[IPSM] An Open Letter Protesting the Presence of Anti-Native "Militia" Leaders at the May 5th Aboriginal Policy Forum at Mount Royal University

[mattm-b at resist.ca]

Please add your signature  and circulate widely.


An Open Letter Protesting the Presence of Anti-Native "Militia" Leaders at
the May 5th Aboriginal Policy Forum at Mount Royal University

As scholars, students and concerned citizens we are deeply troubled by the
invitation of grass roots anti-Native organizers and leaders of the
"Caledonia Militia" to the New Directions on Aboriginal Policy Forum to be
held on May 5th, 2010 at Mount Royal University. Dr. Frances Widdowson
personally invited Mark Vandermaas and Gary McHale to be discussants on a
panel entitled “Aboriginal Sovereignty and the Rule of Law.” McHale and
Vandermaas are leading figures in grassroots anti-Native organizing
against the Six Nations people of the Grand River Territory in
south-western Ontario; they have played key roles in the formation of a
non-native "militia" aimed at repressing Indigenous land protests and they
have also organized a variety of anti-Native protests, a number of which
have attracted the support of neo-Nazis and far right racists. While
Vandermaas and McHale claim to speak for Caledonians, their activities
have consistently increased tensions
in this community facing a well documented land claims dispute.


The groups that McHale and Vandermaas are involved with falsely describe
Indigenous people resisting the ongoing theft of their land and the
abrogation of treaty rights as “organized criminals”, “terrorists”,
“lawless” and continually refer to Six Nations people protesting as
“Native thugs.” McHale and Vandermaas describe themselves as ‘non-violent’
‘human rights activists’ inspired by the vision of Martin Luther King,
working to dismantle a "two-tiered justice system" that benefits
Indigenous people. On March 21st 2010, the International Day for the
Elimination of Racism, McHale organized an ‘anti-racist’ rally claiming
that white people in the area are oppressed by ‘race-based policing’ and
“Canadian Apartheid.” These alarming appropriations are an insult to the
histories of anti-racist and anti-colonial struggles and to all who uphold
anti-racism. The re-naming of anti-Native organizing as anti-racist
struggle is an
affront to the struggles of Indigenous peoples and peoples of color across
the globe who have survived and continue to struggle against genocide,
apartheid, and colonialism.  As scholars, students and people of
conscience we need to expose the violence of this appropriation by McHale
and Vandermaas, not legitimize it.

While McHale loves to sue people for defamation of his character, his
inflammatory campaigns have smeared Six Nations grandmothers and mothers, 
the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Canadian Auto Workers, 
Christian Peacemaker Teams, the provincial and Canadian governments and
the OPP as either being "terrorists" or aiding and abetting "terrorism". 
McHale and Vandermaas consistently portray assertions of Indigenous
sovereignty as lawless, terrorist, racist and evidence of what they term a
“Native Supremacy Movement.” These understandings are not far removed from
the perspectives of conference organizer, Dr. Frances Widdowson, who
claims that “current demands for 'aboriginal nationalism' and
'sovereignty', because they connect land to ancestry, have more in common
with the ideology of Nazi Germany than left-wing ideas.” Not surprisingly,
while movements for Indigenous sovereignty gain little support from
neo-Nazis, Gary McHale and his
anti-Native activities certainly do.  Paul Fromm, a high profile white
supremacist leader, best known for his support of holocaust denier Ernest
Zundel, has actively publicized McHale and his events on the neo-nazi
website Stormfront.  Fromm has been photographed at McHale led events, as
have other members of neo-Nazi organizations such as the London, Ontario
"Northern Alliance" group.

While McHale claims he is the “National voice of Caledonia”, neither he
nor Vandermaas reside in Caledonia and they do not speak on behalf of all
Caledonians. Indeed Mr. McHale was from 2007 to 2010 banned from entering
Caledonia due to bail conditions stemming from the eruption of violence at
one of his protests.  The Commissioner of the OPP has described McHale et
al.’s actions as a 'lightning rod' for confrontation and violence. Many
Caledonia residents are fed up with their antics, especially those who are
working to heal the tensions between Caledonia and Six Nations.

We the undersigned condemn the "New Directions on Aboriginal Policy
Forum's" decision to give these anti-Native agitators an academic stage to
parade their false allegations and half-truths.  Anti-Native activism and
militias are not a “New Direction”, in Aboriginal policy, -- in fact they
represent a very old pattern of colonial activity that seeks to increase
and justify violence and injustice against Indigenous peoples. We believe
that the inclusion of McHale and Vandermaas in a discussion on Aboriginal
Policy will serve to normalize racism, aggression, appropriation, and
citizen-led militias as tools to solve localized conflicts over Indigenous
lands, whereas what is needed is a recognition of Indigenous land rights,
nation to nation negotiations and the peaceful settlement of land claims. 
We stand for peace and justice in Caledonia and Six Nations, and decry
those who attempt to increase violence and tension through inflammatory
actions and
speech.

For more information and background on these issues, please go to
http://6nsolidarity.wordpress.com/

To add your signature to this open letter, please go to:
http://www.gopetition.com/online/35704.html