There are three kinds of men: The ones that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves...wILL rODGERS
Finally in 2006, Stephen Harper undertook to recast the Canadian state and put in place a no-holds barred capitalism wrapped in religious rhetoric and social conservatism.
The First Nations have no place in this neo-conservative world. Territorial claims are off the table and the administrative framework for dealing with these communities had to be dismantled. To justify this abrupt and drastic change of course, the government, with the help of a compliant media, mounted a major campaign of denigration and defamation. However, the native people didn't back down. A striking example of this resistance was the setting up of roadblocks by the Atikamekw Nation to deny access to companies seeking to exploit forest resources on their land.
make me give, give me back, back for what i had to unlearn, pay me back, for that effort and motivation to change this system...that led to this system of economic slavery....kosmicdebris
your paper dollars mean nothing to me.
Hard News
By Geneviève Beaudet and Pierre Beaudet
The blossoming of the Idle No More movement signals the return of native resistance to the political and social landscape of Canada and Quebec. With its origins in Saskatchewan in October 2012, this mass movement has taken on the federal government and more specifically the adoption of Bill C-45. Its origins lay not in the work of established organizations such as The Assembly of First Nations (although the AFN fully supports the initiative), but in a grassroots mobilization that has arisen in several parts of the country. This process echoes other recent citizen mobilizations such as the student carrés rouges in Quebec and the worldwide Occupy movement.
[Photo by Thien Vo]
Bill C-45
is perceived by native people as an attempt to further weaken their
already limited powers to resist the invasion of their lands and the
continuing exploitation of their natural resources. In the eyes of these
communities, this adds to a long list of initiatives and legislation
put forward to undermine their autonomy.
In neo-conservative circles, the existence of First Nations peoples is seen as an anachronism, best relegated to the past. Their future, if indeed they do have one, lies in assimilation into Canadian society.
Even though this attempt at social erasure began prior to the election of the present government, the process of destruction of native culture and identity has intensified under the Harper government.
However, it would be an error to believe that this attack is driven solely by neo-conservative ideology. The present strategy of the Conservative government, one also shared by the economic elite, sees the occupation of the northern and western stretches of Canada as a key piece of a thoroughgoing re-tooling and refashioning of the Canadian economy, in which Canada, in the words of the Prime Minister, must become an “energy superpower.”
From this perspective one thing is clear – the native populations are in the way. Given this, it also means that it makes little sense to work toward resolving the horrendous health, housing, employment and education problems of Attawapiskat and elsewhere.
But during the 18th century, the British forces prevailed and the process of colonization continued apace.
This economy was built upon the pillage of natural resources and the subjugation of the native and French-Canadian populations. Then, in 1837, came the revolt of the Patriotes in Quebec. This uprising, with republican impulses, demanded democratic reform and insisted that the native population have the same rights as all. But the British forces were too powerful and these promising efforts were defeated. The colonial power then proceeded to attempt to extend and consolidate its control over the western frontier, an area occupied by several important native communities, including the Métis of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. This resistance also suffered a bloody defeat.
In 1867, Canada emerged as a semi-independent state. The Anglo-Canadian elite, learning their lessons well from the Empire, adopted the imperial tactic of divide and rule. The subjugated peoples were in disarray and their elites co-opted into the colonial apparatus. The native populations were herded onto reserves after signing treaties under unfavourable conditions which provided few benefits.
Following the Second World War, the Canadian variant of capitalism aligned itself with a new empire – the American one this time, a growing colossus desperate for resources. This led to a series of megaprojects in the hydro-electric and oil sectors in the 1950s and 60s. At the same time, the Canadian state, under the rubric of ‘modernization,’ moved to further reduce the autonomy of native communities, all the while refusing to address the colonial relationship imposed upon native peoples.
From the Quebec side, the relations with natives remained ambiguous. Both had aspirations to nationhood but the lines were never clearly drawn as to the question of the division of territory. However, concessions were forced on all sides as the federalist forces in Ottawa had to be faced.
