A Report on Last Night's Settler Rally
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The following is a comment recently left by “localyokel” to my posting on last night’s settler protest in Caledonia. I am sure i have differences of opinion with localyokel regarding certain things, but it is an interesting report on last night’s settler rally and that’s why i’m posting it.
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I am not sure if localyokel is naïve or overly optimistic or what, as i am not in Caledonia and have not received any other reports from anyone at the standoff. If the following is accurate, it certainly supports hollowentry’s suggestion that the authorities are trying to manufacture a crisis/backlash in order to justify having to crackdown on the reclamation.
While i do not want to underestimate the degree of racism in these settler protests, i also would not want to close my eyes to the possibility of the State fomenting/playing up this racism to its own end. (Hey, pessimistic me wonders: couldn’t the settler rallies be racist and the settler media be intent on playing this up for their own racist purposes?)
Here is localyokel’s comment:
I was at the rally, so I can tell you exactly what took place there. (I wasn't going to attend as I felt that things were going pretty good as all parties were deciding who was going to sit at the negotiation table etc.) There were about 2000 people there. The media said but 3000 but it is well known that they cannot count. They usually double or triple the number of people that were actually there.
There were some boos when Brian Haggith of the (OPP) Ontario Provincial Police spoke as people pretty much want the roads opened up again. sometimes it was hard to hear as the spy plane kept circling.
The main organizer spoke and he was very eloquent and expressed what I felt were my wishes. Those being that the government must deal with the land claims so that these types of blockades will not be necessary in the future. (There were cheers for this.)There was nothing racist in his words at all and over all there were the encouragement to keep the peace.
There were some comments in the crowds regarding natives and the OPP but basically the people next to the idiots told them to shut up. A young man who had been a finalist on Canadian Idol led us in the singing of O Canada and I went home. It was good up until that point.
People were dispersing and then a bunch gathered around the OPP and started yelling at them.
Then every normal person went home to bed and every idiot and those who wanted to watch the idiots went over to the barricade. This is when it got ugly...racial slurs etc. There were some idiot adults but mainly it was idiot boy teenagers who were probably itching for a fight (just like some young native boys who like to get into it...it's a guy thing). There was entirely too much testosterone in one place.
Huge backlash this morning from the normal people against those who went to the barricade and made fools of themselves..... should be some interesting letters to the editor. The media does nothing to encourage peaceful resolution of this or even represent the majority of the people. They don't report all the facts, just the ones that sell stories. They are happy to show the goons on both sides instead of the ones who are encouraging peace.
However, it is really trying having both main arteries closed through town, schools closed, daycares closed, transport trucks in subdivisions etc.,people not being able to go to work, businesses hurt.
I have been reading a particular native website which I absolutely love. They have phrases "bring a good mind" or "keep a good mind" or "keep a strong mind" (something like that) What a great statement! The non natives at the barricade last night brought "no mind".
I pray for those who will sit at the negotiating table to bring all of their wisdom and their "good, strong mind" so that a true peace can be brought to all of the people in Six Nations and Caledonia.
Categories: canada, colonialism, media, protest, racism
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well said I believe this letter to be closest to the the thoughts of most citizens of caledonia, may strong minds prevail.
ReplyDeletewww.ReclamationInfo.com - a website by some Haudenosaunee living in Six Nay and in Full support of the on-going land reclamation. It's a pretty basic website right now and not completed, but at the end of the week we should have plenty of resources and facts everyone (whether you are in support of us or not) should be aware of. nia:weh!
ReplyDeleteSixNay
The government has already dealt with native land claims. In some cases properties have been bought from the natives years ago and the present natives refuse to recgnise what their forefathers signed off on. Some of these propeties have been bought several times only to fall under dispute again when a new generation, or should I say a new generation of lawyers, take over. That's what is happening in the Caledonia dispute.
ReplyDeleteGiven these conditions there will never be peace because one side will never be satisfied.
I wonder, also, if the owner of this blog realizes that he is a "settler"? If so, perhaps he should, give up his property with no compensation and move on to a pristine piece of land never touched by any other human being and make it his own. But then, it could belong to the polar bears who lived there well before him and have an equal, if not superior, claim than a mere human.
None of us would have anywhere to live if land was given back to it's first owners. Time marches on and we can't go back. History is inexorable.
We need to ask ourselves if the Federal Government's $70,000/year per native/man/woman/child as well as the housing, no taxes and other handouts doesn't at least partially pay for any wrong done 200-300 years ago?
Where does it end? What is the solution if not assimilation into the mainstream culture. That is what has happened to peoples who have been overtaken by a stronger culture since time immemorial. The Romans took over the Angles, Saxons, Celts, Fresians etc. etc. in Europe and eventually a new civilization emerged. That civilization is now, due to demographic changes, beginning to be coopted by Islam.
