Comments Off on Seeds of Resistance: A New Resource for Land Defense
Oct262020
Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info
As the world falls apart around us we turn to the land more than ever.
This site is meant as a resource for resisting pipelines and other exploitative industrial projects. It is full of information for ideas and action when the process has failed, when permits have been granted, and there is nothing left but our own selves to protect the land.
Visit https://seedsofresistance.noblogs.org/ (with TOR or a safe VPN/browser combo!) and find all the things you’ve been looking for to ignite ideas and action.
SIX NATIONS – OPP officers instigated a major clash at the corner of Hwy 6 and 6th line near Caledonia while land defenders were in Cayuga court today. At around 4pm, OPP cruisers pulled up to 6×6 saying according to one witness that “We’re here to assist in making arrests.” The officers were told to leave and were informed that their presence would only escalate an already tense situation.
According to an eyewitness, “five more cops suddenly showed up. They came out of their cars wielding weapons, and they opened right up on them”. Multiple rounds of rubber bullets were fired in the direction of the 6×6 camp, with bullets hitting the fence around the perimeter, and one bullet hitting the fire barrel.
One Six Nations man was tasered. Three Six Nations men were chased by OPP officers wielding firearms in two different foot races. The Onkwehon:we outran the police officers and were not apprehended.
According to an another eyewitness who spoke with Real People’s Media, “every officer was brandishing a weapon. There wasn’t one there who didn’t have a weapon in his hand. tasers, rubber bullet guns, assault rifles, they all had weapons out.
“We moved up the road, and they got out again with weapons. We told them to put their weapons away ‘cause they were going to shoot someone.”
The eyewitness reported that “the cops were hollering at [name redacted] and calling him a chicken. Yelling “buck, buck, buck” and making chicken noises. That’s what really pissed me off. They were saying come over here chicken” and trying to get him to come fight.” The eyewitness said that the police officers seemed to be enjoying themselves.
After the police blocked Hwy 6 with multiple vehicles, Onkwehon:we people took the road themselves. Hwy 6 is now closed at Fourth Line and the OPP have set up a barricade in Caledonia near the Canadian Tire.
At the time of this writing, hundreds of Six Nations people are converging at 6×6 and Kanonhstaton.
Pipeline companies threaten violence to communities, salmon and wildlife with drilling under sacred headwaters.
(Unceded Yintah / Secwepemcúĺecw Territories): Coastal Gaslink pipeline in Wet’suwet’en territory and Trans Mountain Pipeline in Secwepemc territory are both currently preparing to drill under our clear rivers, from which we have drawn sustenance since time immemorial.
In the past few days we have seen Indigenous women interrupted during ceremonies in both territories, and arrests and incarcerations in Secwepemc territories, for enacting their sacred responsibilities. The Trans Mountain Pipeline weaves through over 900 rivers and creeks, threatening both Secwepemcetkwe (Thompson) and Fraser River systems. The North Thompson is connected to the Adams River, a vital spawning habitat for chinook, coho, and pink salmon, and home to one of the most important sockeye runs in the world. Any leakage would immediately threaten the pacific salmon who spawn in the Secwepemcetkwe (Thompson) and Fraser River basins.
In an open letter to the Prime Minister dated November 26, 2016, our late Secwepemc leader Arthur Manuel wrote to Trudeau:
“The salmon and the rivers they inhabit have taken care of our people for centuries and we are obligated as Secwepemc people to protect the Thompson River system for future generations.”
In this the Secwepemc stand in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people, who have been fighting to protect Wedzin Kwa (Morice River) from pipeline incursions for over a decade. Wetʼsuwetʼen means “People of the lower drainage” and Wet’suwet’en people’s lives are inseparable from the life of the Wedzin Kwa river, which we have protected for thousands of years, and which has in turn fed us and governed us through our hereditary leaders and knowledge-keepers.
Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, spokesperson of the Gidimt’en Checkpoint, states:
At this time our rivers, the lifeblood of our nations, are facing drills, toxins and invaders. Indigenous people are standing up to state violence, big industry and corporate greed for the future of all of humanity–of all life on our yintah. We stand with our Secwepemc relatives in their struggle and ask all Indigenous peoples and our allies to stand up for the salmon, the clean drinking water, the animals and our future generations. We will not let them kill us. We will always be here.
Over the last two decades we have witnessed the dramatic decline of our salmon as a result of toxic extractive and urban development on our territory, as well as fish farms, invasive species, and climate change. These pipeline expansions pose the most direct risk yet.
The drilling alone threatens not only salmon spawning habitat but the balance of the entire ecosystem and food chain they rely upon. The sockeye are tenacious, fighting their way thousands of kilometres upstream from the Pacific Ocean to reach their spawning beds in Secwepemc territory. Wedzin Kwa joins the Skeena and runs through the canyons out to the Pacific Ocean. We cannot risk putting any more obstacles in the salmons’ way.
Our traditional land users and stewards—those who exercise our right to hunt, fish, gather, and practice our culture—are the ones who truly understand the potential impacts of the pipeline. It is these members of our nations who will feel the effects of the pipeline on our rights and our food sovereignty most acutely. It is these members who have authority over our lands the government of Canada has failed most.
