CANADA CROONS "I DID IT MY WAY (COLONIAL) WAY". SIX NATIONS SINGS, "HOW CAN YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT WHEN YOUR DIRTY BEDS ARE BURNING?"
MNN. March 30, 2006. It is obvious that Ottawa is trying to push pyramidal pegs into round holes. The colonial settlers refuse to accept the fact that there are no Indian treaties giving them the right to control Turtle Island. They were supposed to stay in the Two Row Wampum agreement and manage their own ship on the river where Indigenous canoes had traveled freely since time immemorial.
The settlers came from a culture where private ownership reigned. They belonged to a hierarchical society with a hereditary monarchy. In their social system those at the top of the heap had a better chance of survival. Those at the bottom lived in abject poverty and misery, often literally held in place with iron chains.
The social model of the Indigenous people of Turtle Island was completely different. We know that all people are equal. Our model for social order is circular. There is no boss and there are no high places from which to fall. The only chains we know are those linking our arms together in friendship. The word "chief" is not our word. We have "royaner", which means "he knows the path". Our women are "Oyaner" which means "they know the path". The colonists always assumed that our society was like theirs. They keep asking us, "Take me to your leader" like the lost Martians of their imaginations. We don't have leaders in our society. Everybody leads.
No position in our culture is hereditary. Everyone gains office through processes of extensive consultation with the People. When in office, no one has authority over the people. The clan mothers and the chiefs' job is to facilitate the consultation process according to our constitution, the Kaianereh'ko:wa. They speak only on the decisions made by the People.
Canadian society is frighteningly authoritarian and getting more so. It is run by people who make secret agreements without consulting the people. They have secret weapons caches. They do not hesitate to use them against people with opinions different from theirs, especially if they are Indigenous.
Between 3000 and 4000 heavily armed troops surrounded Kanehsatake, Kahnawake and Akwesasne in 1990. At Gustafsen Lake (British Columbia) 77,000 rounds of ammunition were fired at a Sun Dance attended by only 26 Indigenous people, of whom the majority were women and very young children. At Ipperwash they killed Dudley George. Recently at Kanehsatake a truck full of high-powered armaments was brought in by secret government forces who had a list of 55 people "to be taken out on sight". Now police and military are circling us at 5 of our Mohawk territories, including Six Nations.
Now the Canadian government sends in a unilaterally appointed mediator, Michael Coyle, to talk at us. His main focus is on how to "gently" handcuff the women. "I want to rape you, but I am not violent, eh!" Is this what his master's thesis was on? Canadian people should be asking some serious questions about the kind of government they are supporting.
Jim Potts, the "Indian expert" organized the Aboriginal "mercenaries" hired by the Canadian/Ontario governments to attack the Six Nations people on March 22nd. First he "We're not coming in". Then he said, "No one is going to get hurt". They hired mercenaries to do their dirty work. They set up ambulances and cleared hospital wards to receive the wounded. They emptied jail cells and transferred prisoners from Brantford to Hamilton so they could make room for the captives of their attack. Does this sound like they were planning a peaceful operation?
Ottawa pretends to have a change of heart. Coyle arrives without a gun on his hip. He's just a front man. Our territories and perimeters are crawling with undercover cops. As if we can't recognize strangers in our own neighborhood! This is an attempt to apply force. Flying army helicopters over our homes, scaring our kids and elders, is very menacing. Do Canadian communities have to put up with the menace of low flying army helicopters? No way.
Mr. Henning of Henco Industries of the United States, is the squatter trying to illegally build on our land. He put a paid ad in the newspaper saying, "This land is our land, this land is our land, this land was made for (not you) just me". Since when does a declaration in a newspaper establish clear title? Mr. Henning is relying on the misrepresentation that Ontario can give him title to our land. Is Ontario trying to help the Americans colonize Canada? So, with his new court order, the OPP are acting as the private army of this private American corporation!
The bottom line is that if Canada sincerely wants to negotiate a peaceful solution, they should call off their dogs and cowboys. Send in their real representatives for nation-to-nation consultations and negotiations. There could then be an orderly settlement based on an orderly investigation of the facts and an orderly identification of the laws that apply. Then the laws can be applied based on the facts. The reason Canada doesn't want to do this is because it knows full well when the process is complete, the facts will clearly show they have illegally invaded our land. They are the illegal occupiers of our land just like at Ipperwash.
Kahentinetha Horn, MNN Mohawk Nation News, kahentiinetha2 [at] yahoo [dot] com
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