Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

December 2, 2009

No Olympics on Stolen Land

http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/node/2038

A call to Indigenous People and Supporters: Send Olympic Torch back to Europe!

Confront Invasion: Protest 2010 Olympic Torch Relay

106 Days of Action!

Native Youth Movement Warrior Society:

"We have this in common. We have a common oppressor, a common exploiter and a common discriminator. But once we realize that we have a common enemy, then we can unite--on the basis of what we have in common... "- Malcolm X, 1954

Indigenous Sisters band Brothers of the North, what the invaders call KKKanada, for the next 106 days the Olympic Torch will run our Great Lands. The Olympic torch, a flamed staff that represents white supremacy, is running through Indigenous Nations and Territories, symbolizing their theft and dominance of our Lands and Ways. For 106 days every Indigenous Nation in these Lands has the opportunity to talk to the world about your issues and show Unity between all Nations here who have a common oppressor, and common Invader, KKKlanada (“Canada”). Let us Unite voices and show the World we are a Proud and Independent People who will never Surrender our Lands.

Not only is the Torch running our Lands, they are also going to get Native people to participate in their evil ceremonies, KKKanada wants the world to think Native people are compliant and even eager to be assimilated into the white way of life.

We call on all Native Nations of the North to show the World we are Strong and Dignified People, the Survivors of a 500-year old Holocaust that has taken 250 million Indigenous lives, whose Lands are illegally occupied and destroyed, who are a People who will never accept defeat.

Ever since their Invasion we have resisted, as this is written Indigenous People are Blockading roads to prevent destruction, Original People are still living on the Land not dependent on the Invading governments for survival, only needing clean Land, Air and Water for Sustenance. The goal of the Invaders is to make us fully dependent on them to survive, giving us no choice but to live white, when we refuse we are arrested or murdered.

This is a unification call to the Proud and Strong Nations of the North, the Songhees, Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth, Halkomelem, Cowichen, Tuchone Tlinget, Inuit, Innu, Mohawk, Six Nation Conferderacy, Annishinabe, Cree, Algonquin, MikM’aq, Maliseet, Wabanaki, Siskita, Dakota, Nakota, Stoney, Dene, Gwich’in, Tahltan, Gitsan, Wetsuitan, Haisla, Nisga, Sekani, Dakelh, Tsimshian, Nuxalk, Heiltsuk,Tsilcotin, Secwepemc, Nlaka’pamux, Okanagan, Ktnuxa, St’at’imc, Stolo and all unmentioned Nations .

When the Torch passes through your Lands and communities, this is your opportunity to let the world know what is happening in your Land, tell them the true story and the real relationship between the Invaders known as KKKanada and your Indigenous Nation. Let the world know the Land and Water can never be sold, Natural Law is more powerful than man-made law, they fear
our Unity. Plan some form of action when the torch passes your area, stop it or chase them to the edge of your Lands and let the next Nation pick up where you left off. No evil Invader Torch on Native Land!

(Photos: Native Youth Movement set up anti-torch message on the Trans-Canada
highway, Secwepemc Territory.)

Native Youth Movement Warrior Society

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MONTREAL: Dec. 6, Dimanche/Sunday 6:30pm: Panel et Films: No Olympics on Stolen Native Land!

Panel and Film Night: No Olympics on Stolen Native Land!
Featuring Indigenous speakers from “British Columbia”
de Sève Cinema, 1400 de Maisonneuve Ouest (metro Guy-Concordia)
FREE. Wheelchair accessible.
[français ci-dessous ou: http://www.amp-montreal.net/?q=fr/node/36]

Join us as we hear directly from Indigenous activists and organizers involved in the defense of their cultures and lands, and in resistance to the Olympics on unceded native territory.
Speakers include:
MIRANDA DICK: Miranda is a mother of 5, a part of the Secwepemc Women’s Council, and a Warrior for the Land and People. The Secwepemc people from the interior of “British Columbia” have resisted the Sun Peak’s ski resort on their territory.
BILLIE PIERRE: Billie is from the Nlaka'Pamux and Ojibwae nations. She has been involved with boththe Native Youth Movement and co-founded Redwire Magazine and is active with land and human rights campaigns.
We will also hear from Guillaume B who has been active with the Olympics Resistance Network.
The evening will also include short films from Defenders of the Land, as well as the Native Youth Movement (NYM).
Organized by the Indigenous Solidarity Committee and No One Is Illegal-Montreal.
Le DIMANCHE 6 décembre, 18 h 30
Table-ronde et projection de films sur le thème « Pas de jeux sur des terres volées »
Avec des conférencières autochtones de l’intérieur de la « Colombie-Britannique ».
Au Cinéma De Sève, 1400 de Maisonneuve ouest (métro Guy-Concordia)
GRATUIT. Accessible aux fauteuils roulants. Traduction chuchotée de français vers l'anglais.
Venez écouter en personne des activistes et organisatrices autochtones engagées dans la défense de leur culture et de leurs territoires, ainsi que dans la résistance aux Jeux olympiques tenus sur des terres non cédées.
Les conférencières seront :
-> MIRANDA DICK : Miranda est mère de cinq enfants, fait partie du Conseil des femmes de Secwepemc et est une Guerrière pour la Terre et le Peuple. Les Secwepemc de l’intérieur de la « Colombie-Britannique » ont résisté à l’essor de la station balnéaire Sun Peaks sur leur territoire.
-> BILLIE PIERRE : Billie appartient aux nations Nlaka’Pamux et Ojibwae. Elle est impliquée dans le Native Youth Network et est co-fondatrice du magazine Redwire. Elle est également active dans diverses campagnes pour la défense du territoire et des droits de la personne.
-> GUILLAUME B. : Membre du Réseau de résistance aux olympiques à Vancouver.
Cet événement comportera également la projection de courts métrages des Défenseurs de la Terre et du Native Youth Movement (NYM).
Présenté par le Indigenous Solidarity Committee et Personne n’est Illégal - Montréal

