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Native Protesters Block Northern B.C. Highway

First Posted: 01/12/12 04:05 PM ET Updated: 01/14/12 08:27 PM ET

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Native protesters have halted almost all industrial traffic to logging and mining sites near Fort St. James, B.C., and are demanding to speak with local politicians.


Since Wednesday, 14 protesters from the Nak'azdli Band have blocked Highway 27 at Necoslie Road over safety concerns with industrial traffic.


Highway 27 is the only highway through Fort St. James and the only route to logging sites and construction at the Mount Milligan mine.


Local vehicles are being allowed through, but RCMP Const. Leslie Smith said the situation has grown tense.


"Blocking down the entire highway is causing a lot of stress for that community," said Smith. "You know there have been heightened emotions from the drivers of these commercial trucks."


After late-night negotiations, the Nak'azdli protesters are now allowing two trucks through every hour. A three-hour detour around the blockade is in effect for other commercial vehicles.


RCMP negotiating with protesters


The RCMP is negotiating with the protesters and Smith said the group is demanding to speak to MLA Pat Bell or MP Nathen Cullen.


"The leader of the blockade is now making demands to speak to a member of Parliament so they can be heard. We do believe this is going to come to a peaceful outcome but we just ask the community to stay with us at this time," said Smith.


Thursday morning, Nak'azdli Chief Fred Sam said the protesters are "traditional stewards of the land," acting without the band's blessing.


Sam said band members are trying to get the attention of the province in order to strike a deal on the sharing of resource revenue.


In a statement released Thursday afternoon, the Nak'azdli chief and council clarified the protesters' position, saying they understand their frustration.


"Through discussions with the Nak'azdli members that have set up the information gateway, it has been stated by Tsoh Daih (Pete Erickson) 'The issue can be summed up in one word SAFETY this is an issue that all Fort St. James residents can relate with due to the increase in traffic,'" the council wrote.


Logging, mining operations halted


The blockade has shut down local logging and closed the route to a major construction site at the Mount Milligan mine, owned by Terrane Metals Corp.


Hugh MacDonald of Frost Lake Logging said his operations are at a standstill.


"We can't move any wood right now because of the blockade. Our crews are down, all our contractors are down, several other big contractors aren't moving anything either," said MacDonald.


Jocelyn Fraser, of Thompson Creek Metals, said the blockade has stopped 10 trucks from delivering construction materials to the billion-dollar Mount Milligan mine site.


The federal government approved development of the open-pit copper and gold mine in December 2010, despite the objections of the Nak'azdli Indian Band, which vowed to fight the project.


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  • Oka Crisis

    Canadian soldier Patrick Cloutier and Saskatchewan Native Brad Laroque alias "Freddy Kruger" come face to face in a tense standoff at the Kahnesatake reserve in Oka, Quebec, Saturday September 1, 1990. Twenty plus years after an armed standoff at Oka laid Canada's often difficult relationship with its native peoples bare in international headlines, the bitterly contested land remains in legal limbo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Shaney Komulainen)

  • Oka Crisis

    A warrior raises his weapon as he stands on an overturned police vehicle blocking a highway at the Kahnesetake reserve near Oka, Quebec July 11, 1990 after a police assault to remove Mohawk barriers failed. Twenty plus years after an armed standoff at Oka laid Canada's often difficult relationship with its native peoples bare in international headlines, the bitterly contested land remains in legal limbo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tom Hanson)

  • Oka Crisis

    A Quebec Metis places a stick with an eagle feather tied to it into the barrel of a machine gun mounted on an army armored vehicle at Oka Thursday, Aug. 23, 1990. The vehicle was one of two positioned a few metres away from the barricade causing a breakdown in negotiations. Twenty plus years after an armed standoff at Oka laid Canada's often difficult relationship with its native peoples bare in international headlines, the bitterly contested land remains in legal limbo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Grimshaw)

  • Oka Crisis

    A Mohawk Indian winds up to punch a soldier during a fight that took place on the Khanawake reserve on Montreal's south shore in 1990. The army broke up the fight by shooting into the air. Twenty plus years after an armed standoff at Oka laid Canada's often difficult relationship with its native peoples bare in international headlines, the bitterly contested land remains in legal limbo. (CP PHOTO)

