[IPSM] "Anti-Colonial Thanksgiving" Series!

[nora butler burke]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Le Frigo Vert presents:An Extra-Special "Anti-Colonial 
Thanksgiving" Series!
Date: 	Wed, 3 Oct 2007 18:15:06 -0400
From: 	shelly <luvnrev at colba.net>



*In celebration of our 15th Year Anniversary*
*/Le Frigo Vert presents:/*
**
*An Extra-Special "Anti-Colonial Thanksgiving" Series!*
*October 11th, 18th, 25th & November 1st @ the Native Friendship Center, 
Montreal*
In celebration of Frigo's 15th year anniversary, we have extended our 
most popular annual event, the Anti-
Colonial Thanksgiving, into a series of three film/guest speaker nights, 
and our regularly scheduled film, speakers and FEAST! All events will 
take place at the wheelchair accessible Native Friendship Center 
Montreal (2001 St. Laurent Blvd, Metro St. Laurent), are free of charge 
and have free on-site childcare. Light snacks and refreshements will be 
available for the first 3 events, and a full vegan Anti-Colonial 
Thanksgiving meal will be served November 1st.
**********************************************************************************************
*October 11th, 7pm*
*_Resist 2010: No Olympics on Stolen Native Land!_*
*
*
In British Columbia, a frenzy of developers have been tearing apart the 
once pristine and bountiful territories of the Coast Salish, Stl'atl'imc 
and Secwepemc indigenous Peoples in order to accomodate tourism and 
investment related to the 2010 Olympics. While these traditional food 
and medicine gathering places are being destroyed, in Vancouver's 
downtown eastside, low-income residents (many of whom are indigenous) 
are being pushed out of their homes to make room for high-end tourist 
hotels.
But where there is oppression, there is resistance! And Vancouver's 
Native Youth Movement have been at the forefront of this resistance.
*Guest speaker, Billie Pierre* - a member of Vancouver's Native Youth 
Movement, and co-founder of the revolutionary "Redwire Magazine" - will 
be talking about NYM's anti-Olympic campaign, and showing the films: 
"Five Ring Circus: The Untold Story of the Vancouver Olympics" & a short 
documentary, "Skwelkwek'welt Protection Center".
*Film: Five Ring Circus: The Untold Story of the Vancouver 2010 Games*

The "Five Ring Circus" exposes a side to the Vancouver Olympics which 
has not been revealed before. This film shows how this three week event 
is changing Vancouver forever. Find out what mayors, activists and 
residents think of the 2010 olympic games.

With three years to go before the games, this documentary examines how 
the commitments to environmental, social and economic sustainability 
have not been kept and how the preparations for the games are affecting 
diverse communities. Is Vancouver getting into the spirit of the 
Olympics? This independent documentary promises to be controversial.

*Film: Skwelkwek'welt Protection Center*

This short film introduces the struggle of the Secwepemc peoples who are 
fighting a $70 million expansion of Sun Peaks Resort, which includes 
development of luxury hotels, tennis courts, ski and skidoo runs, etc. 
The Skwelkwek'welt Protection Center, an organizing base for ongoing 
resistance to the illegal expansion of the Resort, has been targeted 
through court injunctions, local white supremacists, rcmp harassment and 
raids, and has been rebuilt several times after being bulldozed to the 
ground by Sun Peaks employees.

***********************************************************************************************
**
**
*October 18th - 7pm*
_*Struggle for The Land: Resistance & Repression *_
_*In Support of the Mohawks of Tyendinaga & John Graham from AIM*_
**
Like many First Nations people fighting to reclaim their lands and 
assert the right to govern themselves,
the Mohawks of Tyendinaga have refused to fall victim to the injustice 
and systemic violence forced upon them by
the Canadian state. This is why they repossessed a quarry that operates 
on the Culbertson Tract ? land which the
Government of Canada has agreed is rightfully theirs, but has refused to 
return to them. Every year, 100,000 tonnes
of Mohawk land were trucked away for sale, while talks between the 
Mohawks and Indian Agents dragged on. On
April 20th, 2007, the Tyendinaga Mohawks shut down the CN train line, to 
make clear that the Culbertson must be
given back. This was also exactly a year after they had blockaded the 
same railway in defense of the people of Six
Nations, who had been violently attacked by the O.P.P. Two months later, 
on June 29, 2007, Tyendinaga Mohawks erected another blockade. This time 
they shut down Highway 401, Highway 2 and the rail lines. Yet, the 
government continues to stall the lands' return.
*Guest Speaker Kahehti:io* is from Kahnawake, and has been actively 
involved in several resistance struggles from Six Nations to Tyendinaga. 
He will be talking about Tyendinaga's ongoing struggle to reclaim their 
lands, rebuild their culture, and why Shawn Brant was denied bail for 57 
days, still faces 9 criminal charges and a multi-million dollar lawsuit 
from CN and VIA Rail. As Sue Collis, Shawn's wife says about these 
charges: "The context for all the charges he currently faces," she says, 
" include unresolved land claims, poverty, suicides and polluted water 
throughout First Nations communities across Canada ... For perhaps the 
first time, an environment was being created where Canadians at large 
cared whether First Nations children lived or died." The police have 
targetted Shawn for repression and don't want him to build on this 
incredible movement he's been building.
******************************************************
John Graham, native of the Yukon and father of eight, was charged in the 
U.S. on March 30, 2003, along with Arlo Looking Cloud, 49, with the 
first-degree murder of Anna Mae Aquash twenty-eight years ago. There are 
many tragedies which resulted from the shootout on the Pine Ridge 
reservation and subsequent events of nearly 30 years ago. These include 
the deaths of Lakota people, members of the American Indian Movement 
(AIM), two agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Canadian 
activist Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash.
In an effort to gain convictions for the deaths of the FBI agents, a 
continuing abuse of the justice system by the FBI has ensued, involving 
the fabrication of evidence and the use of false testimony and 
fraudulent affidavits. Perhaps the most infamous result of these tactics 
was the illegal extradition of Leonard Peltier from Canada to face 
charges for the deaths of the two agents. Given the history of 
documented judicial abuse by the FBI in numerous cases directly related 
to the case against John Graham, the John Graham Defense Committee calls 
upon all those involved with this matter and all those who believe in 
truth and justice to oppose the proposed extradition of John Graham. 
They believe the evidence and testimony to be largely circumstantial as 
well as the result of continued coercion and fabrication.

