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Tyendenaga [sic.] Picket

May, 24 2007 – 7:50 PM

A STRANGE PROTEST IN DOWNTOWN KINGSTON THIS AFTERNOON.
ABOUT A DOZEN SUPPORTERS OF THE BAY OF QUINTE MOHAWKS ASKED PEOPLE TO SIGN THEIR NAMES IN BLOOD — DEMANDING SWIFT ACTION TO RESOLVE THE ONGOING LAND CLAIM DISPUTE NEAR DESERONTO.
NEWSWATCH’S LIZ COOK REPORTS.
THE LAND CLAIM DISPUTE NEAR DESERONTO SPILLED ONTO THE STREETS OF DOWNTOWN KINGSTON…. AND THAT’S NOT ALL

protester on mic:
“the ontario government wants to solve the dispute on the mohawk tyendinaga territory, buy bring in the opp tactical squad. this is totally unnecessary, peaceful resolution is possible.
by bring in the guns, the government is saying one thing, they want blood so lets give them ours.” A MESSAGE THE “KINGSTON MOHAWK SUPPORT NETWORK” WAS ASKING PEOPLE WALKING ON PRINCESS STREET TO SUPPORT —- BY SIGNING THEIR NAME IN BLOOD.

jeff welsh:
“so what we are doing is symbolically offering ours instead and we are saying if the province wants blood, than take ours, so we are getting people walking by on the street, whoa re interested in settling it peacefully to give a signature and symbolic spot of blood.”

A STRANGE WAY TO COLLECT SIGNATURES — BUT A WAY THIS GROUP HOPES WILL CONVINCE THE PROVINCE TO FIND A “PEACEFUL” RESOLUTION TO THE 2-MONTH =-LONG DESERONTO QUARRY OCCUPATION.

jeff welsh:
“we know there has been an opp tactical team set up in a hotel close by for some time now. which means the province is still considering settling this with violence.”

REGIONAL OPP WON’T COMMENT ON THOSE CLAIMS.
BUT MOHAWK SUPPORTERS SAY THE PROVINCE NEEDS TO MEET NATIVE DEMANDS — AND TAKE AWAY THE QUARRY’S OPERATING LICENSE.

jeff welsh:
“we know for a fact if an opp tactical squad goes into the blockade situation there is very possibility that some will get killed, a civilian protester or an officer, and we don’t want to see that happen.”

protester on mic:
((“help us avert blood shed at tyendinaga. donate just one drop of blood or a smear of red ink beside your name. lets send a message to the provincial government.”))

THIS MAN WAS WALKING PAST THE PROTEST AND STOPPED TO SIGN HIS NAME, WITH HIS BLOOD.

clip….

THE SIGNATURES WERE DELIVERED TO MPP JOHN GERRETSEN’S OFFICE — BUT HE WASN’T THERE TO TAKE THEM.

matt:
“we left them there. i don’t know whether it’s mohawk or police blood they would rather see but on the fields there, but either is necessary.”

LIZ COOK, CKWS NEWSWATCH, KINGSTON.

Action: No Bloodshed at Tyendinaga. Take our blood instead.

Date:  Thursday, May 24, 2007

Time: 12:00 pm

Location:  Office of John Gerretsen (MPP), La Salle Mews, Princess Street, Kingston, ON

The Kingston Mohawk Support Network (KMSN) is hosting an action in support of the peaceful resolution of the Tyendinaga Mohawk’s land claim. Bring your friends, family, co-workers and housemates.

The Ontario government is trying to solve a standoff on Mohawk land with the OPP tactical unit instead of following its own laws. When peacefulresolution is so easy, when Mohawk demands are so reasonable and yet they are ignored for so long, there is only one conclusion. The province of Ontario wants blood.

The Kingston Mohawk Support Network will try to satisfy Ontario’s bloodlust and encourage peaceful resolution by collecting drops of blood from passers-by and presenting it peacefully to John Gerretsen, MPP for Kingston and the Islands.

For more information please view the KMSN press release here or contact KMSN Media Spokesperson: Jeff Welsh, cell 613-888-6416 Jeff will be available on-site Thursday.

