This Date in Native History: On February 27, 1973, about 250 Sioux Indians led by members of the American Indian Movement converged on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation, launching the famous 71-day occupation of Wounded Knee.
Blog Archives
RCMP devote 40 investigators to attack at Coastal GasLink work site
RCMP seek to identify some 20 masked assailants who threatened Coastal GasLink pipeline contractors and caused millions of dollars in damage.
by Derrick Penner, Vancouver Sun, Feb 18, 2022
Attackers disabled lighting and video-surveillance equipment during their raid on a remote Coastal GasLink work site in northwestern B.C. and commandeered heavy equipment to inflict damage estimated to be in the millions of dollars, the company said Friday.
Video and photos captured before the equipment was disabled in the attack have been turned over to RCMP.
Police are trying to identify suspects among the reported 20 to 40 individuals involved in the apparently co-ordinated attack that happened on Thursday, just after midnight.
CGL Pipeline work site attacked
Masked mob swarms Northern, B.C. pipeline work site, causes millions in damage
by Darren Handschuh, Castanet, Feb 17, 2022
British Columbia’s minister of public safety Mike Farnworth has issued a statement condemning the attack on the Coastal GasLink site.
“The RCMP is conducting a full investigation into this egregious criminal activity that could have led to serious injury or loss of life,” Farnworth said.
Federal officials discussed raising alert level to highest level during Idle No More, book says
Colonial terrorism: RCMP Tactical Armoured Vehicle lurks in the background behind “Tactical Troop” riot cops near Elsipogtog, New Brunswick, Oct 17, 2013.
Indigenous Affairs played central information sharing role with security services, according to new report
By Jorge Barrera, CBC News, March 1, 2018
Senior federal officials discussed raising the country’s alert level to the highest tier at the height of the Idle No More movement, which also shaped how Canada’s security agencies handle Indigenous-led protests, according to a new book. Read the rest of this entry
Dennis Banks, the American Indian Movement
Dennis Banks during the occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in 1973. He passed away on Oct 29, 2017.
by Delphine Red Shirt, Lakota Times, November 2, 2017
What many people don’t know is that the activism that Dennis Banks and others became involved in started in the period from 1953 to 1954 when the U.S. engaged in a policy known as termination. Where Congress decided to dismantle the reservation system. Read the rest of this entry
SANTA Fe: 12 Arrested Protesting Conquistador Celebration on Stolen Pueblo Land
By Daniel J. Chacón and Andrew Oxford,
A long-running annual pageant recalling the 1692 retaking of Santa Fe by Spanish conquistadors spurred raucous, roving protests Friday that wound through downtown streets and resulted in at least eight arrests.
The clash over the Entrada, anticipated amid heightened racial and ethnic tensions nationally, pushed a simmering conflict over Santa Fe’s own legacy of colonialism to a new level. Coming after city leaders had appealed for reconciliation between organizers of the Fiesta de Santa Fe and Native American activists, the fracas that unfolded on and around the Santa Fe Plaza seemed a big step back from diffusing a controversy at the heart of the community’s very identity.
Criminalization of Indigenous Communities
Voices-Voix, August 1, 2017
In January 2017, Public Safety Canada (PS) disclosed that the Government Operations Centre (GOC) gathers information on Indigenous rallies for the purpose of “maintaining awareness” of events that may impact the safety and security of Canadians and events effecting the national interest. According to PS, the information gathered consisted generally of the date, location and purpose of the protests and rallies, including in relation to missing and murdered Indigenous women. Natural Resources Canada also reported that they monitor publicly available information such as Twitter, Facebook and media reports regarding protest activities that may impact the department, its employees or facilities. Read the rest of this entry
Injunctions, RCMP deployment “classic pacification”: Professor
RCMP protect equipment brought in for construction at Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project, July 2017.
By Justin Brake, The Independent, August 3, 2017
Nalcor’s use of court injunctions and the government’s approval of RCMP deployment to quell resistance to Muskrat Falls are common tactics used to remove Indigenous people from their lands and facilitate resource development, says Shiri Pasternak. Read the rest of this entry
Six Indigenous scholars share their views of Canada at 150
Most of them won’t be celebrating.
Confederation has been described as a turning point for the worse in the lives of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in Canada. Indigenous rights established through Britain’s Royal Proclamation of 1763 and subsequent treaties were not upheld, it’s been well-argued. There was a steep decline in the vitality of Indigenous cultures and languages, and in people’s well-being, particularly after the Indian Act of 1876.
Trouble #1: Killing the Black Snake
from sub.Media
Trouble Season 1 Episode 1
“Killing the Black Snake:
Behind the Scenes of the #NODAPL Struggle”
Native History: AIM Occupation of Wounded Knee Begins
Robert Onco with his AK47 during the occupation of Wounded Knee, 1973.
Wounded Knee is hailed as one of AIM’s greatest successes
Warrior Publications 