02/11/15: An open letter to Stephen Harper
Good day. Allow me to introduce myself; my name is Laurel Curley and I’m from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in southern Ontario.…
Op-eds
Canada’s wrongful conviction
As I reflect on the passing of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, I recall information shared with me by one Vern Harper. Vern is my only source of information, as I never had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Carter.
There are No DNA Checkpoints under the Tree of Peace
Over the last few days I have been watching my community implode as members try to stop a woman from building her home. Why? Because she has a non-native husband. This issue brings out the worst in our people, and social media is hot with hate. Characterized by some as “a Nazi witch hunt”, this debacle is difficult to watch, yet much like a train wreck, it’s hard to look away, and that all the more so because my own family is affected. Community members are submitting names to a list of individuals living with non-natives in the territory and my sister and her partner are second down the line.
Unity and the future of our community
The Six Nations community is a divided community. No matter what the subject is, there’s always 1000 different opinions and views. There’s people who are way too old school and then there’s people who are culturally assimilated. Then there’s a whole wack of people that fall somewhere in between the two.
Medical Ethics Respecting the Haudenosaune & Two Row Wampum
The Two Row Wampum as I understand it describes the movement over time of two vessels, a ship and a canoe, travelling in parallel down the river of life. The ship represents the settler societies of Turtle Island, such as Canada and the US, and the canoe represents the Onkwehon:we people.
Calm before the storm
All was quiet around Tyendinaga Sunday morning. Getting off at the Shannonville Road exit, I expected to see warriors on the roads and a heavy presence of police officers on standby, watching their every move. But nothing. So I drove around the reserve, expecting to see a group of warriors somewhere doing something.