It's inevitable.
Helen
Helen, reading your post is a great reminder of how racist Canadian society is.
ReplyDeleteDo i agree with you? Of course not.
I suggest you read my post on Detoxing From Canada.
Have we no room left for realism? Being un-P.C. in one's opinions should NOT automatically render one a racist any more than it renders those who call us racists (kersp) reverse-racists.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Helen.
I don't really give a shit if someone is "PC" or not, whatever that means.
ReplyDeleteHelen's position is not racist because of its trendiness/untrendiness, but because she is saying people of "weaker" cultures should have to assimilate into people of "stronger" cultures (she conveniently assumes Canada is in the latter category and the Mohawk nation in the former).
If this isn't racist, then i really don't know what is.
As Kenneth Deer pointed out in his article yesterday: "To be blunt, natives who have followed the law, given in to Canadian jurisdiction and meekly turned the other cheek are the ones who have suffered the most, are generally impoverished and have lost hope for the future. Many have just disappeared or succumbed.
"The healthiest natives are those who resist assimilation, remember their history, practise their culture and fight for what is theirs."
i can't say it better than that.
PEOPLE OF CALEDONIA:THESE EVENTS ARE REGRETTABLE FOR BOTH SIDES.HOWEVER PLEASE CONSIDER THIS,BEFORE THE RAID,HWY 6 WAS OPEN AND THE DISPUTE WAS BETWEEN THE NATIVES THE GOV.AND THE HENCO BROTHERS.
ReplyDeleteNO DISRUPTION TO THE TOWN WHATSOEVER IF ANYTHING WITH THE CURIOSITY SEEKERS IT BROUGHT MORE BUSINESS TO YOUR COMMUNITY.
THE HENCO BROTHERS NEEDED YOUR TOWN TO HELP GOAD THE POLICE INTO TAKING ACTION.I PREDICT THAT IF A SETTLEMENT IS OBTAINED THAT DOES'NT INCLUDE THE HENCO'S REAQUIRING THAT LAND,THIS WON'T BE THE END THIS
THEY'LL HAVE EVERYONE IN COURT FOR YEARS TO COME.THEY ONLY CARE ABOUT THE BOTTOM LINE $$$.NO MATTER IF SOMEONE HAS TO DIE ON ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER.THEY'RE PLAYING YOU LIKE A STRADAVARIOUS,WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!
Well - Helen does make a point.
ReplyDeleteI agree with much of what she had said. I don't completely agree that the landclaims are without cause. I do think that the protesters should stop setting things on fire and threatening us. It is really hard to tell your four year old why your town is on fire. There is no justification for that type of behavior.
ReplyDeleteCALEDONIA YOUR TRUE COLORS ARE SHINING THROUGH.WHERE'S YOUR SENSE OF HONOUR AND FAIRNESS?BOTH OF OUR ANCESTERS FOUGHT TOGETHER TO MAKE CANADA A SOVEREIGN COUNTRY. AT THAT TIME CERTAIN AGREEMENTS WERE MADE BETWEEN US,AT THE TIME OF CONFEDERATION NOTHING CHANGED FOR YOU,ALL OF YOUR DEEDS WERE STILL HONOURED,HOW DO YOU FIGURE EVERYTHING CHANGED FOR US?ALL OF A SUDDEN ALL OF YOUR AGREEMENTS MENT NOTHING! THINK ABOUT IT! CONCERNED HUMAN
ReplyDeleteaanii
ReplyDeletethis whole standoff in caledonia is a glaring example of why i am considering that i should renounce any ties to the native community. i am ashamed to admit my native heritage because of how i would be viewed due to the ridiculous behavior of a vocal and exhibitionist minority and their imported and hired thugs. the natives themselves are the ones playing the race card, and imo would be much further ahead by addressing their land claim issues with knowledge and pride, instead of creating this huge racial shit storm. if they don't want to be seen as terrorists perhaps they should calm down on the bandanas over the faces and the fires and the sort of behaviour which requires babysitting by the provincial police. but hey... who can resist dressing up to play cowboys and indians when one has attracted the national media, wouldn't want to miss a photo op. come on people, if you want respect behave in a way that commands respect, behave with dignity and pride. show intelligence. the current action shows only an inevitably escalating, volatile temper tantrum.
I would like to move to Caledonia since this has happened. Housing prices are great. Oh by the way, before speaking of the history, one should actually study it and then comes understanding it. Married to a lawyer, I have come across many documents that have explained the political side of the history...many missing documents aswell. But to Helen and others, if I were you, before speaking, you should educate yourself with the history and I believe you would have a different outlook on your native neighbors.
ReplyDelete