Akwesasne Mohawks vs Border Militarization

Tyendinaga solidarity blockade brutally raided by OPP

UPDATE: Seven Mohawks remain in prison after OPP assault

(June 12, 2009) Following this morning's OPP Public Order Unit assault on Tyendinaga Mohawks who were holding the Skyway Bridge in support of the community of Akwesasne, and the subsequent arrest of 13 Mohawks, 7 Mohawks remain in police custody.

Those released have been charged with mischief. Those remaining in
prison are being held for 'further investigation' and will appear in
Belleville court on Monday for bail hearings.

According to the OPP, as reported in the media, as many as eighty OPP
and Tyendinaga Mohawk police engaged in "hand-to-hand" struggle around
6:30 a.m. Three of the Mohawks arrested were hospitalized, before
being taken back into police custody. All the injured Mohawks
appeared in court this afternoon and have either been released on
their on recognizance or remain in custody. Footage of a pool of
dried blood on the tarmac of the bridge where the Mohawks were
arrested was captured by television cameras at the scene.

The Canada-U.S. border crossing in Akwesasne remains shut.

-----------------------------------
BACKGROUND:

CanWest article: Ontario bridge protest remains `volatile'.
http://www.canada.com/Ontario+bridge+protest+remains+volatile/1690186/story.html

Toronto Star article: At least 12 held after police end bridge blockade
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/649854

---

UPDATES, June 11

Solidarity March in Hamilton by Six Nations Grand River

Native protesters cause highway chaos
The Hamilton Spectator

A protest march by Six Nations natives snarled traffic along some of greater Hamilton’s busiest highways today.

Several dozen natives on foot and in cars proceeded along the Red Hill Valley Parkway, Linc and Highway 403 to Brantford to protest the arming of border guards on the Akwesasne reserve in eastern Ontario.

The Six Nations group of up to about a dozen on foot, followed by a small convoy of cars, walked onto the southbound Red Hill Valley Parkway shortly after 8 a.m. with half a dozen Hamilton police cruisers, a motorcycle cop and one marked OPP cruiser behind.

Hamilton police, who patrol the Red Hill and the Linc, say they were informed of the protest last night and decided it was in the best interest of everyone to allow it to happen.

“We took a balanced approach, working with them and the community,” said media officer Sergeant Terri-Lynn Collings.

“We wanted to make sure that, if it was going to take place, that it was done safely.”

Police escorted the natives up the fast lane of the parkway from Queenston Road, along the Linc, then west on 403 to Brantford, throwing traffic into chaos.

At times, traffic was backed up for kilometres.

Native spokesperson Jessie Anthony said women from Six Nations organized the protest yesterday after receiving a call for support from the Akwesasne reserve.

“We knew this was going to be a rolling blockade march to support what’s going on in Akwesasne.”

Spokesperson Dawn Smith said the Red Hill Valley falls within the Haldimand Tract.

“We chose to start at Queenston because it encompassed all the major highways that run along our territory.”

“It was because of the way the highways connect,” Anthony said. “It was more a decision on how many people we could reach to make them aware of the situation that’s going on in Akwesasne.”

The native marchers would not say if Hamilton is now on their radar for land-dispute protests.

“When we do this, we don’t pick an area and say ‘OK, we’re going to go and bother Hamilton or Brantford,’” Smith said.

“It depends on the situation, what is being developed and how it is going to affect our next seven generations,” Smith said.

The natives said Hamilton police expressed concerns about the march until they learned that protesters did not plan to block the highway completely.

Anthony said the arming of Canadian border guards on the reserve was tantamount to an armed occupation.

The natives also protested the closing of a bridge that connects the American and Canadian sides of the reserve.
---

Day of reconciliation turns into confrontation over border dispute

Canadian Press. OTTAWA — The federal government must end a dispute that has shut down an Eastern Ontario border crossing before it gets out of hand, say aboriginal, union and federal opposition leaders.

The dispute heated up Thursday when the chief of the Akwesasne Mohawk First Nation called federal Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan a "liar" in a speech on Parliament Hill.

Tim Thompson told hundreds of aboriginals gathered for a national day of reconciliation event that Van Loan has been dishonest by saying Mohawks were consulted about a plan to arm customs officers at the Akwesasne border post.

"The minister of public safety, Peter Van Loan, is a liar," Thompson blurted out in front of Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl, who shifted in his chair as the words were spoken.

