LOCAL EVENTS WINNIPEG:

ANNUAL WOMEN'S MEMORIAL MARCH:

Coming up this February 14 (next Tuesday Valentine's Day) Winnipeg's annual March for Murdered and Missing Women. Here's the invite.
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Annual Women's Memorial March of Manitoba

Tuesday, February 14, 2012.5:30pm until 7:30pm.. To stand together united as one strong voice, for those who are unable to sound their voice, the women who are missing or have been murdered. We wish to raise awareness and honour the missing or murdered women in support of their families and friends.

There will be people across Canada on February 14, 2012, marching to honour these women.

Hot refreshments and food will be served.

Please wear red or purple if possible

ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS:

OTTAWA DEMONSTRATION FOR BARRIERE LAKE SOLIDARITY:

The following notice of a demonstration set for December 13 on Parliament Hill comes from the Barriere Lake Solidarity group.

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DAY OF ACTION TO SUPPORT THE ALGONQUINS OF BARRIERE LAKE



DEMAND THAT CANADA RESPECT BARRIERE LAKE'S TRADITIONAL GOVERNMENT AND TRAILBLAZING ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS


MONDAY DECEMBER 13, NOON, PARLIAMENT HILL



DOWNLOAD FLYERS: Front and Back
DOWNLOAD EDUCATIONAL PAMPHLET: HERE

::TRANSPORT FROM MONTREAL::
For those in Montreal, hop on a free bus to the Ottawa rally!
Leaving 9am from the corner of Mackay and Maisonneuve (Metro Guy-Concordia)
Returning to Montreal in the late afternoon or early evening.
TO BOOK A SPOT, email barrierelakesolidarity@gmail.com with your name and phone number.



What if a foreign regime was destroying your system of government, so it could then steal your resources and prevent you from environmentally protecting your homeland? This is what the Harper Government and federal bureaucrats are doing to the First Nation of Barriere Lake.

For more than two decades, the Algonquins of Barriere Lake have been demonstrating environmental leadership to the rest of Canada, campaigning to stop destructive clear-cut logging and to implement a sustainable development plan in their homeland in north-western Quebec.

But multi-national forestry corporations and government bureaucrats have refused to honour any of the agreements signed with Barriere Lake. They have tried at every turn to undermine the small community, one of the poorest in the country, and prevent them from implementing and realizing their vision for the protection and stewardship of the forests.


The David-vs-Goliath story now has a dark new twist: the Conservative government and bureaucrats in Indian and Northern Affairs Canada are interfering in Barriere Lake’s internal affairs, using section 74 of the Indian Act to forcibly assimilate and destroy the community's traditional government -- a traditional government the community has used for countless generations and which maintains their hunting way of life and respect for the environment.


Led by Barriere Lake youth, the overwhelming majority of the community are struggling to preserve their traditional government, so they can continue protecting the watersheds, forests, wildlife and lands for all future generations, Native and non-Native.

The Harper government is violating the Canadian Constitution, which protects the Aboriginal right to self-government. They are violating the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples, even though they have now endorsed it.


Join the Algonquins of Barriere Lake on Parliament Hill as they demand the Harper government and federal bureaucrats reject the use of section 74 and respect the community's traditional government and vision for environmental protection!

For more info: www.barrierelakesolidarity.org



:: BACKGROUND: HOW IS THE GOVERNMENT DESTROYING BARRIERE LAKE'S TRADITIONAL GOVERNMENT? AND WHY? ::

The government has used an archaic section of the Indian Act – section 74 – to unilaterally impose a different system of government on Barriere Lake.

Barriere Lake’s traditional government – open to community members who have connection to the land, and in which Elders guide potential leaders and safeguard their customs – ensures that community members maintain their sacred bond to the land and their hunting way of life. The band council electoral system the Harper government has imposed destroys the sacred governance bond the community has with the land. By breaking Barriere Lake's connection to the land, the Canadian and Quebec governments hope to get away with violating trailblazing environmental agreements and with illegally clear-cutting in Barriere Lake's traditional territory.

The overwhelming majority of community members want to protect their traditional governance system, but the bureaucrats in Indian and Northern Affairs Canada are spreading the misinformation that they are only a small group.

Through the summer, the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada bureaucracy ran an illegal process, imposed by the Quebec police, to bring the new system into the community. Fewer than a dozen ballots were sent in to nominate candidates for an Indian Act Chief and Council, who where then seated by acclamation. Meanwhile, almost 200 community members had signed a resolution rejecting this process! That represents a majority of community members who are eligible to participate in their political process.

Even the acclaimed Chief resigned in protest, refusing to break ranks with the community's majority. But four rogue band councillors with no community support have been illegally making decisions on behalf of Barriere Lake ever since. Shuttled to secret meetings with forestry companies and government officials, these councilors are being used by the government to derail Barriere Lake's precedent-setting environmental agreements and to facilitate illegal clear-cut logging.

Youth in the community are leading the movement to protect their traditional government and to heal and overcome the community divisions created by the internal meddling of government bureaucrats.

They are demanding the Harper Government cancel the imposition on Barriere Lake of the section 74 Indian Act band council system and respect their right to select leaders according to their traditional system of government.

CANADIAN POLITICS:

SHANNEN'S DREAM:

For far too long Canada's aboriginal population has endured substandard conditions in their schools. A young woman, Shannen Koostachin , tried to change that. Since her untimely death others have taken up her torch. The following appeal to keep her dream alive come from the online news service Public Values.

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Youth are challenged to take up 'Shannen's Dream'

Educators active in campaign calling for First Nations' education equality being launched in memory of youth activist.

Shannen Koostachin was a young Aboriginal activist who campaigned for more equitable funding and better conditions for First Nations' schools before she died tragically last May. She was just 15 years old, but she had already established herself among First Nations, social justice and trade union activists as a powerful young fighter for truth and justice.

Now educators are taking the lead in throwing support and funds behind a campaign to have students across Canada take up her challenge.

"Shannen's advocacy helped us see very clearly the impact of underfunding by the federal government on schools in First Nations communities," said Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) President Sam Hammond. "We're challenging teachers and students in elementary schools to support the Shannen's Dream campaign to ensure that every young Canadian — no matter where they live — realizes the same fundamental right to decent schools and education in order to reach their full potential."

The campaign, initiated by MP Charlie Angus (NDP-Timmins-James Bay), was formally launched on November 17th in Ottawa. Earlier this fall, Angus introduced Motion 571 "Shannen's Dream" in the House of Commons. It calls for the right of First Nations children to high-quality, culturally relevant education, transparency in school construction, maintenance and replacement, and funding that will put reserve schools on par with non-reserve provincial schools.

"Shannen was tireless in her fight for equitable school rights for First Nation children," said Angus (Timmins-James Bay) in calling on the House of Commons to push to finally act on this national disgrace. "She became the face of a generation of forgotten First Nation school children. We are carrying on the work she started so that other children will not be left behind."

"Because of its fiduciary responsibilities under the Indian Act, the Department of Indian Affairs is functioning as a school board," said ETFO's Hammond. "How then can the Department justify that funding for Aboriginal students is $2,000 less than that for students in the provincially funded public and Catholic systems? In the case of Attawapiskat, it is unacceptable that the community has waited over 10 years for the Department to build a new school there, despite protests from First Nations and many others including ETFO."

ETFO and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers (OSSTF) is among the organizations that have donated to the Shannen's Dream campaign to help develop short videos, posters and other materials that will encourage students across Canada and others to call for an end to underfunding of First Nations schools. The campaign has also set up a scholarship to support education projects and scholarships for youth from the isolated James Bay coast.

Shannen Koostachin began her campaign because she and her classmates were forced to attend school in portables because her school was sitting on a toxic brownfield. There is still no new school despite a promise by the Federal Government in 2009 to build one. Since Shannen died in car accident last spring, Angus and others have worked to keep Shannen's Dream alive.

