<Hamilton FreeSkool!> Freeskool: Yoga and Solidarity with Six Nations

Wed Feb 23 19:07:30 PST 2011

Hey Freeskoolers! This email is an update *TWO* new things happening in the
hamilton freeskool scene.

*1.* Yoga! Are you into being a part of a weekly Freeskool Yoga
session<http://hamiltonfreeskool.org/current-classes/yoga/>?
The plan is to get started around March 10th, but let's make plans for the
'whens and wheres' together first. Email us at
hamiltonfreeskool at gmail.comif you're down.

*2.* Freeskool in solidarity with Six Nations! We are excited to announce
the return of Hamilton Freeskool's Radical Practical
Solidarity<http://hamiltonfreeskool.org/current-classes/radical-practical-solidarity-part-3/>class!
This email is to tell you about two things coming up relating to this
class/topic:

*a. On this Friday, February 25th,* just a few days prior to the fifth
anniversary of the reclamation of Kanonhstaton, join us for a discussion,
art making, and a screening of Dr. Dawn Martin-Hill’s documentary, entitled
*Sewatokwa’tshera’t: The Dish With One Spoon*.

*b. On Sunday, February 27th, 2011, *at the fifth anniversary of the Six
Nations land reclamation of Douglas Creek Estates, Gary McHale, anti-Native
activist and executive director of Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality
(CANACE), has announced his intention to hold a “Truth and Reconciliation
Rally” in Caledonia, Ontario.

**

*(More details on a and b can be found down below in this email)*

Hey, by the way, thanks for all the love you have been giving Freeskool
lately good friends! To join the discussion about what Freeskool can look
like this spring/summer semester, click
here!<http://hamiltonfreeskool.org/need-ideas-for-the-summer/>

much love,

-freeskool organizers

*a. *The Hamilton Centre for Teaching Peace & Hamilton FreeSkool’s Practical
Solidarity present

 Film Screening, Discussion & Art Making: 5th Anniversary of the Reclamation
at Kanonhstaton

 What: Showing of *Sewatokwa’tshera’t: The Dish With One Spoon,* Dr. Dawn
Martin-Hill’s documentary regarding Six Nations land reclamation at
Kanonhstaton/Caledonia

When: Friday, February 25, 2011 at 7:30pm

 Where: The Skydragon Centre (27 King William St, Hamilton)

 Background

On February 28th, 2006, in response to continuing encroachment of land, and
after beginning with an informational campaign, a group of people from Six
Nations blocked the development of the Douglas Creek Estates subdivision and
reclaimed Kanonhstaton (loosely translated as “the protected place”).  The
reclamation was followed by racist backlash, often rooted in a refusal to
acknowledge Six Nations rights to the land, and the history of land claims
on the Haldimand tract.  This documentary explores the history, events of
the reclamation, the OPP raid, as well as backlash and racism.  The
documentary will begin at 7:30, followed by questions and discussion,
including a discussion of the current context of the reclamation and state
of land claims on the Haldimand Tract, settler solidarity, and announcements
regarding anniversary events in Caledonia and at the reclamation site.
Following the discussion, there will be opportunity for making art for these
events (materials provided).

For more information about this event contact Niki Thorne (
csn.thorne at gmail.com)

*b. Protest Gary McHale’s Anti-Native “Truth and Reconciliation Rally” in
Caledonia,
Sunday, February 27th 2011 at 1pm*

In 2006 people of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory reclaimed land in
“dispute” for more than 150 years in order to stop development of a
Caledonia
subdivision on stolen land.  In reaction to the reclamation, Gary McHale and
his
followers set about a political movement to end what they call “native
lawlessness,” “land claim terrorism,” and “race-based policing”.  CANACE has
bolstered continued support for their propaganda against “reverse racism”
and
“two-tiered justice” that, according to them, victimizes the mainly white
residents of Caledonia and Canadians more broadly.  Following the patters of
white backlash movements since the gains of the 1960s civil rights movement,
CANACE misappropriates the language of civil and human rights, and readily
proclaims its work to be part of Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy.

In 2009 leaders of CANACE played leading roles in trying to establish the
“Caledonia Militia” and on March 21st, 2010 they called an “anti-racist”
rally
on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to
bring
attention to the “race-based policing” that discriminates against white
people.
See:
http://voiceofcanada.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/join-merlyn-kinrades-anti-racism-rally-in-caledonia-on-march-2110/

Anti-racist and Six Nations solidarity activists organized to denounce the
escalation of racism and colonial violence on both occasions.

See:
http://6nsolidarity.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/mchale-flees-dialogue-happens/
And:
http://6nsolidarity.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/anti-racists-2-gary-mchale-canace-0/

And:
http://3903fnswg.wordpress.com/2009/06/21/a-call-for-a-peaceful-protest-against-the-formation-of-an-anti-native-
“militia”-in-caledonia/

NowGary McHale and his followers are attempting to appropriate the language
of
“Truth and Reconciliation.” CANACE is demanding that an official apology be
issued to the people of Caledonia from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP),
Ontario government, and Six Nations peoples. CANACE has also announced it
intends to erect an “apology monument” on Kanonhstaton (Six Nations
reclaimed
land). In their press release for the event they demand a similar apology
from
the government as that given to the First People of this land in relation to
the
unconscionable atrocities of the residential school system.
For Press Release see:
http://caledoniavictimsproject.wordpress.com/2011/02/05/joint-news-release-truth-reconciliation-rally-in-caledonia-feb-27th/

We must stand united against this outrageous attempt to compare the
hardships
experienced by Caledonia residents to various genocidal and racist projects
of
assimilation, expulsion and extermination. We must uphold the political,
historical and emotional significance of apologies issued by the Canadian
Government to people wronged by the state and society.  The First Nations
Solidarity Working Group as a part of the Six Nations Solidarity Network
calls
on all anti-racist activists and supporters of Indigenous struggles to send
a
clear message to anti-Native activists: attempts to erase the ongoing theft
of
Indigenous land and continuing crimes of the Canadian government against
Indigenous people and nations of this land through the spectre of white
victimization will not be tolerated!
 The protest will be peaceful. We will help to foster dialogue and assert
that
peace in Caledonia (and all of Turtle Island) can only be achieved with the
realization of justice for all, the honouring of treaties, an end to land
theft
and the recognition of Indigenous sovereignty.
Please join us in gathering outside of the Caledonia Lions Hall at 100
Haddington St, Caledonia starting at 11:30am.

Transportation to the protest will be organized by activists in Toronto,
Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo and Guelph.

Please contact info at fnswg.ca for transport from Toronto, and Hamilton
Practical Solidarity, hamilton.6n.solidarity at gmail.com, for transport in
Hamilton.

-- 
Hamilton FreeSkool
www.hamiltonfreeskool.org
hamiltonfreeskool at gmail.com

"If modern industrial education—and more broadly industrial
civilization—requires "the subsumption of the individual," that is, the
conversion of vibrant human beings into "automata," i.e., into a pliant
workforce, then the most revolutionary thing we can do is follow our hearts,
to manifest who we really are."
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