"And he continues to lie to the Canadian people when he states the Mohawks have been consulted," Thompson said. "He doesn't know what consultation is."

Van Loan denied the claim, saying border service official have met more than 10 times with Thompson and members of his council to talk about the issue.

"There has been extensive consultation with the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne regarding arming at the Cornwall (Ont.) port of entry," Van Loan said through an email from his spokesman.

"CBSA (Canadian Border Services Agency) has met over 10 times with the grand chief and members of the council to discuss implementation."

Strahl called Thompson's words disappointing, but acknowledged the concerns of Mohawk leaders about the safety of their community.

"The chief's concerns that he has, I think, are echoed by many of the people that work in the border services," said Strahl.

"Everybody wants a safe working environment. Nobody wants anyone to get hurt. That's why in some ways maybe the best thing, while things cool down, is to make sure there's no confrontation and no chance that there can be confrontation."

At the same time, however, Strahl maintained that the border crossing near Cornwall, Ont., is no different from dozens of others across the country where border officers are expected to begin carrying handguns.

The Mohawks say arming guards at the post would violate their sovereignty and increase the likelihood of violent confrontations.

There's no need to arm border guards anywhere in Canada, Buzz Hargrove, former Canadian Auto Workers union president, said at
Thursday's event.

"When cities across this country are suffering from our young people being shot and killed by guns, the last thing we need anywhere in our country is more guns," said Hargrove, who attended the gathering on behalf of the Canadian Labour Congress.

"We don't need guns in the hands of anyone in Canada, the least of those in residential areas of a peaceful First Nations reserve in the city of Cornwall," he said.

"For God's sake, can't the Parliament of Canada wake up."

Cornwall Mayor Bob Kilger, Conservative MP Guy Lauzon and Cornwall and Area Chamber of Commerce president Scott Armstrong met with officials in Van Loan's office Wednesday, where Kilger urged Van Loan to meet directly with Mohawk leaders.

Such a meeting could help resolve the situation, said Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief Phil Fontaine, who warned of negative consequences if Ottawa were to handle the dispute as if it were minor.

"I think it would be a mistake to treat the situation in Akwesasne
lightly," said Fontaine.

"We have too much experience where governments in the past have taken such situations lightly, and the end result hasn't been good for anyone."

A spokesman for Van Loan would not commit to further direct meetings, noting that the minister spoke with Thompson on May 25 in the foyer of the House of Commons, where he explained the Conservative government's policy and encouraged continuing discussions about how it could be implemented.

The Canada Border Services Agency shut down the international bridge in Cornwall on May 31 to avoid a potential safety risk to border officers after Mohawk Warriors threatened to storm the border post. They wanted assurances the federal government would not arm guards at the post.
---

U.S. senators enter Akwesasne border-closure standoff

Canwest News Service. By Jorge Barrera, June 11

The two U.S. senators from New York State on Thursday called on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to step in and resolve a dispute between the Canadian government and a Mohawk group that has led to the ongoing shutdown of a border crossing between eastern Ontario and New York.

Read full story at canada.com
---

UPDATE, June 10

A voice from the Akwesasne border standoff: 'Start listening to Mohawk people'

-fromrabble.ca, by Jesse Freeston
CORNWALL, ON -- For nine days the border crossing that spans the St. Laurence River between Cornwall, ON and Massena, NY has been inoperable. On the North side, Canadian authorities have blockaded the Seaway Bridge, while their U.S. equivalents do the same on the South shore of the river. On the island in the middle stands a community in protest.

The community of Awkesasne, part of the Kahniakehaka (Mohawk) Nation, has unified in resistance to the Canadian Federal Government’s plan to arm its border guards with 9mm pistols. The guns were set to appear on June 1, but Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) guards walked off their posts at midnight on May 30 in response to a non-violent protest by members of the Akwesasne community. Since then the bridges have been sealed and the feds have refused to speak with community representatives.

Only Akwesasne community members are being permitted to cross the North-side blockade, while U.S. police maintain a total blockade from the South side. After being denied entrance to the community by the RCMP and Cornwall Police, the following interview with Sakoietah, a representative of Akwesasne’s Men’s Traditional Council, was conducted by telephone.

Jesse Freeston: What is the greatest misconception about the current dispute that is being put forward in the media?

Sakoietah: I guess the biggest misconception has been about the blocking of the bridges. A lot of the coverage leads you to believe that we, meaning the people, were blocking the roads, and that wasn’t the truth. And it still isn’t the truth. None of us are stopping anybody from travelling, North or South.