"Shannen was an inspiring young woman who has been recognized nationally and internationally for her human rights work for education," said Angus. "I am amazed at how many people are coming forward to make her legacy a reality."

Donations may be sent to: First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, 302-251 Bank Street Ottawa, ON K2P 1X3. Cheques should be made out to "Shannen’s Dream Campaign"

CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:

SUPPORT RYAN RAINVILLE:

The fallout from the recent G20 police riot in Toronto continues to come down. More charges have been dropped, and more investigations are being set up to investigate police conduct during those days. Some people, however, continue to be prosecuted even though it is doubtful that even one single rioter involved in the riot that police allowed to happen will ever be charged with any real crime. One of these who was arrested elsewhere on flimsy evidence is Ryan Rainville, a native activist. Here is an appeal for support for him in his latest upcoming court appearance. From the Community Solidarity Network in Toronto...

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Court Support for Ryan Rainville--Tuesday, Nov. 9
Ryan Rainville has had a court adjournment for his bail hearing from Thursday Nov 4th to Tuesday November 9th. Ryan will reappear on Tuesday November 9th at 9:30am at Superior Court of Justice, 361 University Avenue in Toronto, for his bail review. Please join his family, friends and supporters in the courthouse to show support to Ryan, who has been in jail since his arrest on August 5th 2010.

Ryan has been targeted as an Indigenous Sovereigntist from the Sakimay Nation, and charged with allegations stemming from June demonstrations against the G20 in Toronto. Ryan was denied bail in early August, and is being held at Maplehurst Correctional Complex.

His supporters would like to request that friends and allies come to the
Superior Court of Justice (361 University Ave) in Toronto to show their
support. Please note this is not a demonstration but a call for appropriate court support.

- For information on Ryan, please visit:
http://www.facebook.com/l/5cef0jy_PSpufkqD-uNlbBAEZQQ;g20.torontomobilize.org/node/596

- To donate to his legal defence fund, you can mail cheques to:
No One Is Illegal-Toronto
90C Beverley Street, Toronto ON M5T 1Y1
Please be sure to indicate “Ryan Rainville” in the memo.

You can also make a secure donation online through Paypal on the No One Is Illegal-Toronto website (http://www.facebook.com/l/5cef0B7j6F7_CNGh1pS_pEyBcKg;toronto.nooneisillegal.org ). Please be sure to send an email to nooneisillegal@riseup.net and let us know you have donated and what amount.

- For more information please contact:
thesheelephant@yahoo.com or mcorbiere@hotmail.com or hwalia8@gmail.com

http://www.facebook.com/l/5cef0U2umxKF6KIYLYD-lWKfhpw;torontomobilize.org/node/628

LOCAL EVENTS WINNIPEG:
COMIX ARTIST OPENS WINNIPEG RADICAL BOOKFAIR:



It's coming up this weekend, the Winnipeg Radical Bookfair, and the opening item will be a book launch for the graphic novel 'Five Hundred Years of Resistance'. Here's the promo.>>>
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Gord Hill launches the 500 Years of Resistance comic book
Time Friday, September 24 · 7:00pm - 9:00pm

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Location Mondragon Bookstore & Coffee House
91 Albert St.
Winnipeg, MB

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More Info
Join us for the kick-off event to the Winnipeg Radical Bookfair:
http://winnipegradicalbookfair.blogspot.com/

Gord Hill is a member of the Kwakwaka'wakw nation on the Northwest Coast. Writer, artist, and militant, he has been involved in Indigenous resistance, anti-colonial, and anti-capitalist movements for many years.

He will be launching his recent comic book 500 Years of Resistance.

The book is a powerful and historically accurate graphic portrayal of Indigenous resistance to the European colonization of the Americas, beginning with the Spanish invasion under Christopher Columbus and ending with the Six Nations land reclamation in Ontario in 2006.

http://www.arsenalpulp.com/bookinfo.php?index=317

ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS INTERNATIONAL POLITICS BRAZIL:

STOP BELO MONTE DAM:

Down on the Amazon the government of Brazil is planning what will be the third largest hydroelectric project on Earth. No doubt profit for the government and its friends, but devastation for indigenous people whose lands would be flooded. Internationally people are coming to the support of these people and their struggle. Here's the story from the International Rivers website.

BMDBMDBMDBMD
Stop Belo Monte Dam!
In early February, the Brazilian government approved the environmental license for the controversial Belo Monte Dam in the Amazon.

The dam, slated to be the world’s third largest hydroelectric project, would devastate an extensive area of the Amazon rainforest, and threaten the survival of indigenous and traditional peoples. Construction could begin this year.

The decision has caused a national and international outcry. Right now, more than 5,000 Kayapo Indians are planning a protest camp on the Big Bend of the Xingu River to prevent dam construction. They are threatening war.

Studies have shown that by investing in energy efficiency, Brazil could cut demand for electricity by 40% by 2020 and save $19 billion in the process. The amount of energy saved would be equivalent to 14 Belo Monte dams!

The Brazilian government needs to hear from you today. Let them know that the international community will not sit idly by while they threaten indigenous lives and destroy one Amazon river after another.

Please write today to President Lula and his Ministers and ask them to revoke the preliminary license for Belo Monte Dam!

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THE LETTER:

Please go to this link to send the following letter to the Brazilian authorities.

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Your Excellency,

I am writing to express my concern about the Brazilian government's decision to move forward with the Belo Monte Dam. The project will devastate an extensive area of the Brazilian Amazon and threaten the survival of indigenous and tribal peoples. Indigenous people have not been adequately consulted about the project.

I am concerned about the way the Brazilian government is pushing through this project at all costs, with little attention to due process or the rule of law.

I stand in solidarity with the indigenous people of the Xingu Basin in their opposition to Belo Monte and I ask that you review the recent decision to grant a preliminary license to the project.

Sincerely,

LOCAL EVENTS MANITOBA:

TWO SPIRIT GATHERING COMING SOON:

The 22nd annual 'Two Spirit Gathering' is coming to the Manitoba town of Beausejeur next weekend. Here's the promo.>>>
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22nd Annual International Two Spirit Gathering

The 22nd Annual International Two Spirit Gathering will take place on September 3-6, 2010 at the Dr. Jessie Saulteaux Resource Centre, Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada (64 kilometers or 40 miles) northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Aboriginal/Native American gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgender people, their partners, friends & families are invited to gather in the land of the Cree, Dene, Dakota, Inuit, Metis, Ojibway-Cree and Ojibway.

This is an alcohol and drug-free event sponsored by Ka Ni Kanichihk Inc. (“Those Who Lead”) and the Two-Spirited People of Manitoba.

To register for the gathering, visit the International Two Spirit Gathering website.

For information about registration, accommodation and travel, contact Albert McLeod at 204-783-6424 (in Canada) or by email at twospiritedmanitoba@hotmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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Here's a brief description of what the Two Spirit Gathering is all about from their website.
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Executive Summary
Ka Ni Kanichihk (KNK) and the Two-Spirited People of Manitoba (TSPM) have partnered to host the twenty-second annual gathering of Two Spirit people in North America, A Gathering of Medicine Stones. The following definition of Two Spirit people is found in Manitoba’s Aboriginal Strategy on HIV/AIDS:

Two Spirit People – a term used to describe Aboriginal people who assume cross -, or multiple gender roles, attributes, dress and attitudes for personal, spiritual, cultural, ceremonial or social reasons. These roles are defined by each cultural group and can be fluid over a person’s lifetime. Modern terms like gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, [GLBT] transsexual and intersexed (in combination with, or exclusive to, Two Spirit) may be adopted by some Aboriginal people to define who they are.

This special gathering began in 1988 in Minnesota when a local group of Native American gay and lesbian community members saw the need to launch a cultural revitalization movement that was based on the principle of being alcohol and drug-free. The world-wide HIV pandemic had also reached the Two Spirit community at this time galvanizing many local activists to become involved in the HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention movement.

