We Are Not Alone

A few things are clear from the events of the past week. The first is that we are not alone. The Mi’kmaq who are standing against fracking for natural gas in Elsipogtog do so not just with the courage of their own convictions but also with support from places diverse in geography, culture and ethnicity.

Social media have made it much easier to reach across time and space. We are connecting with our Native relations from the Mohawks to the Lakota, but also the Paiute, Ojibwe, Kumeyaay and hundreds of Native people familiar and unfamiliar to us all. We may not form an ever-ready unified military force, but that is not where our strength will ever be—nor should it.

Our strengths are in each of the territories or regions that we live. For some, it is seizing the moment to take our own stand on a parallel issue that strengthens the fight for each. For others, it is simply using whatever field of play we find ourselves in to raise awareness, make a statement and build support.

As I wove the information on the raid at Elsipogtog into my previously arranged interviews in Albany, N.Y. on public radio and cable news, I was surprised at the interest that was piqued.

And as I listened to public radio on my drive back across the state from Albany to Cattaraugus, I was moved by an interview with a local non-Native elected official in New Brunswick who said,

“God bless the First Nations.” This gentleman went on to describe how municipal leaders had voted almost unanimously for a moratorium of shale gas exploration in New Brunswick because of their concerns with hydrofracking.

He suggested that only the Native protesters were having success fighting this affront to land, water and the life of the region, because his own federal government was working against the interests of the municipal governments. These local elected officials were standing side by side with the Native protesters, quite literally in some cases. The one official I was listening to on the radio took a shot to the leg from one of the RCMP’s “non-lethal” weapons while at the site.

While we face many enemies in our fight for sovereignty, more and more non-Native activists are coming to the conclusion that as Pamela Palmater once stated on my show, Natives may be the last best hope for anyone interested in saving the planet.

Many of us hold onto some very specific iconic images from events of the past. There’s the Warrior vs. soldier faceoff from Oka, and Richard Nicolas standing with a rifle raised in his hand on a flipped over SQ van from the same conflict. But images these days come quicker than ever, and they travel the globe at lightning speed. Think of the images coming from the Elsipogtog conflict: among them are some of the most compelling images of the last few decades. My good friend Gregg Deal may have helped immortalize one of them with his latest poster created for the “Honor the Treaties” project from the photo image of a woman holding an eagle feather kneeling in front of a line of heavily armed RCMP. Gregg, a Pyramid Lake Paiute, worked feverishly to get this new creation completed and posted on social media as soon as possible.

From Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal to cities across New York State and the US, activism on various platforms of social media has taken hold. As I sit here banging on my keyboard I see a picture pop up on a Facebook post from Hollywood, California of actor Adam Sandler holding a sign that reads, “We Support Elsipogtog.”

We don’t need to win everyone over, but as more people from outside our Native communities come to realize they need us, we gain both increased support and an increased responsibility.

We are not alone, and in the words of Uncle Ben Parker, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

Our people are still looked at in racist and condescending ways, as the mainstream coverage of Elsipogtog shows. Those with solid control of the mainstream media are among them, but social media gives us a fighting chance to even the playing field. If we play it right and refuse to let anyone hijack our message or misappropriate our power and responsibility, we may yet see major shifts in policies.

The Mi’kmaq of Elsipogtog have made us all proud. And I for one feel stronger than ever when fighting for our land, water, women and children.

– John Karhiio Kane, Mohawk, a national commentator on Native American issues, hosts “Let’s Talk Native…with John Kane,” ESPN-AM 1520 in Buffalo, Sundays, 9-11 p.m. He is a frequent guest on WGRZ-TV’s (NBC/Buffalo) “2 Sides” and “The Capitol Pressroom with Susan Arbetter” in Albany. John’s “Native Pride” blog can be found at www.letstalknativepride.blogspot.com. He also has a very active “Let’s Talk Native…with John Kane” group page on Facebook.

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10 Comments

  1. Very well written and said … Miigwech to all of OUR WARRIORS through-out Turtle Island – the Warriors of Protection and our Warriors of the books and papers … the ones trying to even up the playing field through THEIR education system … All of our names that represent Indigenous Nations translate to mean “Original Man”, or “True Human” .. Every one of ours .. ANd that is the truth …aho

  2. Nations are political through allegiance, you are of many enthicities. In our constitution if you submit to the laws of a foreign nation we forfeit our rights. Why?

  3. My question is are you really interested in bringing together ALL people, no matter their color, who know our precious planet needs to be defended? You sound full of resent and since my skin is white, I have to wonder if you would see me as your oppressor or your sister. Would I be judged by my own actions or by the actions of people I look like. No amount of good deeds cover up the evil of your thoughts when they dance with vengeful rhetoric. I, like many, many more, love my Mother Earth. She made me like she made you. It is the weakness of a persons mind, not the color of their skin, that make them destructive. I don’t need you to fight for our Mother because you are “native”. I need you to fight because you love her. I am “native” because I was born of my Mother. You use “native” as a declaration of color or “people”, not as an origination of place of birth. You think because you stand on one tiny part of Mother’s blanket that makes that part more important then all the blanket. Our Mother is round like the circle of life. What happens in one place of the circle will affect all. I want to stand with people who look beyond clique and who are focused on a common knowledge of how the destruction of our Mother must be stopped. So. My question is are you really interested in bringing together ALL people, no matter their color, who know our precious planet needs to be defended?

    1. We are interested in inclusiveness of all the nations of man. But I don’t believe that we have to give up our NATIVE NESS in order to do that. And Why should we. Our culture and identity is in the land. We shouldn’t have to give up the term Native to make someone else feel more included in the fight for Mother Earth. Unity and Strength in numbers. From Anishinaabe Kwe

  4. Where can I listen to one of your interviews about this? I’m also against fracking anywhere and god bless what you are doing.

    1. As A Wise Old Chief said,”When The White Man Came to our shores,if He would have adopted The Native Ways, we’d all still be drinking from our streams,and breathing fresh air”! The Native People are the Stewards and keepers of Our Mother Earth, for all Generations! They live in balance, it was the White Man, Who brought imbalance to Mother Earth!

      1. You are wrong to say this. It calls for hate to be visited on a color instead of the abusive mentality of greed. I am made up of the blood of many nations and my skin color does not speak of the strength of my heart or the origin of my soul. How can we hope to defend our Mother when we hate her rainbows?

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