"Respect Existence or Expect Resistance", chant native
Canadians as a showdown 11 January loams with Prime
Minister Harper.
Sparked by Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence's hunger
strike on tiny ‘Victoria' Island near Ottawa's
Parliament Hill, now in its third frigid week, the
native uprising across Canada is in fact the latest
manifestation of the world's colonized peoples trying
to throw off the shackles of imperialism. An exciting
moment, one of vital import for us all.
Their warrior path brings to mind Egyptian Muslims
fighting their westernizers and Mubarakite old guard
since the revolution in January 2011, or the struggle
by Palestinian natives against Israeli theft of their
land. It is a continuation of the Iranian people's
struggle in the face of unrelenting subversion from
the West. It's no coincidence that Cairenes were some
of the demonstrators at Canadian embassies, or that
native activist-leader Terrance Nelson recently was
offered support in Tehran for his efforts to gain a
seat at the OPEC table for the real owners of Canada's
oil and gas resources.
This struggle has been going on for more than two
centuries. In Canada, it really got underway in the
19th century, as the trickle of colons became a deluge
and the theft of native lands accelerated. In Egypt it
began in 1798, when Napoleon invaded, and crescendoed
in 1875 when British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli
‘brought' the Suez Canal -- built by endentured labor
at the cost of tens of thousands of Egyptian lives. In
Iran, it also began in the early 19th century, when
Russia seized northern Iran (present day Azerbaijan),
and picked up steam when Reuter and other western
businessmen bribed the Shah to grant them lucrative
economic concessions. Palestine has been at the center
of the anti-imperial struggle since the western powers
imposed illegally a Jewish state at the heart of the
Muslim world.
Canada's natives fought for their land, but were
overwhelmed by the wiley and land-hungry colons, and
today represent only 3% of Canada's population, living
for the most part short, bleak lives in dire poverty
on the dregs of land allotted them by the victors.
But resistance is alive and well. "Idle No More" has
swept Canada since Spence pitched her tent near
Parliament Hill. Egyptians have risen up four times
since Disraeli's coup, eventually taking back the
Canal and today are fashioning a new political order
inspired not by western imperial dictates, but by the
Quran. Iran finally had its revolution in 1979 and has
been affronting the imperial monster ever since,
telling truth to the world's would-be masters.
The ploys of the imperialists were all variations on
the program to steal others' lands, and tie their
economies to a world order policed by imperial guns
and money. There are many weapons in the imperial
arsenal, including nuclear weapons capable of
destroying all life on Earth many times over, the
latest being the armed drone, deploying 'depleted'
uranium bunker-buster bombs (guaranteed to 'keep on
giving' for hundreds of thousands of years).
Postmodern imperialism, the latest fashion, cloaks
itself in 'human rights' and the fight against WMDs
and terrorism. That this is mere subterfuge is
revealed by the invasion of Iraq (and planned
invasions of Iran and Syria) on the pretext of WMD
eradication. Instead, hundreds of thousands of
innocent people have been killed by US-led invasions,
with no one guilty, no WMDs and no end in sight.
Israel's flagrant violation of all international norms
similarly goes unpunished, indeed is subsidized by the
US and and enthusiastically endorsed by Canada.
Imperialism is alive and all too well, and Canada is
fortunate to at last have a clear voice shouting this
grim truth to other Canadians and the world. The alarm
went off for Harper last year when native
activist-leader Terrance Nelson went to Tehran,
defying the Conservatives' unprovoked cutting of
diplomatic relations with Iran last November. Nelson
was pilloried as a traitor, though it should be clear
by now to Canadians who is trading away Canada's
sovereignty and our reputation.
Attawapiskat Chief Spence was inspired by four native
women in Saskatoon who began a hunger strike also last
November, protesting the Harper government's omnibus
bill C-45, which: *abrogates the Indian Act, ending
native sovereignty,
*gives band councils greater municipal powers,
*makes reserve lands "fee simple property" (which can
be bought and sold, not only leased),
*allows taxes to be charged and collected by the new
Native governments.
The battle lines are drawn. The Harperite status quo
is now being mobilized to push through his agenda.