The Minneapolis gathering was organized with the support of allies such as the Minneapolis American Indian Center, Gay and Lesbian Community Action Council, and the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department, along with community businesses and private donors. For the past 21 years annual gatherings have continued to be supported by various levels of government, Aboriginal organizations, foundations and private donations. There is also a component of regional and local fundraising and in-kind support for this event.

TSPM hosted the gathering in 1990 and 1998 with approximately 125 participants at each event (a full report on the 1998 gathering is available). TSPM will host the 20th anniversary of their first gathering on Labour Day Weekend, September 3-6, 2010 at a retreat centre outside of Winnipeg. The theme, “A Gathering of Medicine Stones” is reflective of the spiritual and ecological nature of this gathering. Approximately 125 participants representing various Aboriginal and Native American nations and tribes from across Canada and the US are expected to attend. The four-day agenda will include cultural activities, health and wellness sessions, leadership building, anti-homophobia and human rights training, and networking opportunities. A Two Spirit youth life-skills component and panel session will be included. Youth will be one of the priorities for travel scholarships.

Ka Ni Kanichihk Inc., the auspicing body for this project will provide administrative support, financial accounting and will function as the central coordination and planning site. A joint committee of Ka Ni Kanichihk and TSPM representatives will lead the planning and coordination, and oversee fundraising efforts and the successful delivery of the project. A project financial audit will be included in Ka Ni Kanichihk’s annual report. As a registered charity Ka Ni Kanichihk will provide tax receipts for individual and corporate donations.

Contact
Albert McLeod, Co-Director
Two-Spirited People of Manitoba Inc.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
T: 204-783-6424 E: twospiritedmanitoba@hotmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS:

GRASSY NARROWS BLOCKADE BEGINS AGAIN:


After their success in stopping clear cut logging on their lands the people of Grassy Narrows in northwest Ontario once again are blockading the road through their reserve, this time to assert their right to improve conditions on the rez. The following story and appeal are from the Radio Free Peaball blog. A tip of the Molly hat to Matt who first brought this item to my attention.
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Blockade renewed at Grassy Narrows First Nation, asserts self-determination
August 28, 2010
by David P Ball

GRASSY NARROWS FIRST NATION (ASUBPEESCHOSEEWAGONG NETUM ANISHINABEK) –

One week after the Ontario government threatened to halt maintenance of a back road used for fishing, hunting, trapping, and rice and berry harvesting, members of Grassy Narrows First Nation in northwest Ontario community are continuing their eight-year blockade to assert their territorial rights.

Led by grassroots women from the Anishinabek community, since August 21 the blockaders have prevented Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) from interfering with their work crew, which was visited by MNR three times last week and ordered to purchase a gravel permit, alongside warnings to stop work citing environmental, public and worker safety concerns. This action continues the longest blockade in Canadian history, which since 2002 has successfully stopped clearcut logging on Grassy Narrows territories and has raised concerns about the government’s lack of action on mercury poisoning in the community.

“We have our own government here,” said Robert Keesick, capital projects manager for Grassy Narrows First Nation, who is responsible for the road maintenance contract. “We have our own way of dealing with the environment, of taking care of our workers. This is our territory, so we have the right to use the land.”

“We support our chief and council – they are the authority here. They received their jurisdiction when they signed the treaty. All we’re doing is fixing a road that was there already, and yet [MNR is] not doing anything about the mercury in the river,” he added.

A sign across the blockaded road reads “Ministry of No Respect: Keep Out,” and community members are maintaining a 24-hour presence at Slant Lake, just outside the reserve, allowing only non-MNR traffic to pass.

So far, the government has not challenged the blockade, and on its first day a conservation officer was turned back. MNR told local media it is concerned about damage to a beaver pond where Grassy Narrows contractors are repairing washouts and beaver damage to back-roads on the First Nations traditional territories, as well as worker and public safety issues. Community members, however, consider the government’s actions harassment and an impingement on their treaty rights.

“When they talk about environmental concerns or workers’ safety, it’s like they think we’re dumb,” said Roberta Keesick, one of the community members active in the blockade. “Of course we think about this stuff too, otherwise we wouldn’t be here, we wouldn’t have lasted this long.

“The funny thing is that MNR is saying they’re concerned about a beaver pond, but the government pays people to kill beavers because they call them ‘nuisance beavers,’ because they’re wrecking the roads. Their quibbling over a beaver pond is contradictory. We don’t need a permit; we already got permission from the Creator,” she added.

The blockade has been joined by invited members of Christian Peacemakers Teams (CPT), which has an almost decade-long presence supporting the community’s struggle for self-determination, as well as other supporters.

“All this is towards our sovereignty, it’s about the same thing as other Aboriginal struggles,” Roberta Keesick said. “We hope others will feel less intimidated or feel they have to get permits and permission. Lots of people feel they can’t fight it. When we do our blockade, we hope it opens people’s eyes to who they are as Aboriginal and Anishinabek.”

The back road being maintained is used by Grassy Narrows members to access hunting, trapping, wild rice picking and berry picking areas, and for access to a fishing lodge at Ball Lake, rights enshrined under Treaty 3. The fishing lodge was granted to the First Nation as part of compensation for mercury pollution in 1986, and the government stopped maintaining the road following the Slant Lake blockade started in 2002. The community is calling for support from allies elsewhere to defend the Earth and Indigenous rights.

Take action:

Call the MNR Kenora office to express your support for the people of Grassy Narrows: (807) 468-2501

Some points to make:
1. The government should stop harassing construction crews repairing the road to Ball Lake Lodge.
2. Thousands of people are watching and supporting Grassy Narrows. This issue will not go away until there is justice.
3. Grassy Narrows has the right to determine what happens on their territory, according to Treaty 3. We support them in their decisions.
4. We also support Grassy Narrows’ call to end clearcut logging, for justice on issues of mercury pollution and other contaminants, and for the sovereignty granted them by the Creator since time immemorial.

LOCAL EVENTS - CANADIAN POLITICS:

TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION HEARINGS BEGIN:

Appropriately enough the public events for Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission have begun here in Winnipeg, the aboriginal capital of Canada and perhaps of all of North America polar to the Rio Grand. Winnipeg's native population numbers about 68,380 according to Stats Can as of 2007. This is probably an slight underestimate, but it still places the aboriginal population as about 10% of the city. Having lived here for over a quarter of a century I think this is about the right percentage. This is greater in absolute numbers than many other larger cities such as Vancouver and Edmonton which also have substantial numbers of aboriginal people. There are smaller centres such as North Battleford (18%) and Prince Albert (about 33%), both in Saskatchewan where the percentage of aboriginals is greater than that of Winnipeg, but Winnipeg amongst so-called 'major cities' holds pride of place as the city where the "native fact" is the greatest even though the native presence in western Canada is much more obvious generally.

The events of the first hearing of the T&RC at the Forks here in Winnipeg have drawn large crowds despite weather that has been less than clement to say the least. They have garnered extensive press coverage locally and even nationally. For those interested in general news coverage I suggest that they go to the websites of the Winnipeg Free Press and the Winnipeg Sun. For myself I would like to explore, at least briefly, some of the issues behind these events and compare and contrast them to the situation in other countries. I do this with full understanding that I may make grievous mistakes in describing the situation outside of Canada, and I hope that readers from any country mentioned will see fit to correct me if I make too egregious an error.

To begin with the very title of the event seems to be borrowed from the South African context and their own 'Truth and Reconciliation Commission'. The way in which these two settler societies dealt with their indigenous populations were dramatically different, but the 'Canadian way' was similar if not identical to that which took place in the USA and Australia. In South Africa the Boer ruling class essentially "gave up" on the idea of assimilation of what was, after all, the vast majority of the country's population, and even if they constructed their apartheid state by imitation of the Canadian, American and Australian reservation system they never made serious attempts at cultural genocide. In CAA (Canada, America, Australia) various 'do-gooders' took upon themselves the task of "civilizing" the native population ie abolishing them as an identifiable group. To my understanding in Australia this effort was mainly directed towards what they called "half-castes" there ('half breeds' in Canada) while hoping that the aboriginals out in their reserves would gradually become extinct.

