[IPSM] Support Tyendinaga Mohawks: Free Shawn Brant

[stef at tao.ca]

This is an e-mail from the Tyendinaga Support Committee which is a
group in Toronto that has quickly come together to gather support to
Free Shawn Brant.

In this e-mail...

********************************************************

1.  August 29:  Public Meeting to Demand the Release of Shawn Brant

2.  Sign the Petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/supporttmt

3.  Free Shawn Brant  Website: http://www.ocap.ca/supporttmt.html

4.  What you can do

5.  Next Tyendinaga Support Committee Meeting

6.  Join the Free Shawn Brant group on Facebook

7.  Join the E-Mail List

********************************************************

1.   TAKING A SERIOUS STAND:
PUBLIC MEETING TO DEMAND THE RELEASE OF SHAWN BRANT

Public Meeting
Wednesday August 29th, 2007
7pm
Steelworkers' Hall - 25 Cecil Street
Admission: Pay what you can

Speakers:

Natercia Coelho, wife of prisoner Gary Freeman
Naomi Klein, author
and
Featuring: Sue Collis, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory

Shawn Brant, spokesperson for the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte
(Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory), was denied bail for the second time
earlier this month. Shawn is currently imprisoned in Quinte Detention
Centre, Napanee.

Shawn Brant is the only person facing charges for his role in two
major blockades carried out by members of the Mohawks of the Bay  of
Quinte during the past four months, as part of the struggle for their
land.

Clearly, Brant's real 'crime' has been to take a serious stand against
the theft of the land, the denial of sovereignty and the
impoverishment and abuse of his People.

The Mohawks of Tyendinaga, and Shawn Brant as a spokesperson for the
community, have carved out a national platform to expose Canada's
complicity in the suffering of First Nations peoples.  Given Brant's
refusal to live as a victim of the Canadian state's systemic violence,
he poses too great a threat to a country built on the backs of First
Nations peoples.  That is why he is still in jail, and why, if
convicted, he will face federal penitentiary time.  The government of
Canada is trying to send a brutal message to First Nations people
committed to resisting centuries of genocide and colonialism.

As supporters, allies, and people who live on and profit from stolen
land - even through our mere existence - we bear a serious
responsibility to understand the struggle in Tyendinaga, to support
the Mohawks of the Bay  of Quinte, and to participate in the fight for
Shawn Brant's freedom.  If we sit back and allow this act of
criminalization to imprison Shawn at length, if we allow Shawn Brant's
family to be torn apart, we too are participating in the on-going war
against the original people of this land.

We invite you to come out and hear directly from Sue Collis, Shawn
Brant's wife, about the struggle against the Canadian government, a
force that is determined to continue its colonial project ruthlessly
and at age-old high cost. It is vital that we shift the balance of
forces by building a movement of solidarity around Shawn Brant and, by
extension, First Nations' struggle for justice, respect, and the land.

Hosted by the Tyendinaga Support Committee.
For more information, please contact: support.tmt at gmail.com

********************************************************

2.   Sign the Petition:  http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/supporttmt

Please sign the following petition at the website above:

We, the undersigned, believe that Shawn Brant, spokesperson from
Tyendinaga Mohawk  Territory, should be released from jail and have
all current criminal charges against him stayed. Given unresolved land
claims, polluted drinking water, overwhelming poverty and suicide
rates in First Nations communities across this country, it comes as no
surprise to us when First Nations people create physical impediments
to halt the extraction of resources and wealth from their land.
Therefore, we believe that First Nations peoples have the right to
refuse to live in these conditions and that the exploitation of their
land should cease.

********************************************************

3.  Website:  http://www.ocap.ca/supporttmt.html

A website has been started.  Please check back frequently for updates
about Shawn's court case and what you can do to support.  In the
following week we will be posting support letters from various
organizations, a more thorough booklet of information and analysis
about Shawn's situation and the struggle for land in Tyendinaga more
generally as well as information about how to donate to the legal
fund.

********************************************************

4. What you can do

For now we are asking people to sign the petition, come to the public
meeting on August 29th in Toronto and spread the word about Shawn's
continuing imprisonment.  We are in the process of setting up a legal
fund for the cost of the trial and will be asking for donations in the
near future.  We are also asking for organizations to write letters of
support for Shawn that can be distributed and posted on-line.  If you
are part of a union, community group, political organization, church
congregation or otherwise, please consider drawing up a letter of
support from your organization and e-mail it to support.tmt at gmail.com.
If you are in Toronto, come to the next meeting of the Tyendinaga
Support Committee...

********************************************************

5.  Next meeting of the Tyendinaga Support Committee

Will be on Wednesday, Septemeber 5 at a location to be announced.  If
you are interested in coming to this meeting keep checking the website
and a location should be posted there at least a week before the
meeting.

********************************************************

6.  Join the Free Shawn Brant Group on Facebook

Why not?  There's already 680 members.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2407903830

********************************************************

7.  Join the E-Mail List

To join the Tyendinaga Support Committee e-mail list (if you are not
on it already) please go to:
http://masses.tao.ca/lists/listinfo/tyendinaga_support



Thanks for Reading
-Tyendinaga Support Committee

http://www.ocap.ca/supporttmt.html
support.tmt at gmail.com
https://masses.tao.ca/lists/listinfo/tyendinaga_support