The native populations saw an opening and attempted to mobilize. And it was the Cree in Quebec who succeeded in opening a serious breach. They managed, in negotiating the James Bay Agreement, to obtain certain new powers, as well as financial resources, in exchange for allowing Quebec to develop important hydro-electric projects on their territory. This turn of events sparked native resistance in the rest of Canada who looked to follow the Cree example and gain similar victories. But it was a no go in the West and in Ontario. Negotiations dragged on interminably and gains were minimal.
Following the defeat of the indépendantist project in Quebec in the 1990s, new conflicts surfaced. The Oka Crisis is the start of a cycle of resistance in several native communities close to urban areas. Mass actions, such as the blockading of highways, spread throughout Ontario, Northern Quebec and elsewhere. At the same time, the development of natural resources became an imperative for Canadian capital, more and more in synch with its American counterparts. Native groups and the Assembly of First Nations were pushed into a corner, leading to their opposition to the constitutional reform of Meech Lake from which they were excluded.
Finally in 2006, Stephen Harper undertook to recast the Canadian state and put in place a no-holds barred capitalism wrapped in religious rhetoric and social conservatism.
The First Nations have no place in this neo-conservative world. Territorial claims are off the table and the administrative framework for dealing with these communities had to be dismantled. To justify this abrupt and drastic change of course, the government, with the help of a compliant media, mounted a major campaign of denigration and defamation. However, the native people didn't back down. A striking example of this resistance was the setting up of roadblocks by the Atikamekw Nation to deny access to companies seeking to exploit forest resources on their land.
Native demands are not limited to improving material conditions and obtaining certain rights. They also focus on the dismantling of the structures of oppressive relations. For their part, non-native populations, including the Québécois people, must come to accept that they are not the ‘owners’ of the land. A lasting solution requires that these realities be the starting point for a genuine dialogue between equally sovereign peoples.
But today we have to go further. Is this possible? The experience of the citizens of Villeray, a Montreal neighbourhood, is instructive. In the summer of 2010, a grassroots citizens’ group supported, in the face of opposition, the establishment of an Inuit residence in the neighborhood, an action that provoked a lively debate.
In similar fashion, but at a political level, Françoise David, a Québec Solidaire member of the National Assembly, came out, in December 2012, in public support of the Idle No More movement and denounced the Harper government policies as leading “to the erosion of environmental standards, to a frenetic speed-up of resource extraction, and to the non-respect of the sovereignty of First Nations.”
Listening to the native population is critical to making any progress. In the forthcoming issue of the Nouveaux Cahiers du socialisme, Dalie Giroux makes several key points: that natives have another conception of the world, one in which the presence of humans can not be separated out from the land (and the world) itself and that humans are part of a larger reality and co-exist in a relationship of mutual and ongoing dependence with other life (and non-life) forms. This “solidarity of necessity” echoes the Quechuas and the Aymaras peoples’ idea of PACHAMAMA which can be loosely, but not fully, translated as “Mother Earth.”
Diverse realities, including the human, non-human and the natural environment can not flourish within a framework of conflict. This idea, which seemed very esoteric until just recently, is being re-discovered in a world where the voice of native people is resonating louder and louder across the land. •
Pierre Beaudet is a member of NCS and Geneviève Beaudet is an activist working on native rights issues. John Bradley translated this article from the French.
This article first appeared on the website of Nouveaux Cahiers du socialisme (NCS).
SOMEBODY HATES YOUR CHILDREN
Go — take the mother's soul, and learn three truths: Learn What dwells in man, What is not given to man, and What men live by. When thou hast learnt these things, thou shalt return to heaven......
And I understood that in man dwells Love! I was glad that God had already begun to show me what He had promised, and I smiled for the first time.
I remained alive when I was a man, not by care of myself, but because love was present in a passer-by, and because he and his wife pitied and loved me. The orphans remained alive, not because of their mother's care, but because there was love in the heart of a woman a stranger to them, who pitied and loved them. And all men live not by the thought they spend on their own welfare, but because love exists in man.
I knew before that God gave life to men and desires that they should live; now I understood more than that.
I understood that God does not wish men to live apart, and therefore he does not reveal to them what each one needs for himself; but he wishes them to live united, and therefore reveals to each of them what is necessary for all.
I have now understood that though it seems to men that they live by care for themselves, in truth it is love alone by which they live. He who has love, is in God, and God is in him, for God is love.
