A NATION SHRIVELS IN COLDWATER

By: Kai Kai Kons

“”Father, If you white people forget your transactions with us, we do not. The Lands you have just now shew to us belongs to you. We have nothing to do with it; We have sold it to our Great Father the King, as was well paid for it. Therefore make your mind at easy. There may be some of our young people who do not think so; They may tell your people that the Land is ours but you must not open your ears to them, but take them by the arm and put them out of your houses.”                                                                                                                                                                              – Chief Yellowhead, Coldwater – Narrows Reserve                    In Response to Land Sold for Military Roads in and around Barrie to Penetang

                                                          A History of the Chippewas of Lake Huron and Simcoe     Research from Department of Anthropology University of Western Ontario

1764 Niagara Covenant Chain Belt

There have always been divisions in our Anishinabek Communities regarding the broken promises that our “Leaders” have accepted with the Crown. In the mid 1700’s Anishinabek Odawa War Chief Pontiac organized an Intertribal campaign to rid Turtle Island of the British as a result of their broken promises. Pontiac’s people agreed to give up arms under the 1764 Niagara Covenant Chain belt which proclaims each Nations right to Sovereignty.

This belt since its foundation has been broken many times by the British Crown however our Indigenous Nations who accepted it continue to assert its peace and alliance that  it embodies but fails to uphold  our own Sovereignty which the belt also represents.

Today just as in the 1800’s  history seems to be repeating itself. I am one of those youth just as in the past who feel that these lands that we were displaced upon including our Sovereignty is  not for sale.

COLDWATER NARROWS RESERVE BACKGROUND

“The Coldwater Narrows Experiment was established in the 1830’s by the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, Sir John Colborne, in an attempt to create a self-sustaining farming community for the Chippewas of lakes Huron and Simcoe.

Between 1830 and the 1832 the three Chippewa First Nations settled on the reserve. Two of the First Nations under Chief Yellowhead and Snake settled at Coldwater near Lake Huron. The reserve was approximately 10,000 acres in size and ran in a narrow strip of land, approximately 14 miles long by 1.5 miles wide, along an old portage route between Lake Simcoe and Matchedash Bay on Lake Huron.

Over the next six years the First Nations constructed a road which ultimately came to be Ontario Highway No.12. The community cleared the land and prospered as farmers. They built schools, houses, barns and mills.

The Chippewas of Coldwater Narrows lobbied for six years in an attempt to secure title deeds and self management of their lands. Although they were not successful in obtaining deeds, arrangements were made in 1836 to transfer management of their reserve and ownership of the property.

During the same period the Coldwater Narrows Reserve was allegedly surrendered by the Chippewas for sale by the Crown to non Aboriginal settlers. A surrender document was signed in Toronto on November 26, 1836 when Chiefs were tricked into signing the document they thought was for Land Title and Self Government.”

–  Fact Sheet Coldwater Narrows Specific Claim                                                      http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/al/ldc/spc/nws/cnfs-eng.asp

AN OFFER HAS BEEN MADE

Artwork by Zig-Zag used with permission

In a Press Conference regarding this Claim held in May 2011 the Government of Canada, the Chippewas of Rama , the Chippewas of Georgina Island , the Beausoleil First Nation  and the Chippewas of Nawash announced they have reached a major milestone in talks to resolve the outstanding specific claim in south-central Ontario.

Canada has tabled a settlement offer and the four First Nations have agreed to take this offer to their members for a vote. The proposed settlement includes approximately $307 million in financial compensation to resolve the claim.

The First Nations also have to right to purchase 10,000 acres on a willing seller, willing buyer basis. The fourth First Nation was added as a beneficiary when Canada researched that a small number of people left Coldwater and amalgamated into the Nawash Band located near Wiarton Ontario.

The Coldwater-Narrows specific claim was originally submitted by the CTC on November 4, 1991. After this submission was rejected by Canada, the CTC asked the Indian Claims Commission (ICC)* to hold an inquiry. The ICC has been facilitating discussions between the parties since that time.

Subsequently, the CTC revised its allegations, additional historical research was undertaken, and Canada conducted a review of the revised submission and new evidence. Canada accepted the CTC’s claim for negotiation under the Specific Claims Policy on July 23, 2002. Consultants have been working on this for 30 years.

DIVIDE AND CONQUER 

Divide and Conquer has always been a tool used by Colonials who employ greed and power to create divisions. Divisions are always a part of our communities however on this offer we are already seeing divisions.

