APOLOGY DEMANDED FOR US NATIVE BOARDING SCHOOLS A recent editorial by Native journalist Tim Giago presents his viewpoints about the need for the story to be told about widespread abuses at early US Indian boarding schools and to call for a national apology:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/337/story/59583.html

In addition, there are several movies/documentaries just released or slated to be released about the boarding school experience, including the new Wes Studi movie, "The Only Good Indian" (http://www.theonlygoodindian.com ) to be shown this weekend during the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

The Elders also say the time is right for a collective healing from the trauma of the schools. This year, White Bison is hosting its fifth Sacred Hoop journey, the Wellbriety Journey for Forgiveness (formerly The Way Home Tour), to promote awareness of and healing from the historical trauma carried home from US Indian boarding schools.

The 40-day, 6,800-mile Journey begins May 16, 2009, at Chemawa Indian School in May 16 at the present-day Chemewa Indian School in Salem, Ore., and ends at the site of first Indian school at Carlisle, Penn., established in 1879.

At the conclusion of the Journey, a petition will be presented in Washington D.C. calling upon the President of the United States to formally apologize for abuses at the schools. Please visit www.wellbrietyjourney.org to sign the petition, find out how you can help and learn general information about the journey.

Please join White Bison in support of a collective healing from the historical trauma of the Indian boarding schools.

Commentary: 'Cultural Genocide' in the Land of the Free

By Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) | Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/337/story/59583.html

It would appear to me that most Americans know more about the "Stolen Generation" of Aboriginal children in Australia than they do about the "Stolen Generations" of Indian children in their own country.

Why is that? Well, movies such as "Rabbit-proof Fence" and the newly released film "Australia" probably have something to do with it. In "Rabbit-proof Fence," two little aboriginal girls are taken from their homes to the Catholic mission boarding school without the consent of their parents. They run away from the school and follow the path of the rabbit-proof fence hundreds of miles knowing that the fence runs next to their land and will lead them home. The fence was designed to contain the proliferation of rabbits that had begun to overrun Australia.

The movie "Australia" contains some key roles for the aboriginal people. The main focus is on a small boy who barely escapes the hands of the police early on in the movie only to be captured in the end and sent to the island mission school that is designed to "breed the black" out of the aboriginal children.

It wasn't until 1973 that the practice of taking aboriginal children and placing them in mission boarding schools was prohibited by law in Australia. There has never been a law passed in America to end the same practice. In the 1960s the government-backed practice of taking Indian children from their parents and placing them in Bureau of Indian Affairs and Christian missionary boarding schools began to end of its own volition.

In Australia and in America the children were taken from their parents and their homelands to "breed the black out of them" and in America they were taken to "breed the Indian out of them." The saying popular in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and in other denominations, as well as in the halls of Congress, was "Kill the Indian, Save the Child."

This practice, though well-intended by those implementing it, did more damage to the American Indian children than any other. What started out as a practice to convert the children to a new religion and a new perspective turned out to be nothing more than "cultural genocide."

An abundance of lawsuits against the Catholic and Anglican churches resulting in victories for indigenous complainants in Canada and Alaska have received little or no attention in America.

A recent lawsuit against the Catholic Church by former students of the St. Francis Indian School on the Rosebud Indian Reservation is now in the courts. There are statutes in South Dakota that would consider a statute of limitations and also consider allegations other than sexual abuse as non-essential. If "cultural genocide" could be included in the number of reasons for the lawsuits in South Dakota, it would put an entirely new face on the process. Though many former students still sport the scars of the sexual, physical and psychological abuse of the Indian boarding schools, the attempts to destroy their cultural beliefs is just as damaging and just as significant. The collateral damage of "cultural genocide" is one of the intangibles that are not easily interpreted in a court of law. It has taken nearly a generation for the former students of the Indian boarding schools to finally step forward and openly speak of their sexual abuse. It is not in the culture, the very culture that the boarding schools attempted to erase, for these Indian people to do so.

But after two or three generations, they are, at last, stepping forward and sadly, their courageous stand is drawing criticism from many of their own "converted" people. These are the converts that went through their entire boarding school experience apparently wearing blinders because they failed to see the abuse, whether it was physical, psychological, sexual or cultural that was taking place all around them.

These converts are as much a part of the cover-up as are the movie producers in Hollywood that find these true-to-life situations of cultural genocide too powerful and embarrassing for the consumption of the general population of Americans.

If Australia can finally stomach these epic wrongs against the aboriginal people of its continent and actually produce films depicting these evils, one can only ask the question: Where are those American film producers with the same courage? And if the government of Australia can issue an official apology to its aborigine citizens for the evil it rained upon them, why can't the America government do likewise? What is needed is an American Indian Spike Lee or a David Wolper to tell America "the rest of the story."

ABOUT THE WRITER

Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, is the founder and first president of the Native American Journalists Association. He can be reached at najournalist@msn.com or by writing to him at P.O. Box 1680, Rapid City, S.D. 57709. His new book, "Children Left Behind," is available at harmon@clearlightbooks.com.

© 2009, Tim Giago

- Canadians apologize - To: Parliament of Canada

Dear fellow Canadians, For many years our hearts have been broken by the terrible stories we have heard concerning the residential schools. The Governments of the day took children from their aboriginal families and entrusted their teaching and care to Christians of various churches. The idea was wrong in conception and in practice. We should not have agreed to it.

Continued here ... http://www.petitiononline.com/nhop01/petition.html Also here ... http://www.iapologize.ca/

INDIANS THREATEN ON CANADA RESERVE; Minister Stewart to Give Six Nations Chiefs a Chance to State Grievances. LAND CONTROL DEMANDED Court Officers Showered With Missiles When They Attempt Evictions in Ontario.

