[IPSM] Once a Black robe, Always a Black Robe

[Douglas Brown]

Just for your interest, you might want to send your comments directly to the
New York International Independent Film and Video Festival (NYIIFVF)
http://www.nyfilmvideo.com/2007/ny-july/awards/ny-july-2007-awards.htm

and to the film's director:
*Louie Lawless:** ph: 250-733-2414* *email: *louie0 at telus.
net<http://ca.f377.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=louie0@telus.net>

All the best,

DB

On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 12:34 PM, Macdonald Stainsby <mstainsby at resist.ca>
wrote:

> The St'at'imc Runner, February 2008 issue
>
> Former church minister solicits Survivors' stories, misuses names
> Some Residential School Survivors have shared stories of abuses they
> suffered in the church-run schools. When a personal disclosure is given
> in confidence, it should be kept private.
>
> Kevin Annett is a former minister with the United Church. Annett, who
> has recently claimed that he is Metis, runs a website called "Hidden
> from History," and has made a film called "Unrepentant." He had a radio
> show on Vancouver's Co-operative Radio station. (Vancouver BC) Also he
> has started an organization he calls the "Truth Commission into Genocide
> in Canada."
>
> The subject of all of these media programs is the genocide against
> native people, but specifically the Indian Residential School system.
> Much of the accusations he makes against the church and Canada in
> regards to their role in covering up the horrors of residential schools
> can be verified by Survivors. However, Annett has used peoples' private
> disclosures without their consent, he has misrepresented people on radio
> and in print, and has betrayed the trust of many Survivors by using
> their stories in various ways without their permission.
>
> James Craven, a professor of economics at Clark College in Vancouver,
> Washington, talks about the abuses of trust and truth being carried out
> by Mr Annett, who has recently taken to calling himself "Eagle Strong
> Voice." According to Craven, a long time friend of the late Elder
> Harriet Nahanee from Squamish, Annett published her testimonies that she
> had told him, but without her knowledge or permission. Before her
> passing, Nahanee circulated a letter to this effect. The late Kitty
> Sparrow also wrote a similar letter about her experience with Annett. It
> is unclear why someone would do these things to people who have surely
> had enough suffering for one lifetime.
>
> There may be a clue in that the subject of the movie "Unrepentant"
> quickly turns from that of Survivors' stories to the story of Kevin
> Annett. Yet that story remains something of a mystery owing to
> contradictory claims and reports. Annett claims that he was dismissed
> from United Church ministerial duties when he started asking his
> superiors what was being done about residential school crimes. Another
> dissident minister from the same church contradicts that, saying Annett
> never mentioned residential schools until well after he had been
> dismissed.
>
> Survivors desperately want to be heard. They want to tell their story to
> someone. A person who claimed to be seeking justice from the church and
> Canada, and had himself been a self-appointed representative of god in
> the United Church, would be in an ideal position to gain the trust of a
> wounded soul. James Craven's mother, a Blackfoot woman, was victimized
> at a residential school in Idaho, and actually committed suicide
> because, as she put it, the demons had come home to roost. "The thing
> that really gets me going is that the cause is sacred. The things he
> says about murder and genocide are true. That's why you don't want him
> involved with this cause - because the cause gets impeached with him,"
> explains James. "In my protected opinion, he exhibits the
> characteristics of malignant narcissism and psychopathology."
>
> Helen Michel is a Carrier Sekani woman who suffered terribly in
> residential school. She met Annett some years ago, and disclosed to him
> some stories of residential school impacts in her home reservation
> community. "Kevin said a lot of things on the Co-Op radio, apparently he
> said we said those things, but he twisted around our stories. No one's
> ever given him permission to repeat their stories, he just uses what he
> can get. When we confronted him about it, he started saying I and my
> husband were RCMP informants." Annett claims on his website that he
> believes Helen and her husband Frank are undercover agents from a
> division known as "RCMP-E," and that their codenames are "Redman 1 and
> Redman 2." Annett has also stated on his website that Michel assaulted
> him in public by running into him with a scooter. No charges have come
> before a court on this alleged incident.
>
> Mrs Michel spoke about these experiences to this newspaper because she
> wants other Survivors to be warned of what has happened in the past.
> "We've been working on human rights and land rights issues for 20 years.
> He made our credibility go downhill after we started hanging out with
> Kevin, and we soon found out we weren't the only ones."
> Report by Kerry
> Coast.   Printed in The St'at'imc Runner, February 2008 issue
>
> --
> Macdonald Stainsby
> Coordinator, http://oilsandstruth.org
> --
> moderated radical news & discussion list:
> http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
>
> In the contradiction lies the hope.
>    --Bertholt Brecht.
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