Indigenous resistance that takes any form other than that defined by the coloniser is a criminal offense. If an indigenous population wishes to seek redress for past/present wrongs it is at the state's negotiating table and with the settlers' legislation that redress must be found. And if any indigenous activists dare to pursue means to defend their mana/land base/community/culture et al. in any way not stipulated by the powers that be, said indigenous activists will be removed from the scene to neutralize the threat they present.



This reality is succinctly highlighted by the Mohawk activist Shawn Brant who is currently facing 12 years imprisonment: "This is it, justice for first nations communities: lock us up. Anybody who speaks out, lock em up. KI-6, Bob Lovelace: lock em up… Don't fix the problems, lock em up."



Brant is a member of the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, a community in the Canadian province of Ontario that is struggling to have their land returned. The cruel irony being that Canada has already acknowledged that the land is Mohawk and moreover that it was never surrendered. However due to economic interests, the Ontario provincial government continues to approve development on the disputed land and has refused to revoke the license for quarry operations.



This impasse resulted in negotiations taking place but as Naomi Klein explains, 'the negotiations are meant to take decades. And as the time passes, the land disappears. Forests are clear-cut, mountains are carved up, suburbs creep outward. Ineffective negotiations do not hold the line on an already unacceptable status quo - they contribute to the losing of very real ground' (very real ground referring to the 100,000 tonnes of gravel per year which was being removed from a quarry in the disputed area).



So with the options of either sitting at the negotiating table as the land is literally stolen from around them or preventing this through direct action, the community chose the latter. Consequently, the past two years have seen indigenous activists occupy the gravel quarry which has ended the flagrant theft of the community's land and a number of blockades on major roads and rail networks have successfully delayed the pillaging of their ancestral land.



As a result of the decision to take things into their own hands however, their resistance has been criminalised. The most public case being that of Shawn Brent who is being used as a warning to others that indigenous resistance bringing about tangible results and likely to lead to actual change will under no circumstance be tolerated. He goes to trial in January 2009.



A case for International Solidarity


This case needs international attention. The Canadian state has to be told that indigenous land must be returned to its rightful owners and that the criminalisation of indigenous activists must end.

As a member of a community affected by the so called terror raids of October '07 I feel deeply for the community at Tyendinaga and know just how much international solidarity can mean at a time like this.

So if you can, learn more about this case, sign the online petition and keep your finger on the pulse so that as the trial date draws near, you can act in unsion with people across the globe when they call for the return of land to indigenous people, the freedom of Shawn Brant and an end to the criminalisation of indigenous resistance.

For more information go to: www.ocap.ca/supporttmt/index.html

And

To sign an online petition go to:
www.ipetitions.com/petition/supporttmt