  • Ipperwash

    Two aboriginal protesters man a barricade near the entrance to Ipperwash Provincial Park, near Ipperwash Beach, Ont., on Sept. 7, 1995. (CP PHOTO)

  • Ipperwash

    Ken Wolf, 9, walks away from a graffiti-covered smoldering car near the entrance to the Ipperwash Provincial Park in this September 7, 1995 photo. A group of aboriginal protesters were occupying the park and nearby military base. (CP PHOTO)

  • Caledonia Protests

    Caledonian activist Gary McHale (right) is confronted by a Six Nations Protester as he attempts to lead members of Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality (CANACE) in carrying a makeshift monument to Six Nations land in Caledonia, Ont., on Sunday February 27, 2011. CANACE claim inequality in treatment for Caledonian residents from Ontario Provincial Police compared to that of the Six Nation population. They planned to plant a monument of six nation property to demand an apology from the OPP, but were turned back by protesters. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

  • Caledonia Protests

    First Nations people of the Grand River Territory stand with protest signs as they force the redirection of the Vancover 2010 Olympic Torch Relay from entering The Six Nations land Monday, December 21, 2009 near Caledonia, Ontario. The Olympic torch's journey across Canada was forced to take a detour in the face of aboriginal opposition to the Games, with an Ontario First Nation rerouting its relay amid a protest from a splinter group in the community. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dave Chidley)

  • Caledonia Protests

    Six Nations protesters guard the front entrance of a housing development in Hagersville, Ont., just south of the 15-month aboriginal occupation at Caledonia on Wednesday, May 23, 2007. The protest was peaceful. (CP PHOTO/Nathan Denette)

  • Caledonia Protests

    Mohawk protestors block a road near the railway tracks near Marysville, Ont. with a bus and a bonfire Friday April 21, 2006. The natives showed their support to fellow natives in Caledonia, Ont. where they were in a stand off with police regarding land claims.(CP PHOTO/Jonathan Hayward)

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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
224 Fans
03:51 AM on 01/19/2012
http://www.cathedralgrove.eu/text/06-Totem-Poles-2.htm
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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
224 Fans
03:33 AM on 01/19/2012
.or Pine Ridge.Fire hoses were used on the People... along with truncheons & police dogs- this was in the 1980's in Canada not the 1950's down south...

In regards to OKA - check with the AFN library since they have copies of the submissions- you don't have to call Geneva!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/film/story/2008/04/29/alanis-obomsawin.html

&

http://www.firstnations.de/indian_land.htm
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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
224 Fans
03:22 AM on 01/19/2012
we were called liars or ridiculed by the teachers so I wish for more of our young people to follow Alanis' examples since Indian communities face martial law every time we attempt to stand up for our civil rights.

In regards to the Cheaslaten of northern B.C. having 24 hrs notice & being burnt out & flooded by Alcan Corp.under the watchful eyes of DIAND? No filmmakers allowed in the late 40's early 50's but a Canadian filmmaker did make a documentary about the history & after effects - Sheila Jordan.

Too bad no one was there to film when Rouseau River was attacked by SWAT in the mid-90's? I don't even think the mainstream media commented on it...
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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
224 Fans
03:21 AM on 01/19/2012
Alanis is a strong Abenaki woman & a damn good filmmaker... it is only because of her that the world found out exactly what went on behind the wire at OKA, otherwise you'd have to know to look at the United Nations's ILO submissions to understand the level of martial law the Canadian gov't imposed on the MOHAWK peoples.

Three of her other films include: Incident at Restigouche (1984), a powerful depiction of the Quebec police raid of a Micmac reserve;

Her 2003 NFB documentary Our Nationhood chronicles the determination and tenacity of the Listuguj Mi'gmaq people to use and manage the natural resources of their traditional lands.

The Mi’gmaq of Esgenoopetitj (Burnt Church), New Brunswick were the subject of her 2002 documentary, Is the Crown at war with us?, a powerful and painstakingly researched look at the conflict over fishing rights.