JF: For many this dispute will be difficult to understand, because most people do not have an international border running through their community. How did a border end up in the middle of your community?

S: You have to look at before this actual border came into our territory. It goes back to when the U.S. and Britain signed the Jay Treaty. Article 3 of the Jay Treaty said that we would be allowed to travel back and forth. And our people perceived that border line as being ten feet above our heads, it didn’t matter to our people that it was there, this was a line dispute between Britain and the U.S., and this is how they settled that dispute. Article 3 allows for us to pass through our own country, unhindered. This goes way back before the construction of the border. The physical building and officers came into effect in the early 1950s. That’s the reason our people fight, because we don’t actually believe that there is a border here. This physical thing that sits here is not for us, it’s for the Canadian public and the U.S. public.

JF: How did the community arrive at the decision to oppose the arming of the guards?

S: The movement here is a people’s movement, it doesn’t follow any kind of council. I sit on the Men’s Council, but we’re not the leadership. This is why the people are so resolved. They’re not going to budge on this issue. Continually, the people have told Canada and the CBSA that the guns will not be allowed within our territory. Our situation is unique, the guard post sits in our territory, in a residential area, and there have been a lot of problems arise out of that. There are a lot of cases of abuse that are in court right now, and a lot of the people felt that if the arming of the border guards were to happen, it would create the potential for something drastic to happen.

JF: What is your relationship like with the local Canadian settler population? What has been their response to the dispute?

S: We have a good relationship with part of the population and a bad one with another part of the population. A lot of people feel that the law should be applied to everybody regardless of who you are. But the fact is that we are a nation, and we have our own laws. If we were to apply it to them, would they be happy with that?

The Mohawk nation, and in fact the whole Haudenosaunee, or Six Nations Confederacy, signed a treaty known as the Two Row Wampum, and we apply that with any foreign nation or country that we come into contact with. The Two Row Wampum simply explains that we are two rows that travel down the same path together, their ship and our canoe. We travel side by side in this life. The ship has its own laws and customs and our canoe has its own laws and customs. Neither one is to set foot in the other in order to try and steer it.

JF: What has been the response from other original people communities?

S: We have received a lot of support from all over, not only other Mohawk communities but from all over the country. I believe everybody is becoming aware about what is happening here. Just the other night here with the people, a woman from British Columbia said that the people of her nation are aware and they’re burning a fire in support of us. So I think that the news is getting out all over even though the media is blacking out our voice and trying to present what the Government of Canada wants to say.

JF: Speaking of the media, I want to give you an opportunity to respond to a couple of the arguments we are seeing in the reporting thus far. The first being that ‘you don’t have anything to worry about with armed guards unless you are doing something wrong.’

S: The fact is that there is a record of mistreatment of our people over the years. And the issue didn’t just arrive over the past few years. Forty years ago, they blocked the bridge in the same location. In forty years nothing has changed, the abuse has happened over and over. It seems to happen more and more often. CBSA doesn’t seem to understand, and Canadians don’t seem to understand, who we are and what we are. We are not lawless people here. We are in fact the most law-abiding people. But we abide by our laws. To push a foreign entity on us, to push a foreign law on us and continually abuse our people. To put our young people in this so-called justice system, for committing what they call a crime. This is important to understand for those who say that if we weren’t committing crimes we would have nothing to worry about. The physical abuse is happening. And could get worse with weapons.

JF: Could you give us an example of the abuse you are referring to?

S: A grandma from our sister community Kahnawake was crossing, and because of a so-called lack of cooperation she was physically abused (www.dominionpaper.ca/weblogs/lia_tarachansky/1931). And that is being looked at by the Human Rights Tribunal right now. My own son was involved in an incident where he was abused, charged and eventually acquitted. There are a lot of different incidents, piles and piles of reports that have been given to Mohawk Council and to the Traditional Men’s Council, detailing the abuse that is happening here.

JF: Another argument we see in the papers is that ‘the U.S. guards have been armed for years and there has never been a problem.’

S: That is true. This issue is bigger than the gun issue. The issue is that these buildings sit within our territory. And laws imposed on us in any way, whether it’s guns or Canadian law, must be questioned. Some of our people travel this so-called border seven to ten times per day. Our families are here, our jobs are here. Yes, the U.S. customs has guns, but they never asked us whether or not they could have guns. The U.S. is spending millions of dollars right now to build a big building across the way. For what? 70 per cent of the traffic at this border is our people. Are those holding cells that they’re building for us? The issue over there hasn’t been addressed as of yet, but it will be.

