Grim report warns Canada vulnerable to an aboriginal insurrection

John Ivison, National Post, May 1, 2013

Masked warrior on guard at burning car barricade, Burnt Church, New Brunswick.

Mankind is at a crossroads, Woody Allen once quipped: “One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness.  The other to total extinction.  Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.”

Canada’s relations with its aboriginal people are also at a crossroads but, fortunately, one of the potential paths forward promises a more auspicious outcome than Mr. Allen’s doomsday scenario.

Court orders Six Nations protesters to pay $350,000 for disruptive blockades

APTN National News,March 19, 2013

A group of Six Nations protesters have less than 30 days to pay $350,000 to the city of Brantford for a series of blockades several years ago.

Judge Harrison Arrell ruled late last month in the Brantford’s favour after the blockades in 2007 and 2008 slowed the development of a hotel, manufacturing facility, retail outlets and a residential subdivision.

Envoy to deal with First Nations concerns on pipelines

Vancouver lawyer Doug Eyford to submit preliminary report to Harper by June

CBC News/The Canadian Press, Mar 19, 2013

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has named an envoy to deal with aboriginal opposition to resource development in Alberta and British Columbia.

That’s where First Nations opposition to the Northern Gateway pipeline has thrown the future of the project into question.

Gunfire, Drumming & Singing Mark Wounded Knee 40 Year Anniversary

by Kristi Eaton, Associated Press, Feb 28, 2013

Armed participants at the 40th anniversary of Wounded Knee.

WOUNDED KNEE, S.D. — A Pine Ridge Indian Reservation resident who found herself in the middle of the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation said Wednesday amid ceremonial gunfire and chants that little has changed since the fatal standoff.

Anicinabe Park Occupation 1974: Interviews with 2 Warriors

Participants in the 1974 armed occupation of Anicinabe Park, near Kenora, Ontario.

- reprinted from Oh-Toh-Kin, Volume 1 Number 1, Winter/Spring 1992

The following interviews with Lyle Ironstand and Louis Cameron have been reprinted from Paper Tomahawks: From Red Tape to Red Power by James Burke, published in 1976 by Queenston House Publishing.

Fledgling AIM Winnipeg chapter ‘committed to action.’

By Jorge Barrera, APTN National News, Jan 23, 2012

Train blockade at Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Jan 16, 2013. AIM flag in background.

The American Indian Movement is in the final stages of sanctioning a chapter in Winnipeg  that is prepared for “direct” action to extract “justice” from Canada, members said Tuesday.

Plan Nord Be Dammed! Innu Resistance to Resource Exploitation

Innu reject Quebec government’s “North for all” plan

by Aaron Lakoff, Montreal Media Coop, January 17, 2013

The scene on Oct. 16, 2012, as Quebec police move to dismantle blockade. .

SEPT-ÎLES, QC—Marie Louise Andre Mackenzie is an 86-year-old elder from the tiny town of Schefferville, Quebec. With deep and dignified wrinkles on her face, and a large smile, Mackenzie speaks in Innu-aimun. As she speaks, her granddaughter translates her words to French.

Six Nations Members Shutdown Wind Turbine Sites

Simcoe Reformer, Jan 17, 2013

Stopping a truck transporting wind turbine pieces, Jan 17, 2013.

Members of Six Nations in Ontario are protesting at wind turbine project sites in Haldimand County. “It’s a rotating protest that is going from one site to the next. So far, they’ve been to five or six sites,” Haldimand Ontario Provincial Police Const. Mark Foster told the Simcoe Reformer on Thursday afternoon.

Cross-Canada Indigenous Blockades Highlight Idle No More Tactics’ Tensions

David P. Ball, Indian Country Today, January 16, 2013

Grassroots warriors at Idle No More rally in Ottawa, Dec 21, 2012.

Today’s plans for cross-country blockades to disrupt Canada’s economy and infrastructure are revealing tensions within both the Idle No More movement and aboriginal leadership in the country, sparking debate over what tactics are appropriate in the quest for Native self-determination and who gets to police that line.

Masked Militants March in Anti-Pipeline Protest

Masked militant holds up banner as screen during anti-Enbridge rally in Vancouver, Jan 14, 2013.

by Zig Zag, Warrior Publications, January 15, 2013

As many as 1,000 people gathered in downtown Vancouver on Monday, Jan 14, 2013, to protest the Enbridge hearings. Organized by Rising Tide and a coalition of community groups, the demonstration occurred on the first evening of hearings held by the National Energy Board’s joint review panel in the city. Citing security reasons, the panel hearings are closed to the public and only those who have registered to make submissions are allowed entry.