[Indigsol] [Fwd: ottawa: Days of action against CN around October 31?]

[mattm-b at resist.ca]

Hi there -- We wrote you back around  September 10 wondering about
coordinating days of action against CN in October. We were originally
proposing actions around October 18, but our Montreal Tyendinaga Support
Committee has since decided to move our CN picket to October 31 (mainly so
that we can concentrate on potential anti-CP Spirit Train actions on October
18, and also because the planned anti-war demo on that day is actually going
to be in the east end of the city at the Longue Pointe Military Base, which
makes combining an entire day of action impossible).

All to say that we'd still like to have as many anti-CN actions as possible
around the date of October 31 (choose a date before or after if that's more
convenient to you). Actions could include pickets, banners drops, a
delegation visit, a protest, or whatever you feel your local groups and
activists have the capacity for and make sense for your context. One of our
main slogans is 'CN: Drop your racist lawsuit against the Mohawks of
Tyendinaga' as well as using the occasion to raise awareness around the
ongoing struggle at Tyendinaga, and Shawn Brant's upcoming trial.

Please get back in touch when you can about whether you can do something
against CN around October 31. So far, we've heard from individuals and
groups in Vancouver, Ottawa and Peterborough.

In solidarity,
The Montreal Tyendinaga Support Committee
indigenoussolidaritymontreal at gmail.com
----------




--- DRAFT MONTREAL FLYER TEXT ---

Support the Mohawks of Tyendinaga

CN: Drop your racist lawsuit!


-- Defend Shawn Brant and the Mohawks of Tyendinaga

Tyendinaga is a Mohawk community located on the shore of the Bay of Quinte
between Toronto and Montreal, in eastern Ontario. The Mohawk Nation is one
of the five original nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.

As part of long-standing struggles for land and self-determination –
including unresolved land claims, poverty, suicides and polluted water --
members of the Tyendinaga Mohawk community have organized to defend their
territory. In particular, several actions, including blockades, have taken
place to expedite the slow negotiation process over the Culbertson Tract, a
piece of land the government has long acknowledged was taken illegally from
the Mohawks. A quarry on the land was reclaimed in March 2007, and Mohawks
have maintained a fulltime presence on-site ever since.

Because of his role as an outspoken spokesperson for the community, Shawn
Brant has been repeatedly targeted for arrest and incarceration. Shawn's
trial for his role in blockades of highways and railways running through the
Tyendinaga territory will begin in January 2009; the Crown prosecutor is
asking for 12 year prison sentence.

The attack on Shawn Brant is no less than an attack on all Indigenous
peoples who stand up to defend their land and community. Other members of
the Tyendinaga community have also been charged with serious offences, and
forbidden from participating in protests. Instead of acknowledging the just
claims of the Tyendinaga Mohawks, the government and police are
criminalizing the community.

We must not let the state succeed with their attacks on Shawn Brant and the
Mohawks of Tyendinaga. As non-native allies, living in settler communities
on or near Mohawk lands, we need to stand up in support of Indigenous
sovereignty and self-determination. Read more below about "How you can
help?"


-- CN: Drop your racist lawsuit!

While various Mohawk activists are facing criminal charges, some are also
facing civil lawsuits by CN Rail, a multi-billion dollar company with
installations and tracks from ocean-to-ocean. CN's corporate headquarters
are in Montreal (935 de La Gauchetière Street West, right beside the main
Central Train Station). CN's rails through the territory of Tyendinaga were
blocked in April 2006, and again in June 2007.

In a legal maneuver that can only be described as colonial, CN is currently
suing three activists from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory – Shawn Brant,
Jason Maracle and Tara Green -- for over $100 million. CN's lawsuit is that
much more offensive when you consider that CN tracks cross native
territories all over "Canada." Their lawsuit is about intimidating and
marginalizing effective indigenous organizers, who are active in the
legitimate defense of their land and livelihood.

While CN uses the courts to attack native activists, the company's CEO -- E.
Hunter Harrison -- is a member of the North American Competitiveness
Council, a key promoter of the recently formed "Security and Prosperity
Partnership" (SPP) between Canada, the United States and Mexico. The SPP
continues the imposition of the pro-corporate North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), combined with paranoid "Homeland Security" policies.

When travelers consider the "inconvenience" of delayed trains, or blocked
highways and bridges, contrast that temporary inconvenience with the
permanent and deeply entrenched theft of land from native communities, and
the adverse social conditions that hundreds of years of genocide have
produced.