Artwork by Zig Zag used with permission featured in Warrior Publications

If our communities decide to accept this offer some of the funds from the settlement will rightfully have to go to loans that the First Nations had taken out to pay for consultants and lawyers. In the offer the communities can purchase up to a total of 10,000 acres of land on a willing buyer and willing seller basis. The process of this settlement and its distribution of funds along with adding lands to a reserve will be governed by Canada’s oppressive Indian Act.

– The financial compensation that will be distributed will be split up between the four reserves. So the pay out to individual community members from each of the four First Nations will vary in amounts due to each reserve’s population numbers which is creating bitterness amongst the people.

– Chief and Council of these First Nations suggest putting aside some funds to benefit future generations. The majority of community members want all the “people’s money” to be distributed and feel they can be responsible themselves for their own future generations share of the funds. There is animosity towards leadership on this is suggestion.

– A small minority from these communities reject this offer because they feel the offer does not respect and honor their Nation’s Sovereignty. Their Independence was also taken away along with those lands and retaining their Autonomy has not been addressed in this offer. This minority does not give authority and chooses not to be represented by Indian Act Band Leadership but wishes to represent themselves as Sovereigns and reestablish their right to be an Independent Nation.

Utilizing Canadian judicial system and other institutions that are not neutral grounds for a Nation to Nation relationship in this settlement does not exercise their Sovereignty and creates an unbiased outcome.

Chief and Council and the majority of people do not hold these people with these views as a legitimate voice for their people and visa versa for this minority. There will always be “Hang- around the Fort Indians” surrendering what little they have just as there will be a small group trying to remain free and retaining their right to be an Autonomous Indigenous People. Each group has their right to do as they see fit to be safeguards for their land, rights and future generations.

ANISHINABEK VALUES

 “I agree with you. If Nations want to speak on Sovereignty and getting respected as a Nation than it’s up to them to start acting like a Nation. The Mohawk Nation has been doing this for a long, long time. It’s a hard road but if you’re into your morals this is the road to go.”                                                                                                                                                   – CTC Lawyer Allan Pratt on exercising Sovereignty within this Claim

Artwork by Zig Zag used with permission

We have been passed on our Anishinabek Teachings through our Elders, Oral History, Ceremonies and Midewiwiin Society and through other mediums. We have been told our rights and original way of governance by our Political Leaders both by Hereditary Chiefs and contemporary Indian Act Chiefs. Warriors have also fought to protect these things. Our People have fought and died and sacrificed so much for the following values:

–  To be the care takers of the Earth and Waters so that the next Seven Generations coming can enjoy these things given to us by Creator/Creation.

– We have a Clan system that we organize under and use for our Governance.

– We are our own Sovereign Nation with our own Laws and Customs where we never    surrendered.

– We say we are all equal, one people and one community.

If we accept this offer for financial compensation our future generations most likely will not benefit and we may not see useful lands where we can exercise our hunting, gathering and fishing traditions. We will have surrendered to everything that makes us Anishinabek.

Remember in these negotiations we should have negotiated out of the Indian Act since our Independence was taken away when signing those fraudulent documents in the 1800’s.

Are we really living up to every thing we preach when we accept this offer?

Chiefs who preach on Sovereignty could have lobbied to negotiate on neutral grounds instead of in the Canadian System. We then wouldn’t have expensive lawyer bills to pay.

Knowing that Coldwater lands are out of the question to be replaced there is a lot of unoccupied Crown Lands in our old territories which they can transfer over and where we wouldn’t have to purchase back. It’s called negotiating.

We say we are environmentalists keeping the future in mind at every ceremony we attend or conduct. Why is it only okay to play “Indian” and dress up on weekends but wrong when a small minority wants to continue the struggle to retain who we are. The struggles are still the same as in AIM’s time and during the OKA crisis.  Playing by their rule and utilizing their Courts don’t seem to be assessing injustices correctly.

If we accept this offer remember we were all one community at one time. Why is it  we continue to embrace the reserve system which will create unfairness when we receive our funds. If we are all equal shouldn’t all beneficiaries get the same amount of compensation?