Kingston Mohawk Support Network Press Release

Action: Noon, Thursday, May 24, 2007. John Gerretsen, MPP’s office, La Salle Mews, Princess St., Kingston

No Bloodshed at Tyendinaga.

Take our blood instead.

The Ontario government is trying to solve a standoff on Mohawk land with the OPP tactical unit instead of following its own laws. When peaceful resolution is so easy, when Mohawk demands are so reasonable and yet they are ignored for so long, there is only one conclusion. The province of Ontario wants blood.

The Kingston Mohawk Support Network will try to satisfy Ontario’s bloodlust and encourage peaceful resolution by collecting drops of blood from passers-by and presenting it peacefully to John Gerretsen, MPP for Kingston and the Islands.

“Nobody benefits if someone gets hurt at Tyendinaga. We can’t tell if Ontario would rather see dead police officers or dead Mohawks, but neither is necessary. If they want blood on their hands, they can have ours instead and resolve the blockade peacefully,” says Matt Silburn, organizer with the KMSN. “This is an easy problem to solve. Ontario needs to follow its own laws and act honourably and justly by revoking the permit to the gravel quarry.”

The OPP tactical unit has been in a hotel in Napanee for two months. They were deployed at Tyendinaga during the rail blockade of April 20, 2007.

The Mohawks have said from the start of the quarry blockade that they would go home if the quarry permit was revoked. Despite violations of the Mining Act by the aggregate company, which dumped toxic waste into the quarry and which is leaching into the groundwater, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources refuses to act.

“Any bodies that fall will be laid at the feet of the Ontario government. This is an entirely avoidable conflict,” said Silburn.

KMSN Media Spokesperson: Jeff Welsh, cell 613-888-6416 (Jeff will be available on-site at the event.)

News article:
Why Canadians side with militant Indians
by Richard Day, Dept of Sociology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON
published in the Toronto Star – Toronto, Ont – ONT Edition
May 20, 2007

It is well known in all quarters that the job of Phil Fontaine, as the head of the Assembly of First Nations, is to moderate

longstanding tensions between the Canadian state and those his organization purports to represent. That’s why it was rather surprising when Fontaine, speaking this week to the harrumphing curmudgeons at the Canadian Club, said that indigenous peoples and agents of the Canadian state are more likely to be meeting at the barricades than in the boardrooms this summer. That’s enough to put any captain of industry off his lunch, to be sure, and it should be of concern to all of us.

No one can deny that there has been a gathering wave of direct action over the past months, from the ongoing Six Nations standoff to the more recent occupation of a quarry by the Tyendinaga Mohawk. Out west, resistance to the Olympics is being spearheaded by the Native Youth Movement, and Harriet Nahanee, a Squamish elder, was

imprisoned for protesting against the expansion of the ironically named Sea to Sky highway (the road to Whistler actually leads to a town-sized shopping mall).

This week, a group calling itself the Railway Ties Collective sent out a news release inviting people to view a video posted on YouTube. The video showed how one might, with a single wire, cause all of the trains on a line to come to a halt. Although no one knows who produced the video, there are indications that it originated from settlers who support indigenous struggles at Tyendinaga and beyond, and that it was aimed at eliciting further support from non-indigenous activists. Transport Canada asked YouTube to pull the video, and they complied. It is very likely, however, that it is circulating on other sites and will make its way through the web to those who want to view it.

What is happening here? Why are so many people, all over the country, apparently giving up on due process and the rule of law? Why are we seeing this resurgence of the ‘Indian problem’, just when we thought we were beyond all of that? And, perhaps more importantly for the Canadian government, why are so many members of the settler society — non-indigenous Canadians — adding their voices and bodies to this tide of militancy?

A simple answer might be: the Canadian state is not itself following the rule of law, nor has it ever done so with regard to indigenous peoples. The double standards are many and obvious, but this does not stop them from being applied. One need only reverse the roles to see the violence and absurdity of the situation. Imagine that someone walked up to your front door with a gun, told you to get out of your house, and took it and everything you own. You go to the police, and they tell you to get in a line, they’ll deal with you soon. You stand there for a day, a month, a year, several decades, while generations of home invaders run your formerly well-kept home into the ground.

