CANADIAN POLITICS:

OLYMPIC RESISTANCE SPREADS ACROSS CANADA:

The following is a press release from the Olympic Resistance Network dated yesterday, December 21. It is a summary of some of the protests that have met the Olympic flame in its course across the country.

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Press Release: Olympic Torch being Disrupted across Canada, Protests today at Six Nations as Olympic Torch shamed:
OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY BEING DISRUPTED ACROSS CANADA!

==> Anti-Olympic Protesters bring their message of resistance across Canada; Olympic Torch shamed.

==> Six Nations community members declare Olympic Torch will not pass through their territory.

Monday, December 21 2009, Vancouver Unceded Coast Salish Territories-Protesters are bringing their anti-Olympic message with chants of “No Olympics on Stolen Native Land”, “Get your torch off our land, we don’t want your Olympic scam” and “2010 Homes not 2010 Games” across Canada. In many instances, activists have successfully disrupted the Torch Relay, forcing delays and route cancellations, with at least four arrests associated with anti-Torch related actions.

Today, Six Nations community members have declared that the Olympic Torch will not pass through their territory. A Declaration by the Onkwehonwe (people) of the Grand River Territory states “This land is not conquered. We are not Canadian… We hereby affirm our peaceful opposition to the entry and progression of the 2010 Olympic torch into and through our territory.” (Visit: http://6nsolidarity.wordpress.com/ or No2010@peaceculture.org for media interviews). In the coming weeks, dissenters are also expected to converge in Kitchener, Calgary, Edmonton, Stratford, and Guelph.

In Toronto over 250 people took to the streets on December 17, blocking major intersections and forcing the cancellation of the Torch in parts of downtown Toronto. A banner dropped directly across the stage read “Gego Olympics Da-Te-Snoon Nishnaabe-Giing Ga-Gmooding” (“No Olympics on Stolen Native Land” in Anishinaabemowin). (Visit http://torontotorch.blogspot.com/or email torchblock@gmail.com ).

At least four communities in the province of Quebec have opposed the Torch Relay: Sept-Iles, Montreal, Kanahwake First Nations, and Quebec City. In Montreal, over 200 people converged and delayed the relay as well as the main ceremonies and concert. (Visit: http://www.amp-montreal.net/).

On October 30, over 400 people gathered to oppose the Torch Relay launch in Victoria. An Anti-Olympics Festival and Zombie March succeeded in disrupting the relay. Security personnel were forced to extinguish the torch, load it in a van, and reroute it. (Visit http://no2010victoria.net/or no2010victoria@gmail.com ).

Actions have also occurred in cities as diverse as Comox Valley, Kingston, Halifax, Ottawa, and St. John's. With the number of protesters equaling or exceeding spectators, dissatisfaction with the 2010 Winter Olympics is growing across Canada. According to a November 2009 Angus-Reid poll, over 30% of B.C. residents feel the Olympics will have a negative impact and almost 40% of residents support protesters. (sorry, but ????-Molly )

Protesters note that the Olympics are not simply about the athletes; rather the corporate Games are leaving a legacy of displacement, militarization, and repression. Public funds invested by all levels of government are nearing $7 billion. According to the Olympic Resistance Network, “While Olympic corporate sponsors are getting bailed out, Indigenous lands are being stolen, people are becoming homeless, thousands are losing their jobs and access to public services, the environment is being destroyed, and civil liberties are being eroded with almost a billion dollars sunk into surveillance. The negative Olympic legacy is turning into an anti-Olympic legacy of resistance across the country.” Social justice activists also believe that the Olympic Torch is a $25 million propaganda tool for corporate sponsors who have some of the worst social and environmental practices. The Royal Bank of Canada has been under fire for its financing of the environmentally devastating Alberta Tar Sands, while Coca Cola has been responsible for massive depletion of groundwater and toxic waste pollution in India.

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For media quotes visit: http://olympicresistance.net/content/media

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Here, according to the Hamilton Spectator, is what happened on the Six Nations Reserve yesterday.

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Six Nations protesters detour the Olympic flame:
Barry Gray, the Hamilton Spectator

Change of venue a 'small victory'
December 22, 2009 Danielle Wong

The Hamilton Spectator(Dec 22, 2009)
A last-minute detour in the Olympic flame's passage through Six Nations yesterday appeased protesters, but left participants with mixed feelings.

The initial plan to have the 25 torchbearers run through the heart of the reserve had upset some Six Nations people.

They argued the torch represented Ottawa's mistreatment of natives and the environmental destruction caused by Olympic preparations near Vancouver.

Torchbearers and spectators learned yesterday morning the relay would instead be held at the Six Nations bingo hall at Highway 54 and Chiefswood Road, on the reserve's outskirts.

Protesters had positioned themselves to block the torch from coming on to Six Nations land on Highway 54, but backed off when they saw the Olympic caravan take a different route to the hall.

"All the demands were met in not bringing the caravan through (Six Nations) and that's why there was no big demonstration," said protester Skye Williams, 26.

Torchbearer Robert Henry said he would have liked to have carried the torch through Ohsweken, but the event was still positive.

"It's unfortunate we can't go that way, but I think this will still ... be part of history," said the 36-year-old.