To most tolerance and respect of other people’s beliefs seems to be only “reserved” for those who choose a more complacent conservative colonized way of life. It’s when you start standing up against injustice and rocking the canoe that your beliefs than become intolerable to those who think we are living in Peace and Freedom. Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, American Indian Movement, Native Youth Movement, Dudley George all were people involved in fighting for our rights and land and  the majority of their people had a hard time tolerating what they were doing because of fear of repercussions of the oppressors.

OPTIONS                                                                                                                                                 You are free to do as you please as it is your right but where is the representation and freedom for those of Sovereign Mind?

Option One: Vote yes and surrender the Coldwater Narrows Reserve and any future chance of being recognized as a Sovereign Nation without being governed by the Indian Act. This claim is in our favor to regain our Independence so in voting yes we wouldn’t have a right to bring up this issue in any future litigation. With our compensation we can purchase back stolen land which we were displaced onto in the first place.

Option Two: Negotiators working for First Nations are reporting that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s federal government is moving to cut off specific claims negotiations, a move that one source said could cost First Nations — and at the same time save Canada — billions of dollars, due to the failing capitalist world economy.

Several negotiators say they were told that if a First Nation rejects the government’s final offer, the negotiations will be shut down and the only recourse will be to take the claim before the Specific Claims Tribunal. But the tribunal cannot award more than a total of $250 million each year for all the claims it hears. And the legislation phases out the tribunal after 10 years.

So if we vote no to renegotiate or further litigate playing by their unfair rules in their system we would loose a chance of seeing this amount of money 308 million. What the government is doing is not negotiating but still holding guns to our head but using divide and conquer and financial terrorism. If we vote no we could very much loose this amount of money and have to settle for less.

Option Three: Don’t accept any money and make it known to the Government and Chiefs that you are not accepting any money.  Its ok for others to accept the offer but those who want to disband have that right to keep trying to retain those sacred agreements that founded Canada and acknowledges our Nationhood . Organize Option Three in our Sovereign Territory.

“They [the First Nations] have invested a great deal of time — in some cases, decades — getting this far in the process. And they have been promised justice. The Prime Minister himself in 2007 announced a policy called ‘Justice At Last’, which many of us are now calling ‘Just For Laughs’ in honour of the comedy program. The promises that the Prime Minister made in the summer three or four years ago are being dishonoured. And First Nations are very angry,” he said. “I can tell you that the claims community, the professionals and the First Nations who are in claims across the country, are in an uproar and outrage. I’m not going to make any predictions about what may happen, but I will remind– I would remind the federal system that when Justice At Last was announced, it was in response to a Senate committee report called ‘Negotiation or Confrontation: It’s Canada’s Choice.’ And Canada’s pushing First Nations back, away from reconciliation. And as the Senate predicted, it will be some form of confrontation that will be the result. That’s my prediction.”

–          Allan Pratt CTC Lawyer and Consultant

GEORGE’S STORY

By Johnny Hawke

We are Nations. We have always been Nations

We have voluntarily entered into a relationship of friendship and protection with the Crown, which we have for two centuries referred to as the Covenant Chain. In placing ourselves under the Crown’s protection, we gave up none of our internal sovereignty.

We have never concluded any Treaty with the Dominion of Canada, nor have we ever expressly agreed to accept the Dominion of Canada in place of Great Britain as the party responsible under the British obligation to protect us.

We retain the right to choose our own forms of Government.

We retain the right to determine who our citizens are.

We retain the right to control our lands, water and resources.

We retain our rights to those lands which we have not surrendered.

We retain the use of our languages and to practice our religions and to maintain and defend all aspects of our culture.

We retain those rights which we have in Treaties with other Nations, until such time as those Treaties are ended.

We retain the right to choose our own future, as peoples.

The only process known to international law whereby an independent people may yield their sovereignty is either by defeat in war or by voluntary abandonment of it formally evidenced. Our Nations have never yielded our sovereignty by any formal abandonment of it. We have never been conquered in war by any power on earth of which there is a record or tradition

-Union of Ontario Indians   Anishinabek Nation Declaration

I recently visited George Williams a fellow Warrior, Hunter and good friend of mine from Moose Deer Point First Nation this weekend. I went up to his community to bring fish nets and to help his family with ceremonies they were doing for him and to also organize our own enforcement to counter outside agencies who are imposing Canadian Laws on our Nation.

George Williams is Potawatomi of the Sturgeon Clan; he is 62 years old and has been a hunter, fisherman and trapper all his life. It is his knowledge as a hunter, trapper and fisherman that he is sharing with me to ensure these traditions and rights are passed on to our people.

