"Ongwehonwe Women's Manifesto" at Six Nations

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i received this earlier today – it is a text by Hazel Hill, one of the Clanmothers involved in the standoff in Caledonia:

Oh Brothers & Sisters Where Art Thou?

I am writing this to all Onkwehonweh at Grand River and in all of the Onkwehonweh Communities.  There has been much talk on who we are, what we are, and why we are currently in a Jurisdictional Dispute with the Crown. But I wonder if it is the truth that is being spoken or more attempts to discredit the people involved and discourage others to join.

It's not about the flags, otherwise you would question your neighbors who fly the Canadian & American flags at their homes  It's not about disrespecting the Chiefs, but about respecting the Earth and the Unborn Faces.

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It's not about Band Council vs. Chiefs Council because we are ALL responsible

It's not about the Clanmothers not listening to their Chief, but about each and every one of us being obligated to do what is right in our hearts, with the direction and guidance from those elders who understand our Law and the responsibility that comes with the Titles that they carry.

It's not just about just Six Nations, because the Onkwehonweh Nations of the World have suffered the same losses for centuries, and are engaged in the same battle over the same issue of Jurisdiction

It's not about money because we have nothing for sale, and unlike those who dealt away the land at Red Hill for 16 cords of wood, we have no intention of giving up anything for any monetary value.  Our land is not for sale.

It's not about Henco and punishing them because they are victims too. Victimized by their government who have mislead them into believing they could own land to which they have no title, victimized by the Crown who through genocidal practices have robbed the Onkwehonweh of the earth & what sustains her in exchange for the dollar and in the name of progress

It's not about militancy but about believing in who we are as a people, standing together as one, in accordance with the Kaienerekowah for we have been under the thumb of the oppressors for far too long.

It's not about disrespecting the OPP and the laws of Canada, but more importantly about respecting our own law, the only true law in Creation, the Universal Law given to us by the Peacemaker and Gigonsaseh and upholding our responsibilities as individuals in accordance with that law.

It's not about claiming the land,  because we know that we hold title to it.

It's not about an occupation, but about asserting our jurisdiction.

We have been accused of inciting a war, and yet who are the one's with the guns, threatening to come in and remove our women and children.  To arrest and make criminals out of us.  Who are the one's who have helicopters flying overhead, and an abundance of police presence in and around the area.  Who are the one's that  continue to have talks and negotiations with everyone BUT the people involved.  Who are the one's who publicly make statements such as "Can we shoot the Indian's now", or tear Status Cards in half with the remark "There's nothing that you can do about it", or ask patrons of the biggest fast food chain across Canada & the United States "don't you people have someplace in your own community to eat".  It is ignorance and fear that promotes such cowardly actions and yet we continue to uphold the Peace.

We have been accused of disrupting our neighbors in the Caledonia business area, yet I see no suffering or loss.  We maintain a peaceful vigil on our lands, and other than going to buy supplies we don't bother anyone.  We have, if anything, helped their businesses to grow, by the many supporters who stop to buy coffee and groceries in their town in support of the people here.

We have been accused of spreading propaganda because we write from a different perspective than mainstream media, and yet what has the government done throughout history when there is unrest with Onkwehonweh people.  They use the media to incite division, to label us as militants; they criminalize us because we stand up for the Truth, and they murder us or throw us in jail in a semblance of justice based on unilateral laws of deception.

It's been said that the whole town of Caledonia is at unrest for what we are doing, yet there are many, many people from the town who come to support, to take the time to listen and to try to gain an understanding from the people. They do not understand that the government continues with it's deception by having lawyers who say, "We have the 1841 Surrender", and that the dynamics of our council could not legally allow such a transaction to take place. Because it was only the "Indians", the government used dishonest practices such as this to steal anything and everything they've ever gotten.  It would be like our people, getting 14 or so people from Caledonia, to sell us their town, and then rejoicing at having made such a wonderful land transaction. Would it be legal?  Of course not, and neither are the so-called surrenders that the crown set out to build their empire upon.

If you could see it through the eyes of our people, who know that it is not for the Chiefs to make any decision's without consensus from the people, and as far as lands, that job was given to the women because we are tied to the earth like a mother to a child, through the umbilical cord, and we never lose that connection no matter how old we get.

The Creator gave each of us a mind and a heart, and a spirit within that he placed those laws.  You need only  to allow that spirit to guide you and speak the truth.  Then there is no question as to what is right and wrong, for we have only the TRUTH.  When we adhere to the principles of Peace, then we have honored the Creator and are doing our duty.

Categories: canada, colonialism, first-nations, protest, women