[IPSM] Kanehsatake articles from the Eastern Door

[Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movment - Montreal]

The Eastern Door
vol. 13 #16, May 7 2004

Tension Mounts in Kanehsatake
SQ allowed to drive through community
By: Ross Montour


The tension in Kanehsatake continued to mount this week, even though
Kanesatake Mohawk Police withdrew from the area after a volatile
confrontation on Monday. The skirmish prompted interim police chief Ed
Thompson to formally request aide from the SQ and RCMP.


Discussions between Quebec Public Security Minister Jacques Chagnon and
exiled Grand Chief James Gabriel prompted the minister to announce a joint
SQ, RCMP and 'Peacekeeper' operation aimed at "restoring order" to the
strife-torn community. Chagnon announced the operation Wednesday. The
statement suggested the operation would begin that day.


The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake has responded to Chagnon's repeated use of
the term 'Peacekeeper' in describing the police force appointed by
Gabriel. In a press release issued earlier this week, the MCK clarified
that Chagnon has not been in contact with nor requested the aid of
Kahnawake's Peacekeepers in any operation. It also questioned whether the
minister was using the term generically.


The minister's announcement also drew criticism from Gabriel, who chided
Chagnon for speaking prematurely. Gabriel made his remarks at a press
conference in Laval on Wednesday. The controversial Grand Chief also used
the press conference to finger two of his opponents on council for causing
Monday's trouble.


Gabriel accused fellow Chiefs John Harding and Pearl Bonspille of
participating in a riot. He said the two had violated the trust of their
office by throwing stones instead of urging peace at the Monday incident.
According to a source who was at the press conference, "You could say that
he also implied they had incited the riot."


The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Gabriel didn't say
whether he intended to seek criminal charges against Harding and
Bonspille.


Harding flatly denied Gabriel's accusations. "On at least four occasions
that day, Pearl (Bonspille) and I stepped in between the police and the
community. I'm not a rock-thrower but I am a defender of the territory.
I'm getting tired of this (Gabriel's accusations). After 37 days of this,
when is it going to be understood we're not going to accept what we are
calling James' goon squad into the territory? I saw Ed Thompson take
direct orders from James Gabriel at our last meeting. Ed himself told me
that he sent Terry (Isaac) and Larry (Ross) home. But that's kind of funny
then, that it was Larry Ross who tried to reach into my car to take my
keys afterward," Harding said yesterday.


It has been reported that Surete du Quebec patrol cars are being allowed
to pass through Kanehsatake via Highway 344 without interference, so long
as the Quebec officers do not attempt to conduct police work. However,
Harding said that this is not a new development. "Nothing has changed with
regard to this. The SQ have always used the highway as a conduit between
Oka and St. Placide," he explained.


Referring back to Monday's events, Harding confirmed reports that he had
been struck by Gabriel's mother's car as she sped through the scene of the
conflict on Monday. "Yes, she hit me with her vehicle. I can't say whether
it was intentional or not. I was standing between the police and community
members when somebody yelled to tell me to get out of the way. She struck
me and spun me around," Harding stated.


Harding, who suffered minor injuries, confirmed that he has filed a
complaint with police. "I didn't want to file a complaint. It was only
after James' accusations when some community members tried to drag his
mother out of her car and beat her up that I decided to file the report,"
he added. Harding emphasized that he was tired of Gabriel's lies.


Gabriel is not without his supporters in the community. One person called
The Eastern Door to say that, while they were not supporters of Gabriel,
they were not in support of the demonstrators either. The caller also
chose to speak in confidence out of "fear of retribution." The person
complained that many of the masked individuals are youths and that the
masked warriors have targeted Gabriel supporters - pulling them over and
demanding to see their identification. The individual also claimed that
there was drug and alcohol use among the group.


Harding responded to the allegation, saying that, while he could not say
whether any community member alluded to had been under the influence of
drugs or alcohol or not, the warriors are under the leadership of the
community's elders. "And that leadership is based upon our culture. I am
concerned about those people who issue such statements but never seem to
give their names. That aside, I have to tell you, I believe in my heart
that this will end peacefully," Harding said.


Harding's optimism aside, Kahnawake Grand Chief Joe Tokwiro Norton
responded to a written plea signed by 28 Kanehsatake women calling on him
for assistance. In a strongly worded statement, Norton called upon Chagnon
to demand that Gabriel agree to mediation in resolving the disputes in the
community.


"The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake is extremely concerned about the volatile
and dangerous situation in Kanehsatake. We are especially concerned that
the actions being contemplated (sending in a combined force of SQ, RCMP
and Kanehsatake police into Kanehsatake) could potentially lead to
bloodshed
Mr. Chagnon needs to send the strongest message possible to Mr.
Gabriel: accept mediation or be prepared to accept full responsibility for
whatever happens," Norton said.


The Grand Chief went on to review the numerous offers of mediation that
have been extended to and been rejected by Gabriel.