Ле́в Никола́евич Толсто́й
what ever you call your source is ok with me, the sourc3, great mystery, kosmic consciousness.
...................keep fighting the good fight, with your minds as weapons........................
................................................................................kosmicdebris.....
Finally in 2006, Stephen Harper undertook to recast the Canadian state and put in place a no-holds barred capitalism wrapped in religious rhetoric and social conservatism.
The First Nations have no place in this neo-conservative world. Territorial claims are off the table and the administrative framework for dealing with these communities had to be dismantled. To justify this abrupt and drastic change of course, the government, with the help of a compliant media, mounted a major campaign of denigration and defamation. However, the native people didn't back down. A striking example of this resistance was the setting up of roadblocks by the Atikamekw Nation to deny access to companies seeking to exploit forest resources on their land.
 |
Lauren Kelley, AlterNet
Will our politicians finally face this grim reality? What will it take? READ MORE»
|
your paper dollars mean nothing to me.
Israel Attacks Syria Arms Convoy'
By Al Jazeera
Israel
has conducted an airstrike inside Syria near the border with Lebanon,
hitting a convoy of trucks, US and regional officials say.
Western Push to Oust Syrian Regime Escalates
By Oliver Campbell
Israel's
vice prime minister Silvan Shalom suggested that Israel could launch
an attack on Syria, using the pretext of preventing Syrian chemical
weapons coming into the hands of Hezbollah, or Al Qaeda-linked
organisations.
Syria: First To Blink ...
By Moon Of Alabama
Look
who blinks: Syria's opposition chief Moaz al-Khatib said on Wednesday
he is ready for dialogue with officials of President Bashar al-Assad's
regime.
The Iran Nuke Threat: Phantom Menace
By Ben Schreiner
The Iranian nuclear
threat simply cannot be killed. And as it is permitted to linger, the
U.S. military planning against Iran continues its acceleration.
Why America's Middle East Policy is Doomed
By Chuck Spinney
Israel's ill repute corrodes U.S. prestige and credibility not just in the Middle East but in the world at large.
Chuck Hagel and the American Empire
By Mike Lofgren
Does anyone think that
Hagel, as a future subordinate of a president who orders drone
strikes, authorized the Afghanistan surge and claims the power to be
judge, jury and executioner of US citizens, will meaningfully alter the
course of the US National Security State?
Hasbara and the Control of Narrative as an Element of Strategy
By Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. (USFS, Ret.)
Public opinion is
increasingly shaped by social media. The state of Israel has organized
civilian government and military units to exploit this, including
creating websites, social media accounts, and messages attributed to
false identities.
Why Palestine Should Take Israel to Court in The Hague
By GEORGE BISHARAT
Israeli leaders are
unnerved for good reason. The I.C.C. could prosecute major
international crimes committed on Palestinian soil anytime after the
court's founding on July 1, 2002.
The Real Invasion of Africa is Not News and a \Licence to Lie is Hollywood's Gift
By John Pilger
It is as if Africa's
proud history of liberation, from Patrice Lumumba to Nelson Mandela, is
consigned to oblivion by a new master's black colonial elite whose
"historic mission", warned Frantz Fanon half a century ago, is the
promotion of "a capitalism rampant though camouflaged".
In Mali, Forces Backed by UN, France, and Obama Slaughter Civilians
By Alex Newman
Even Amnesty
International, which has developed a reputation as a mouthpiece for the
establishment, has expressed alarm over the crimes perpetrated by the
Western-backed Malian regime.
American Military Power
Interview with William Blum
By Paul Gottinger
I've compiled of US assassination attempts of foreign leaders. There are more than 50 leaders on it.
Hey, Hey, Barack! What Do You Say?
How Many Kids Have You Killed Today?
By Dave Lindorff
I personally found the
president's inaugural speech not just insipid, but disgusting. It
reached its gut-churning nadir near the end where he said:
Against Philanthropy
As Hurricane Victims Freeze, Billionaire Mayor Gives Away $1 Billion to Wealthy Med School
By Ted Rall
If there's anything
more nauseating than watching this rich pig bask in the glow of his
philanthropy while the citizens he is tasked with caring for turn into
popsicles, it's the failure of anyone in the system - columnists, local
TV anchor people, even Bloomberg's political rivals - to call him out.