Left to Right: George Williams and Johnny Hawke

INAC Chiefs in 1923 were pressured into ceding our peoples Hunting Territories and Fishing Rights under the Williams Treaty (no relation) therefore my community has not retained our traditions and rights in the aspect of Food security which is the founding basis of a Nations Sovereignty. Also living on a secluded small Island there is not much to fish and hunt so I am taking every effort to get out on the land and embrace my inherit right as an Anishinabe. My friend George is helping me to become that hunter and trapper.  He says everything that makes a Warrior comes from being a Hunter.

George is one of the very few Elders who is not passive and exemplifies our peoples fighting Warrior Spirit. He still Lives off the Land and embraces our Spiritual teachings. Most Elders that I have come across including many of our Anishinabe people only seem to consider certain people of Spiritual hierarchy to be a legitimate “Traditional Elder.”

Most “Traditional” Elders or Spiritual People I have counseled with have given me advice that we shouldn’t  show up waving “fierce looking flags”, wearing fatigues, or balaclavas when it comes to protecting our land and rights. Some of these people speak on tolerance of others but at the same time denounce their own people who choose to enforce our Sovereignty by any means. It seems some of our people can tolerate Canadian agencies fierce forces and laws imposed on our people in the name of “friendship” but cannot tolerate their own people enforcing our original laws.

In my own experience some  Elders and Spiritual People have  told me and others to walk away from the frontlines of a blockade when we are protecting our territory and some even say that we are not warriors. At the same time some people who I here talk like this show up at powwows looking just as fierce in their regalia playing “Indian” on the weekends.  George is not one of these Weekend Warriors he lives every aspect of being Anishinabe.

George is no Medicine or Holy man or is initiated into a Lodge or a part of a particular spiritual Indigenous sect but still embraces our teachings  devoutly.  By some he is not a legitimate “Elder” in the “ pan-Indian Traditional” sense however he passes on hunting skills to his people and in kindness provides what he catches to the communities. George is not an angry person he is just as kind hearted as those ancestors who welcomed the new comers onto our continent so long ago. He can be seen driving around his community with a Warrior Society emblem on the side door of his truck with a bow in the back decked out in camouflage ready to get a moose for the people, or fiercely defend his Nation and Territory when the time arises.

George's Grandson Myiingan in Camo standing in front of George's Truck

In July 9, 2009 three men from the Muskoka region were convicted after a 16-month undercover operation by Ministry of Natural Resources investigators.

George Williams was convicted of possessing and transporting an illegally killed bear, selling whitetail deer and breaching a probation order he was on at the time of the offences.  He was given a $4,100 fine, received a five-year hunting license prohibition and was placed on two years probation.

Anthony Williams son of George Williams was convicted of having a loaded firearm in a vehicle, hunting whitetail deer during the closed season, possessing and transporting an illegally killed bear, possessing a bear gallbladder and breaching a probation order he was on during the period that some of the offences were committed.  He was fined $2,500, received a two-year hunting license prohibition and placed on probation for two years.

The court heard that between September 16, 2004, and December 1, 2005, undercover conservation officers investigated reports of illegal hunting activities and were sold fish and game meat contrary to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act. The officers were guided to hunt moose, deer and bear during the closed season.

The investigation led to eight people being charged with a variety of offences.  Five of those charged pleaded guilty and their cases were heard in 2006. The investigation also led to charges being laid by the OPP against David Stock a Mohawk man from Wahta Mohawk Territory for firearm related offences which resulted in an earlier jail sentence and a lifetime prohibition against possessing firearms. The case was heard by the Honourable Justice Harpur in Ontario Court of Justice, Barrie, on June 22, 2009.

Anishinabek People taught Conservation to these newcomers and still honor our own natural laws in working with the environment. It is Industry and White collared Capitalists and Politicians that should be locked up for what they are doing to our Continent.

“The Ministry of Natural Resources came in undercover to the Reserve looking for a hunting guide.  They found out I was a hunter through the grapevine and so I was more than willing to take them out on our Reserve. They said they were Metis and had rights to hunt. ” explained George.

“I warned them about their handguns and told them that if they got caught they need to take responsibility for their own actions. I didn’t know they were undercover agents.  They killed a bear out of season illegally by their own laws using handguns and rifles. They broke their own laws just to place charges on me to stop me from hunting.