The relay began shortly after 5 p.m. outside the bingo hall. More than 200 people gathered outside to watch smoke dances and the First Nations youth choir before cheering on the torchbearers.

Torchbearer Jason Johnson said last night's event was an opportunity to encourage young people and he was shocked when he got the call that he would be running.

"Big events like these don't often make their way this far," he said.

There was a different atmosphere earlier when a small group of protesters showed up at the Six Nations Community Centre on Fourth Line after a press conference.

They held signs saying "No Olympics on stolen native land" and "No torch means no trespassing."

There was no consensus among the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to bring the Olympic torch to their land, said the demonstration's spokesperson Melissa Elliott, 19.

The change in venue was a "small victory" for those protesting the Olympics, she said.

But Lana Isaacs, who came out to support the torchbearers, said she would have liked to see the torch go through the reserve.

"We have elders at the Iroquoia lodge who could see (the relay) out the window," she said, adding there were others who could not get to the bingo hall.

"They're missing it and it is sad. And it is too bad."

Band council chief Bill Montour said they switched routes because the bingo hall was more "central" and the initial plan was "becoming a logistic nightmare."

"This event is not a political event.

"It's for this community."

CANADIAN POLITICS:

BRANTFORD LAND CLAIMS- THE TRUTH BEHIND THE HEADLINES:

Over the past few years the land claims of the Mohawk First Nation residing near Brantford Ontario have been in the news frequently as the Province of Ontario and the Six nation's community have faced off repeatedly. This coming Thursday, May 15, there will be a public lecture in Brantford putting forth what has often been obscured by the fireworks, the truth behind the claims. If you live down that way try and catch it. here's the announcement from the Autonomy and Solidarity site.

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Brantford land claims - the true history behind the headlines
What: An informative lecture and Q&A time with 30 year veteran of Six Nations land claims research Phil Monture and other leaned special guests.

When: Thursday, May 15, 2008, beginning at 7 pm.

Where: At the BCI Auditorium, Brant Ave. Brantford.
Why: Without the truth, it will be impossible to understand why Six Nations are blocking development in Brant/Brant County and elsewhere.

DID YOU KNOW:
*Did you know that more than 50% of the present Six Nations land and resources disputes registered with Canada involve Brantford or Brant County?
*Did you know there are dozens more yet to be filed?
*Did you know that since 2002, the Supreme Court of Canada has ordered the federal and provincial governments of Canada as well as municipalities and developers to engage in meaningful consultation and accommodation with First Nations where contested land land claims or treaty rights are concerned?
*Did you know that the Canadian Constitution Act of 1982 recognized and affirms Aboriginal Rights and Treaties?
*Did you know that only 807 acres of Brantford is accounted for, and most of that has yet to be paid to the people of Six Nations?
*Don’t believe it? Come and hear the real truth behind the settlement of Brant County and the expansionism policies of today’s City Hall.
*Find out where is the Johnson Settlement is; Eagles Nest; Burtch Tract; Onondaga Township; Martin’s Tract; Oxbow; Oneida Township; Grand River Navigation Co. Tow Path; the Nathan Gage Tract; the original Brantford Town Plot, and many more important areas of Brant County in need of settlement of 200 years of historic claims of ownership by the Crown, Canada, Ontario and Brantford.
Background:
TRUE is a growing Brantford based citizens group, seeking knowledge, justice and understanding of our responsibilities towards our Six Nations neighbours, according to the Two Row Wampum Treaty.

“The Truth is a hard thing that gets even harder with every year it is kept bound and gagged in a dark room, away from the eyes of decent people,” says Marilyn Vegso and Jim Windle, cofounders of TRUE (Two Row Understanding through Education). “That is why we began this series of lectures designed to reveal the real truth and gain a Six Nations perspective on the historical relationship Brantford has had with its Six Nations neighbours over the past 200 years.”

Previous TRUE lectures covered the two Row Wampum Treaty and it’s significance today, and Kevin Annett’s revelations of Residential School murders of thousands of Native children in Canada’s Secret Holocaust.

“This movement is growing as more and more non-Native people begin to hear the truth and are as appalled as we were when we discovered the history we weren’t taught in school,” says Vegso. “It is incumbent upon us to acknowledge what our government has done and to make it right. That’s our responsibility under the Two-Row.”

With all the talk and headlines about how Six Nations protection against the development of contested Six Nations’ land, TRUE has cut to the chase and is hosting what could be one of the most important and informative meeting of their series to date.

Brantford land claims - the true history behind the headlines with 30 year Six Nations land claims researcher Phil Monture and present Six Nations lands and resources manager, lawyer, and researcher Lonny Bomberry, along with other recognized Six Nations’ historians.

Monture has dedicated his entire life to finding the truth behind what has become Canada’s most pressing domestic issue. The wanton theft of Indian lands and resources is creating a formula for disaster which can be avoided, if we have the courage to face the truth and do something about it.

This meeting is guaranteed to be an bitter and inconvenient pill to swallow for most, but until we are cured of our short sighted arrogance, addiction to tax dollars, and the destruction of irreplaceable farm lands, we are on a collision course with not only the original people protectors of the land, but with nature herself.