The South African commissions are also markedly different from those now being held in Canada in that they are being held in the context of the victory on the part of the majority of the population relatively recently after a successful armed (partially) struggle. They are almost exclusively concerned with events of the last few decades while the Canadian hearings will be concerned with events that extend back to the 1800s and which concern a minority of the population whose armed struggles were defeated in the 19th century. The interesting, and perhaps controversial thing to those outside of Canada (and even to many Canadians), is that the 'death toll' of Canada's residential schools is probably far greater than that of the armed struggle in South Africa, and most of the dead were innocent children on the 'losing side'. YES, the death toll from the Canadian system exceeds by a large number what might actually be termed as "war", and all the victims were innocents.

So how to view the present hearings ? There are similarities between the native experience and that of all of us who endured Catholic schools even if we weren't native. The methods of "discipline" that many people endured (I include myself here) have shown up documented as military torture methods in later years. One might be tempted to view the 'native case' as special pleading, a view that is held by many in Canada. On the other hand those of us who endured the religious school system had certain advantages over the native children. First of all we were not kidnapped and flown to a prison where the jailers spoke a foreign language and insisted that we speak in within days of arrival. Whatever the brutality that we were subjected to which was little different from that that native children endured we at least went home at the end of the day and there was no opportunity for murder. Murder !! That is the only way that many of the things that happened in residential schools could be described.

According to a reference on the Wikipedia site on the Indian Residential Schools it was noted as early as 1909 that the death rate in these schools varied from 35% to 60%. As time went on this rate declined, but it was still horrendous in the 20th century until the schools were finally closed. A lot of this was because the conditions in the schools were very much optimum for the transmission of infectious disease. Group housing in dormitories where the space between beds was two feet for instance. In his 1909 report and in his subsequent book Dr. Peter Bryce claimed that such a situation was actually deliberate. Personally I doubt this given my knowledge of the Roman Catholic Church where brutality is an accepted method but extermination is to be avoided. One dead child equals one less proselytizer in the future. Ignorance and sadism (things that I noted were almost universal amongst Catholic clerics that I had the misfortune of coming in contact with in my childhood ) are totally adequate explanations, and 'conspiracy' does not have to be invoked.

So how to view the present hearings. There are some such as Kevin D. Arnett whose writings are reproduced at the Porkupine Blog who view these hearings entirely negatively. What Kevin sees in these hearings is an "opportunity" to absolve the guilty, and what he says has a certain validity. YES, one of the purposes of such hearings is definitely to "put the issue to rest". On the other hand the hearings will give victims the only opportunity that they will ever have to present what actually happened to the general Canadian public. All that I can say here is that the actual guilty individual parties are mostly dead by now, and that the presentation is much more important than a futile attempt to bring the guilty to justice. YES, this includes the guilty Church organizations. Their liability has been pretty much settled by now.

What I consider important in these hearings is that the full evil of what was done to native children be thoroughly exposed to the general public, and I think that these hearings are a good forum to do that. This exposure can have great positive benefits in the long term as Canada tries to come to terms with its native peoples, and it can promote proper public understanding of the best ways to deal with this legacy. YES, nothing will immediately result from the hearings, but they present an opportunity to change views that will have long term consequences.

As a conclusion to this sad tale everybody should note that the designers and the operators of the residential school system were firmly convinced beyond tha shadow of a doubt that they were "doing good". This sort of result should serve as a cautionary reminder to reformers and revolutionaries of all sorts of the inevitable 'law of unintended consequences' that plagues all human action.

Here are a few references for those who are interested in this issue:

1)Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada http://www.trc.ca/ The official site centred here in Winnipeg.

2)Indian Residential School Survivors http://irss,ca/

3)National Residential School Survivors Society http://www.nrss.ca/

4)Assembly of First nations History of Residential Schools http://www.afn.ca/residentialschools/hiostory.html

5)CBC History of the Residential Schools http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/05/16

6)Wikipedia History of the Residential Schools http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian-Indian-residential-school-system

ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS:

TWENTY YEARS SINCE OKA:

It's been 20 years since the 'Oka Crisis' where the Canadian army was called in to supress an occuption of native lands in and around the town of Oka. The occupiers had previously forced the Sureté de Québec (the Québec provincial police) to withdraw from the area. Where does the struggle for native self government stand today 20 years after this event ? As part of the Montréal Festival of Anarchy speakers from the various first nations involved will be holding a public meeting next Wednesday May 12. Here's the details.

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20 Years Since Oka: Kanienkehaka Communities in Resistance
Informational Meeting
Date: Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Time: 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Location: de Sève Cinema
Street: 1400 de Maisonneuve Ouest
City/Town: Montreal, QC
View Map

Description.[français ci-dessous]

20 Years Since Oka: Kanienkehaka Communities in Resistance
with speakers from Kanehsatake, Kahnawake, Akwesasne, Tyendinaga & Six Nations

WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 7pm
de Sève Cinema, 1400 de Maisonneuve Ouest
(métro Guy-Concordia)

Free. Wheelchair accessible.
Presentations in English with whisper translation available into French.
If you need childcare, please contact 514-848-7583 48 hours in advance.
----------

Speakers include:

-> RUBY MONTOUR: Ruby is a member of the Six Nations of the Grand River, Mohawk nation, Turtle Clan. She faces a multi-million dollar lawsuit for her actions to reclaim her land and stop illegal development that annexes un-ceded Indigenous territory.

-> SHAWN BRANT: Shawn is a member of the Tyendinaga Mohawk Community, active in the defense of the land and rights of his people, for which he has been targeted for arrest and prison, as well as a lawsuit by CN Rail.

-> JOE DEOM: Joe is a member of the Bear Clan and a member of the Longhouse in Kahnawake. He was a negotiator on behalf of Mohawks during the events of 1990.

-> CLIFTON ARIHWAKEHTE: Clifton is a member of the Kanehsatake Mohawk Community and a participant in the events of 1990.

[Speaker from Akwesasne to be confirmed shortly.]
----------

Twenty years ago this July, the people of Kanehsatake and Kahnawake rose up in defense of their ancestral lands, facing off against government officials, the police, and the Canadian Army. Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) communities have been on the forefront of resistance to colonialism in Canada. The events at Kanehsatake and Kahnawake were a crucial landmark in the history of Indigenous resistance to colonialism, and in the assertion of Indigenous self-determination.

This event brings together community members from Kanehsatake, Kahnawake, Akwesasne, Tyendinaga and Six Nations. The panelists will reflect together about the impact of the events of 1990 as well as current struggles for justice in their communities.

Presented by the Indigenous Solidarity Committee & No One Is Illegal-Montréal.
Part of the Festival of Anarchy during the month of May in Montreal.
Co-sponsored by the Quebec Public Interest Research Groups (QPIRG) at Concordia & McGill.
The Indigenous Solidarity Committee is a working group of QPIRG Concordia.

INFO:
indigenoussolidaritymontreal@gmail.com
514-848-7583


:::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::
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20 ans après Oka : les communautés Kanienkehaka en résistance
Avec des conférenciers de Kanehsatake, Kahnawake, Akwesasne, Tyendinaga et de Six Nations.