This was an entrapment on our people. I am just Anishinabe providing for my family and trying to help our people who want to go out on the land to exercise our rights. They don’t want us to do that and they keep enforcing their laws by trying to incarcerate us any way they can.” explains George.

The Anishinabek Nation incorporated the Union of Ontario Indians (UOI) as its secretariat in 1949. The UOI says it is a political advocate for 39 member Indian Act Bands across Ontario. The Union of Ontario Indians delivers a variety of programs and services, such as Health, Social Services, Education, Intergovernmental Affairs and Treaty Research, and does this with approximately 70 staff members. The UOI is governed by a board of directors and has a Grand Council Chief and a Deputy Grand Council Chief that carry the day-to-day leadership responsibilities.

During George’s time in court he couldn’t find any support from his own people or leaders to assist him with court costs, organizing rallies helping him to defend our Sovereignty and Rights and creating an awareness of what the MNR did. He had to retain a Legal Aid Lawyer for his defense and suffer these illegally imposed consequences because he only had a legal aid lawyer who wasn’t up for a fight against the Crown and obviously the Crown would never consider his Diplomatic Immunity as an Anishinabe from the provincial laws placed on him.

These Modern Chief Organizations who claim to be Political Advocates on behalf of our Anishinabek Nation, a Nation which is more than 39 INAC “Indian Bands” continues to give authority to the Canadian Judicial System. They continue to give authority to this foreign Judicial System as avenue for settling our grievances and continue to embrace the Indian Act to impose its authority on our Nation. This is also where they get there authority to be legitimate leaders in the eyes of Canada when we have our own Anishinabek Laws, Clan Sytem Governance and Nation to Nation Relationship that they so much preach about.

Recently the UOI created a Declaration of the Anishinabek Nation for their organization which is a good thing and historically correct but doesn’t mean anything if they do not live by it and enforce it.

In most instances these leaders of these individual “Bands” denounce their citizens from representing their Nation in actions when certain struggles arise. They do not assist in legal costs when our people are faced with charges regarding our rights. The common support that is mostly given is a “Chief” posing for photo opts to the media waving a finger at the Government while the grassroots people continue to be locked up and fight for our rights.  If there happens to be any success these leaders along with the passive spiritualists who don’t want anything to do with stirring the pot make statements to the media or at community gatherings like it was a collective fight of our Nation as a whole.

Stories like these go unheard and the majority of times our people face charges that breaches our Nations Sovereignty and Canada’s own Constitution which protects our Aboriginal Rights. We need to organize to help tackle these issues where Indian Act Band Political Advocates fail and denounce our actions.

During my friend George’s court struggle I was wrapped up in a struggle of my own fighting to protect the waters of my home that was being threatened by a DumpSite that would’ve sat atop an aquifer in Simcoe County, ironically Ontario Ministry of Environment approved this and Indian Affairs was no where to protect our interests and our Chief and Council showed no support. I was also assisting another community regarding getting their treaty acknowledged. I wish I had the time to help my friend George but here I am now.

I am not involved in the mainstream media as most of my journalistic colleagues are because my voice is too strong for certain publications advertisers. I organize underground and hope you can share this story and help. This article will be followed by a video and will be the start in creating awareness in what has happened so that others won’t face the same kind of things and to educate and create a buzz in helping us appeal these charges and help get George compensation and an apology and our Sovereignty honored.

Our privileged euro Canadian setter allies seem to know how to get exposure in the media when they need to especially when they are speaking for us in urban areas so maybe if you are a privileged ally and are reading this maybe you can contact me and help us get some things started and network with us.

If you are Anishinabe and would like to help organize our own enforcement to deal with these agencies come meet us in the communities where we organize. It is there where we know who we are organizing with for our own safety and security.

Our own Anishinabe Passive People who claim to be tolerant of other peoples beliefs criticize some of our own people who fight for our rights in certain ways calling us s “media seekers” looking for 15 minutes of fame.

I would like to say to those arm chair quarterbacks who most likely are Indian Bureaucratic Uncle Tomahawks. Who do you think provided your moose meat and pickerel dinner that your eating at your Council Meeting right now?  To some of us it is not all about our names in the papers its about getting the struggle in the papers and getting our grievances some attention. Some of us “bandana” wearers actual work for the people.  Before and after blockades there are people like George in the background of our communities providing for the people and living Anishinabe.