Poverty and Progress: Comparing the US and Venezuela
By Eric Draitser
This is the crisis of
advanced, post-industrial capitalism - an economic system which must
expand the divide between rich and poor, create extremes of wealth and
poverty and generally perpetuate itself on the misery and poverty of
the lower classes.
Who Runs The World?
Proof That A Core Group Of Wealthy Elitists Is Pulling The Strings
By Michael Snyder
It would be nice to
think that the American people are in control of who runs things in the
U.S., but that is not how it works in the real world.
Hard News
23 "militants" killed in Khyber tribal region: Pak military:
A
number of Taliban hideouts were destroyed by security forces, who also
killed 23 members of the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Islam in Dawato, Bara
Gate, Wocha Wona and Nakai areas of Khyber Agency, security officials
said.
Bomb blast in Afghan market kills 2 children, wounds 4 others:
The
governor's office for Khost province says in a statement that the bomb
was hidden under a stall in the main bazaar in Sabari district. It
went off Wednesday while a group of police officers were passing by.
Turkmenistan Selling Iranian Oil To Americans In Afghanistan?:
A
new U.S. government report says that fuel for Afghanistan's security
forces, paid for by the U.S., may include Iranian fuel in contravention
of U.S. sanctions -- and implies that Turkmenistan may be to blame.
Syrian army: 2 killed in Israel 'research centre bombing':
The
fighter jets of the Israeli enemy sneaked from the south of the Golan
heights below the radar and attacked the research centre. The statement
added that two people were killed and another five wounded in the
bombing.
Syria army says Israel targeted military research center near Damascus:
"Israeli
fighter jets violated our air space at dawn today and carried out a
direct strike on a scientific research centre in charge of raising our
level of resistance and self-defence," the army's general command said
in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.
Israeli aircraft fires missile along Lebanon-Syria border:
The
Western official and a U.S. official said there is no indication the
truck targeted by the Israeli strike was carrying chemical weapons -
which have been under intense scrutiny by both the United States and
Israel as the brutal, bloody civil conflict in Syria has intensified.
Syria top opposition leader says willing to negotiate with Assad:
Syria's
top opposition leader declared on Wednesday that he is willing to
negotiate with members of President Bashar Assad's regime to bring a
peaceful end to the country's civil war, provoking an outcry from
opposition groups that insist Assad must step down first.
Donors pledge $1.5bn for UN Syria aid operation:
King
Abdullah of Jordan, which is hosting 224,000 refugees, warned its
resources were "exhausted", adding: "We have reached the end of the
line."
4 dead after attack on police in southern Yemen:
Motorcycle
gunmen shot dead two police officers late Wednesday in the southern
Yemeni town of Daleh, sparking a police manhunt that set off a clash
with the suspects in which another officer and a civilian died, dpa
reported with a link to Mareb Press Agency.
Yemen: Scores of children on prison hunger strike after minor sentenced to die:
"Executing
juvenile offenders is expressly prohibited in Yemen's Penal Code and
international human rights law - the Yemeni authorities must live up to
their obligations and overturn this death sentence immediately," said
Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at
Amnesty International.
AP: IAEA inspectors at Iranian nuclear facility say no explosion -Source:
International
Atomic Energy Agency spokeswoman Gill Tudor told The Associated Press
on Tuesday that Iran's denial of "an incident" at the Fordo uranium
enrichment plant is "consistent with our observations." [...]
Netanyahu hints Israel can't destroy Iran nuke program:
Israel
can inflict 'significant damage' to Iranian facilities, but the US
military is 'perfectly' capable of destroying them, PM says
Engineering consent for an attack on Iran: Hagel:
Window is closing on Iran and possibility of diplomacy:
Obama's
nominee for defense secretary says Iran needs to show that it is
prepared to negotiate seriously, and should face 'severe and growing
consequences' if it continues to flout world demands.
Here Are 112 Pages of Chuck Hagel's Foreign-Policy Answers for the Senate:
A
sizable roster of policy questions were submitted to Hagel to assess
his views on everything form China to Iran to nuclear weapons to
thoughts on energy management and security.