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Related News:
Amy Goodman: Detained and violated at Canadian border; border guards interrogated Goodman about the Olympics:
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2009/11/26/amy_goodman_detained_at_the_canandian_border_questioned_about_speech_see_the_cbc_national_news_6_pm_and_then_online_at_cbcca
"While traveling to Vancouver, BC, Canada on Weds., Nov. 25th, to speak at the Vancouver Public Library at a benefit for community radio stations, Amy Goodman and her two colleagues were detained by Canadian authorities. Amy was questioned extensively about the speech she intended to give; their car was gone through by armed border guards, and their papers and laptop computers were scoured. They were detained for well over an hour, and were made an hour late for her speech.
The armed interrogators were particularly interested in whether she would be speaking about the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics."

Published on Wednesday, December 2, 2009 by www.TruthDig.com
Canada’s Olympic Crackdown
by Amy Goodman

Going to Canada? You may be detained at the border and interrogated. I was, last week. I was heading from Seattle to give a talk at the Vancouver Public Library. My detention provoked outrage across Canada, making national news. It has serious implications for the freedom of the press in North America.

I drove to the border with two colleagues. We showed our passports to the Canadian guard and answered standard questions about our purpose for entering Canada. No visas are necessary for U.S. citizens to enter.

The guard promptly told us to pull over, leave the car and enter the border crossing building.

What followed was a flagrant violation of freedom of the press and freedom of speech. A guard first demanded the notes for my talk. I was shocked. I explained that I speak extemporaneously. He would not back off. He demanded notes. I went out to the car and brought in a copy of my new book, a collection of my weekly columns called “Breaking the Sound Barrier.” I handed him a copy and said I start with the last column in it.

“I begin each talk with the story of Tommy Douglas,” I explained, “the late premier of Saskatchewan, father of Canada’s universal health care system.” Considered the greatest Canadian, Douglas happens to be actor Kiefer Sutherland’s grandfather, but I didn’t get that far.

“What else?” the armed guard demanded as we stood in the Douglas border facility.

“I’ll be talking about global warming and the Copenhagen climate summit.”

“What else?”

“I’ll address the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

“What else?” The interrogator was hand-writing notes, while another guard was typing at a computer terminal.

“Well, that’s about it.”

He looked at me skeptically. “Are you going to talk about the Olympics?” he asked.

I was puzzled. “Do you mean how President Obama recently traveled to Copenhagen to lobby for the Olympic Games to be held in Chicago?”

He shot back, “You didn’t get those. I am talking about the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.” Again, stunned, I said I wasn’t planning to.

The guard looked incredulous. “Are you telling me you aren’t going to be talking about the Olympics?” I repeatedly asserted that I was not.

Clearly not believing me, the guard and others combed through our car.

When I went out to check, he was on my colleague’s computer, poring through it.

Afterward, they pulled me in a back room and took my photo, then called in the others, one by one. Then they handed us back our passports with “control documents” stapled inside. The forms said we had to leave Canada within two days and had to check in with their border agency upon leaving. We went to the car—and discovered that they had rifled through our belongings and our papers and had gone into at least two of our three laptops. We raced to the event, where people had been told about our detention. We were 90 minutes late, but the room remained packed, the crowd incensed at their government.

It was then that I started learning about what was going on. The crackdown is widespread, it turns out. David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, told me, “We have a billion dollars being spent on security here; protesters and activists have been identified as the No. 1 security threat to the Olympic Games ... we have new city bylaws that restrict the content of people’s signs.” According to critics, the police can raid your home if you place an anti-Olympic sign in your window. There are concerns that homeless people may be swept from Vancouver, about how much public funding the Games are receiving while vital social services are financially starved. Anti-Olympic activists—and their family and friends—are being followed, detained and questioned.

Our detention and interrogation were not only a violation of freedom of the press but also a violation of the public’s right to know. Because if journalists feel there are things they can’t report on, that they’ll be detained, that they’ll be arrested or interrogated; this is a threat to the free flow of information. And that’s the public’s loss, an Olympic loss for democracy.

Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.


© 2009 Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman is the host of "Democracy Now!," a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 800 stations in North America. She is the author of "Breaking the Sound Barrier," recently released in paperback and now a New York Times bestseller.

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