CANADA:Native Rights Concerns Cloud 2010 Games
Jon Elmer
http://ipsnorthamerica.net/news.php?idnews=1870

VANCOUVER, 1 Dec (IPS) - A coalition of indigenous elders, social justice activists and community organisers is voicing opposition to the upcoming Winter Olympics, promising to continue their protests up to and throughout the 2010 games.

Taking advantage of a three-day media briefing hosted by the official Olympic body in late November, the Vancouver Organising Committee (VANOC), activists and native representatives invited the local and visiting international media to an office in the heart of the what is commonly known as Canada's poorest neighbourhood, the Downtown Eastside, to hear 'the other side of the Olympic story'.

Rallying under the banner of 'No Olympics on stolen native land', speakers representing nine native and community groups outlined connections between native poverty, dislocation and homelessness and the staging of the games in Vancouver and Whistler, 120 kms north of Vancouver.

The following media release and letter were obtained from an email list.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 13, 2008

National Gathering of Indigenous Peoples Challenge Harper Government in Winnipeg

Winnipeg—Grassroots activists, elders, and elected leaders from First Nations fighting for self-determination and protection of land and resource rights presented a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Conservative Party's national policy conference in Winnipeg today. The Indigenous spokespeople have come to Winnipeg from communities across Canada to form a network dedicated to fighting for recognition of and respect for Indigenous rights, and deliver their message to Prime Minister Harper.

"Canada, along with the United States and New Zealand, is one of three countries that have voted against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We call on Canada to join the vast majority of nations who have adopted this declaration," said Art Manuel, of the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade.

Two Ways to Be a Nation: Struggle for control of the "trillion-dollar Sudbury basin"
by Shailagh Keaney, from The Dominion, November 6, 2008.

ATIKAMEKSHENG ANISHNAWBEK–In May of this year, the Atikameksheng Anishnawbek (Whitefish Lake) First Nation launched a land claim alleging that the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850 has been violated by the Canadian and Ontario governments.

According to the Treaty, the reserve lands were to be "a tract of land [...] contained between two rivers called Whitefish River and Wanabitaseke seven miles inland."

The boundaries of the original treaty lands extend around almost all of Greater Sudbury up to Wanaitei Lake and past Dowling, halfway between Nairn and Espanola. The line cuts off half of Killarney Provincial Park and slices across territory just above Alban and the French River - 250,000 acres in total. However, when the land was surveyed by Crown officials 35 years later, the reserve was only a fifth of its agreed-upon size.

Since then, settler communities and industry have been set up on the remaining treaty lands. Railroads and mining operations have been established, and have extracted nickel, ore and minerals from the ground over the past 107 years.

BREAKING NEWS For Immediate Release
October 12, 2008

Activists Blockade of CP Rail Tracks Successfully Disrupted Olympic
Spirit Train
Rail blockade backs up trains across the country in an escalation of
resistance to the 2010 Vancouver-Whistler Olympic games

Toronto, Ontario – Moments ago a group of activists from Toronto,
Waterloo, London, Kitchener, Guelph, and 6 Nations ended a blockade on
Canadian Pacific (CP) Railway’s train tracks in opposition to the Spirit
Train.

Activist locked themselves down to the tracks at 5:00pm and hung banners
off of the rail overpass on highway 27 near Elder Mills. The protest was
organized in solidarity with the Olympics Resistance Network (ORN) and
their call to disrupt CP’s “Spirit Train” that is traveling across Canada.

“Today we shed light on what the Olympics really stands for; capitalist
greed and colonialist theft of Indigenous lands” said Winnie Small. She
continued, “In stark contrast to Canada’s cherished reputation as a
human rights advocate, our First Nations live in abject poverty;
casualties of Canada’s apartheid policies, and its refusal to respect
Indigenous rights to their own land.”

The activists successfully negotiated a peaceful dispersal after more
than three hours. No arrests were made and the activists were able to

BREAKING NEWS For Immediate Release
October 12, 2008

Rail Blockade Disrupts CP Rail’s Olympic Spirit Train
“Six Nations and solidarity activists resist Olympic theft of Indigenous
land, ecological destruction, and attacks on the poor”

Toronto, Ontario – Moments ago, a group of activists occupied Canadian
Pacific (CP) Railway’s train tracks by locking themselves down to the
tracks and hanging banners off of the rail overpass on highway 27 near
Elder Mills. The protest was organized in solidarity with the Olympics
Resistance Network (ORN) and their call to disrupt CP’s “Spirit Train”
that is traveling across Canada. Directions to the blockade site can be
found at the bottom of this release.