An example of 'hasbara.':
Chuck Hagel's colleague: So many Jews, so much disloyalty:
"In
some countries, like the United States, Israel can rely upon a 'fifth
column' of activist sympathizers to amplify its messages, to rebut and
discredit statements that contradict its arguments, facts, and
fabrications, and to impugn the moral standing of those who make such
statements." Each and every one of these fifth columnists, wouldn't you
know it, is Jewish.
Alan Hart: Anti-Semitism: What it IS and is NOT: Op-Ed:
QUOTE
An anti-Semite used to be a person who disliked Jews. Now it is a
person who Jews dislike UNQUOTE : Those are the words of my dear Jewish
friend, Nazi (Auschwitz) holocaust survivor Dr. Hajo Myer. They are
taken from page 179 of his magnificent book An Ethical Tradition
Betrayed - The End of Judaism (published in 2007).
Graham: 'I'm Going to Block Hagel Until Panetta Testifies';
Sen.
Graham said he'll block Hagel's confirmation hearings until outgoing
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta testifies on Benghazi attacks.
Obama Nominee For CIA Director, Had Detailed Knowledge Of Torture :
John
Brennan, President Barack Obama's nominee to head the CIA, had
detailed, contemporaneous knowledge of the use of "enhanced
interrogation techniques" on captured terrorism suspects during an
earlier stint as a top spy agency official, according to multiple
sources familiar with official records.
Report: Meshal says Hamas accepts a two-state solution:
Hamas
political leader in Damascus reportedly authorized King Abdullah of
Jordan to convey his acceptance of two states for two peoples, based on
the 1967 borders, to U.S. President Barack Obama.
EU, UN concerned by Israeli live fire against Palestinians:
The
European Union and the United Nations expressed concern on Wednesday
about Israel's use of lethal forces against Palestinians following a
rise in fatal shootings.
Israel to demolish Palestinian neighborhood:
A
Ma'an reporter said about 200 Palestinians live in the neighborhood
which is located to the west of a large Israeli military base called
Anatot.
Israel to return $100 million in withheld funds to Palestinians:
The
sum is roughly a third of the funds Israel is meant to have
transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA) since November under
interim peace accords, but has instead kept.
Forced contraception of Jewish Ethopian women:
Ethiopian
women have been given injections of Depo-Provera without sufficient
understanding of the purpose or side effects of the drug. Some
Ethiopian women in transit camps were refused entry to the country if
they refused the injection, and others wrongly believed they were being
inoculated against disease
Israel drops sharply in annual press freedom ranking:
IDF, which 'deliberately targeted journalists' during Gaza op, pushes Israel down to No. 112; 'Palestine' slightly improves
Sunday Times editor apologises over Benjamin Netanyahu cartoon:
Martin Ivens says Gerald Scarfe 'crossed a line' with image of Israeli prime minister published on Holocaust Memorial Day
The US-born soldier fighting for Israel: 'Women should have the privilege':
The
21-year-old spends her days and nights patrolling the harsh desert
landscape through which the Israeli-Egyptian border runs, wielding a
gun, trained and ready to kill in defence of "her country".
Hasbara? Morsi moves to play down vitriolic remarks against Jews:
Egypt's
president Mohamed Morsi has said vitriolic remarks he made against
Jews and Zionists in 2010 had been taken out of context and said he was
not against the Jewish faith.
Egyptians, police clash near Tahrir Square: Video -
Clashes
between protesters and police continued for a seventh day near Tahrir
square in Cairo in the worst stretch of violence since President
Mohamed Mursi took office last June.
Egypt eases curfew as Mursi appeals for calm:
Egyptian
authorities scaled back a curfew imposed by President Mohammad Mursi,
and the Islamist leader cut short a visit to Europe Wednesday to deal
with the deadliest violence in the seven months since he took power.
Mali conflict: France says its troops now in Kidal:
Haminy
Maiga, the interim president of the Kidal regional assembly, told the
Associated Press news agency: "The French arrived at 9:30pm [Tuesday]
aboard four planes. Afterwards they took the airport and then entered
the town and there was no combat.
