The Spirit of All Nations.
On Tuesday, Nov. 26, five members of Scarborough’s West Hill United Church – Minister Gretta Vosper, Ruth Gill, Dorothy Hirlehey, Steve Watson, and Morlan Rees – set out on a caravan for Ottawa to deliver a petition calling upon the federal government to end the disparities between the Onhkwehonh:we and non-Onhkwehonh:we people of Canada.
BUFFALO – On Sunday, Nov. 17, the “Let’s Talk Native… with John Kane” live radio show had some very special guests. In addition to the regular show participants, host John Kane and ESPN – AM1520 in Buffalo, welcomed a network television producer from the Al-Jazeera Arabic Channel.
First Nations people and ally supporters will rally around Indian Affairs offices across the province tomorrow to say no to the conservative governments proposed takeover of education on all First Nations territories across the country.
AKWESASNE – Akwesasne War Chief, Skaghenhate’, drove up to his Urban Thrift retail tobacco business on Nov 17, and saw something different. A vinyl sign he had put up had been defaced with black spray paint sometime during the night.
In May 2013, the Millennium Pipeline Company announced a proposal to construct a 60 mile-long, high-pressure pipeline that will be at least 24” in diameter and supported by at least one compressor station. Since then, community members in the Central New York region have been organizing to oppose the initiative through community presentations from the Southern Tier to Onondaga
OTTAWA – Tony Clement, Conservative minister and Treasury Board President, is claiming the Ring of Fire could be the next Oil Sands.
Illuminating conversations were sparked Thursday at Mohawk activist John Kane’s first guest lecture at Burning Books, a radical bookstore on the West Side of Buffalo. Kane’s two-hour long talk, sharing the same name as his radio show, “Let’s Talk Native,” was long-awaited and much-anticipated by Buffalonians and bookstore patrons.
Election time in Tyendinaga is always controversial. It was almost 130 years ago when the Canadian Parliament passed the Indian Advancement Act to allow the “intelligent Indians” – according to the Deputy Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs – “advancement in civilization and intelligence with a view to eventually attaining to an equality…with the white portion of the population.”
NEW BRUNSWICK – SWN Resources employees and police officers are facing more protesters, as seismic testing continues in the area.
Tension is building as opponents to shale gas exploration and development have set up a new camp on Highway 11 near the community of Laketon, near Kouchibouguac National Park.
A new study from the University of Michigan School of Public Health in collaboration with the Aamjiwnaang Environment Office confirms what many people of Aamjiwnaang (Chippewas of Sarnia First Nation) have long suspected: That exposure to the pollutants deriving from “Chemical Valley” is strongly associated with the neurodevelopment problems and skewed sex ratios that the local Ojibwe community has long observed.
Last Friday, the Ontario government announced the creation of a public corporation to oversee the development of infrastructure that will facilitate the extraction of resources in the ‘Ring of Fire’.
Ontario’s lead negotiator in the ‘Ring of Fire’ Frank Iacobucci gestured towards Onkwehon:we in a public statement concerning the announcement, saying that “There is no question that vital infrastructure is required in the region to support remote First Nations communities.” But Ontario’s Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle put business front and center: “Infrastructure is vital to developing the Ring of Fire. People need to get in to work and products need to get out to the global market.”
Penetanguishene – On November 9th, for the second weekend in a row, [tweetable]a delegation from the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3903 joined the Oshkimaadziig Unity Camp[/tweetable] to help construct a hunting lodge, chop wood for the winter, and build new relationships with Anishinabek people.
The Oshkimaadziig Unity Camp is reclaiming ancestral Anishinabek land in Awenda Provincial Park, at the site of an historic counsel rock in Penetanguishene. It is guided by a vision referring to the “New People of the Seventh Fire Prophecy, who will pick up the many things left on the trail to ensure Humanity’s survival in the Eighth Fire.” The camp began in protest to the Coldwater Narrows Settlement agreement. By reclaiming Crown land, the camp also aims to educate others about treaties and agreements that came before modern day settlements with the Crown. It is organized by the Anishinabek Confederacy to Invoke Our Nationhood (ACTION).
The Cayuga Nation of New York has been in the news for economic development for the past few years. In 2012 the tribal government launched a Cayuga brand tribally manufactured cigarette. In 2013, the Cayuga Nation re-opened a Class II electronic bingo parlor in Union Springs, New York.
The tribal government business plan has now received the support of a prominent group of elected councils. The United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) formed in 1968, is based in Nashville, Tennessee.
TINY TOWNSHIP: A reclamation of Awenda Provincial Park is now entering its 19th month. Organizers have formed a grassroots connection with neighboring Springwater Provincial Park which has also been occupied by members of Beausoleil First Nation.
“We began as a result of the illegal surrenders of our Inherent Rights and Traditional Territories along with the policies and laws enforced upon our people where the Chippewa Tri Council and Canada are in breach of the 1764 Niagara Covenant Chain Belt” explains Kai Kai Kons, a spokesperson for the camp.
TORONTO, ON – Social media lit up with outrage this week as video of an Onkwehon:we War Veteran, Davyn Calfchild, being arrested at a public Toronto Remembrance Day Ceremony went viral. The video showed Davyn refusing to put away two traditional flags – the Hiawatha and the Unity Flag – and refusing to leave the public ceremony at the request of Toronto Police.