I was at Victoria Island in '74 I personally remember the Canadian sharpshooters keeping us kids in their sights. We watched them through binoculars. It was particularly disturbing since they were dressed as police & every time after that when teachers explained about neighborhood friends - my brothers & I would point out about what our experiences were in regards to policemen & RCMP ( who often came to harass my 80+ yr.old grandmother for the Wampum belts)
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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
224 Fans
03:16 AM on 01/19/2012
What about Restigouche? Oka? Burnt Church?
What about Rouseau River being attacked by SWAT in the mid-90's?

What about Helen Betty Osbourne & JJ Harper & Richard Cardinal & Kyle Young http://www.cbc.ca/calgary/features/elevator/& Maisy Shaw & the missing girls http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2677 on different reserves.

All these communities are full of registered Indians under DIAND. Only a handful of Canadians have ever stood with us to face the batons, fire hoses, & RCMP dogs. Mostly university students involved in social justice although I do remember the "Ragin' Grannies" in the 1980's who shamed the federal gov't in song & poetry.

Mind you I have given cultural presentations to all levels of Canadian society & I cannot tell you how many times I came across Canadians teling me they are "Native Canadians"cause their family has been here since the 16th century!
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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
224 Fans
03:16 AM on 01/19/2012
I myself am ALGONQUIN -a registered "status Indian" under DIAND's policy.
I have lived both on & off-reserve... my family works in Indian Government both on & off-reserve. My family have been civil right activists since the 1920's... My mother remarked that Canada's census reports there at 40,000 Aboriginals in Ottawa- Humph -- where are all these Natives eh?

There are so many Canadians who have self-identified as Native on census, scrambling to line up for " their Aboriginal Rights" but where are they when it comes standing up beside the people who face police action or martial law - which has happened a number of times in my 40 yrs.

What about the James Bay Cree ?
What about Barrier Lake?
What about Golden Lake Algonquins?
What about the Lubican Lake Crees?
What about Innu of Labrador ?
What about the Teme-Augama Anishnabai ?
What about the elders barricade in Northern Sask against clearcutting? ( I was in my 20's when I had to cross an RCMP gaunlet full of German Shepard dogs when I visited these elders- when they came to Ottawa I brought them to visit the elders of Barriere Lake)

What about the Cheaslaten of northern B.C. having 24 hrs notice & being burnt out & flooded by Alcan Corp.under the watchful eyes of DIAND? (Sheila Jordan made a film about this community in the northern interior of B.C.)
What about the Gitksan/Wet'suwet'en barricades against clearcutting by Westar?
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Seamus OMalley
My micro-bio is no longer empty.
86 Fans
08:59 AM on 01/17/2012
Just wondering, Donna ... have you ever had a thought of your own?
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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
224 Fans
03:17 AM on 01/19/2012
Blueberry River Indian Band v. Canada (Departmen
­t of Indian Affairs and Northern Developmen­t),
[1994] 4 S.C.R. 344: The Aboriginal interest in reserve land includes an interest in mineral rights, which the Crown holds in trust for Aboriginal peoples therefore requiring the Crown to act according to its fiduciary duty to First Nations.

Also, at common law the owner of the surface land owns the subsurface
and the air space; see also Opetchesah­t Indian Band v. Canada, [1997] 2 S.C.R. 119: the Band has a right to the airspace right-of-w­ay.
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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
224 Fans
11:43 AM on 01/15/2012
A veteran native affairs analyst (who asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions from the government as a source of contract work) says many aspects of the announcement create problems and raise suspicions. For one thing, although the tribunal will be "independent", the government alone will pick the judges. Harper and cabinet "still have a unilateral approach to things."

The analyst points out that the tribunal, with just six judges, will be unable to deal rapidly with the backlog. "They're expected to deal with a backlog of 800 claims; you figure it out."

"The real problem," says the analyst, "is what has to happen before it gets to the tribunal," which is only going to be set up to deal with cases where negotiations have, in the government's view, failed. "As long as the government can say "let's continue to negotiate," cases will not be heard. You don't get a free ticket to the tribunal just because you have a claim," said the source.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=4454ab6e-c0ad-4c29-860e-b94d50fcc9d1&k=89924

