohawks were staying. The OPP were unsuccessful in this endeavour, and members of the community moved back and forth to talk, eat, and grab a nap.

Earlier in the evening I had talked with some of the police, 'Why are you here?"

Their response: "There are fires on public roads."

"But your guns and your presence are the problem. You are not helping the situation, you're making it worse."

"We're under orders."

Driving into town, one passes lawn signs, "Mohawk Land: OPP Not Welcome Here".

At one of the bonfires, a woman described how last night police had pointed guns at the heads of some of the young people. Another took me to see the land of the tract which ought to have been returned to the band, but was sold instead. "We're tired of being 'soft' and believing the promises of government. We have to take a stand" The gravel pit developer also wants to build a condomium complex on the lake, and apparently had earlier phoned around the community, telling of his plans, to instigate a conflict. The OPP are part of this picture. According to some band members, the developer's goal is to use the situation to extract money from the government in compensation.

The land itself is beautiful, with a creek flowing through. Frogs sang, wood cocks danced into the sky as the sun set, a rabbit disappeared along the bank. In the distance we could see the fire of the Mohawks on the high ground of the tract. And other bonfires to the west. Somewhere in the middle were a few police cruisers, and behind the movie theatre lots of unmarked vans, with others waiting on backroads.

Family members from the community passed back and forth, bringing coffee, I learned that Tyendinaga means 'two sticks joined together', representing two nations, who were joined by other First Nations in confederacy, and now again in solidarity.

Although sad that a community needs to go to these lengths to protect its own land, I am glad to have met wonderful people, and hope that the police, like occupiers in more distant lands, leave the streets quietly, and quickly.

Leigh Thomson

Cramahe Township,Ont.