[Reclamation Site] May 27th Update from Hazel Hill

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This update is from two days ago – May 27th – my apologies for only uploading it now:

Hello from Grand River

Things are pretty quiet around the site these days. Maybe too quiet.

I've been reading alot in the surrounding newspapers. Caledonia mayor marie trainer was quoted this week as saying the army should be brought in. One of her councillors thinks that the government should just cut off all of the funding that comes into the territory. "Cut off the tax exempt cards, cut off the monthly cheques, cut off the food banks..." (I still wonder where they get the idea that monthly cheques come to our people.)

My response to those types of suggestions is "you're absolutely right!", but first the crown should pay the billions and billions of dollars owed on land leases, the taxes collected on our land, the resources taken from our land and compensations for the destruction of the lands stolen and abused etc. etc. If the crown paid her debt to our people there would be no need for the scraps that come to our people through their government structure. And then there is the interest monies on top of all that. When canada pays her debt we'll gladly get rid of all of those other things.

Wonder if canadians realize they've been duped? They talk as if we are a burden to them. Like they're supporting us. Does it not occur to them that they are the burden? They have been freeloading off our lands and resources for thousands of years. Even IF, and i say if because we know that the land "surrenders" are fraudulent, but IF the 1841 surrender was real, where is the money?????????? They have never paid for one single lease that they have obtained throughout history (to my knowledge anyway). When you lease a car and don't pay for it what happens..... they take it back. That's exactly what we did with our lands. In fact, we should be ready to re-possess the whole haldimand and then let PM Harper say that it's not a federal matter.

And as far as mayor trainer's irresponsible remarks about bringing in the army..... guess she doesn't think much of her citizens in caledonia if she really wants a war zone in her backyard. And they call us terrorists! Then she was quoted as saying that the natives damaged the hydro station causing the power outage in caledonia, six nations, hagersville etc. "It was definitely natives" trainer said friday (quoted from the Brantford Expositor) The fact of the matter is that there is no way anyone will know for certain whether it was natives or non-natives who did the damage because all of our people were up on the front line, and ANYONE could have done the damage. we had removed the barricade at #6 hwy and 6th line the night before, and the opp were the only ones at the end of #6 (argyle st) and #6 bypass. We had opened up the road for pete's sake and she is trying to say that she knows it was natives.

All throughout this reclaimation we have had non-native shit disturbers sneaking into the camp for one purpose and one purpose only, to try to discredit and disrupt the peace. We have had the army dude who admitted to shooting one of our men in the face a few day's before he was caught. We have the idiots in camoflauge on four wheelers taunting our men and the opp trying to incite the war. They brought their video camera with them and proudly turned it over to tv 11 but for some reason were ashamed enough to want to have their faces hidden. And they are the jackasses who threw rocks over the bi-pass and could have potentially killed someone but blamed it on our men because their camera caught one of our men throwing something back at them. Look at the direction of the throw and look at where the barricade was. We were over half way over the #54 hwy so there is no way we caused any damage to any vehicles. it was all a set-up.

And then there was the fire at the barn across the road the night after the police raid on April 20th. Even the farmer believes it was non-natives who were trying to make it look like we were vandalizing the neighbourhood. And yet our men are the ones who went to put out the fire even before the fire trucks arrived. On thursday nite we were accused of shining laser lights and shooting off firecrackers and rattling the nerves of the opp. Next night they caught 3 non-native punks with their firecrackers and bottle rockets after having fired off a few, again to try and incite the war.

We are continuously having to deal with this type of action and yet do we retaliate? No. We keep the peace. We turn over the idiots when we catch them in our camp. We could beat the crap out of them and teach them a lesson and i'll tell you, i give our men the deepest respect and credit for NOT doing it! And why shouldn't we? Do you see us going into caledonia and acting like idiots? Do we sneak around trying to incite a war? We have kept the peace. We are upholding our Law and yet we are criminalized for it.

To me the criminals are the ones who refuse to look at the truth. They make ignorant comments like "just because your ancestors sold the land for beads and now you're crying about it" and other stupid remarks that a kindergarten child would say in a playground fight. I hope stephen harper and marie trainer realize that we are beyond kindergarten and this ain't no playground. And in answer to all of those who wonder or like marie trainer "know that the natives did it", all i can say is that it wasn't something that we did. Our people were on the front line wondering why caledonia didn't want the plank road opened, and the first realization that the hydro was out was when we noticed that the street lights were off and then someone noticed the black smoke. So as far as i'm concerned anyone could have done the damage.

And i like how the government is so quick to respond with thousands of dollars to Henco and the Caledonia businesses for their losses, and yet get them to pay their debt with respect to land leases, they immediately send in negotiators to try and get out of it. How long have we waited for compensation. They don't want to pay up so they send in the guns.

That's exactly what they did in 1924. Our confederacy had asked for an accounting of the lease monies and rather than give the accounting (because they had already embezzled the money), they used the RCMP to bring in the guns and establish a form of government that they knew they could control. And then they set up a process that requires big money to fight them and hundreds of years to get it into their courts. It is the biggest fraud going and the only reason they get away with it is because we let them.

And as far as the people who say that we wanted the band council system, the families that went and asked for this new form of government, is the same as it is today, a handful of people who didn't like the way things were going and rather than council and have their voices heard through the process, they went behind the back of our people and sold us out. Those same families still are in existance today. Only this time, there is no way we are going to let them sell us out. We have our delegates at the table and the people are making the decisions just as it should be. And we are no longer going to let them hide behind their fictitious justice system. it is all a fraud based on unilateral decisions of the crown and that IS illegal.

Then we have others who believe that they are the titleholders and that only they will make the decision. Sorry to burst your bubble, but the few of you who meet are NOT a nation. You are like the rest of us. Only a small number of people when standing alone. Only together in Unity and Solidarity will we get through this and it is ALL OF THE ONKWEHONWEH who are affected by this. not just the Mohawks and not just Six Nations.

The Onkwehonweh are the title holders to the world, and we have a responsibility to the onkwehonweh nations of the world to protect our land for the future of our people, in honesty, in peace and with integrity.

Setting up barriers to divide and conquer is the game the crown has played and by continually creating the divisions within, you are playing right along side of the crown and into their hands. Perhaps you should look at who is guiding you and question their motives. The people at the site are doing what we are obligated to do according to the Law. We are working together with all of the Six Nations, including those from the other territories because yes they have a voice in our circle and yes they have an interest in what we are doing. It is not for selfish gain and it certainly isn't about money. I pray that you will come to an understanding and continue to work WITH the people and not against them. It is only you who can decide this.

Finally, so that everyone is clear, Mr. Peterson has given the time frame of May 31st to have dealt with the barricades. i don't know exactly what his plan is, but i understand that is his goal. To have all of the barricades down by the 31st of May. The people need to be aware of this, because between the media using polls to suggest bringing in the army or using the opp to remove us, marie trainer and other's calling for the army to come in, and the history of our people and the way the government on behalf of the crown has always "dealt with" our people during any kind of "occupation", you need to be aware of the reality of the situation.

Keep the Peace, Keep Strong, and Keep getting the word out. As soon as we know of any further developments, we will let you know. talks are to resume on the 31st and we are having a people's council tomorrow. All are welcome.

hazel