JF: So clearly this issue goes quite a bit deeper than arming the border guards. Have you proposed a long-term solution to the problems created by the border?

S: That would have to be a decision by the people. Right now we are all resolved to saying there will be no weapons here. The ball is in the court of Canada and Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan. Van Loan says that border guards will not return here unless they’re armed, and the Mohawk community should realize that they have no say in this because it’s a Canadian law that has been enacted. The people will not allow guns here, so if it’s the case that border guards won’t be here, then they won’t be here. I mean, in the last week it’s been very nice here without the border guards, no problems. The only problems have been the police blockades on the Canadian and U.S. sides.

JF: For those who might be interested, what can people do to support your community in this dispute?

S: The main thing is to start asking the questions that we are talking about. Talk to your MPs and elected leadership and ask them these questions. Why isn’t the truth getting out? Why doesn’t the government come to Akwesasne and speak with the people? We need that kind of support. Hopefully there will be a peaceful resolution to this, but the Mohawk people are resolved to the fact that they’re going to stand as long as it takes. We hope that the public can bear with us, as I said we’re not the ones who blocked access to anywhere, and we didn’t overtake a building and throw people out. They simply left their post. And people want to help us out? Start getting out the truth, talk to the people you put in office, and start listening to what Mohawk people are saying.

Jesse Freeston is an AW@L alumni and an independent journalist, currently working with The Real News Network.
---
UPDATE, June 7.

Tyendinaga Answers Akwesasne’s Call

Shuts Down Skyway Bridge, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.
Tyendinaga Support Committee. Sunday, June 7. The community of Akwesasne has been living without the freedom of mobility for one week. People have been cut off from family and friends, barred from access to elder relatives in need of care, unable to get to work and hundreds of children have had their school year disrupted.

It is no secret that there are significant tensions between the community of Akwesasne and Canadian Border Services Agency. Hundred of complaints have been filed for incidents like conducting a cavity search on a teenager, subjecting a pregnant woman to repeated x-rays and interrogating children after forcibly removing them from the care of adult family members.

As a result, the community of Akwesasne has clearly stated that it has substantial concerns over the arming of these same guards. The position of the Federal Government that it refuses any discussion with Akwesasne is ludicrous and will only engender further mistrust and frustration.

Tyendinaga understands this frustration and calls for the Federal Government to enter into meaningful discussions with the community of Akwesasne.

Ignoring the concerns of First Nations communities will not make the issues go away.
---

YES, IROQUOIS DIPLOMACY

Mohawk Nation News. June 3, 2009. Canada has always known that we were against putting guns in the hands of the border guards in the middle of our community. The US and Canada have abandoned their border checkpoints at Cornwall Island in the St. Lawrence River. The New York State Police and Cornwall City Police have closed down the bridges. We can’t easily get on or off the island or go about our normal lives. In fact we are imprisoned.

Canada created propaganda against us to provoke a confrontation and then an assault. Then the guns were to be put into the middle of our community. We think other indigenous communities might be next. Prime Minister Harper just announced a policy that he was going to generously fund those Indigenous who cooperate with resource development and extraction. The rest of us will just have to sink or swim.

We are being isolated on the island. Our trade and commerce with each other is being deliberately crushed. This is having a dire impact on our ability to feed our families.

About $100 million worth of construction is planned around Cornwall and on the island for a humongous international commercial transport depot. We would never approve this.

Respondents around us think that the customs facility should be moved off Cornwall Island. Others think a joint Canada-U.S. customs facility should be built on the south side. People on the US side like to have guns to control and scare people. Canadians generally don’t the same necessity for them. Those CBSA guards who are being given guns have made it clear that they don’t like us. They are dangerous.

Both the US and Canada have set up tribal and band councils in our communities. In this case these councils have turned out to be loyal to us. Canada would like to bull doze an agreement with them. They refuse to sign any agreement because they know how it will hurt us and our families. This issue has brought everybody together.

We are standing together against our oppressors. Their idea of cooperation is to co-opt our so-called leaders. When Champlain first met us, he shot our Royaner and Otiyaner without any questions asked. In 2009 these bullets never disconnected us from our land.