It could also be that Fontaine is being squeezed by the government. "They're not giving him money; he's a nobody to them. In the standing committee [on native affairs] today, all but one of the Conservative members left the hearing when he spoke. All the opposition members stayed. It's the way this government has treated him."
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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
224 Fans
11:40 AM on 01/15/2012
Many of the treaties were negotiated between Aboriginal people and the Crown in the 1800s. But in large expanses of the country, particularly British Columbia and the North, governments were able to resist that process until 1973 when Aboriginals began to achieve redress through the courts. Twenty comprehensive land claims have been settled since then but approximately 60 remain to be negotiated. In addition, there are as many as 1,100 specific land claims that are outstanding. They arise from the many cases where Canada has never fulfilled the promises made during treaty negotiations, or where lands provided were later taken away by force or intimidation. Unresolved claims of this kind have been the irritant behind the Oka, Ipperwash and Caledonia standoffs. The backlog of specific claims is so large that it will take more than a century to resolve them at the current pace of negotiations.

The treaties are historic contracts and for that reason all Canadians – and not just Aboriginals – are treaty people. Unfulfilled specific land claims flow from the abrogation of those treaties. Ordinary Canadians, it seems, are taking notice. A national Ipsos Reid poll conducted this spring indicates that 80 per cent of those asked believe treaties should be honoured because they are binding agreement, and 63 per cent believe that resolving land claims makes First Nations people more self-sufficient.

http://www.harperindex.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=0065
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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
224 Fans
11:37 AM on 01/15/2012
Aboriginal Day of Action spotlights the contrast between government statements and Conservatives' political record
Harper-Reform-Alliance have practised "politics of resentment" against Aboriginals for years.

Reform-Alliance harboured a special antagonism to the Aboriginal tradition of communal property. So, for example, when agreement was reached on the long-awaited Nisga'a treaty in 1996, Preston Manning attacked it as being "based on socialist economics and collective ownership of land and resources." When the treaty was debated in the House of Commons in 1999, the Reform Party introduced hundreds of amendments (some changing colons to semi-colons) in a crudely symbolic attempt to oppose the treaty and the principles embedded within it. During the Canadian Alliance leadership race in the year 2000, Stockwell Day was quoted as saying, "one of the most significant barriers to the advancement of aboriginal people is their lack of individual property rights."

Political scientist David Laycock wrote that by attacking Aboriginals as a special interest group that demands race-based benefits threatening the well being of other citizens, the Reform and Alliance parties were practicing what he calls a politics of resentment. "The implicit account of Native-white power relations here would be laughable," Laycock wrote, "were it not so potent and corrosive."
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Warren Yuill
Jesus Built My Hot-Rod
210 Fans
07:56 PM on 01/14/2012
Donna Donna Donna!
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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
224 Fans
12:43 AM on 01/14/2012
The Reform/Alliance had a severe set of policies for dealing with Canada's Aboriginal people, and with a majority, Harper can finally do what he intended to do when he wrote much of the policy. Secret committee meetings headed by the American Tom Flanagan, author of the racist First Nations, Second Thoughts, that diminish not only their role in Canadian history, but challenges their position, guaranteed by legally binding treaties.

The committee will be discussing the right to sell land on Reserves, but it's not too hard to determine how this will play out. Natural Resources on those lands will no longer belong to the community, and if a non-aboriginal wanted to purchase a lot to build a home and the band refused to sell it to them, Ezra Levant would go into another "white people" rant, calling the community "racist". They would soon be driven out .... again.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/idea-of-private-land-ownership-on-reserves-gets-mixed-reviews/article2273199/

http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=1738
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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
224 Fans
10:27 AM on 01/15/2012
Report 1 - Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Indian Oil and Gas Act (Adopted by the Committee on March 24, 2009; Presented to the House on March 25, 2009)

http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=3762863&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=2

&

http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=2054127&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=38&Ses=1

Study: Bill C-54, An Act to provide first nations with the option of managing and regulating oil and gas exploration and exploitation and of receiving moneys otherwise held for them by Canada