Mali conflict: Sandstorm 'blocks' French troops advance:
The troops remained "blocked" at the airport in Kidal, the French defence minister said.
Niger agrees to US drones on its territory:
Niger
has given permission for US surveillance drones to be stationed on its
territory to improve intelligence on al Qaeda-linked fighters in
northern Mali and the wider Sahara, according to a senior government
source.
Julian Assange to run for Australian Senate seat
"In
the House of Representatives we get to choose between US lackey party
number one and US lackey party number two - between the major parties.
"So it will be great to `Assange' the Senate for some Aussie oversight."
Gillard sets Australia poll date of 14 September:
Australian
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has called a general election for 14
September. Ms Gillard said that she would ask Governor-General Quentin
Bryce to order that parliament be dissolved on 12 August.
Colombia set to decriminalise ecstasy:
Under current laws, people caught in possession of cocaine and marijuana for personal use are not prosecuted.
Gabrielle Giffords Urges Senate: 'Be Courageous' on Gun Control:
Former
congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, whose congressional career was ended
by a bullet wound to her head, opened a Senate hearing on gun violence
Wednesday by telling the panel, "Speaking is difficult, but I need to
say something important."
Fact or fiction?
Americans largely back combat role for women: poll:
Sixty-six
percent of those polled said they support letting women serve in
ground units that engage in close combat, while 26 percent are opposed,
according to the survey by the Pew Research Center for the People
& the Press and the Washington Post.
Russia scraps law enforcement deal with U.S. in new blow to ties:
An
order to end the deal, signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, was
posted on the government's website. It said the agreement, under which
Washington provides financial assistance for law enforcement and drugs
control programs, "does not address current realities and has exhausted
its potential".
Germany Moves To Relocate Gold From New York Fed to Bundesbank :
Video -
Clashes in Athens as protesters break into govt. building:
Austerity
enraged protesters broke into a government building and threatened the
labor minister, Wednesday. Riot police then intervened with tear gas,
batons and pepper spray, with one person taken to hospital.
Canada will slip back into recession in 2013:
Across
the world's largest developed economies: the United States, Europe,
Japan, Britain. Europe seems most likely to deliver a nasty shock this
year . The list of broken states requiring official support continues
to grow: Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Spain and, most recently, Cyprus.
Europe's problems will worsen as larger countries like France and Italy
deteriorate.
US slips back into recession:
The
US economy unexpectedly took its biggest plunge in more than three
years last quarter, contracting at an annual rate of 0.1 percent and
indicating a new level of vulnerability for the economy.
U.S. Economy Shrinks 0.1%, 1st Time in 3 1/2 Years:
The
U.S. economy shrank from October through December for the first time
since the recession ended, hurt by the biggest cut in defense spending
in 40 years, fewer exports and sluggish growth in company stockpiles.
NYPD cops handcuff and interrogate boy, 7, over missing $5, family claims:
This
kid was no killer - but some callous Bronx cops sure treated him like
one. Instead of earning himself a simple trip to the principal's
office, a terrified 7-year-old boy was hauled out of class, handcuffed
like a hardened criminal and "interrogated" by police for a grueling 10
hours - all over a playground dispute
The High Stakes of Native Resistance
Tuesday, 29 January 2013 13:52
The blossoming of the Idle No More movement signals the return of native resistance to the political and social landscape of Canada and Quebec. With its origins in Saskatchewan in October 2012, this mass movement has taken on the federal government and more specifically the adoption of Bill C-45. Its origins lay not in the work of established organizations such as The Assembly of First Nations (although the AFN fully supports the initiative), but in a grassroots mobilization that has arisen in several parts of the country. This process echoes other recent citizen mobilizations such as the student carrés rouges in Quebec and the worldwide Occupy movement.
In neo-conservative circles, the existence of First Nations peoples is seen as an anachronism, best relegated to the past. Their future, if indeed they do have one, lies in assimilation into Canadian society.
Even though this attempt at social erasure began prior to the election of the present government, the process of destruction of native culture and identity has intensified under the Harper government.
However, it would be an error to believe that this attack is driven solely by neo-conservative ideology. The present strategy of the Conservative government, one also shared by the economic elite, sees the occupation of the northern and western stretches of Canada as a key piece of a thoroughgoing re-tooling and refashioning of the Canadian economy, in which Canada, in the words of the Prime Minister, must become an “energy superpower.”
