Jacqueline House on the Cayuga Nation standoff
CAYUGA LAKE – Tensions are rising on the shores of Cayuga Lake, NY. A large police presence was visible in the community today after a brawl…
tobacco
So what’s the fuss with Tobacco?
Just about everyone has heard about the recent “largest tobacco bust” in North American history. There is nary a media source that is reporting all the elements of this raid right. Some have spoken of 400 armed officers of different jurisdictions coming together to carry out coordinated raids on Onhkwehonh:we territories. Other reports spoke of mafia connections to an organized native crime syndicate with the implication being that hundreds of Native peoples were arrested in these raids. Still other reports spoke to the gathering of firearms in the hundreds and a substantial accumulation of marijuana plants along with 3,4, 5, no, wait for it! 6 trailer loads of raw tobacco leaf. So what is the fuss about and why the amazingly disparate descriptions of what actually took place in the Kahnawake and Akwesasne territories?
Coalition created to fight Bill C-10
TORONTO – A coalition has been formed against the Harper Government’s Bill C-10 (an act to criminalize Native tobacco). The coalition is currently comprised of a variety of groups which have long taken positions in support of indigenous rights and sovereignty. Signatories to a statement released on the http://billc10.ca/ website include the Law Union of Ontario, No One Is Illegal – Toronto, the BASICS Community News Organization, the Two Row Society, and the First Nations Solidarity Working Group of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3903.
Bill C-10 from the perspective of two lawyers
Last Saturday, concerned members of the community packed the hall at Six Nations Polytech to listen to various speakers discuss Bill C-10 and what will happen if it is made into law.
Jock Hill on Bill C-10
SIX NATIONS – Two Tow Times met with Haudenosaunee Confederacy Secretary “Jock” Hill to talk about the pending bill C-10 and it’s implications on all Six Nations residents. Note that Mr. Hill’s opinions are his own and should not necessarily be construed as that of the Confederacy Chiefs Council at large.
Brant promises direct action if no inquiry
SIX NATIONS – Tyendinaga Mohawk activist Shawn Brant was at Six Nations Polytechnic Saturday afternoon as part of a Two Tow Times sponsored talk on Harper government’s bill C-10.
Local smoke shop owner discusses Bill C-10
The Two Row Times spoke with a storeowner for a smoke shop on Six Nations who identifies as Mohawk and wished to remain anonymous.
Two Row Times hosts public information meeting on Bill C-10
Almost exactly twenty years ago, in February 1994, the RCMP threatened to invade the Six Nations territory in a crackdown on cigarette smuggling. And now once again, the federal government is threatening Haudenosaunee people to send in their “goon squad” in an attempt to seize any and all ‘illegal’ tobacco.
Conservative MP Phil McColeman on C-10
BRANT/BRANTFORD – Bill C-10, which would force Native cigarette businesses to pay a foreign tax on products made on reserve and sold on reserve, is part of Prime Minister Steven Harper’s sweeping new plan to crack down on so-called “contraband” tobacco. Last week, we asked Brant Conservative MP Phil McColeman what his opinion of Harpers Bill C-10 was. Here is what he had to say about the matter.
United Front needed against C-10
SIX NATIONS – According to Steven Ford, a practicing lawyer and proud Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk) from Tyendinaga, a united front is the best defense against Prime Minister Steven Harper’s Bill C-10, criminalizing the Native tobacco trade.
Tobacco: History and Health
As I place Mr. X on a breathing machine he flashes me a look from his terrified eyes. I know this look well, the desperate cry for help of a drowning man. But he is not drowning in water. He has spent a lifetime drowning in smoke and his lungs are now so shattered that his tiring, heaving shoulders are unable to bring in enough air for his next breath. I will not be able to pull him back to shore. His lungs are failing, he is dying and he knows it.
Brant gives Harper until the end of Feb for an inquiry
TYENDINAGA – Tyendinaga Mohawk activist Shawn Brant has given Prime Minister Steven Harper until the end of February to call a national inquiry into missing Indigenous women.
A Tale of Two Cases
Last week two stories about the ongoing battle by New York State and the U.S. federal government against the Native tobacco trade hit the papers.