MERCREDI, 12 MAI, 19h
Cinéma de Sève, 1400 de Maisonneuve Ouest
(métro Guy-Concordia)

Accessible aux chaises roulantes. Gratuit.
Présentations en anglais avec traduction chuchotée vers le français.
Si vous avez besoin d’un service de garde, svp contactez-nous 48h avant l’événement au 514-848-7583.
----------

Les conférenciers incluent :

-> RUBY MONTOUR : Ruby est membre du Clan de la Tortue de la nation Mohawk du territoire des Six Nations. Elle fait face à une poursuite de plusieurs millions de dollars suite à ses actions de réclamation de sa terre et de blocage d’un développement illégal annexant un territoire autochtone non cédé.

-> SHAWN BRANT : Shawn est un membre de la communauté Mohawk de Tyendinaga. Il est actif dans la défense du territoire et des droits de son peuple, raisons pour lesquelles il a été arrêté et incarcéré ainsi que poursuit par CN Rail.

-> JOE DEOM : Joe est un membre du Clan de l’Ours et de la Maison longue de Kahnawake. Il a agi en tant que négociateur pour les Mohawks lors des événements de 1990.

-> CLIFTON ARIHWAKEHTE : Clifton est un membre de la communauté Mohawk de Kanehsatake et un participant aux événements de 1990.

[Un conférencier d’Akwesasne sera confirmé sous peu.]
----------

Il y a aura 20 ans ce mois de juillet, les peuples de Kanehsatake et de Kahnawake se soulevaient pour défendre leurs territoires ancestraux, affrontant ainsi les fonctionnaires, la police et l’armée canadienne. Les communautés Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) ont été au front de la résistance contre le colonialisme au Canada. Les événements de Kanehsatake et de Kahnawake furent des jalons cruciaux dans l’histoire de la résistance autochtone au colonialisme et de l’affirmation de l’autodétermination autochtone.

Cet événement rassemblera des membres des communautés de Kanehsatake, Kahnawake, Akwesasne, Tyendinaga et de Six Nations. Les panélistes réfléchiront collectivement sur les impacts des événements de 1990 ainsi que sur les luttes actuelles de leurs communautés.

Présenté par le Comité de Solidarité Autochtone et Personne n’est illégal – Montréal.
Cet événement s’inscrit dans le Festival de l’anarchie tenu au mois de mai à Montréal.
Endossé par le Groupes de recherche d'intérêt publique (GRIP) à Concordia et à McGill.
Le Comité de Solidarité Autochtone est un groupe de travail du GRIP à Concordia.

INFO :
indigenoussolidaritymontreal@gmail.com
514-848-7583

ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS-OTTAWA:

SIX ARRESTED AT SIT-IN AT INDIAN AND NORTHERN AFFAIRS OFFICE:

According to the CBC our "beloved" Prime Munster Sneaky Stevie has "granted" aboriginal leaders from across the country a private meeting today, the day when funding for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation is ending. An emergency debate last evening in the House of Commons proved unable to dissuade the government from this action. SS's previous "apology" to native people for the residential schools scandal rings a little more hollow today. Or maybe he thinks that all the healing is done. Meanwhile protests, petitions and pressures have sprung up across the country in favour of keeping the Foundation going. One was in Ottawa where 6 women briefly blockaded federal Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Chuck Strahl's office. Here's the story from the Ontario platformist site Linchpin.

◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘
6 women arrested at sit-in at Chuck Strahl’s office
Six women activists, shortly after staging a sit-in against cuts to aboriginal healing and then being arrested, charged and released, March 29. PHOTO: Greg Macdougall
by Greg Macdougall

Ottawa - On Monday March 29 - two days before the federal government's funding cuts to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation (AHF) take effect - six women from Montreal staged a sit-in outside of Indian and Northern Affairs minister Chuck Strahl's office in Ottawa.

“By cutting the funding to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and having us arrested for protesting these cuts, Harper is denying effective services to thousands of residential school survivors,” said Maya Rolbin-Ghanie, a member of the Montreal-based grassroots group Missing Justice who was arrested in the protest.

They pledged to remain there until a decision was made to restore funding to the AHF, but police arrested and removed them within an hour, charging them with trespassing.

“Harper and Strahl’s budget cuts affect 134 organizations across Canada, including the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal,” said Monica van Schaik, another Missing Justice member who was arrested.

The AHF programs have been providing cultural healing services to Aboriginal Peoples that address the inter-generational impacts of the Canadian Indian residential school system along with other issues.

“That Strahl would have us arrested less than an hour after our sit-in began shows that this is something he doesn’t want the public to talk about,” van Schaik added.

A group of supporters from both Montreal and Ottawa gathered outside the building, steps from Parliament Hill, with signs, banners and a megaphone, protesting the funding cuts.

“It’s been less than two years since Prime Minister Harper’s apology to survivors of the residential schools, yet the Conservative government is ready to shut down programs specifically aimed at helping the healing the Prime Minister spoke about,” Rolbin-Ghanie said before her arrest.

Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa helped get people in Ottawa out to the action.

There was also a separate press conference held by First Nations leaders on Parliament Hill, demanding that the government continue to support the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. Manitoba MP Niki Ashton was requesting an emergency debate in the House of Commons on the issue.

ALSO SEE:
http://www.missingjustice.ca
http://ineedhealing.wordpress.com
http://mediacoop.ca/newsrelease/3155
http://mediacoop.ca/newsrelease/3154

ONLINE PETITION:
http://www.petitiononline.com/fundAHF/petition.html

LOCAL EVENTS WINNIPEG:
'HANDWOVEN RESISTANCE' TOUR:


Here's another event that's coming up here in Winnipeg at both the Mondragon (91 Albert St.) and other venues.


@@@@@@@@@@@
"Handwoven Resistance" Indigenous Women's Fair Trade Weaving Cooperative
Start Time: Sunday, April 4, 2010 at 10:30am
End Time: Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 7:30pm
Location: ¡¡WINNIPEG!!! MAWA & UofM & Mondragón Cafe - 91 Albert St.

Description
"Handwoven Resistance" Indigenous Women's Fair Trade Weaving Cooperative Jolom Maya'etik and K'inal Antzetik talk of their work for indigenous peoples' and women's rights in Chiapas, MX

Vancouver/Vancouver Island/ and WINNIPEG Speaking Tour


Confronting the detrimental impacts of globalization, the work of Jolom Mayaetik and K’inal Antzetik fosters women’s economic autonomy while strengthening the capacity of indigenous peoples to maintain a stronghold on their land, language, culture and traditional livelihoods.

Celia is the current president of Jolom Maya'etik, an independent, democratically run cooperative of over 300 indigenous women and Marla of K'inal Antzetik has a long history of working with social justice and women's movements throughout Chiapas. They will be speaking about indigenous peoples’ and women’s rights in the context of globalization in Mexico.

*the following schedule is still tentative so please check back for updates*

WINNIPEG SCHEDULE

-Sunday April 4th,10:30am. Easter Sunday Service-Harrow United Church

- Monday April 5th 7pm - talk & weaving demonstration at MAWA Mentoring Artists for Women's Art http://www.mawa.ca/

- Tuesday April 6th 12noon-2pm - UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA
(University Centre, 2nd floor -St. Anne's Room -224, )

- Tuesday April 6th 7.30pm - Mondragón Cafe (91 Albert St)

CANADIAN POLITICS-VANCOUVER:

OLYMPICS AND ANTI-OLYMPICS BEGIN:

Hang onto your hats kiddies. this is going to be a long one. We're two days away from the opening ceremonies, and already it's major party time out there in "rainyland". Watching the weather reports with forecasts of 4 to 10 degrees above zero at the various event locations one can only wonder how they're going to hold any outdoor events at all. Water skies maybe ???

The weather, however, hasn't put a damper on the party atmosphere. I heard a radio report today saying that "six police" and "four soldiers" had been sent packing "for disciplinary reasons". I found that somehow hard to believe. So I looked it up when I got home from work, and I found more believable numbers in an article from today's Vancouver Sun. It turns out that 16 police officers, out of a total of about 6,000 and 50 soldiers out of a total of about 4,000 were sent on their way.