This would never happen, of course, to a member of the settler society, but it is, and has been, the norm for the indigenous peoples of the Americas. If it did ever happen to a ‘mainstream’ Canadian, I imagine that most people would understand if they decided, even after only a day or two — rather than several centuries — to simply take the house back.

Railway lines have long been iconic fibres, making geographical and symbolic connections that could be said to constitute Canada as we know it. It is therefore fitting that they now are being used to demand justice for the indigenous peoples of this continent, without whose help we would not be here today. Obviously disrupting a railway line is an imposition on travelers. Probably commerce will be slowed. It is doubtful, however, that Canadian society will be all but destroyed by these kinds of actions, as so many indigenous societies have been. Rather, we can hope that it will be improved, that the Canadian government will take this as a clear message to stand by the rule of law, in every case, for every race.

Given the shameful behaviour of our economic and political leaders, it is not at all surprising that many Canadians are siding with militant indigenous groups. For, by all of the principles that Western civilization holds dear, they are in the right and we are in the wrong.

TORONTO PUBLIC MEETING: Tyendinaga and The Struggle for the Land

7 PM Wednesday, May 16th

Parkdale Community and Recreation Centre

1499 Queen Street West, Toronto

Speakers include:

Peter Rosenthal: Lawyer with Roach, Schwartz, and Associates

Shawn Brant: Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory

More than forty days after the Mohawks of Tyendinaga reclaimed a portion of the Culbertson Tract, the community continues to hold strong and the Ontario government continues its refusal to revoke the license legitimizing the quarry operation located on the land.

Over the past month, the battle for the Culbertson has escalated on all sides. In the face of government refusal to reverse an age-old act of robbery and injustice, the Mohawks of Tyendinaga blockaded rail lines running through stolen land for upwards of 30 hours. Dozens of trains were stopped, business as usual in Ontario was ground to a halt, and the Canadian public was forced to consider the hundreds of years of ‘inconvenience’ lived by First Nations peoples. The community removed the blockade once this message had been sent.

In response, CN Rail has served suit against three Tyendinaga community members and the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte (MBQ) Band Council in an unprecedented move, for ‘damages arising from a First Nations blockade of its tracks’ to the tune of $108 million. CN is also seeking a ban on future blockades. Furthermore, criminal charges have been laid against Mohawk spokesperson Shawn Brant. The decision to press charges came directly from OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino. Toronto lawyer Peter Rosenthal will be in court next week, for an initial appearance regarding the civil suit filed by CN Rail.

The Culbertson Tract, was stolen from the Mohawks in 1832. And while the government and the Mohawks began in 2003 to negotiate a deal to repatriate the land, and compensate the community for its losses, the land in question continued to be exploited by non-native developers while the negotiations dragged on.

While the government stalled, the land itself was literally being trucked away by quarry operator Thurlow Aggregates at a rate of more than 100,000 tonnes per year. Additionally, illegal dumping of waste was allowed to continue at the quarry, undiscovered until the rightful holders of the land reclaimed it in March.

Now this robbery has been stopped. Rock from the quarry is being used on the Territory. But the Mohawks of Tyendinaga continue to demand an expedient and just return of the land to their community. It has been more than 170 years too long. Join us to hear more about the struggle for the Culbertson Tract.

This event is hosted by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty.

______

For more information, please contact:

Ontario Coalition Against Poverty

10 Britain St. Toronto, ON M5A 1R6

Telephone: 416-925-6939

Email: ocap@tao.ca

Website: www.ocap.ca

CN Rail sues Mohawks; Company launches suit over rail blockades

Brock Harrison

The Kingston Whig-Standard

Local News – Thursday, May 10, 2007

CN Rail has taken the unprecedented step of suing the Bay of Quinte Mohawks for disrupting freight delivery and passenger traffic by twice blocking a busy rail line near Deseronto.

The rail company lodged the action, which specifically names Shawn Brant, the main spokesman of the protesting Mohawks, with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice yesterday.

Deseronto is about 40 kilometres west of Kingston.

CN spokesman Mark Hallman would not say how much the rail company is seeking in damages.

He did say about $100 million worth of cargo travels daily on the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal rail line, which Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory protesters blocked on April 21, 2006, and on April 20 of this year. “The blockades certainly interrupted our business,” Hallman said.