When we protect our rivers from invading industries, and insist on our rights to fish and hunt on our territories, we are criminalized, harassed and jailed. In Secwepemc territory, there were 5 arrests yesterday and 3 indigenous land defenders were sentenced to 28 days in Canadian jail.
By refusing to seek the free prior and informed consent of our people, and instead opting to sign deals and agreements with a few of our federal Indian bands, the government of Canada has undermined the authority of the proper rights and title holders of Secwepemcúl’ecw and the Wet’suwet’en yintah.
We send our love and greetings to all of Creation and to all of you. We send our love and greetings to Wet’suwet’en Territory, Mi’kmaq Territory, Algonquin Territory, Secwepemc Territory, Inuit Nunangat, and to all Indigenous Peoples who are gathered on their territories fighting colonial violence.
We see you and draw encouragement from our shared fight for justice. We as Haudenosaunee people have inherited a sacred responsibility to protect the lands, waters, and sustenance for the coming generations.
We will fulfill our commitment to our children as our ancestors did for us. This responsibility is something that no one can interfere with. We were placed on our lands by our Creator. We have been here for 10,000 years and we will be here for 10,000 more.
Settler governments need to wake up to the reality that Haudenosaunee people aren’t going anywhere. We have always defended our territory. We have stopped development for 83 days at 1492 Land Back Lane. We will keep defending our territory.
We demand Provincial and Federal governments respect Indigenous Peoples’ sovereignty over their lands/waters. We demand #1492LandBackLane remains under Haudenosaunee control and our sovereignty over the Haldimand Tract respected. We demand an end to the criminalization of Land Defenders everywhere.
We want to thank you all for your support. We’re facing criminal charges, a $20 million injunction, and ongoing police violence. This is unacceptable. State sanctioned violence against Indigenous Peoples must end. Your actions today are helping to keep us safe.
Please continue to support our legal defense fund – the longer we are on the land, the longer our court cases drag on, the more people are charged.
Our cousins, our aunties, uncles, and life-long friends are being arrested. Our allies, artists and cooks, journalists and researchers are being arrested. Despite this intimidation people keep showing up to bring supplies, showing us endless love and support. Indigenous Peoples have a right to live and exist in their home territories.
The days of forcing Indigenous Peoples off of their lands is over. We trust you will return to your homes safely to your friends and family.
– Haudenosaunee Land Defenders at 1492 Land Back Lane
Right now in Mi’kma’ki, commercial fishermen are physically threatening, intimidating and harassing Indigenous people over their livelihood catch of lobster. The violence has escalated in the past few days, and seems likely to continue to escalate. The RCMP have been filmed allowing commercial fishermen to steal and poison lobster, burn vehicles, smash windows, throw rocks at Mi’kmaq people and attack chiefs and women.
What’s happening in Mi’kma’ki is a prime example of how race operates in so-called Canada, with the state protecting the side of big business and using white working-class people to project their force onto the non-white population. Examples of this can be found all over the country.
In August, 27km camp on Wet’suwet’en yintah was burned to the ground by arsonists, and somehow the state has no leads or interest in pursuing the case, even though there were public facebook posts calling for that specific action to be carried out.
In Secwepmeculecw the Tiny House Warriors have faced near constant harrassment from white supremacists who even set up a camp and barbeque within a stone’s throw from Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit folks in order to harass and intimidate them.
In Algonquin territory non-Indigenous hunters continue to disrespect and threaten Indigenous people on their own territory, who are protecting the moose population from being over-hunted.
In Six Nations territory the police continue to harass and arrest Indigenous people, unchecked by us the greater community at large.
When is enough enough? Why aren’t we shutting the country down? The white supremacist settler state cannot continue unchecked. There must be action. This is a callout to all settlers and supporters to take actions where you stand, how you see fit. Transportation routes are vulnerable, we proved this in the spring. It doesn’t take many people carrying out subversive actions to cause the state immense damage.
Update on continued struggle to resist the Coastal GasLink pipeline threatening the Wedzin Kwa headwaters on Wet’suwet’en territory. For more info, follow Gidimt’en Checkpoint.
Our headwaters are under attack. Our way of life is at risk. Coastal Gaslink is weeks away from test drilling beneath Wedzin Kwa – the river that feeds all of Wet’suwet’en territory and gives life to our nation.
We continue to reoccupy our territories – to prepare our foods, to hold our ceremonies, to teach our children what it means to be Wet’suwet’en.
We have to protect ourselves. We have to protect what we have at all costs. We need your support now more than ever.
A message from Sleydo, Molly Wickham, spokesperson for the Gidimt’en Checkpoint.
Visit www.yintahaccess.com to come stand with us, to donate, or to find out ways you can help.
Comments Off on Poster: Support the Anishnabe call for a Moose Moratorium in Parc La Vérendrye
Oct152020
Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info
The Algonquin Anishnabeg Nation, protector and caretaker of the territory of Parc La Vérendrye and beyond, has set up several camps blocking access to hunters along Highway 117. For the past two years, the people have been denouncing publicly an alarming decline in the moose population. Let’s support the moratorium, stay informed, keep our eyes on what’s happening there and let people around you know whats happening there!