“We need to organize ourselves so when stuff like this happens we are not fighting this is in the courts alone and when they send any of their officers on our territories we need to be ready to come together from all communities to force them out.  I don’t accept their laws on our people. I am trying to appeal this and looking for a written apology and compensation for my destroyed property. ”

-George Williams      Potawatomi Nation   Sturgeon Clan

Waking The Sleeping Giant

By: Johnny Hawke

“Since the arrival of the Europeans and Christianity, Nana’b’oozoo’s kin and neighbors had forsaken him and espoused new heroes and heroines, new values, everything. Not only was he neglected, he was now regarded as no more than a “trickster” and a “fool” by many of the people he had served. Spurned and scorned, hurt and humiliated, Nana’b’oozoo, taking his Grandmother with him, moved out of the lives of the Anishinabe.”

  – Basil H Johnston , Scholar, Historian,  Anishinabe Nation

Sleeping Giant, Thunder Bay Ontario

My people the Anishinabe held in high regards Nana’b’oozoo, Original Man, our Teacher so much so that when we greet each other we use his name. Nana’b’oozoo was half spirit and half man sent by Creator to wander the Earth to name all things and to learn lessons clearing the path for his descendents, the Anishinabe. Nana’b’oozoo lived amongst our people from the time we were created until the coming of the Europeans. Our Elders say that Nana’b’oozoo left our people because we were turning our backs on him.

Before Colonial Policies were enforced on our people, we had a Nation to Nation relationship with the Europeans and it is in this time where we started exchanging our lifestyle for their capitalistic values and became dependant on their products, this is the time when Nana’b’oozoo left our people.  Nana’b’oozo lying down on the ground  fell asleep and turned himself into an island to protect an underground Silver Mine and is still their sleeping  over top of the mine and waiting for the people to awaken his spirit.  Today Nana’b’oozoo can be seen sleeping on the shores of what is now known as Thunder Bay, Ontario. 

We are in the time of the Seventh Fire Prophecy and are about the light the Eighth and final fire. We have a choice in the Eighth Fire in our prophecies where we can either choose to destroy ourselves with the “White Mans” values and products, where the Earth will play a part in cleansing herself of the Human Race, which is now happening, or we can return to our original instructions and light an ever lasting Fire of Spiritual Balance working in harmony with the Earth. It is of urgency that we awaken the Sleeping Giant that is the Anishinabek Nation for the benefit of all Earths People.

                My name is Kai Kai Kons, Young Hawk of the Anishinabe Ojibway Nation and am 26 years old and am of the Bird Clan, a Clan recognized for our voice and leadership. My English name is Johnny Hawke and I reside on Chimnissing Anishinabe Territory some of my people who accept Colonial Authority also call all our home Beausoleil First Nation, Christian Island, Ontario Canada. We are located on the southern shores of Georgian Bay, two hours north of Toronto, Ontario. 

As I become a man with an ever more increasing responsibility to retain our Sovereignty and to stand up for the Earth I am writing this article for the young ones who are coming up behind me and who choose to walk this path of Resistance and Resurgence. I want to share what I have observed this far in our struggle and in my own life as an Anishinabe. I am not writing this article as an ego trip or as some veteran in the movement as I am quite fresh. This article is not a how-to-do it yourself manual. I am just sharing some frustrations and barriers we need to watch out for as we as a Nation struggle to retain our Sovereignty.  If our youth are our future then consider this article a living frustration from a youth who is trying to put our teachings into place finding that our worst enemy is ourselves.  

I am very much rooted and have been brought up in the responsibilities of my Clan and as a Man being that Fire Keeper and Provider. I have been rooted in our Anishinabe Ceremonies, Spirituality, History and Sovereignty by my family. I have been active in the defense of my own and other brother and sisters Indigenous Territories enforcing our Sovereignty from the encroachment of Colonial Governments and Corporations standing on the frontlines for the past few years of my young life.

 I am a multimedia artist with a College Diploma in Broadcast Journalism. I am a writer, musician, traditional dancer, painter, videographer and carver and like everyone else I have my faults and am no Saint. I try my best to walk the way of Okijida, to have a “Big Heart” and to walk an Anishinabe way.