Commenting on the 1905 treaty governing Attawapiskat,
the National Post's Jonathan Kay wrote: "The whole
basis of the treaty was destroyed as soon as
traditional native hunting life came to an end. This
is the fundamental reason that the Idle No More
message on treaties is irrelevant: The great challenge
of native policy in the 21st century will be to
integrate natives into the larger economy that is
based in Canadian population centers. You can't turn
the clock back to 1905, or even to 1930." The only
answer, the assimilationists claim, is to push the
remnants of the natives into urban ghettoes, where
they can live like other Canadian poor on welfare
handouts.
The Globe and Mail's Jeffery Simpson lectures natives
for "living intellectually in a dream palace", built
on "mythology about environmental protection and the
aboriginals' sacred link to their lands". Harper was
correct in refusing a face-to-face meeting with the
native chief, since a prime minister should not be
"blackmailed" into doing what any lobby group or
individual wants.
As a First Nations chief devoted to her people, it is
the "lobbyist" Spence who has the creds as a Canadian
leader, not the scheming power-hungry Harper, who
clawed his way to the top of the Reform/ Conservative
Party over broken promises and lies.
The "scattered incidents" Simpson sneers at are taking
place spontaneously from coast-to-coast by First
Nations protesters, closing rail lines, roads,
flashdancing in malls, even disrupting and closing
several bridge border crossings with the US.
Demonstrations have been held around the world --
Palestine, Cairo, London, the US, Aotearoa (New
Zealand).
Despite media disdain, there has been an outpouring of
sympathy from Canadians native and non-native. NDP MP
Charlie Angus visited Spence in her tent, as did
Justin Trudeau: "It was deeply moving to meet Chief
Theresa today. She is willing to sacrifice everything
for her people. She shouldn't have to."
The struggle has quickly been taken up by band leaders
trying to co-opt the protests. Shawn Atleo, head of
the Assembly of First Nations, has called for a
renewed campaign of civil disobedience beginning 16
January with "country-wide economic disruptions" and
"breach of treaty" declarations. This should climax
with the proposed Crown-First Nations Summit 24
January, a repeat of last year's meeting, when the
appalling housing conditions on the Attawapiskat
reserve first hit the media.
Idle No More may well act as a catalyst and ignite a
broader struggle against Harper's agenda, his
hollowing out of environmental protection laws and
Canada's declining record on human rights. Perhaps
Harper's grudging agreement to meet with native
leaders 11 January is too late for him. Starving a
native women leader at the heart Canada's democracy,
at Christmas no less, is not conducive to good PR for
a leader whose hold on power is shaky. Spence agreed
to attend but refused to end the hunger strike she
began 11 December until she is convinced this isn't
just another PR stunt. She insisted that Governor
Geneneral David Johnston and Ontario Premier Dalton
McGuinty be at the meeting.
Canada is at last redeeming itself in the world's eyes
after seven humiliating years of kowtowing to the
US-Israeli agenda both abroad and at home, and we have
the First Nations people to thank, their resolve "a
conduit for the pain of the world", comments Naomi
Klein. Idle No More speaks for all Canadians against
the 1% who so eagerly sell out Canada's resources and
smirch its reputation in the world. "The greatest
blessing of all is indigenous sovereignty itself. If
Canadians have a chance of stopping Harper's
planet-trashing plans, it will be because these
legally binding rights – backed up by mass movements,
court challenges, and direct action will stand in his
way."
Not only do Canada's natives empower all Canadians
against the 1%, they also help us understand Canada's
actions in Palestine and Iran, countries whose people
love Canada and rout for our natives, whose struggle
against the imperial order is their struggle too.
Victory against Canada's Mubarak helps Egyptians shake
off the legacy of neoliberalism, helps Palestinians in
their struggle against Jewish colons in Israel, and
Iranians dying in hospitals for lack of medicines due
to the embargo intended to crush their independence.
*** Eric Walberg is author of Postmodern Imperialism:
Geopolitics and the Great Games http://claritypress.com/Walberg.html.
You can reach him at http://ericwalberg.com/
A version of this appeared at http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/01/07/282238/canadas-first-nations-expect-resistance/
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