In the case of the police a spokesman claimed that 14 of the 16 were sent home for "compassionate reasons" and only two for "disciplinary reasons unrelated to alcohol". Well...maybe no relation other than by marriage. A spokesman for the military refused to give a breakdown of the reasons for returning the 50 soldiers to their bases. One wonders why.

Now those sort of numbers I find much more believable. My faith in the Canadian military, nurtured by long experience, has been restored. I couldn't believe that the cops could outdrink the grunts. No, no, no, there was something wrong there. Now, unless you believe that soldiers are 4.69 times as likely to fall ill (with something other than a hangover ) or have a close relative or spouse in said condition than police officers are, then you can come up with an easy explanation of why the spokesman for the military refused to comment on the reasons for shipping the soldiers.

What can I say other than "laissez les bons temps rouler" ? One other little question arises as I have fun with these figures. According to the numbers given in the Sun the military is so far short 1.25% of its personnel. How many more will they have to send back as the party goes on and on and on. It seems to me that, by the end of the games, a lot of guys in the service will be pulling double shifts to fill the empty slots.

Ohhhhhhh, I know what's going on here. The whole scenario of using the military for Games security is actually an Al Queda plot to destroy the Canadian Army. This is obviously the work of a devious sleeper cell. When all the brown stuff settles down after being blown around by the fan look for the CIA to book a one way ticket to the 'Damascus Hilton' for those evil conspirators Stockwell "Abdullah" Day and Steven "Ali" Harper.

But on to the serious stuff. The anti-Olympic Convergence, held by opponents of the Games, has already begun. Here's a couple of press releases put out by the Olympic Resistance Newtwork in advance of the Games. Don't look to see them reported very much in the mainstream media.

OROROROROROROR

MEDIA ADVISORY

ATTENTION: ALL NEWS EDITORS

OLYMPIC RESISTANCE NETWORK DENOUNCES UNFAIR AND TARGETED PROFILING OF ANTI-OLYMPIC PROTESTORS AND INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS:

The Olympic Resistance Network is receiving news of a growing number of anti-Olympic protestors and Independent Journalists being denied entry at the Canadian border.

On Tues Feb 9, U.S. journalist John Weston Osburn was detained by US Homeland Security after being twice denied by Canadian Border Officials on his way into Canada to cover the 2010 Olympic protests. Martin Macias Jr., an independent media reporter from Chicago, was rejected by Canadian border agents and held without outside contact on Saturday Feb 6. At least two delegates, arriving from California, to the Indigenous Peoples Assembly in Secwepemc Territories were denied entry into Canada. Other anti-Olympic protestors report extensive laptop and cell phone searches as well as hours-long interrogations.

In anticipation of the unfair targeting by the Canadian Border Services Agency of those viewed as Olympic dissidents, the Olympic ResistanceNetwork has set up an Immigration and Border Legal Support Line. Lawyers and legal professsionals taking these calls are deeply concerned by the pattern of arbitrary turn-backs without cause, as well as the lack of due process in allowing those who are rejected at the border to appeal the decision.

According to the Olympic Resistance Network, the series of border hassles, interrorgations, searches, and refusal are the latest in a long-standing pattern of suppressing the growing movement of dissent and opposition to the Olympic Games.

MEDIA CONTACT: Mac Scott (Olympic Resistance Network Border/ImmigrationLegal Support) at 416 999 6885

For an interview with John Weston Osburn, email westonslc@gmail.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

MEDIA ADVISORY

ATTENTION: ALL NEWS EDITORS

OLYMPIC RESISTANCE NETWORK PANEL EVENT AND MEDIA BRIEFINGS:

The Olympic Resistance Network invites media to a panel discussion on Indigenous resistance and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics on Wednedsday February 10th at 7 pm at the Wise Hall, 1882 Adanac Street.

The panel discussion is a part of a 2-day Olympic Resistance Summit for activists to come together to organize, prepare, learn and unite as a part of the convergence against the 2010 Olympic Games. While the rest of the Olympic Resistance Summit will be closed to all media, all media are invited to attend this panel on Indigenous resistance featuring Carol Martin (Nisga'a/Gitanyow and member of Downtown Eastside Elders Council), Arthur Manuel (Secwepemc Nation, spokesperson for the Indigenous Networkon Economies and Trade), Gord Hill (Kwakwakaawakw Nation, member of the Olympic Resistance Network and maintains No2010.com), and Kanahus Pelkey (Secwepemc and Ktunaxa First Nations, Native Youth Movement).

The Olympic Resistance Network will also be holding three media briefings in the coming week - in conjunction with grassroots Indigenous land defenders and activists from across Canada - to discuss reasons for opposing the Games, upcoming resistance plans, and to provide reports on protests.

- Thursday Feb 11 at 3 pm outside 706 Clarke Drive. "Resistance Groups Converge in Vancouver". Represenatives from Olympic Resistance Network,Native Youth Movement, AWOL-Kitchener, Indigenous Environmental Network, and No Games Chicago.

- Friday Feb 12 at 11 am at Pigeon Park, Carrall and Hastings, Downtown Eastside. "No Justice on Stolen Land" with grassroots Indigenous land defenders from Athabasca Fort Chipewan, Six Nations, Statimc Nation, Secwepemc Nation, and Wetsuweten Nation.

- Saturday Feb 13 at 3 pm at Pigeon Park, Carrall and Hastings, Downtown Eastside. Representatives from the Olympic Resistance Network and 2010 Welcoming Committee.

- 30 -

==> For a schedule of events:

http://olympicresistance.net/content/schedule

==> For a media press package and extensive media availabilites:

http://olympicresistance.net/content/media

MEDIA LIASONS: Harsha Walia: 778 885 0040; Gurb Gill: 604-436-0366.

For more information on the Indigenous resistance panel, contact Alex Mah at 604.715.6990 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For Immediate Release

February 9, 2010

'Green games' are really a greenwash:

Environmental justice organizations, First Nations communities challenge green games claim.

Major social and environmental justice organizations and First Nations grassroots leaders from across Western Canada will be hosting a press conference to address the environmental impacts of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler.

Despite claims by the BC government and the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) that the 2010 Olympics will be "the greenest games ever," these organizations have serious concerns related to the direct environmental impacts of the games in BC,the environmental records of the Game's host governments, and the environmental practices of a number of the Game's high-profile corporate sponsors, most notably those involved in extraction and transportation of tar sands bitumen from northern Alberta.

*When:*

Thursday, February 11, 2010

10:00 am

*Where:*

706 Clark Drive (corner of Clark Drive and East Georgia St.)

Vancouver, BC

*Who:*

Clayton Thomas-Muller -- Indigenous Environmental Network

Eriel Deranger - Rainforest Action Network

Pina Belpario - Council of Canadians

Lionel Lepine - Member of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation

Kanahus Pelkey - Secwepemc and Ktunaxa First Nations, Native Youth Movement

-30-

Media Contact:Harjap Grewal - Council of Canadians: 604.340.2455 /

hgrewal@canadians.org

OROROROROROROR

Meanwhile the protests have already begun. Last Sunday, February 7, the 'Poverty Olympics' (a takeoff of the Olympic Games) were held in Vancouver. Here's a report, originally published in The Province ,and reprinted at the No2010 website.

OROROROROROROR

Poverty Olympics Draws 600-700 People:
February 9, 2010 - 04:48 — no2010

Activists stage Poverty Olympics in Downtown Eastside

The Province, February 8, 2010

http://www.theprovince.com/business/Activists+stage+Poverty+Olympics+Downtown+Eastside/2535933/story.html

Anti-poverty activists staged a successful Poverty Olympics in Vancouver's poverty-stricken Downtown Eastside on Sunday afternoon.

"If the money that was spent on the Olympics had been spent to end poverty and homelessness it could have been done by now," said organizer Jean Swanson.