With the education, dedication and skills I have I can make a comfortable life for myself through participating in a capitalist society but I choose not too and I dedicate my lifestyle to walking this path of Resistance and Resurgence waking this Sleeping Giant up. Some may call this the Indigenous Resistance Movement, American Indian Movement, Native Youth Movement, Okijida, Activism or Warrior Society what ever it is it is a global movement where oppressed people are waking up along with an angry Earth Mother to cleanse and reclaim ourselves. The following is not only my story but our story.

“Sometimes they have to kill us. They have to kill us, because they can’t break our Spirit. We choose the Right to be who we are. We know the difference between the reality of freedom and the illusion of freedom.” – James Looks Twice/ John Trudell

Disrobing the Modern Small Pox Blankets

The White Man has infected us with Capitalism by disguising his institutions with our cultural symbols and placing them within our communities so he no longer has to kill us out in the open but rather we destroy ourselves internally. These institutions are the modern day smallpox blankets in which we need to disrobe of as quickly as we can, replacing them with our own original socio political institutions in order for us to remain as Anishinabe.                                                                                                      

 The following institutions are painted to look like our own but exploit our cultural symbols so we are fooled into believing that these things belong to us. Underneath they are still colonial and benefit only the “white man” for his capitalist agenda. Beware of the following as you try to make change within our Indigenous Communities and I encourage you to see beyond the smoke and mirrors even if it is dressed up with our culture.

Indian Act First Nations: In the Northern Part of Turtle Island our Indigenous Nations are subjected to the Indian Act enforced by the British Crown under the governance of Canada. The Act including the elected Chief and Council system is a system imposed on communities in our territory. It is in breach of our inherit Sovereignty, Treaties, Canadian Constitution, Royal Proclamation, the Two Row Wampum, 1764 Niagara Covenant Chain Belt and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which acknowledge our title to our Lands and Rights including our Sovereignty.  In order to retain our Sovereignty we need to reject the First Nation Reserve System, Chief and Council and most treaties. Most treaties which ceded our lands and rights are invalid because they were signed by Chiefs who were given authority by the Government in their Indian Act system and not the by our people and our system. The very existence of INAC Chief and Council and our Reserve Communities today and their day to day operations are not only breaking Canada’s own law but our own laws and Sovereignty.

AFN/Chiefs/Union of Ontario Indians: These types of Chiefs organizations claim to represent our People however the leadership is elected only by Chiefs and they are funded by the Government. They want to embrace Capitalism over our own Traditional Indigenous Economic Systems so in turn they become hypocrites in advocating for our Culture, Rights, Treaties and Sovereignty. You can’t advocate for our Cultural ways and then not put them to use for what they encompass and teach. They consistently advocate the Governments for more funds which are never seen on a community level only through a bureaucratic nepotistic funding structure where assistants to the assistants are hired to create a failing economy, while our children continue to starve. They also ask the Colonizers for our Sovereignty when we already have it and just need to enforce.

Anishinabek Police Service: These officers are enforcing Canadian Laws in our own Community which breaches our Right to be a Sovereign Nation with our own laws.  Anishinabek Clan system is responsible for correcting inappropriate behaviors therefore there is no need for lawyers, judges, jails where we become a product  set up only to benefit the Capitalist system. If you don’t like the police and foreign laws lets organize and patrol and become responsible for our own community. These thugs do more harm to our communities handing our people over to a foreign judicial system which creates more conflict in correcting an individual’s behavior. These thugs make us dependant on their service so we do not become responsible in resolving our own problems through our own holistic ways as a community.

Aboriginal Economic Development: First Nations are now collaborating with Mining, Gas, Oil, Mineral, Forestry Corporations and Governments to extract resources on our Traditional Territories becoming sell-outs to the very foundation of what makes us Indigenous. We have our own Anishinabe Economic Systems based on common ownership of lands of the people and cooperative management and allocation of resources which works in harmony with the Earth. Remember only after all the fish are gone then you will know you can’t eat money.  We cannot remain as Anishinabe with Anishinabe principles and values if we embrace Capitalism. Either Capitalism will fail or being Anishinabe will fail.

Aboriginal Social Services: Social Service Agreements that are administered by First Nations create dependency on the state, which is the institution that protects Capitalism. It is Capitalism that creates poverty conditions which requires our society to implement these Social Service Programs. It also diverts our people living in poverty from uprising and replacing the Capitalist Society with our Sovereignty. Everyone in our Anishinabek Society had a job which we depended on and no one lived in poverty. if we remove the Social Services Welfare system we will begin to see how fast the majority of our people will begin to organize and start putting food on our tables and stopping this dependency. We survived an Ice Age, a Great Flood; I am sure we can provide for ourselves and find jobs in this time. The Welfare system is the number one cause of being on Welfare.