“We are here today to show the world what the Olympics really stands
for; capitalist greed and colonialist theft of Indigenous lands” said
Winnie Small. They continued, “In stark contrast to Canada’s cherished
reputation as a human rights advocate, our First Nations live in abject
poverty; casualties of Canada’s apartheid policy refusal to respect
Indigenous rights to their own land.”

DERAIL THE SPIRIT OF THE OLYMPIC SPIRIT TRAIN
ALL OUT ON OCTOBER 13 - THANKSGIVING MONDAY

MEET AT 12NOON !SHARP!
CORNER OF FRONT AND BAY/YORK (south-west corner)
FREE TRANSPORTATION
EMAIL NOONEISILLEGAL@RISEUP.NET FOR SEAT CONFIRMATION
OR AT COOKSVILLE STATION AT 1PM

On October 13, 2008, the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway)'s 'SpiritTrain' will be arriving at Cooksville GO Transit Station in Mississauga, here to continue its goal of spreading pre-Olympic "spirit".

The Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 are appropriating indigenous land, marginalizing the urban poor and exploiting migrant workers.

The 2010 Olympics spirit that this train carries is a spirit of racism and corporate greed. This spirit has met with opposition in each of its stops across the country.

This spirit of oppression needs to be met with our spirit of resistance.

When it stops in Mississauga, come out with pots, pans, whistles, flags and placards. As most of Canada gives thanks for the ongoing genocide of indigenous peoples on Turtle Island, we urge all allies to mobilize their communities to disrupt the Spirit Train in solidarity with the call for Indigenous sovereignty.

To confirm a spot or to share your solidarity, please email
nooneisillegal@riseup.net before Sunday, 12 October.

NO OLYMPICS ON STOLEN NATIVE LAND!

For further information, see: http://no2010.com/node/18

On September 29, 2008 around 30 protesters greeted the Canadian Pacific
Railway “Olympic Spirit Train” as it brought its propaganda machine
through Edmonton. Highlighting that the train and the Olympic Games are
interlinked with the same corporations carrying out the largest
industrial project on earth known as the Tar Sands, protesters disrupted
the “spirit train” celebrations with the spirit of resistance. Under the
slogan of “No Games, No Tar Sands on Native Land!” demonstrators from
the the community of Fort Chipewyan in “Alberta” came in solidarity to
act with Native 2010 Resistance, the Olympics Resistance Network,
Edmonton Anarchist Black Cross and the Indigenous Environmental Network
to let the public know what’s wrong with the Olympics and the Tar Sands.
Their message articulated the vast increases in Indigenous land
displacement, homelessness and the expansion of environmental
destruction brought about by the corporate agenda around the 2010 Winter
Olympics and the Tar Sands-- most notably by CP Railways, Petro-Canada
and the Royal Bank of Canada.

Protesters distributed flyers, stickers and balloons for children and
youth with counter-2010 information on both and used their presence and
their voices to confront the “festivities” and alert the larger Edmonton

A more complete reportback is forthcoming, however some basic news,
updates, and photos are compiled below.

==> Olympics Resistance Network News Release to Mainstream Media:

CP-VANOC SPIRIT TRAIN DERAILED WITH 'SPIRIT OF RESISTANCE'; POLICE MAKE
TWO UNPROVOKED ARRESTS

* For photos please visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/inkflip/sets/72157607424169310/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30781453@N08/

Monday September 22 2008- Amidst pots, pans, sirens, and chants of "No
Olympics on Stolen Native Land", Olympics Resistance Network (ORN)
activists- including families with children- successfully shutdown
yesterday's Canadian Pacific's Olympics Spirit Train launch in Port Moody
as intended.

According to Gord Hill, member of the Olympics Resistance Network, "With
protestors nearly outnumbering spectators, the most spirited part of today
was the spirit of resistance against the Olympics. We are confident that
the forced cancellation of the Spirit Train launch ceremonies will inspire
others as the train travels across Canada."

The action in Port Moody was the first in a series of actions against the
Olympic Spirit Train planned across the country including in Edmonton,
Calgary, Montreal, and Toronto over the next month.

Activists further state that they are outraged by the unjustified and

On The Matter of Tar Sands & Indigenous Lands

This video examines the impacts of the Alberta Tar Sands on First Nations communities in the region. It features an interview with Clayton Thomas-Mueller, member of the Mathais Colomb Cree Nation (Puktawagan) in northern Manitoba, and organizer with the Indigenous Environment Network's Canadian Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign. (Found via Intercontinental Cry.)