As part of the campaign of support for the Mohawks of Tyendinaga,
Montreal-area organizers are also organizing a campaign to target CN Rail
for their colonial and racist role in attacking the Mohawks of Tyendinaga.
We are demanding that CN drop their racist lawsuit.


-- How you can help? --

* The Montreal Tyendinaga Support Committee is actively raising money for
the Tyendinaga Legal Defence Fund, which divides funds raised between the
legal costs of Shawn's trial, and maintaining the quarry reclamation site.
Get in touch to contribute, or if you're organizing your own fundraising
events. Check out our website for more info about the $5 x 1000 Montreal
Fundraising Campaign.

* We are also continuing our campaign against CN Rail, whose corporate
headquarters are in Montreal. If you can help with popular education and
action efforts in the coming months, please get in touch. More info about
the CN campaign is also on our website below.

* More generally, get in touch so that you can receive more info about
upcoming events and actions, as well as updates.

INFO: indigenoussolidaritymontreal at gmail.com - 514-848-7583 -
http://www.amp-montreal.net



--- DRAFT $5x1000 TEXT ---

1000 x $5: A Montreal Fundraising Campaign in support of the Tyendinaga
Legal Defence Fund

To all indigenous sovereignty supporters in the Montreal-area

A call for your support: Looking for up to 1000 individuals to donate $5 in
support of the Tyendinaga Legal Defence Fund


This coming January 2009, Mohawk organizer Shawn Brant will be on trial. If
convicted by Canada's colonial courts, the Crown prosecutor is asking for 12
years in prison. Shawn faces trial and imprisonment for his involvement in
defending the sovereignty and self-determination of the Mohawks of
Tyendinaga, in eastern Ontario.

The legal system's attack on Shawn occurs in the context of blockades and
actions to bring to public attention the longstanding demands for justice in
indigenous communities: unresolved land claims, poverty, suicide and
polluted water. In particular, the Mohawks of Tyendinaga are demanding the
return of the Culbertson Tract, where they have reclaimed a quarry and
maintain a full-time presence on site. The Culbertson Tract is a piece of
land the government has long acknowledged was taken illegally from the
Mohawks.

One tangible and important form of support is to donate to the Tyendinaga
Legal Defence Fund, which splits funds raised between legal costs and
maintaining the quarry.

We are calling on local groups to ask their members to donate $5 in support
of indigenous sovereignty and self-determination. We have set a goal of
trying to collect $5000 by November 30, 2008, $5 at-a-time. Larger donations
won't be turned away, but we still would like to reach at least 1000
individuals in the Montreal-area, as a way of raising awareness about this
important issue. Please take the time to read our flyer, or visit the
website, to get acquainted with the issues.

There are three ways you can contribute to the $5 x 1000 Montreal
Fundraising Campaign:

  1. Contact the Montreal Tyendinaga Support Committee directly –
indigenoussolidaritymontreal at gmail.com or 514-848-7583 – to arrange to make
a donation.

  2. Organize a collection of $5 each from individuals within your group or
network at your next meeting, or at an event. When collecting $5, please be
sure to acquaint people with issues surrounding the court attack on Shawn
Brant. After you have collected the money, please contact the Montreal
Tyendinaga Support Committee directly to pass on the money and information
about how many people donated (again, we'd like to raise $5000, $5
at-a-time).

  3. Visit any one of the eight donation drop-off sites below, and make your
donation (at the same time, pick up an information flyer). There is an
envelope where you can leave your donation behind the main cash at each
location.:


La Librairie L'Insoumise
2033 boulevard Saint-Laurent
(near métro St-Laurent)
tel: 514-313-3489

DIRA Anarchist Library
2035 boulevard Saint-Laurent
(near métro St-Laurent)
tel: 514-843-2018

Le Cagibi
5490 boulevard Saint-Laurent
(near métro Rosemont)
tel: 514-509-1199

QPIRG-Concordia
1455 de Maisonneuve ouest
(near métro Guy-Concordia)
tel: 514-848-7585

Le Frigo Vert
2130 MacKay
(near métro Guy-Concordia)
tel: 514-848-7586

Café Co-op Touski
2361 Ontario est
(near métro Frontenac)
tel: 514-524-3113

Revolution Montreal Bike Store
1757 rue Amherst
(near métro Beaudry)
tel: 514-313-7521

L'Escalier
552 Ste-Catherine est
tel: 514-670-5812
(near métro Berri-Uqam)

----------
Montreal Tyendinaga Support Committee
514-848-7583
indigenoussolidaritymontreal at gmail.com
www.amp-montreal.net (to be updated)
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