[IPSM] To the People of Caledonia and All Canadians

[willowtree at mts.net]

please consider distributing this around.

Respectfully,
Ahniwanika (John Schertow)
http://intercontinentalcry.mahost.org

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To the People of Caledonia and All Canadians

To add some more perspective to the ongoing situation in the Caledonia 
area, I would just like to express/reiterate a few things.

First I would like to say again that the Haudenosaunee People, and 
others involved in this reclamation do not have any weapons. They are 
peaceful people. The only danger to Caledonians comes from The 
Government of Canada's choice to use violence to illegally remove the 
People from this Land.

The Haudenosuanee People do not want to see any violence done to you or 
your families, just as they don't want to see any done to them or their 
children. They know violence cannot solve problems.

I also want to re-point out that this is not just about a small spanse 
of land. This is about the continuation of Canada's legacy of criminal 
and unnecessary conduct towards First Nations People.

I mean, this sort of situation has developed dozens of times in the 
past. There was Oka, Gustafsen Lake, Burnt Church, Ipperwash, 
Ahnishinabe Park, Sun Peaks, Grassy Narrows, Barriere Lake, and 
Clayoquot Sound to name a few.  

Always, it has been Canada doing something it has no legal authority to 
do, and then we are left no choice but to do - something, like what's 
being done near your homes now.

Sometimes people got hurt in the past - sometimes 80 year old women were 
arrested, young men were killed, little girls were traumatized, mothers 
were terrorized...

Always, these things happened because Canada allowed it to happen - 
because Canada refused to accept it's role and responsibilities on this 
land.

You see, Canada prefers to maintain it's image over enabling peace, 
enhancing democracy, and providing justice (to itself) even if it's at 
the expense of it's own people, or of separate Nations like the 
Haudenosuanee Nation.

Moving along, to better understand all this, I'd like you to imagine for 
a moment --- imagine that some guy from some other town came to your 
home and told you he claims your house as his own. He tells you he 
doesn't recognize you as a human being, so he takes you into your back 
yard, chains you to the fence, and then hands you a piece of paper that 
he tells you to sign. He says, "You can live here in Peace with your 
family, and I will live in the House with my family". You sign it in 
good faith... Then he walks back into his house, leaving you with a 
spoon and some alcohol.

Now imagine this was done to every single Caledonia Citizen.

Now imagine this was done to every Canadian.

Not only has this sort of thing happened collectively to the Indigenous 
People of this Continent, but in Canada alone there are currently 6000 
unresolved land claims, thousands of cases for Residential School 
abuses, hundreds of Billions of dollars we are owed from treaty 
agreements, and the perverted idea that we are wards or subjects of the 
Government of Canada.

I know, this his may be a bit difficult for some to fully get a hold on; 
This may be the first time some of you have even heard of stuff like 
this. But this is everyday for us.

We see our people killed and there is no justice for us. We see that a 
4-litre jug of milk is $12 and a 2 litre jug of beer is $4, we see 
Government of Canada-elected leaders in our communities who are stealing 
millions from us and there's nothing we can do about it. We see the AFN, 
a lobby group for the government of Canada, doing only what makes them 
look good on tv. We see this endless stream of empty promises and 
agreements that end up working against us. We see our children suffering 
and killing themselves because of Canada's apathy and incompetence, and 
we see hundreds upon hundreds of corporations drooling at the 
opportunities that will come from our removal - our non-existence (One 
example of that is found in Cross Lake, in Northern Manitoba. That 
reservation is sitting on top of the largest known deposit of titanium 
and vanadium (the two strongest metals) in the world, worth trillions - 
but they were told it's not that titanium, that it's the cheaper kind 
(used for white paint) so the CEO's of Cross Lake (PCN First Nation) - 
not the People mind you -  will only get a small percentage of the 
actual value.)

Well, this is done and we accept that, but we won't allow it to continue 
just as I imagine you would not allow some strange man to take even more 
from you, after he puts you on a reservation, in your backyard.

The big question here is - are you going to add to Canada's Course here? 
Are you going to be one of those Canadians who sabotaged...

Canada's already looked down upon in the world. In a report last year, 
the United Nations ranked Canada as being the 48th out of 174 Countries 
in the world (on the scale of human development) - that's with all the 
facts included (e.g. the poverty of First Nations People which Canada 
has allowed, instigated, and maintained. )

Without First Nations included, Canada would be in the top 10 - In fact 
just a few years ago we were ranked #1. You remember that, don't you? It 
was all over the news. I remember being led to feel like we had just won 
the lotto!!!  I guess 48th would be the used napkins from all the 
"better Nations" - which I think we're supposed to eat now?

People of Caledonia: from a young age we are taught that Canada is a 
beacon of hope in the world. We are told that we have in abundance, what 
some in third world die trying to imagine. We are told that we are on 
the cutting edge of technology and innovation. We are led to believe 
that are muilti-cultural, tolerant and accepting of other Peoples, 
interested in aiding and protecting those-in-need,  and that we set a 
good example for other Nations and People's of the World.

But now it is clear we are one of those poor Nations too.

The government is working hard trying to maintain it's facade now.. in 
the future they may even try some pathetic stunt like what Mexico and 
the States just did (Mexico just legalized the personal possession of 
crack and heroin, and America just gave $100 cheques to all their 
citizens because of the absurd gas prices there. Maybe we'll get an 
extra $5 for our GST cheques, and the natives will get a nice 
bio-degradable placard thanking them for honouring the treaties so 
dilligently, unceasingly...) Who knows what treats and niceities are in 
store for us.

Regardless, it will not change the Real Face of Canada - the one all 
Native Peoples, the poor, the disenfranchised, and the disabled know all 
too well.

And so I ask you: Do you really want this country to descend? To be an 
international embarassment like Australia, or Argentina during the "the 
Argentine miracle?" Do you really want your livelihoods thrown away 
without your permission because they can't stand the pressure that comes 
from being a Politician? Because they'd rather act out archaic games in 
parliament than do what a government in a democracy is supposed to do?

If not, than I suggest you speak up - make your voice abundantly clear 
that you refuse to instigate or contribute to Canada's negligence.

I say this especially because Canada is supposed to be a democracy, and 
in a democracy the role of the people is instrumental for the well-being 
and enhancement of society itself.

Without us, we might as well go live in some totalitarian regime; 
without our active participation, our instance, our jurisprudence - we 
might aswell fade way into the night like so many flawed experiments, 
faulty products, and failed states.

Ahniwanika
http://intercontinentalcry.mahost.org