Minister of Justice responds to call for inquiry into Gustafsen Lake standoff
BURNABY, BC – Several protesters gathered outside of Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould’s speech at Simon Fraser University this past week, renewing calls for an inquiry into the Ts’Peten (Gustafsen Lake) standoff.
The 1995 confrontation lasted for 31 days between the RCMP and Indigenous land defenders. The confrontation led to the Mounties firing thousands of rounds of ammunition at the people who were defending their sacred sundance grounds on unceded Shuswap territory.
One of the leaders of the standoff, Wolverine has renewed calls for an inquiry into the use of force.
“I acknowledge Wolverine and I am so sorry to hear that he is not doing well,” said Wilson-Raybould. Wilson-Raybould went on to say that this inquiry was not a priority. “It takes time to build trust”, she added. She believes that the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls inquiry will open up conversations to address more issues that need to be examined.
The incident remains one of the largest stains on the relationships between Indigenous nations and the Canadian goverment.
Harsha Walia, an activist, wrote, “From Gustafsen Lake to Kanesatake and Elsipogtog, state violence has been unleashed on Indigenous peoples asserting their inherent right to protect their lands.”
Ts’Peten warriors have been calling for an inquiry for 27 years.
“Despite the 20 years that have passed since the Ts’Peten standoff, the core issues that so forcefully clashed against each other remain at the forefront of the hearts and minds of Indigenous peoples. That is our right to self-determination, autonomy and protection from the dispossession of our lands and territories”, says Wolverine in his letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Whitesboro changes town seal of white man choking an Oneida man
WHITESBORO, NY – Whitesboro, a village in the New York State’s Mohawk Valley, recently came under fire for racially insensitive imagery on their town seal. As a result, the town had a vote to decide whether or not to change the seal which, according to the mayor of Whitesboro, depicts a “friendly wrestling match” between the town founder Hugh White and an Oneida man.
Out of 212 votes cast, 157 returned in favor of keeping the town seal the way it was. This decision remained until Comedy Central’s The Daily Show lambasted the small town for its vote. According to Mayor Patrick O’Connor, “the seal is based on historical events that fostered a good relationship between our founder and the American Indians.” The mayor also expressed surprise at the “negative attention that Whitesboro was facing as a result of the vote.”
When The Daily Show correspondent Jessica Williams attended the town, she discovered many interesting things. The seal had previously been changed in 1977 to move the hands from the neck area down to the shoulders.
“So there’s a more offensive version of this seal?” Williams asked. “Yeah, this one is definitely chokier,” she said of the earlier logo.
In an interview with Patrick O’Connor, Williams retorted to the mayor’s assertion that this was a “friendly wrestling match” with the observation.
“Is that a pioneer choking that Native American dude to death or do I have something crazy in my eye?” Williams asked.
The day following the airing of the segment, Whitesboro decided to change the seal, despite the vote.
Whitesboro went so far as to actually seek input from the Oneida nation. Ray Halbritter, a member of the Oneida Nation says, “We applaud the village leader’s willingness to evaluate their own symbols and how to make sure they accurately reflect their community’s core values.”
Fort William First Nation needs direct route to Thunder Bay
FORT WILLIAM, ON – Fort William First Nation Chief Peter Collins is calling on the federal and provincial government to create a direct, alternate route from the community to Thunder Bay after an accident closed Highway 61 on Tuesday morning.
With Highway 61 being closed, it took an ambulance over an hour to reach the community to help a young woman who was found unresponsive.
Fort William First Nation has been locked in a dispute with Canadian National Railway (CN) over the repair of the James Street bridge which was closed to vehicle traffic in 2013 due to fire damage.
Although rail traffic continues, foot and vehicular traffic have been discontinued. The James Street bridge presents a viable alternative, but the city of Thunder Bay says that in order to re-open the bridge the city would have to surrender it’s 1906 agreement and Fort William would have to give up current and future land claims.
CN has denied that Fort William would have to do so. Fort William Chief Collins has met privately with CN to discuss solutions but nothing substantial has come of the conversations. He hopes that a solution can be found without lawyers.
Teacher who is reclaiming the Cree language is shortlisted for $1M award
SASKATOON, SK – Belinda Daniels remains dedicated to passing on the language to whoever would like to learn. Her grandparents attended residential schools and never really wanted to share the language with their granddaughter.
“They did not want me to speak Cree because they didn’t want me to go through the same type of harm, punishment and ridicule that they suffered from,” Daniels says. Now she teaches Cree, or Nehiyawewin, at a Saskatoon high school as well as in a university.
The Global Teacher Prize is given to an “exceptional teacher who made an outstanding contribution to the profession.” Daniels is one of 50 teachers shortlisted of 8000 nominated globally.
Daniels was first inspired when working as an administrative assistant at a high school where everyone spoke Cree. So she started taking classes at a university and once she began learning, she began to ask her grandparents deeper questions about the Cree language and the worldview it carries with it.
“All of these things are alive and animate. This is where you get that connection towards our environment, towards our climate, towards nature and this is where you develop that huge respect for Mother Earth and that can only come from the language,” Daniels says.
She has been teaching Cree for 15 years and has created a language camp for new learners that has been running for 11 years. Cultural identity and language creates self-esteem and pride, and Daniels says this is one of the main reasons that she works to recreate that connection.
“When you have that connection to who you are and that connection to the land, it just gives you more of an appreciation of where you come from”, Daniels added.
The winner will be announced in March in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