<http://www.grahamdefense.org/Images/JohnGraham1.jpg>
*Guest Speaker: Billie Pierre*, from Vancouver's Native Youth Movement, 
and John Graham Defense Committee will explain why they are absolutely 
convinced of John?s innocence and believe this charge to be a 
continuation of a travesty of justice which has endured since the 1970s. 
She will be showing the film "Our Sacred History and white man lies"
*Film: Mohawk Smokes (12min)*
by Audrey Huntley and Folkard Fritz

Shot over a period of 8 months, this short film captures a vision of 
sovereignty as practiced in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. The film 
follows Shawn Brant, a local business leader who finances the building 
of a longhouse and the return to traditional government through the sale 
of cigarettes. Unique access to the community and exceptional 
cinematography captivate as viewers achieve a glimpse of hope and 
rejuvenation

*Film: Our Sacred History and white man lies*
This documentary is about the history of the American Indian Movement's 
role in supporting the Traditional Lakota People on Pine Ridge 
reservation, during the 70's US funded campaign to repress the people in 
order to implement uranium development on reservation, in their Sacred 
Black Hills. The repression continues today, notably in the corrupt 
murder investigation of AIM leader Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash. This 
documentary reveals the history and background of the many pawns, and 
players that are setting up former AIM members for her murder.
Co-Organized with: Solidarity Across Borders, No One Is Illegal, Block 
the Empire, Tadamon, Pointe Libertaire, Liberterre, Rue Brique
********************************************************************************************************
*October 25th - 7pm*
*_Indigenous Struggles North & South: Six Nations & Oaxaca_*
In the summer and fall of 2006, 70,000 public school teachers and 
approximately 350 organizations united in a new Asemblea Popular Pueblo 
Oaxaca (APPO) occupied the center of the city, took over local radio and 
television stations, blocked the state?s executive, judicial and 
legislative offices, built and protected barricades across the 
metropolitan region, led massive marches of 800,000 people and demanded 
the removal of the governor, Ulisses Ruiz. APPO has dedicated itself to 
far more than the removal of a governor, however, it intends to build a 
state and national non-violent, anti-capitalist movement capable of 
creating a genuine democracy in which the people actually rule. Oaxaca's 
rebellion has roots in the battles of the indigenous communities for 
autonomy and, since the 1970s, for the restoration of communitarian 
forms of self-government, collective work, and identity.
**
*Guest speaker *from Montreal's La Otra Collective, he organizes both 
locally in solidarity with Mohawk communities and internationally, 
helping to make the connections between indigenous struggles north and 
south. He will be showing two films: "From Kanonhstaton to Oaxaca" & "Un 
Poquito de Tanta Verdad (a little bit of so much truth)" and will talk 
about the campaign in Montreal to support the people of Oaxaca.
*Film: From Kanonhstaton to Oaxaca***
A 30 minute documentary following Doreen Silversmith from Six Nations to 
Oaxaca, Mexico, documenting Indigenous struggles from North to South.
*Film: Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad (a little bit of so much truth)***
<http://www.corrugate.org/un_poquito_de_tanta_verdad/publicity_photos/image/kids_on_mics> 
<http://www.corrugate.org/un_poquito_de_tanta_verdad/publicity_photos/image/kids_on_mics>
When the people of Oaxaca decided they'd had enough of bad government, 
they didn't take their story to the media...
They TOOK the media. In the summer of 2006, a broad-based, non-violent, 
popular uprising exploded in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. 
<http://www.corrugate.org/un_poquito_de_tanta_verdad/publicity_photos/image/kids_on_mics>Some 
compared it to the Paris Commune, while others called it the first Latin 
American revolution of the 21st century. But it was the people?s use of 
the media that truly made history in Oaxaca. 
<http://www.corrugate.org/un_poquito_de_tanta_verdad/publicity_photos/image/kids_on_mics>
A media phenomenon that emerged when tens of thousands of school 
teachers, housewives, indigenous communities, health workers, farmers, 
and students took 14 radio stations and one TV station into their own 
hands, using them to organize, mobilize, and ultimately defend their 
grassroots struggle for social, cultural, and economic justice.
<http://www.corrugate.org/un_poquito_de_tanta_verdad/publicity_photos/image/kids_on_mics> 

