Ont. Mohawks plan blockade for Friday
Monday, June 25, 2007
CBC News
Travellers in the Montreal-Toronto-Ottawa corridor may have to adjust their Canada Day weekend plans after a native group said it will go ahead with a road or rail barricade on Friday, likely between Belleville and Kingston.
Spokesman Shawn Brant confirmed Monday that protesters from the Tyendinaga Mohawk reserve near Deseronto, Ont., plan to set up a blockade of either Highway 401 or the national rail line, close to the town on Lake Ontario’s Bay of Quinte, or will block access to Deseronto itself.
‘This is the power we have’
The move will be part of the Assembly of First Nations’ National Day of Action on June 29 to draw attention to aboriginal poverty and unresolved land claims, Brant said.
He added that the day is important for indigenous people.
“We’re gonna be able to say to the government, ‘This is the power that we have,’ ” said Brant, whose group has occupied a quarry near Deseronto since March to protest an unresolved land claim.
Brant is also among those named in a lawsuit launched by Canadian National Railway over a blockade held in April over the same issue.
The Tyendinaga Mohawk band council is negotiating with the federal government over about 400 hectares of privately held land that Mohawks say they never surrendered. Brant’s group says the talks are moving too slowly.
Phil Fontaine, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, has said the National Day of Action is meant to reach out to Canadians, not to cause major disruptions.
Manitoba chief called off blockade
In May, Chief Terrance Nelson of Manitoba’s Roseau River First Nation threatened to block a CN line running through his community on the June day of action. He called off the protest last Tuesday after Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice decided to add 30 hectares of new land to the Roseau River band’s territory.
Brant called the government’s move at Roseau River a last-minute ploy and said he thinks it was done to “destabilize June 29 as a day of action.”
He was also critical of Nelson’s decision to call off his blockade.
“To say that 70 acres was enough to sell out the day and sell out the people is an indignity to everyone who’s been standing in these positions from the beginning,” he said.
June 27, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Dear Kingston Mohawks and their supporters,
I firmly stand behind indigenous people during the upcoming day of protest on Friday, June 29, in their struggle for justice, land and decent living standards for their communities.
I believe that activism that seeks to build alliances and coalitions across and between groups of oppressed people is a crucial step towards justice. Any fight for justice that ultimately denies others thier fundamental rights cannot be effective or anti-oppressive work in and of itself.
That is why I think strategies such as blockading transportation routes are ultimately damaging. Working class people who receive minimum wage are likely to be travelling home (like myself) to see their family and friends.
I can propose several other strategies which would be more effective than road/rail blockades.
Thank you for you time and consideration
In solidarity as an ally of indigenous people,
Emily Reid-Musson
Toronto, Ontario
ereidmusson@yahoo.ca
(416) 533-4416
June 29, 2007 at 11:38 pm
I find most people in Kingston are supportive of the Mohawks, as I am. Shawn Brant concerns me though. His comments about being armed should be alarming to everyone in the Tyendinaga area.