The Two Row Wampum agreement is being violated. There are two paths that shall never cross. In any negotiation the colonists would have to be truthful and honorable with us.

Canada’s battleship diplomacy is intimidation with the threat of military deployment. They have put an embargo on us to starve us out and make us surrender. This approach will not lead to a lasting settlement. Canada wrongly thinks they can only use force and threats. After 500 years we’ve never violated who we are. They don’t want to sit down with us. They are afraid to see our full valid legal position that we never surrendered our sovereignty or identity on Great Turtle Island.

Armed force is building up and to make us give in. Slimy Canada is provoking the stalemate on behalf of their international bankster bosses. Their hired public relations guns are creating the myth that we are dangerous. Racial taunts, assaults and interrogation of our youth, some as young as 18 months old by the guards, have escalated.

We are a communal people and have no leaders. We have to consult each other and everyone. Secret agreements are forbidden and cannot be supported by us. When we are threatened, there can be no negotiation. The British knew this. This was the blueprint for the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and all treaties on Great Turtle Island.

We never jump into negotiations. We always went for a long lasting agreement which would stand for hundreds of years. We made sure both sides understood each others position. Sometimes we said nothing for weeks or months at a time. Then we talk. Otherwise negotiations are flawed.

Every time these invaders came to us, they had guns or something to take our lives. In Akwesasne, there is nothing to negotiate. To put the guns to our heads or not to put the guns to our heads, is the question before the colonists. Threats of force are being hurled to make us give up freedom and our land in order to stop them from harassing or killing us.

Our neighbors agree with us. The US and Canada created this demilitarized zone that we are caught in. They can open it or keep it closed. The guns issue is a cover. Canada’s institutions and para military organizations have been infiltrated. Canada wants to cut the Mohawk Nation down to size because we are standing up against the US takeover.

Our question is when will the colonists become human beings? If you can’t talk fairly with us, you should immediately return everything you took from us? You should take your guns, leave us alone and stop trying to be like violent Americans?
---

UPDATES, June 4.

Akwesasne border closed in armed guard protest

-from canada.com, June 4.
---

INDIGENOUS BACKBONE APPLAUDED - MOHAWKS STAND UP TO TYRANNY

Mohawk Nation News (MNN), June 3 2009. As long as we stand up for peace, democracy, human rights and sovereignty, we will win. We can’t be enslaved, even if the colonist war lords put guns to our heads. Historically, millions of us were killed for resisting subjugation.

We will not let them put guns in the middle of Akwesasne. Because we are standing up to tyranny our community is being held hostage. It’s still closed down. We still can’t get on or off unless we walk. A few cars are let through the police blockades.

War lords think all they have to do is hire heavily armed guards and police to beat us into submission. It’s not working on us or anyone else. Everyone is starting to stop bending to these monsters. The colonists have seen their bosses give themselves million dollar bonuses and raises. The whole capitalist machine is coming to a grinding halt.

We Indigenous have to be treated respectfully. If not, we will fold our arms, cross our legs, sit down, do nothing and say, “I’m not going to be moved”. For hundreds of years our colonial visitors have been watching us resist abuse. At first they were scared and resented us. They couldn’t stand to see us running around free and suffering the consequences. They wanted us to be in the cage with them. They learned we can’t compromise our will. Even they are starting to take on this spirit. “Treat me right or else”.

Megalomaniacs beating their employees doesn’t work anymore. They are going to lose everything, businesses, properties, companies and whatever.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a promise in the last election to give border guards guns, to toughen laws against child molesters and keep young people in jail longer. He’s going to make everybody tow the line, so he thinks.

Harper is finding out that if he has no compassion, no one will back him up or work hard for him. It’s like beating a slave. If they refuse to obey, Harper says, “Put them in jail, take all their money and give it to the rich”.

He’s imitating Obama, who says, “If you can’t cut it, then starve to death”. If you’re poor, it’s your fault.

In the US, if you make it big, you can stomp everybody. Pop culture reflects this mentality. It’s fire them, kill them or knock them off the boat or island to drown in the water. Survival of the fittest and to hell with the losers! This self-centered attitude is destroying them.

The poor are starting to say, “I’m not moving”. No matter how hard you beat me, you can only kill me once. Our colonial visitors are getting stubborn like us against their oppressors. Rich guys’ factories are closing down, cars can’t be built and sweat shops are being closed.