38th Parliament, 1st Session
October 4, 2004 - November 29, 2005

&

37th Parliament, 3rd Session
February 2, 2004 - May 23, 2004

http://www.parl.gc.ca/CommitteeBusiness/StudiesActivities.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=37&Ses=3&Cmte=AANR

http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=3293325

&

http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Docid=3293325&file=4
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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
224 Fans
10:42 PM on 01/13/2012
Aboriginal literacy for non-aboriginals
Aboriginal leaders have also expressed concern over the education of non-Aboriginals, with respect to knowledge of Aboriginal issues and Canadian history. Efforts are being made to integrate Aboriginal perspectives into mainstream curriculum in several provinces, in an attempt to rectify past versions of North American history that portray the arrivals of discoverers to a terra nullius to be settled and turned to more productive pursuits. ( Canadian Education Assocation)
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Kapjam
19 Fans
09:03 PM on 01/13/2012
I'm sure they will let the mail through carrying this weeks cheques.
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jrmunro
50 Fans
09:17 PM on 01/13/2012
You got that right. Same if the BC gov handed over a few million $ this blockade would come down instantly, no problem any more until the next time.
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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
224 Fans
08:39 PM on 01/13/2012
In poll after poll, Canadians have said that they want to see justice done for Aboriginal people, but they have not known how. In the following chapters, we outline a powerful set of interlinked ideas for moving forward.

In the years since the White Paper, Canadian governments have been prodded into giving Aboriginal communities more local control. They have included more Aboriginal people in decision making and handed over bits and pieces of the administrative apparatus that continues to shape Aboriginal lives.

But governments have so far refused to recognize the continuity of Aboriginal nations and the need to permit their decolonization at last. By their actions, if not their words, governments continue to block Aboriginal nations from assuming the broad powers of governance that would permit them to fashion their own institutions and work out their own solutions to social, economic and political problems. It is this refusal that effectively blocks the way forward.

The new partnership we envision is much more than a political or institutional one. It must be a heartfelt commitment among peoples to live together in peace, harmony and mutual support.

For this kind of commitment to emerge from the current climate of tension and distrust, it must be founded in visionary principles. It must also have practical mechanisms to resolve accumulated disputes and regulate the daily workings of the relationship.

We propose four principles as the basis for a renewed relationship: recognition, respect, sharing and responsibility
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jrmunro
50 Fans
09:15 PM on 01/13/2012
As said before, Blah, Blah and more Blah. I see you haven`t been here for a few hours. Off cutting and pasting again.
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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
224 Fans
10:40 PM on 01/13/2012
The government’s general approach to the RCAP report has been the subject of critical observations by national and international human rights bodies. In December 1998, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights "[viewed] with concern the direct connection between Aboriginal economic marginalization and the ongoing dispossession of Aboriginal people from their lands, as recognized by RCAP," and expressed its "[great] concern that the recommendations of RCAP have not yet been implemented, in spite of the urgency of the situation." In April 1999, the United Nations Human Rights Committee also expressed concern that Canada had "not yet implemented the recommendations of the [RCAP]," and recommended "that decisive and urgent action be taken towards the full implementation of the RCAP recommendations on land and resource allocation." In its 1999 Annual Report, the Canadian Human Rights Commission "reiterate[d] the view expressed in previous annual reports that the government’s response to the 1996 report of the [RCAP] has been slow.
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Arctic AARDVARK
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind.
114 Fans
10:56 PM on 01/14/2012
1 fan dude.. Zero credibility.
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Donna Meness
www.findmaisyandshannon.com
224 Fans
10:40 PM on 01/13/2012
The “Report on The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples was published with findings that the damage due to a 150-year-old distorted relationship between the aboriginal and non-aboriginal community in Canada and a call for reconciliation moving towards a renewed relationship of mutual recognition and respect, sharing and responsibility. “We were told many times during our mandate that most Canadians know little of Aboriginal life and less of Aboriginal history. Information in school curricula is limited. Media coverage is often unsatisfactory. Few governments, agencies and organizations promote awareness of Aboriginal issues among members, employees and colleagues. Yet without mutual understanding, a renewed relationship is impossible. Part of the answer is information. We recommend a number of steps to increase and improve the quality of information about Aboriginal people and their concerns. But information alone will not break down walls of indifference and occasional hostility. Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people need many more chances to meet each other face to face and learn about one another. We urge Canadians to become involved in a broad and creative campaign of public education. Our report can be a starting point - a basis for study groups, lectures, meetings and exchanges, organized by churches and unions, schools and hospitals, local businesses and national corporations, about what they can do to understand and accommodate Aboriginal people and their concerns. Remaining passive and silent is not neutrality - it is support for the status quo (RCAP 1996).”
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