Burns Lake police raid: ‘I thought they were going to shoot me’

By Jorge Barrera, APTN National News, April 8, 2013
Elder Ryan Tibbetts says the moment he pointed out the gun to his 12 year-old son, the RCMP officer raised the weapon toward them.

It was in the midst of a police raid Sunday at the Burns Lake band office, after Tibbetts and his son were allowed to re-enter the premises to retrieve some of their personal belongings, including his son’s Xbox game console, when he said he saw RCMP officers with their guns drawn.

Burns Lake Band members evicted from their blockade by RCMP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

April 7, 2013

RCMP at Burns Lake Indian Band offices, April 7 2013.

On day 14 of a non-violent protest held at the Burns Lake Band office, approximately 50 or more riot police, many with shotguns drawn evicted three adults and one 12 year old child. 92 percent of the eligible voters on-reserve had signed a petition in support of the protest despite claims to the contrary by the INAC chief councillor, Albert Gerow.

Dissident group occupies Little Shuswap band office

Handful of protesters won’t budge until demands are met

Rocky Tomma, with his brother Ron Tomma, stands outside the Little Shuswap Indian Band administration office Monday.

By MIKE YOUDS, Kamloops Daily News March 18, 2013

A group of dissident band members is staging an occupation of the Little Shuswap band office, intending to keep it locked up until their demands are satisfied.

“Until we hear from them, the office is closed,” said Rocky Tomma, one of a half dozen members who took over the office on Monday morning. “We’ll be here 24/7 until we know what’s going to happen.”

Five first nations reach pre-treaty land deal with B.C. government

Dirk Meissner, The Globe and Mail/The Canadian Press, Tuesday, Feb. 26 2013

A parking lot near the British Columbia legislature in Victoria and the current site of a government liquor store in nearby Esquimalt are two of several Vancouver Island properties slated to be transferred to five first nations in advance of treaty settlements.

The land agreements are all on southern Vancouver Island, as are the five first nations involved.

Lubicon Cree Standing Strong Against Fraudulent Election

Release Date: February 20, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LUBICON LAKE NATION STANDING STRONG AGAINST FRAUDULENT ELECTION: DEMANDS ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS CEASE ASSIMILATION TACTICS IN NATION

Little Buffalo, AB - The Government of the Lubicon Lake Nation is a sovereign Nation within what is now Alberta, which has never signed treaty with Canada or the British crown ceding its rights over and title to its lands. The current Government of the Lubicon Lake Nation was formed as part of a custom resolution to previous disputes created by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AAND-C) interference and the current governance has the written acknowledge support of the vast majority of Lubicon citizens. The Government of the Lubicon Lake Nation has not called, nor held an election and no changes have been made to the governance of our Nation.

Assembly of First Nations, RCMP co-operated on 2007 ‘Day of Action’

By Tim Groves and Martin Lukacs, The Star (Toronto), Fri Feb 15 2013

The Assembly of First Nations worked closely with the Mounties and provincial police to exchange information about protests and develop common stances before a national aboriginal day of action in the summer of 2007, according to RCMP documents.

The revelations are likely to provoke anger among Idle No More protesters and provide ammunition to aboriginal critics who have argued the AFN’s relationship with the federal government has become too cosy, with few gains to show for it.

Patrick Brazeau in custody, kicked out of Tory caucus

Senator appointed by Harper and known for controversy to sit as Independent

By Laura Payton, CBC News, Feb 7, 2013

Patrick Brazeau, Aboriginal member of Canadian Senate appointed by PM Harper.

Senator Patrick Brazeau is in police custody following an alleged domestic assault and has been removed from the Conservative Party’s caucus, the party confirmed Thursday.

Brazeau, who has weathered several controversies since his appointment in 2009, will continue to sit in the Senate as an Independent.

Aboriginal Business Elite Promote Pipelines as part of ‘Energy Corridor’

First nations carving out an energy bridge to the B.C. coast

Nathan Vanderklippe, The Globe and Mail, Feb 5, 2013

Calvin Helin doing power point presentation in his button blanket regalia.

For the Canadian energy industry desperate to pump oil and natural gas through British Columbia, the single greatest obstacle has been the dozens of first nations fighting to ensure pipelines are never built.

Now, some of the leading figures in Canada’s aboriginal business community are offering a bridge across the province’s difficult political landscape. They have formed Eagle Spirit Energy Holdings Ltd., a company quietly working to create a first nations-owned energy corridor across northern B.C. that could serve as a physical line across the province to move natural gas, electricity and oil.

Ktunaxa Nation and BC sign deal on revenue sharing from coal mines

By Gordon Hamilton, Vancouver Sun, January 29, 2013

Ktunaxa Nation chairperson Kathryn Teneese and BC Aboriginal Affairs minister Ida Chong at press conference announcing revenue sharing deal, Jan 29, 2013.

The B.C. government and the Ktunaxa First Nation signed a revenue-sharing agreement Tuesday that could see the two governments split millions in mining revenues from new developments in B.C.’s largest coal field, the Elk Valley.

The agreement has the potential to make the Ktunaxa a significant partner in tax revenues generated from the coal fields, giving them, initially, more than a third of the region’s mineral taxes collected on new developments.

Oily Chiefs, Idle No More, and the AFN

by Zig Zag, Warrior Publications, January 17, 2013

To fully understand the phenomenon of Idle No More, you must imagine two parallel universes. In one, INM is comprised of good-hearted grassroots Native people responding to a call to oppose Bill C-45 and to protect the land and water of their traditional territories. In the other, however, are chiefs using the mobilization to achieve their political & economic agenda, an agenda that includes partnering with corporations seeking to exploit oil and gas resources on reserve lands.