GM, the largest company in the world, is going bankrupt. The workers refuse to be slaves anymore. They would-be slave owners did away with many unions so they could take advantage of the poor. People are not spending money, mostly because many don’t have it.

Like the Depression, the poor in the US and some parts of Canada are living in tent cities, slums and alleys. They are out of work with gaunt faces like a third world country.

Harper wants to import this social and economic disaster into Canada. Canadians think differently. They’ve been influenced by the Indigenous egalitarian philosophy in which people don’t threaten one another, try to work things out and help each other. In Canada there are more social programs and medicare.

A top Canadian Border Services Agency official has allegedly agreed to meet with us. They found they can’t dictate to us. Their union ordered the guards to walk off the job on June 1. Both US and Canadian border crossings have been shut down. It is so peaceful on Cornwall Island. Maybe it will stay that way for good. They think we are suffering because they cut us off from them. We don’t miss them at all!

CBSA president Stephen Rigby is still saying they intend to arm the guards no matter what. The Mohawks say never.

CBSA officers are willing to take cultural sensitivity training. We will teach them how to work without guns, how to smile at us and keep their slimy hands off us. Some guards at the customs building are "hotheads" and racists against us who try to provoke us into confrontations. Guards with guns will make some of them even more dangerous than they already are.

There are suggestions that the check points could be moved off Cornwall Island. Good idea!

Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan, whose oversees the border crossing, said arming of the guards will go as planned when the Mohawks agree to peacefully allow armed goons onto their territory. We know it’s all a Trojan Horse. They come in and sit inside the walls. While we’re asleep, the soldiers will come in and kill us. These people have already shown how much they hate us. Hundreds have been brutalized. How can anybody have that much hatred? It’s not our way.

Canada knows they can come over and talk to us anytime. Those affected by the bridge closing and the general public on both sides of the border see that the Mohawks are right. Canada doesn’t see that we represent all those everywhere who are standing up to tyranny. They are applauding us.
---

HARPER’S PENIS ENVY IS THE PROBLEM AT AKWESASNE

MNN. June 2 2009. In the US everyone needs guns. Canadians don’t need guns to protect themselves, yet! It is still different enough. Canadian society went hard against anyone that used guns in a crime. In the US if someone burglarizes, the home owner can shoot and kill them. In Canada guns can only be used in self defense. They always thought they could work things out.

Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, has taken on the US attitude where most enforcement agencies need guns to deal with criminals or the public, who will also need guns to protect themselves from the police. There are countless super violent standoffs in the US. This is being invited into Canada by Harper.

Harper wants to appear more masculine so that he is no longer just a sidekick of the US. To be the dominant party, he has to be as big and tough as Obama or Bush. He needs a macho image to compete with them. He needs a gun! Harper wants all enforcement agents to have guns. This idea is already expressed in many recent government legislation.

A truck driver in the US needs a gun to protect himself from being hijacked or killed. They used to get arrested when they crossed the border into Canada for carrying guns. They had to leave them behind. In Canada they still should feel safe. Things haven’t changed. It will always be a safe place even though Harper wants to change it.

What is the problem? It’s penis envy. In the minds of many men a gun is a phallic symbol which is a sign of masculinity and virility. This is untrue. If you get into a fight to defend yourself without guns, it requires a bigger person.

Harper was always fat and seen as the pudgy little studious nerd of the class, something like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Everybody sees him as a wimp who wants to be in charge of all situations. He won’t let anybody around freely express themselves.

Harper, the sports trivia freak, was never good enough to play first string. He went into his closet and looked at all his hockey cards. That made him feel like a winner. His behavior is like a man who is concerned about the size of his penis.

Under capitalism a large penis is part of gender identity, a symbol of high masculinity, dominance and power. He became an economist. To him, money is power. Penis size is being popularized in the popular culture. It looks like Harper aspires to this. That’s why he is likely to have a picture taken of himself with a rifle in his hands to hang in every CBSA Customs building for every visitor to see. He is going put a Beretta in every border agent’s hand to let the world know that Canada has real macho men like him.

When it comes to masculinity, Harper thinks he always has to prove that he’s a man. Killing a deer and hunting for wild animals is a sign of the manhood he never had. He noticed this more when he left Canada, especially when he went to the US and visited so-called gunslinger, George Bush. We heard that Harper was afraid to get into the swimming pool and sauna with him where they would start comparing their jewels. He was scared of coming out second best.