<http://www.corrugate.org/un_poquito_de_tanta_verdad/publicity_photos/image/kids_on_mics> 

<http://www.corrugate.org/un_poquito_de_tanta_verdad/publicity_photos/image/kids_on_mics> 
<http://www.corrugate.org/un_poquito_de_tanta_verdad/publicity_photos/image/kids_on_mics>***************************************************************************************************
*November 1st, 6pm*
_*Anti-Colonial Thanksgiving: Film, Speakers & Feast!* _
Le Frigo Vert's 5th annual Anti-Colonial Thanksgiving explores how food 
can be used as a tool of resistance, how it is grown to resist the 
colonial and capitalist industrial food system, and how it fuels the 
health and well being for those struggling against systems of 
oppression. As always, a delicious vegan Anti-Colonial Thanksgiving 
feast of vegan sheppards pie, baked squash, mushroom gravey, cranberry 
tea and other tasty tid-bits will be cooked up fresh using vegetables 
donated from local garden projects. Come savour the amazing flavours of 
resistance!
*Guest Speaker: Missy, co-founder of the Portland Victory Garden Project*
The Portland Victory Garden Project uses the process of growing and 
distributing food to raise awareness about the urgent need for the 
liberation of US political prisoners, community self-reliance, 
ecological sustainability, and social change. Portland VGP grows food in 
Portland, teaches girls and woman about medicinal herbs and organizes 
events in support of political prisoners. Portland VGP is inspired by 
and collaborates with the original Victory Gardens Project, which was 
started by three Maine farmers and a Black Panther political prisoner. 
Since 1995, the Athens VGP has grown tons of organic vegetables in the 
community of Athens, Maine. The project has distributed these free and 
healthy vegetables to local community members, urban neighborhoods, and 
activists.
**
*Guest Speaker: Bronwen Agnew, Les Jardins de la Résistance*
Les Jardins de la Résistance is a collective farming project located 
near Huntingdon (Qc), a one (1) hour drive from Montréal. As a 
collective, we are committed to working autonomously, non-hierarchically 
and in solidarity with each other to resist capitalism and imperialism. 
Our project aims to support communities in struggle for dignity and 
self-determination: including indigenous peoples, immigrant and 
non-status individuals and families, as well as members of rural 
communities who are being forced off the land by an economic system 
which favours large-scale agribusiness. Of particular importance to us 
is the recognition of the violence and racism that was and continues to 
be employed to steal land from indigenous people all over the world, 
including the land we are farming. In practice, this project aims to 
foster a space in which to develop creativity, skills, knowledge and 
techniques towards an agriculture which is respectful of the earth. As 
well, it aims to build a new source of food for our communities.
*Facilitator: Shelly Bazuik, Le Frigo Vert*
Le Frigo Vert is a non-profit, collectively-run healthy food store 
committed to social, political and evironmental justice.
Committed to building community, Le Frigo Vert strives to make 
nutritious, affordable food accessible in a space where people can get 
involved. We are committed to year-round workshops about food and 
self-determination. Our volunteer research committee provides recipes 
and info about medicinal herbs, and investigates where and how our 
products are made.
We are a workers? collective because we recognize the need to address 
issues of power in our internal functioning and daily lives. We aim to 
stock products in the store that balance a desire to ?cause the least 
harm? with the realities of a system which oppresses many. Fair trade, 
anti-GMO, labour standards, self-determination, environmental impact, 
local producers, organic, cheap, packaging, cooperatives, and resistance 
to oppression are just some of the issues we consider when ordering for 
the store.
As a cooperative, Le Frigo Vert belongs to no one person or group. It is 
your space to volunteer, work, learn about health, organize a workshop, 
have a coffee, study, shop and to find out about what?s going on at 
Concordia and the greater Montreal community.
*Film: **"They Lied to You in School: Setting the Record Straight" *
Hardly pausing for a breath, with sharp tongue and keen mind, you'll be 
sitting on edge of you seat watching Mohawk elder, Tehanetorens Ray 
Fadden, set the record straight on Native American contributions to the 
world. Ray Fadden is a storyteller, teacher, illustrator, beaded record 
belt artist, caretaker of Adirondack land and wildlife and founder of 
the Six Nations Indian Museum in Onchiota, NY.

*''/That little bumblebee/,'' Fadden says, ''/is more important than the 
president of the United States/.'' *