From this perspective one thing is clear – the native populations are in the way. Given this, it also means that it makes little sense to work toward resolving the horrendous health, housing, employment and education problems of Attawapiskat and elsewhere.
A Conflict With Deep Roots
A brief look at the past is necessary to better understand the present crisis. At the beginning of the 16th century, the French colonists came into contact and conflict with native communities. These encounters provoked a long history of resistance by native peoples on both shores of the St-Lawrence. More through necessity than through choice, France was forced to come to an agreement, the Great Montreal Peace of 1701, to share the territory. This, in turn, led to the somewhat surprising Franco-Native alliance which then jointly resisted the British imperial forces.But during the 18th century, the British forces prevailed and the process of colonization continued apace.
This economy was built upon the pillage of natural resources and the subjugation of the native and French-Canadian populations. Then, in 1837, came the revolt of the Patriotes in Quebec. This uprising, with republican impulses, demanded democratic reform and insisted that the native population have the same rights as all. But the British forces were too powerful and these promising efforts were defeated. The colonial power then proceeded to attempt to extend and consolidate its control over the western frontier, an area occupied by several important native communities, including the Métis of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. This resistance also suffered a bloody defeat.
In 1867, Canada emerged as a semi-independent state. The Anglo-Canadian elite, learning their lessons well from the Empire, adopted the imperial tactic of divide and rule. The subjugated peoples were in disarray and their elites co-opted into the colonial apparatus. The native populations were herded onto reserves after signing treaties under unfavourable conditions which provided few benefits.
Following the Second World War, the Canadian variant of capitalism aligned itself with a new empire – the American one this time, a growing colossus desperate for resources. This led to a series of megaprojects in the hydro-electric and oil sectors in the 1950s and 60s. At the same time, the Canadian state, under the rubric of ‘modernization,’ moved to further reduce the autonomy of native communities, all the while refusing to address the colonial relationship imposed upon native peoples.
New Clashes
In the 1970s, the federal state was challenged by the national and political movements in Quebec. The Parti Québécois wanted to build a Quebec nation, within the context of North American capitalism, but with local control of natural resources.From the Quebec side, the relations with natives remained ambiguous. Both had aspirations to nationhood but the lines were never clearly drawn as to the question of the division of territory. However, concessions were forced on all sides as the federalist forces in Ottawa had to be faced.
The native populations saw an opening and attempted to mobilize. And it was the Cree in Quebec who succeeded in opening a serious breach. They managed, in negotiating the James Bay Agreement, to obtain certain new powers, as well as financial resources, in exchange for allowing Quebec to develop important hydro-electric projects on their territory. This turn of events sparked native resistance in the rest of Canada who looked to follow the Cree example and gain similar victories. But it was a no go in the West and in Ontario. Negotiations dragged on interminably and gains were minimal.
Following the defeat of the indépendantist project in Quebec in the 1990s, new conflicts surfaced. The Oka Crisis is the start of a cycle of resistance in several native communities close to urban areas. Mass actions, such as the blockading of highways, spread throughout Ontario, Northern Quebec and elsewhere. At the same time, the development of natural resources became an imperative for Canadian capital, more and more in synch with its American counterparts. Native groups and the Assembly of First Nations were pushed into a corner, leading to their opposition to the constitutional reform of Meech Lake from which they were excluded.
Finally in 2006, Stephen Harper undertook to recast the Canadian state and put in place a no-holds barred capitalism wrapped in religious rhetoric and social conservatism.
The First Nations have no place in this neo-conservative world. Territorial claims are off the table and the administrative framework for dealing with these communities had to be dismantled. To justify this abrupt and drastic change of course, the government, with the help of a compliant media, mounted a major campaign of denigration and defamation. However, the native people didn't back down. A striking example of this resistance was the setting up of roadblocks by the Atikamekw Nation to deny access to companies seeking to exploit forest resources on their land.