Aboriginal Self Government: Portrayed as some form of Sovereignty self-government is the exact opposite. It transforms band councils into municipal governments under provincial & federal control. Reserve lands become fee simple property that can be bought & sold on the free market.

It’s the same goal as the 1876 Indian Act and the 1969 White Paper: the legal, political & economic assimilation of Indigenous peoples into Canada. Some bands are already well advanced in their self-government deals, including the Nisga’a, Sechelt, Westbank, Nunavut, James Bay Cree & Inuit, as well as the Gwich’in & other Yukon bands. In this way, self-government will really be the self-administration of our own oppression. The only Self Government that is being honored is under Government stipulations.

Aboriginal Healing and Wellness Strategy: Healing Centers, Councilors and Social Workers and the work they do are based on Indigenous Culture which helps to “heal” individuals. This is very much needed but once a person becomes “healed” they go back into their impoverished communities and continue destructive behaviors as a result of social conditions which stem from capitalism. The Funding of this strategy is administered and depended on by Government sources. Social workers make a living off of “Aboriginal Misery” and the core issues are not being “healed” which makes our people again a product for the Capitalist system.  “Whispering Four Winds Healing Treatment Centre” benefits the people on payroll more than the communities who have to deal with Colonization.  Give a Community Economic Sustenance instead of a Treatment Centre and tell me which one “heals” social problems more efficiently. You can give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach him to fish and he’ll never go hungry.

Pan Indian Traditionalism: As we the prophetic Seventh Generation pick up what was taken from us, a melting pot of cultural knowledge, ceremonies and ideologies create a passive euphoric romanticized version of what we once used to be. It is filled with a majority of people who want to attain medicine person, elder and sainthood status and the role of the hunter and warrior are degraded into a savage militant threat to this harmonious way of life. If we deny the role of the warrior to appease a contemporary political correctness then we are denying everything our ancestors did to make sure that we are here today.

 Compromising our own Nations customs and rituals to accommodate this new age melting pot of traditionalism dilutes the very meaning of what we are trying to preserve and awaken. Powwow and the openness of sharing of our knowledge has become a thing of honorarium and prestige. Sacred Dances such as Sundance, Raindance, the role of Heyoka and our medicine societies are replaced for an inter-tribal exhibition called powwow which creates the image that we are nothing but a powwowing culture, while our diversity is forgotten. Powwow a mish mash of culture that becomes our national image as a people.  While Pan Indian Traditionalism creates a form of Nationalism which unites us at times however it can divide us as we do not who comes into our communities under what agenda.  It creates the freedom for an individual to make themselves a self appointed Chief, Medicine Person, Warrior or Clan member without proper protocol, ceremony or accreditation in which the vulnerable can fall victim to such people.

This Pan Indian Traditionalism creates an outlet for our people to share our culture to the mainstream society where even non Indigenous people are provided to establish a career of selling out. Ego and greed and manipulation of culture to suite individual needs are than created which is in direct conflict of those teachings. Reestablishing our own Nation’s Sovereignty can filter out the manipulators and the people of all colors will benefit instead of the ever present Capitalism.

Conclusion

As I listen and try to exercise what Chiefs preach along with the wisdom of our teachings and historical agreements the more I feel like Nana’b’oozo the Sleeping Giant who our people now look at as a trickster and a fool.

As I listen to Indigenous Politicians speak of Nation to Nation Relationship with Canada and asserting our Sovereignty I see no real action to back up their talk but when I try they see me as a “fool trickster” who is shun.

When I attend the ceremonies of my people which preach on love and acceptance and how we learn from the animals I watch the bears loose there territory and when provoked I see them fight back and those same ceremonial Elders tell me to be quiet and that fighting back is not our way.

 As I listen to rhetoric from my community to go and get educated and help our community I am faced with nepotism and social incest barriers. When I try to share my education and skills I can’t get employeed so for free to benefit my people I share but am denied the use of our community assets because I am not a band employee or a family member of those who are in power.

I know I am not a Saint but I am more than a fool and a trickster and before I am shun away like Nana’b’oozo I only ask those who are ready to walk the talk to help wake up this Sleeping Giant Up.