She said 600 to 700 spectators took in the Games -- three skits titled The Housing Hurdles, The Broken Promise Slalom and Wrestling for Community and a mock hockey game between the Pigeon Park Eagles and the VANOC Predators. "The ref was totally in favour of the VANOC Predators, but the Pigeon Park folks won any way," chuckled Swanson.

She said the most popular skit featured four local children wrestling with "the evil developer" for control of the community. "The kids won. They ended up sitting on the developer with their hands in the air in victory," said Swanson. "The audience was cheering and cheering."

The fun and games began when the Poverty Olympics torch arrived after a one-week, 100-kilometre route through Greater Vancouver. The torch, weighing 200 pounds and standing 12 feet tall, held a sign reading, "End the Poverty." It was pushed around on a hospital gurney.

The crowd overwhelmed the site -- the Japanese Hall in the 400-block Alexander Street. "For a while we had to keep people from coming in because it was too packed," said Swanson. She said international media from Britain, France and Germany joined U.S. journalists from the Wall Street Journal and USA Today at the events.
Short Video footage from Vancouver Media Coop on Poverty Olympics

http://http//vancouver.mediacoop.ca/video/2626

OROROROROROROR

Meanwhile the Olympic Resistance Summit has begun. Here's the notice of events from the Olympic Resistance Network.

OROROROROROROR

Feb 10-11: Olympic Resistance Summit:‏
http://olympicresistance.net/content/convergence-summit-schedule-feb-10-11

Kick off the Convergence week at the 2010 Olympic Resistance Summit! ******************************

February 10th and 11th, noon to 10pm East Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territories. The 2010 Olympics Resistance SUMMIT is a space for all anti-capitalist, indigenous, housing rights, labour, migrant justice, environmental, anti-war, community-loving, anti-poverty, civil libertarian, and anticolonial activists to come together to confront this two-week circus and the oppression it represents. During these 2 days we will organize, prepare, learn and unite to create a convergence against the 2010 Olympic Games! The schedule of workshops, panels, and other activities is posted below.

************************************************

Tabling space: If your organization would like to have an information table set up at the Wise Hall during the conference, please email olympicresistance@riseup.net .

Accessibility information: Please note that lunch and dinner will be provided. The Wise Hall is wheelchair accessible, but the Center for Socialist Education is not. On site childcare will be provided at the Center for Socialist Education.

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=289233616694&index=1

For more information: call 604.723.1206 or email olympicresistance@riseup.net

DAY 1 : Wed Feb 10th The Centre for Socialist Education - 706 Clark

12:00 - 1:00 Welcoming and Lunch

1:00 - 2:00 Creative Resistance Workshop

2:00 – 4:00 Open Creative Space The Wise Hall - 1882 Adanac

1:30- 2:30 Know Your Rights Workshop

2:45- 3:45 Corporate Resistance Workshop

4:00-5:30 Defending the Land Teach-in

5:45 – 6:45 Dinner

7:00 –9:00 Panel: Indigenous Resistance and the 2010 Olympics

DAY 2 : Thurs Feb 11th The Centre for Socialist Education -706 Clark

12:00 - 1:00 Welcoming and Lunch

1:00-2:30 Medics Training

2:30 - 4:00 Medics Logistics Meeting The Wise Hall -1882 Adanac

1:30- 2:45 Post-Convergence Movement Building

3:00- 4:30 IOC and Global Anti-Olympics Movement : Sochi and Chicago

4:45- 7:00 Convergence Planning

7:00 – 8:00 Dinner

8:15–10:00 Caucus Group Discussions

OROROROROROROR

A few days before this the No2010Victoria held their own "welcome party" for the Olympics in the provincial capital across the straight. Here's their press release. Once more don't expect to see much of this in the mainstream press.

OROROROROROROR

Victoria Protest and Mock Eviction of Vanoc Offices:
February 8, 2010 - 05:09 — no2010
VICTORIA TAKES TO THE STREETS FOR “THE OLYMPIC PARTY'S ALMOST OVER”

Press Release
Demonstration and street feast mark opposition to Olympic overspending and escalating poverty
February 6th, 2010 - Coast Salish Territories - Victoria B.C.

- The Victoria Coalition Against Poverty (VCAP) and No2010 Victoria organized a loud and colourful rally that wound through downtown Victoria this afternoon. The demonstration began at Bastion Square with a peoples' eviction of the 2010 Winter Games Secretariat office.

“The Secretariat is VANOC's partner and oversees B.C.'s financial commitment to the Games”, said organizer Shannon Lucy. “We evicted the Secretariat because we should not be spending billions on the Games in the midst of massive cutbacks to housing, essential services and other basic human needs.”

The march continued on to the downtown branch of the Royal Bank of Canada for a “sound-off”. “RBC is an Olympic sponsor and major investor in the tar sands”, said organizer Mik Turje. “The tar sands have led to pollution and high cancer rates in the Fort Chipewyan First Nation located downstream. We went to let RBC customers know what their bank is really about.”

The march stopped at the tragedy-laden corner of Pandora and Quadra to highlight critical poverty rates in Victoria. “The Olympics have cost twice as much as it would take to bring everyone in province above poverty line”, said organizer Shane Calder. “It only takes $2.8. billion to bring everyone in B.C. up to the poverty line, but the Olympics have cost us at least $6 billion. Unless we get services and supports to the levels we need, we can expect more tragedy on this corner”.

The march ended at Centennial Square with a street feast. “This afternoon's rally is an indication that the people of British Columbia will not continue to stand by as the Liberals gut the Province's social services in order to boost corporate profits”, stated organizer Tamara Herman. “We'll be in Vancouver next week to make sure our message is heard.”

The Victoria Coalition Against Poverty (VCAP) is a coalition of grassroots organizations that together are demanding an immediate end to poverty.No2010 Victoria is a local collective opposed to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.
Email: viccoalitionagainstpoverty@gmail.com and no2010victoria@gmail.com
Two YouTube Videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-YtHtQjcZA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGp2fFKja74

OROROROROROROR

Here's a couple more events that have just been added to the ever busy anti-Olympics schedule by the Olympic Resistance Network.

OROROROROROROR

New Additions! to the Calender of Events:‏
Vancouver Call to Action Against 2014 Sochi Olympics on the Land of Circassian Genocide:

Saturday, the 13th – Demonstrations will be held in front of the Russian “Sochi House” at Science World between 12-5pm at Thornton Park.

Join the No Sochi 2014 Committee!

After the five ring circus of the Vancouver Games, the next Winter Olympics will be held in Sochi, Russia in 2014.

• The Circassian Genocide claimed the lives of 1.5 million men, women and children- over 50% of the entire Circassian population .

• Sochi, once Circassia’s capital, was the point of exile for over one million Circassians.

• Circassians have no rights, no freedom and no justice on the land they have lived on for over 5,000 years

• Russia today is still responsible for multiple human rights abuses, environmental destruction and international provocation

Thirty Circassian organizations worldwide as well as millions of Circassians resist these games because they will occur on the greatest tragedy in their history on the site of the Circassian genocide.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- please forward widely

- No More Empty Talk, No More Empty Lots.:

* February 15th, noon at Pigeon Park (Carrall and Hastings, Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories).

Rally with all our neighbours and supporters.

Organized by DTES Women Centre Power of Women Group.

Food will be served. For information, email project@dewc.ca or call 778 885 0040.

* Support the Olympic Tent Village!

Endorsed by Streams of Justice.

Stay the evening, night, and/or morning after the rally to protect the Tent Village, especially the first 24-72 hours. To find out how to support,visit http://olympictentvillage.wordpress.com/ or email streamsofjustice@gmail.com or call 604-253-1782.

The upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics has escalated the homelessness crisis in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and the Greater Vancouver area. Since the Olympic bid, homelessness has nearly tripled in the GVRD, while real estate and condominium development in the Downtown Eastside is outpacing social housing by a rate of 3:1. Meanwhile, a heightened police presence has further criminalized those living in extreme material poverty in the poorest postal code in Canada.