From the Native Perspective
Today, native people occupy a special, but not wholly unique, position within the strategic framework imposed by the Canadian state. At least in theory, this reality leads one to think that a convergence between the native movement and popular movements, both in Canada and Quebec, becomes not only possible, but necessary. But there are serious obstacles to such a uniting of forces. Firstly, social movements are forced to work within the colonial reality established and maintained by the State and imposed upon native people.Native demands are not limited to improving material conditions and obtaining certain rights. They also focus on the dismantling of the structures of oppressive relations. For their part, non-native populations, including the Québécois people, must come to accept that they are not the ‘owners’ of the land. A lasting solution requires that these realities be the starting point for a genuine dialogue between equally sovereign peoples.
An Ongoing Struggle
It is clear that establishing such a dialogue between equals is not an easy task. Elites and state policies work to divide through demagogic attacks, outright lies and not so subtle co-optation. Nonetheless, the recent history of struggles and solidarity work give reason for some hope. We can point to the group Solidarity with Native People that has its origins in the Oka crisis or to the continuing efforts of the Ligue des droits et libertés. We should also be encouraged by, and learn from, the collaborative efforts of intellectuals, artists, native and non-native teachers who work to enlighten and teach, efforts that find concrete expression in publications such as Recherches amérindiennes, the annual Montreal First Peoples Festival, as well as in the numerous student initiatives at the Université du Québec campuses in Montreal and Val d'Or, and at Concordia University. All these efforts are important in changing the public perception of native people, this “invisible people,” to use songwriter and filmmaker Richard Desjardins’ depressing but apt description.But today we have to go further. Is this possible? The experience of the citizens of Villeray, a Montreal neighbourhood, is instructive. In the summer of 2010, a grassroots citizens’ group supported, in the face of opposition, the establishment of an Inuit residence in the neighborhood, an action that provoked a lively debate.
In similar fashion, but at a political level, Françoise David, a Québec Solidaire member of the National Assembly, came out, in December 2012, in public support of the Idle No More movement and denounced the Harper government policies as leading “to the erosion of environmental standards, to a frenetic speed-up of resource extraction, and to the non-respect of the sovereignty of First Nations.”
Listening to the native population is critical to making any progress. In the forthcoming issue of the Nouveaux Cahiers du socialisme, Dalie Giroux makes several key points: that natives have another conception of the world, one in which the presence of humans can not be separated out from the land (and the world) itself and that humans are part of a larger reality and co-exist in a relationship of mutual and ongoing dependence with other life (and non-life) forms. This “solidarity of necessity” echoes the Quechuas and the Aymaras peoples’ idea of PACHAMAMA which can be loosely, but not fully, translated as “Mother Earth.”
Diverse realities, including the human, non-human and the natural environment can not flourish within a framework of conflict. This idea, which seemed very esoteric until just recently, is being re-discovered in a world where the voice of native people is resonating louder and louder across the land. •
Pierre Beaudet is a member of NCS and Geneviève Beaudet is an activist working on native rights issues. John Bradley translated this article from the French.
This article first appeared on the website of Nouveaux Cahiers du socialisme (NCS).
SOMEBODY HATES YOUR CHILDREN
Go — take the mother's soul, and learn three truths: Learn What dwells in man, What is not given to man, and What men live by. When thou hast learnt these things, thou shalt return to heaven......
And I understood that in man dwells Love! I was glad that God had already begun to show me what He had promised, and I smiled for the first time.
I remained alive when I was a man, not by care of myself, but because love was present in a passer-by, and because he and his wife pitied and loved me. The orphans remained alive, not because of their mother's care, but because there was love in the heart of a woman a stranger to them, who pitied and loved them. And all men live not by the thought they spend on their own welfare, but because love exists in man.
I knew before that God gave life to men and desires that they should live; now I understood more than that.
I understood that God does not wish men to live apart, and therefore he does not reveal to them what each one needs for himself; but he wishes them to live united, and therefore reveals to each of them what is necessary for all.
I have now understood that though it seems to men that they live by care for themselves, in truth it is love alone by which they live. He who has love, is in God, and God is in him, for God is love.
Ле́в Никола́евич Толсто́й
what ever you call your source is ok with me, the sourc3, great mystery, kosmic consciousness.
...................keep fighting the good fight, with your minds as weapons........................
................................................................................kosmicdebris.....
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