"The events, as they have unfolded, are no surprise to Kahnawake. Without
a clear understanding of the seriousness of the situation, the governments
(both provincial and federal) have maintained a dialogue with only one
side - that of James Gabriel. This is a recipe for disaster, a disaster
that looms ever closer. That is why it is so important that Mr. Chagnon do
his best to express the urgency of mediation to Mr. Gabriel," Norton
emphasized yesterday.


For his part Gabriel seems quite prepared to let the chips fall where they
may. In an interview aired on CJAD radio Wednesday, Gabriel responded to
questions about the potential for bloodshed in his community. He is
reported to have replied, "Well, so be it."


Meanwhile, even though there has been no sighting of Gabriel's police
force at the checkpoints, the mood remains tense because of what may come.



Kanehsatake women fearful for men
By: Ross Montour


While reports of a multi-force police invasion of Kanehsatake flooded the
airways on Wednesday, the mood among the community members stationed at
the east and west checkpoints of Highway 344, the main access road through
the troubled Mohawk territory, was as charged as the threat of rain that
hung darkly in the sky over the minds of the people.


The death of Joe David this week also weighs heavily on the minds of the
people. David, a Warrior known as Stonecarver, was among those defending
the plot of land on which they stand - known world-wide as The Pines.
"They're not even respectful of this," one woman remarks.


The fact that David was shot and rendered a paraplegic in a botched
operation led by two men Grand Chief James Gabriel has brought back to the
community evokes unpleasant memories of Larry Ross and Terry Isaac.


As a group, the strain they feel is clearly written upon their brows and
in the circles beneath their eyes. Many have gone without sleep for days
at a stretch. One of those women, Crystal Nicholas, declares, "We will not
stand idly by while they attack our men."


Hilda Nicholas, a member of the Mohawk Police Commission disbanded by
Grand Chief James Gabriel, is there by the cemetery known around the world
simply as 'The Pines', the flashpoint of the 1990 Oka Crisis. Nicholas,
along with many of the women in the community, fears the return of
Gabriel's police force will initiate a reign of retribution that will
target the men of the community who oppose the Grand Chief.


Crystal Nicholas' son, 32-year-old Jason, has a warrant hanging over his
head, alleging he uttered death threats against Gabriel loyalist Chief
Clarence Simon. When she learned that Quebec's Public Security Minister
Jacques Chagnon had bandied about Jason's name in the National Assembly,
she contacted an attorney to send him a letter. The letter demanded the
striking of the minister's comments from the official record and a public
apology. While she wishes she and her son could hold Chagnon accountable
legally, she knows it will not likely happen. With even greater certainty,
she defends her son, saying the accusations against him are completely
false.


"He never threatened him (Simon). I was there the day that that was
supposed to have happened. Jason was passing by in his car. A group of
community members were in the parking lot and they exchanged words with
Clarence when he came out of the building. But Jason was never involved,"
Crystal Nicholas insists.


Jeri Cree, another community member, ponders a future of broken family
relationships in her community: "When this is all over - the divisions are
now as deep and wide as the Grand Canyon - those divisions will take years
to heal."


"No one," she adds, "will want to go to the health centre." The divisions
are ugly and apparent, even at the place of healing. Hilda Nicholas hopes
that Chagnon will respond to her letter and to the community's concerns,
but she doesn't hold out much hope that he will.


"I just want to know why he won't hear what this community is saying. A
man in his position should have an open mind," she says.


Another woman - a teacher, mother and grandmother - speaks from her home.
She has become so affected by the stress of living in her troubled
community that she has been unable to work. Driven to the point of poor
health, she wants people to hear what the women of the community have to
say.


"The women are talking amongst themselves in the evenings at the west
gate, for instance," she says softly. "It gets so scary because my kids
are there - they will be there when they (police) come in with their
pepper spray and their tazors."


Tazor-toting police have already attacked one of her sons, she alleges.
"They took him into custody and they wouldn't release him for three hours
until he signed their release with its conditions," she charged.


The woman complains about the mainstream media's coverage of what's
happening in her community.


"They only report that they kicked her (James Gabriel's mother Margaret
Gabriel's) car. They tell about how she bumped one of our chiefs, John
Harding with her car. You get angry - it seems so hopeless. It's
frustrating. Families are fighting among themselves. People who work
together are fighting among themselves. People are keeping their kids home
from school because they don't know what's going to happen. If only Jimmy
would sit down with the three chiefs here - but he won't," she says.


In yet another home, another woman and her nieces gather around the table.
Like others in the community, they don't want their names used either.
They fear retribution, starting with the loss of job income for going on
record against the unpopular Grand Chief.


The woman recalls the history of the change from a traditional form of
government in which the women chose the chiefs to the elected system now
in place. The government funded it - $250,000 is the sum she recalls.


She blames the elected council system for the problems the community now
faces. She, like many of his detracters, sees no hope for Kanehsatake,
unless James Gabriel is gone from the scene. The women wonder how much and
whose blood will have to be shed before peace and power over its own
destiny is returned to Kanehsatake.