This is an old trick U.S. President Lyndon Johnson used whenever he had guests at his ranch. He would dominate everybody by walking around in the raw, which scared everybody. Dick Cheney does the same but his looks like Haggis, a Scottish national food.

This is part of the macho image the Americans want to project to the world. Carrying guns is the epitome of being a real man. Harper bought into it. Now he wants to bring all Canadians into the sauna with him.

This is an American sickness that Canada cannot take part in.

With all that testosterone, the US is still in a state of collapse. Harper thinks he is going to rise up out of that and become the dominant control freak on Great Turtle Island. Canada thinks it can be a superpower by stealing the identity of the US.

Harper does not need to change Canada. As bad as it is, he should be himself. He does not need hormone injections, a personal trainer or a sun tan bed. Axe Body deodorant will not make them more appealing to women [Watch out! It’s full of toxins that lower the sperm count]. Male enhancement pills might help his personal life.

Buying powerful weapons of mass destruction is not going to make him more masculine. Canada must not become enraptured with war and guns. They proved themselves in both world wars. When the wars ended, they put their guns away and went back to the factories, farms and offices and carried on with a peaceful life. They have been influenced by the peaceful society that Dekanawida and the Rotinoshonnionwe developed. All countries of the world are aspiring to the peace embodied in the Great Law, our philosophy. Harper, go home and stop trying to be an American.
---
UPDATES, June 1:
* As of 5 pm (June 1), the bridge to the Akwesasne reserve will be opened for residents to return home, according to Akwesasne's Chief Tim Thompson. The border corssing to the US remains closed.
www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Akwesasne+bridge+opened+local+residents/1651926/story.html

* The federal public safety minister Peter Van Loan says the Canada-U.S. border crossing near Cornwall, Ont. won't reopen until the Mohawk community accepts that guards at the border will be armed with handguns.
www.ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090601/OTT_Border_Protest_090601/20090601?hub=Ottawa

* The federal public safety minister Peter Van Loan minister said the Cornwall Island crossing will not be exempted from arming because the Conservative government plans on committing to its promise to arm all 4,800 border officers at land and sea ports of entry by 2016. With the final deadline still seven years off, the Mohwak Council of Akwesasne is requesting arming on Cornwall Island be delayed to allow time for officers to be trained in cultural sensitivity by the community, but it has yet to be granted.
www.standard-freeholder.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1593213

* Canadian Border Services Agency workers left their posts on Cornwall Island, citing safety concerns, just before midnight Sunday in advance of the Akwesasne Mohawk demonstration
www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jc3eZgl16gB4iY56X6QorsZC0a9A
---

“No guns!” Mohawks vow to resist armed border guards

-from: No One Is Illegal - Montreal

Mohawk protest closes border near Cornwall

-from Ottawa Citizen, June 1

Arm guards and we'll shut border: Mohawk Warriors Group vows to keep guards gunless at Akwesasne

-from: Ottawa Citizen, May 31

Border authorities shut down Akwesasne crossing

-from: cbc.ca, June 1

From Mohawk Nation News:

URGENT! THERE WILL BE NO GUNS! “YOU ARE ON INDIAN LAND”

MNN. May 27, 2009. “If the colony of Canada wants to arm their border guards, then move it out of our community”, is the reasonable decision of Mohawks and our friends and supporters.

It was a bitterly cold day on December 20, 1968. Over 500 Mohawks stood at the Canada Customs and blocked the international bridge on Cornwall Island in the St. Lawrence River. This border crossing is right in the middle of the populous Haudenosaunne community of Akwesasne [at the convergence of Ontario, Quebec and New York State]. This 41 year old film records the violations of our sovereignty which continue to this day. The people who took part in the 1968 resistance are just a little older. We have never lost our spirit. We always kept up our vigilance over colonial Canada’s abuse of power and our rights.

At Akwesasne there are escalating brutal attacks by the CBSA Canada Border Services Agents. These maniacs constantly racially profile and provoke us. We have to cross many times a day to carry on our normal lives. On June 1 2009 these goons will try to carry 9 mm Beretta guns. They could instigate violence and death. This border crossing must be removed. We object to putting deadly guns in the hands of these openly racist border guards. http://intercontinentalcry.org/you-are-on-indian-land/

Guns are for killing people. We would appreciate your help by signing the following petition! http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/NoGunsForCBSA/index.html

The Mohawks are asking for worldwide support. On May 26th Cornwall city council passed a resolution that no guns should be given to the CBSA guards. They are peace officers, not war zone combatants. Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to militarize the border. The RCMP must complete a 16 week firearms course. Border guards are only required to take a 3 week course.