With the eyes of the world on Vancouver, residents of the Downtown Eastside and our supporters will be taking the streets to affirm our call for justice and dignity.

We want:

1. Real action to end homelessness now

2. End condo development and displacement in the Downtown Eastside

3. End discriminatory ticketing, police harassment, and all forms of criminalization of poverty. No more empty talk and no more empty lots.

Rally endorsed by: (take a deep breath-Molly )Carnegie Community Action Project, DTES Elders Council, Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, Impact on Communities Coalition, Streams of Justice, Vancouver Action, Walk 4 Justice, Community Advocates for Little Mountain, Anti Poverty Committee, DTES Community Arts Network, Indigenous Action Movement, Citywide Housing Coalition, Association of Chinese Canadians for Equality and Solidarity Society, Solidarity Notes Labour Choir, No One Is Illegal – Vancouver, Food Not Bombs, Vancouver Status of Women, Indigenous Environmental Network, Organizing Centre for Social and Economic Justice, Bus Riders Union, Alliance for People's Health, Women Elders in Action, Canadian Union of Postal Workers –National Representative, UBC Students for a Democratic Society, East Van Abolitionists, Gatewaysucks.org, Justice for Girls, W2 Community Media Arts Society, Submedia, Vancouver Catholic Worker, Pivot Legal Society, UBC Centre for Race, Autobiography, Gender, Siraat Collective, The Rational Coop-Radio, Bulland Awaaz- Coop-Radio, Pink Resistance, CIPO–Vancouver (Popular Council of Indigenous Nations of Oaxaca in Vancouver), Rhizome Cafe, Native Youth Movement, Network of Sri Lankan Law Students, Oxfam Canada, Whistler Watch, no2010.com, Warrior Publications, Workless Party, Teaching Support Staff Union, 2010 Welcoming Committee, Latin America Connexions Collective, Servants Vancouver, Building Bridges Human Rights-Vancouver, Check Your Head, SFU Interfaith Institute for Justice,Peace and Social Movements, Stopwar.ca, Headlines Theatre, Student Christian Movement-UBC, Community Olympics Watch, Rain Zine, Industrial Workers of the World, The Press Release Collective, Simon Fraser University Public Interest Research Group, 2010 Homelessness Hunger Strike Relay, Friends of Women in the Middle East Society, Iran Solidarity-Vancouver, Federation of Iranian Refugees, Wake Up With Co-Opat CFRO, UBC Colour Connected Against Racism, Women Against ViolenceAgainst Women. ( Uh, can we say they have a few sponsors ???-Molly )

OROROROROROROR

Let's end this post with an interesting article from the Vancouver Sun on native resistance to the Games. Don't worry, I'll be back later with more from Vancouver and the anti-Olympics movement. For now, however, it should be noted that the Canadian government has made Herculean efforts to have us many public "sign-ons" from the Canadian aboriginal community as is humanly possible. This is no doubt a very conscious decision, given that the facts of Cnada's treatment of its native population are the dirtiest of Canada's dirty linen, and it was no doubt identified long ago that airing these scandals would likely be the greatest possible public embarassment during the hosting of the Olympics.

Well, the federal Conservayives, being, after all the federal Conservatives(and doubtless advised by their corporate friends), judged that it would be far cheaper (in many ways) to hold a massive public relations exercise rather than actually doing anything substantial about the problem. Hence the numerous trips to reserves of the Olympic Flame and the equally numerous public statements (encouraged ?) of native leaders in support of the Games.

Unfortunately for the Cons not all aboriginals have taken the bait. While the campaign has been more of less successful there is still a substantial minority of native leaders who are willing to publically express their doubts. In British Columbia this minority is particularily visible. The following article explores the questions that some aboriginals have raised. In the great post-games hangover it is entirely possible that the opinions of these dissidents will carry even more weight.

OROROROROROROR

Not All Native Band Councils in BC Support Olympics:

Aboriginal groups divided on whether to support Olympics80 of B.C.'s 203 bands refuse to participate because government and Vanoc ignore 'horrific levels of poverty,' their leader says.

By Kim Pemberton, Vancouver Sun, February 6, 2010

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/2010wintergames/Aboriginal%20groups%2...
The head of the Four Host First Nations, Tewanee Joseph, has been criss-crossing the country since 2003 selling the Olympics to first nations communities. He's achieved signed agreements with more than a dozen provincial and national aboriginal groups setting out their involvement with the 2010 Olympic Games. (Is it possible that we may one day say "Senator Joseph" if the Conservatives end up with amajority government ?-Molly )

But despite his efforts, aboriginal groups are divided.

No where is that more noticeable than here at home with the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, representing 80 of the 203 bands in the province, refusing to participate in the games.

The union's longtime president Chief Stewart Phillip said he will not be at Monday's opening ceremony for the Aboriginal Pavilion nor at any of the Olympic 2010 sponsored events.

Instead, his goal is to make a political statement.

He arrived in Vancouver on Thursday to meet with organizers of the 19th annual Feb. 14 Memorial March to commemorate women murdered or missing on the Downtown Eastside and the Highway of Tears in northwest B.C.

"I can't stand alongside the premier and John Furlong [Vanoc director] at the grand opening ceremony and give the impression that everything is okay. It's a moral decision. I'd much rather stand with the people who have to endure the tragic dimensions of the poverty imposed on the aboriginal people in this province and the tragic dimensions of that poverty in terms of our high suicide rates and homicides," said Phillip.

"We're deeply concerned about the concerted and aggressive marketing campaign advanced by Vanoc which suggests the indigenous people of B.C.and Canada enjoy a very comfortable and high standard of living. The Disneyesque promotional materials suggests a cosy relationship between aboriginal people of the province with all levels of government and it completely ignores the horrific levels of poverty our people endure on a daily basis."

Phillip added the Olympics will come and go "in a blink of an eye" and aboriginal communities will still be dealing with massive unemployment, epidemic youth suicides, terrible health care and massive housing shortages, to name a few of the problems.

"If government would act on our constitutional rights, human rights, land use we'd be directly involved and in a position to address these appalling conditions of our people."

He said native groups throughout B.C. and Canada are divided on whether to support the games.

And while he doesn't take issue with the Four Host First Nations going into partnership with the International Olympic Committee and Vanoc, and benefiting economically from the event, he is concerned with how the "government is absolutely consumed with the Olympics" and ignoring the harsh conditions experienced in most aboriginal communities.

Joseph said the Four Host First Nations has never denied problems exists in aboriginal communities and he's also heard the comment the Four Host First Nations are "corporate sellouts."

His response to that is a world event is coming to their traditional territory and "do we really want to be on the outside looking in?"

"We've all been poor. We've lived these issues ourselves. We come from the same place," said Joseph. "There has been over 100 years of shameful treatment, anger, conflict, tragedy. My late grandmother said understand the past but don't dwell in it."

He added their message to all aboriginal groups is they can tell their story at the Olympics. But he cautions "if you had one minute to tell the story of your people worldwide, what would the picture be?"

Among the aboriginal groups who did sign partnership agreements with the Four Host First Nations to be part of the Olympics celebration are the First Nation Summit, which represents 106 aboriginal bands in B.C. and the Yukon involved in the treaty process, Treaty 6, Treaty 7 and Treaty 8 in Alberta, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nation, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Chiefs of Ontario, Grand Council of Cree, the Atlantic Policy Congress, the Dene Nation, the Council of Yukon First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Metis National Council, the Metis Nation of B.C., the Assembly of First Nations, Nisga'a Nation, Sto: lo Nation and Tsawwassen Nation.

Metis Nation of B.C. president Bruce Dumont said their organization is excited to be part of a theme day on Feb. 15 called "Metis Day" at the Aboriginal Pavilion in downtown Vancouver.