The lawsuit is the first time CN has taken legal action against a First Nations group, Hallman says.

Both blockades were launched to protest housing developments on land natives claim was taken from them.

Last year’s blockade, in which about 100 Tyendinaga Mohawks blocked the CN line near Deseronto, was a show of support for a separate native land dispute in Caledonia. It lasted about 23 hours. About 3,500 Via Rail passengers had to find other arrangements because of that blockade.

Last month’s protest, in response to slow-moving negotiations between natives and the federal government over a 380-hectare tract of privately owned land in Deseronto, lasted 30 hours.

Hallman said 25 freight trains and 22 Via Rail passenger trains were cancelled because a school bus was parked over the tracks by protesters.

The protesters maintain the land tract in question was illegally taken from them in 1832.

Further complicating the protest is the Thurlow Aggregates quarry, which falls within the disputed land tract. The Mohawks have been occupying the quarry since March because they don’t want it being used during negotiations.

The action also seeks to ban future blockades on the rail line. CN is asking for the court order served to protesters that ended last month’s blockade to be extended.

Protesters initially ignored the injunctions.

The suit also names Tyendinaga Chief Don Maracle and the band council, but band administrators have maintained that last month’s protest was not sanctioned by the council. Maracle couldn’t be reached for comment.

Brant, who was arrested on May 4 and has been slapped with a number of criminal charges for leading the protests, says the lawsuit is a scare tactic intended to deter other native groups from demonstrating.

“Blocking the rail line is the only historical means to get the government’s ear,” said Brant, who was released on bail after his arrest.

“We see this as warning shot to other First Nations communities; if you have grievances you want to voice, not only will you be targeted criminally, you’ll be targeted financially.”

CN’s financial concerns are legitimate, Brant says, but he warns that the lawsuit isn’t going to stop natives from speaking up.

Brant has enlisted the services of social justice lawyer Peter Rosenthal, who represented the family of slain aboriginal protester Dudley George at the inquiry into the 1995 Ipperwash standoff. bharrison@thewhig.com

CN Rail sues Ontario Mohawk protesters

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

CBC News

CN Rail has launched a lawsuit against Mohawk protesters who blocked a major Ontario rail corridor for more than a day last month, disrupting freight and passenger traffic.

The land dispute protest near Deseronto that began in the early hours of April 20 disrupted freight between Toronto and Montreal. The disruption blocked the transport of freight worth more than $100 million, said spokesman Mark Hallman.

‘We’ve sort of looked at this as being a warning … that they’re quite willing to make our miserable lives more miserable.’— Protester Shawn Brant

“We have launched an action to recover the costs associated with the blockade,” Hallman confirmed Tuesday. “This represents the first time that CN has served suit for damages arising from a First Nations blockade of its tracks.”

CN estimated that about 22 freight trains travel the Toronto-Montreal route every day, but did not specify how much it is asking for in damages.

CN seeks ban on future blockades
Hallman said that as part of its action, the company is seeking an extension of a court order that ended the blockade. That extension would ban future blockades.

Shawn Brant, the main spokesman for the protesters from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory on Lake Ontario’s Bay of Quinte, is named in the CN lawsuit, which also includes a blockade that people from the reserve staged last year on the same rail line.

“We’ve sort of looked at this as being a warning to other First Nations communities across the country as well as ourselves that they’re quite willing to make our miserable lives more miserable,” he said.

Lawsuit names band council
The lawsuit also names the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory band council and several other people from their community.

Chief R. Donald Maracle said the council had nothing to do with the blockade and will ask CN lawyers to remove it from the lawsuit.

The rail blockade disrupted both freight and Via Rail passenger service along the Toronto-Ottawa and Toronto-Montreal rail corridors for about 30 hours.

The protest, which ended when CN served the protesters with a court injunction, was part of an ongoing protest that members have been maintaining for months over privately owned land near Deseronto that the Tyendinaga Mohawks claim is theirs.

Brant faces a number of charges related to the blockade, including mischief. He turned himself in to police on May 3, but has been released on bail.

The band council is in talks with a federally appointed negotiator regarding the land claim, but the protesters say those are proceeding too slowly.