Contact: Nona 613-551-5421 613-938-8145 nbenedict@akwesasne.ca; Karla 613... kransom@akwesasne.ca; More info www.akwesasne.ca; Chief Wesley Benedict 613...; Larry King 613...; Chief Joe Lazore 613.... Next unity march is May 30th. Meet at the tent at the cross roads on Cornwall Island at 10:30 am. March starts at noon. www.nationtalk.ca

MNN: UN ASKEDTO STOP GUNS AT AKWESASNE BORDER

May 28, 2009

Skarohreh Doug Anderson of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy presented a request to the Secretary of the UN Security Council at 2:58 pm today. Supporters are asked to call 212... to ask the UN to send officials to Akwesasne to make peace and to avoid violence from government agents. Kenneth Deer of Kahnawake raised the issue of guns at Akwesasne with the Permanent Forum on Indigenous People. They promised to send some delegates to Akwesasne. A Canadian delegate tried to dissuade any action by the UN. She is helping Prime Minister Harper to stonewall the Indigenous people.

“To the SECRETARY, SECURITY COUNCIL, UNITED NATIONS, UN Plaza, New York City

“A treaty was signed between Britain and the U.S., known as the Jay Treaty of 1794. It was to be an undefended border between Canada and the U.S. The purpose was to bring peace between two warring countries. The two parties have remained peaceful since the War of 1812.

“Canada has always dealt with the Indigenous nations by sending RCMP to speak peacefully with us to avoid belligerence. Historically there was little warfare because guns were not used as they are in the U.S. The U.S. stole the West by killing our people. They almost annihilated us. Sitting Bull left for Canada because he knew he would be safe.

“Canada is trying to imitate the U.S. tactic of using threats in their relationship with us. Canada must not start using shot gun diplomacy like the U.S. whose policy of unilateral violence, threatening and murdering people is engulfing the world.

“Foreigners cannot come into our community with guns. They must consult us according to international law standards. A majority of all our people must give our consent. This has never happened. They have no legal right to set up an armed camp in the midst of the populous Haudenosaunne community of Akwesasne [at the convergence of Ontario, Quebec and New York State].

“THERE MUST BE NO GUNS!

“On June 1 the Canada Border Services Agency guards will try to carry 9mm Berettas, which are meant to kill people. The UN must stop this attempt at ethnic cleansing at Akwesasne. Canada at the behest of the U.S. is trying to commit genocide on us, the real people of mother earth.

“The reasonable decision of the Haudenosaunee, our friends and supporters, is that there should be no guns anywhere on the Canada-U.S. border on the Canadian side. Canada is setting a precedent that any visitor arriving will have the barrel of a gun in their faces, so to say. We want the border station to be removed from the middle of Akwesasne.

“We know the power they presently exercise without the guns. They ridicule and demean us as we come through the border. They use their power of intimidation to pull us into their building away from the protective eyes of our friends and relatives. We have no choice but to cross many times a day to carry on our normal lives. The violence will always be directed at us and not at them. We want peace. These supposed peace officers are acting like war zone combatants. What a contradictory message Canada sends out to the world.

“The Jay Treaty has always been a sign to our people that we can cross that border without fear. Kanento Diabo, Clinton Richard and many others made sure that it was always a border of peace. We Mohawks are trying to bring back harmony between parties. Dekanawida urged the warring parties to throw all the weapons down and bury them.

In the 1960s and 70s some Americans did not want to become soldiers, carry guns and shoot people. They came to Canada. They were called draft dodgers. Many prospered and became fond of Canada because it was peace loving and a peacekeeping society. Today Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his cohorts want to change Canada into a petite war monger. They want the people to get used to guns, violence and murder just like the U.S.

Today Kenneth Deer of Kahnawake spoke about Canadian aggression towards us to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, 8th Session. He urged the panel to become involved immediately. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz and Tonya Gonella Frichner, panel members, promised they would send a delegation to Akwesasne to observe and report. They were asked to look at the human rights aspect and to follow it up with the Security Council. Cathie Fournier [613...] of the Canadian government tried her best to downplay it, by saying, “This forum has no teeth to bite” [just gums!]. She promptly called Ottawa.

Canadians and Americans, beware. You could be next. We need your support.