On a coast choked in smoke from fires burning a vast swath of this dying planet, up road TR11A on the north side of Edinburgh Mountain on so-called Vancouver Island, we felled seven trees across the road, erected tripods, hung banners, and locked a gate to block access to old growth cutblocks higher up the mountain. Blockades were started in August in the neighbouring Fairy Creek watershed, yet industrial logging in the area continues. Some old growth areas are currently inaccessible to industry thanks to these ongoing blockades, but many others nearby are still being destroyed, and our action prevented the Monday morning destruction of at least some old growth forest. We are happy to obstruct old growth logging, but we’d just as soon have done the same thing to prevent 2nd or 3rd growth forests from being clearcut, as there is nothing remotely sustainable about the way forests in so-called British Columbia are being industrially destroyed.
We invite others to expand the struggle against logging in Tree Farm License 46 along insurrectionary lines. The proposal is simple: informal organization, unmitigated hostility, and refusal to negotiate with the state or industry. This can be as simple as getting together with friends and creatively finding ways to throw sand in the cogs of industrial logging. In this case, for us it was establishing a temporary blockade. We did this because it was fun and easy, and we had no interest in getting caught or waiting to be arrested. We can act alone or in groups. The goal is one of direct action: to stop logging from happening, not politely ask that it stop. The more action is decentralized, the more uncontrollable it will be become, and since the powers that be are incapable of controlling the entire area, it may be possible to bring the clearcuts to an end. Worst case scenario we simply have some fun along the way, and cause them to think twice next time. Friends from afar can contribute to this struggle by visiting Teal Jones’ offices, mills, and other operations in various locations in so-called BC and the so-called United States.
Throughout this process it will be important to make space for a diversity of tactics. Some of us may try to build a popular social movement, some will stay on the barricades at the Fairy Creek blockades, others may take our approach and act autonomously – some may do all three. Whatever decisions we do make, we should approach them with humility. None of us know exactly how to stop the industrial Hydra, but we do know that the powers that be will employ divide and conquer tactics to single out more radical groups and individuals and weaken movements. A clear understanding of solidarity and remembering that we are all working towards the same goal will help us to succeed.
This feels particularly important seeing others denounce our blockade as ‘under-authorized,’ as we believe none of us should look to anyone for authorization to act. Our actions come from our own analysis, desires and relationships – no one can take that away, nor should they invest in policing them. This can be complicated on stolen land, and to those who might raise this issue we would point out that there are Pacheedaht folks with us and Pacheedaht folks against us, as every community includes a diversity of perspectives. We wish to act alongside those who would see the forests on their land preserved, and not leave it to them alone to fight the industrial capitalism and colonialism which ceaselessly encroach upon us all.
Artificial Intelligence AI labs, recipients of several $100M in government funding, are working to put “machine learning” algorithms in the service of a long list of industries. Under an “ethical” facade, some applications will simply allow well-placed capitalists to further enrich themselves. Others aim to reinforce repression, whether detecting shoplifters at the supermarket with automated video surveillance, developing facial recognition tools that work even on partly covered faces, or “predicting” crime or the probability of a prisoner re-offending.
5g Wireless Networking The unprecedented bandwidth of 5G technology enables the deployment of AI on the scale of a city in real time. Every movement becomes trackable thanks to thousands of cameras integrated into a centralized surveillance apparatus. This vision is already in practice in more than one European “smart city”. Countless sensors dotting public spaces, in businesses, cars and public transit, and worn on our bodies aim to make every action the object of calculation, prediction and control, all under an eco-friendly label. By its pervasiveness, a web of algorithms is made invisible and therefore impossible to resist.
Robotics and Automation Self-driving cars. Robotized warehouses. Cashierless stores. Delivery robots that call the cops when they are attacked. An infrastructure is being deployed that will change the world of work and our living environment permanently. We don’t mourn the disappearance of back-breaking and boring jobs. A dehumanizing pace is imposed on the remaining workers, who must keep up with the machines and productivity software or be shown the door. Meanwhile, what measures of social control and what exploitative schemes await the new excluded masses of an age of technological unemployment?
Life in Front of a Screen Possibilities for authentic relations between humans and with our surroundings are increasingly erased in service of a virtual hyper- connectivity. Understanding, discovery, and the search for meaning are reduced to production of data. Attention deficit, memory problems, loss of emotional skills and imagination, disrupted sleep, musculo-skeletal pain, anxiety, loneliness, depression: the symptoms of addiction to online technologies are worsening as the proportion of the population that has spent their entire lives immersed in touch screens grows.
Demonstrators took down the statue of John A. Macdonald today in downtown Montreal, at the end of the demonstration to defund the police. Macdonald was Canada’s first prime minister. He is responsible for the creation of the residential school system, the adoption of laws aiming to exclude people of Chinese origin, and the hanging of Métis martyr Louis Riel. A symbol of the colonialism and racism that persist in this country, the Macdonald statue had already been vandalized with paint many times. Further details will follow.