Special to The New York Times.

May 12, 1922, Friday

Page 13, 536 words

BRANTFORD, Ontario, May 11.--So serious has the situation on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford become that Charles Stewart, Dominion Minister of the Interior, head of the Indian Department, has arranged to come here ... View pdf here ... http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9802E3D81531EF33A25751C1A9639C946395D6CF Six Nations, Brantford: 1922 or 2008? Who can tell?? Fooled you a bit did it? Ah yes ... deja vu ... it is so clear as Six Nations people say: They have been saying the same things since 1922 ... 1867 ... 1784 ... 1701 ... Canada ('the Crown') has been doing the same things all along ... talking a lot and saying nothing, occupying, developing, mining, logging ... failing to reasonably consult with Indigenous Nations and not adequately accommodating their "Aboriginal and Treaty Rights" on traditional Indigenous land: A say in development and a share in revenues ... in 2008? g layton.j@parl.gc.ca , Harper.S@parl.gc.ca , Dion.S@parl.gc.ca , Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca , strahl.c@parl.gc.ca , http://grannyrantson.blogspot.com/2008/09/apologies-are-dime-dozen.html

OP-ED: Apologizing for the past Many pundits and people wonder why the present generations are saddled with the wrongs of the past. They complain about being expected to "feel guilty" for things they didn't do. Such people, it seems to me, miss the point that we are all part of something bigger than ourselves. We are nations of peoples living together and trying to build a society of Canada. We don't lose our past: We take it with us always. Every collective decision made is a decision we all live with in the future, because we live with the people whose lives are affected by that decision. In any city neighbourhood you have people living together who are affected by Canada's past: perhaps a Canadian whose grandparents had to pay the 'head tax' in order to be Canadian, while no others did. Perhaps a child whose grandparents were abused in Canada's 'Indian' residential schools. Perhaps a Jewish or Sikh family denied entrance to Canada in the past, or a Metis family who lost someone hanged with Riel. And perhaps there are other examples, but one thing is clear: NONE of these examples are wrongs done to people of the white race. Canada is not a racist country now, not by policy and law on paper at least, but it certainly was in the past. We cannot look with pride at the actions of our forefathers in taking land away from its original occupants, nor in attempting to keep it for possession of 'white people only'. We cannot look with pride to allowing others to share the land only if they give up their culture and heritage and accept ours. The only thing we can look on with pride is our current efforts to recognize and accept that wrongs were done for the wrong reasons, for reasons of racism. We can look with pride at how we are attempting to learn from those mistakes. We can look with pride at the fact that Canada now benefits from the enrichment by many other cultures and we can learn from their mistakes too as we have access to historical knowledge from around the world. I know in my family of Dane-Scot-Irish merchants and peasants who fled to Canada to escape the tyranny of Britain, the lesson of history was "don't look back". We never celebrated our history, only tried to forget. We never learned to rue the powers that be: We only learned to try to become them. Canada is a land of people trying to forget their histories by trying to become something new. However, history follows you and if you don't learn from it, you simply repeat it, as we have done in Canada: We haven't destroyed the power that the 'money changers' have over us, we have simply tried to become them or emulate them in our lifestyles. And we haven't tried to change the racist foundation of Canada, we have only tried to cover it up, hide it in niceties. By far, the most racist thing one can often hear today is the sentiment that immigrants should be grateful to us for letting them come here, and should leave their cultures behind and 'integrate' into ours. It is very doubtful that those same people believe that's what the first 'European' immigrants should have done - integrated themselves with the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. One can only conclude that what they mean is that all non-white cultures should 'integrate' themselves with the white 'culture': That is simply a statement of white supremacy. And there is no longer any place in Canada for that. But there is still room for a lot of re-distribution of wealth from the powers that be: http://www.esnips.com/doc/629185b2-3bf1-407b-88ee-5a4c5ae0ffc7/Wealth-Distribution-Canada Dates represented are 1984, 1999, 2005 and the top 10 percent of Canadians are gaining a larger and larger share of the wealth. Translation: As we struggled to sustain our lifestyles through the crash and recession of the '90's, the wealthy were able to scoop up bargains on the stock market, downgrade workers' pay and benefits, and pensions, and add it all to their own bottom line. So when in Canada do we stop complaining about 'immigrants' and start complaining about the real villains ... hunh? When do we stop fighting each other for foot room, and join together in fighting those who would oppress us all? http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2006/12/05/globalwealth.html

Canada's Truth Commission: Independent ?

News updates on this topic: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=&q=%22truth+and+reconciliation+Commission%22,+LaForme&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d RE:

PM's apology was sincere

RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1137326

AND

Worry over Ottawa interference delays residential schools truth commission

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iltCyPNxedKkHPN1AhhKWLyVCPMA

It has come to the attention of the media and thus of Canadians like me, that 'Indian' and Northern Affairs Canada is attempting to use funds from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to do INAC's own work. This appears to be a 'clawback' of 'Truth' Commission funds! Without the authorization or even the knowledge of the Truth Commissioner, Justice Harry LaForme, 'Indian' and Northern Affairs Canada has set up an entire department of civil servants reporting Minister Strahl/Harper. Justice LaForme has been told that's 'his' department to pay for out of his TRC budget, but he doesn't get to control it as Strahl/Harper appoints the CEO and controls all funds and the staff. Harry LaForme rightly disagrees. I respectfully also disagree ... vehemently ... with any such attempt by Canada's bureaucrats or politicians to control the Truth Commission on Canada's 'Indian' Residential Schools. The Truth Commission is independent of politics and bureaucracy. The staff is hired by the TRC and reports to the Commissioners. This is mandatory. Otherwise, Canada's 'Truth' Commission is a farce. It WILL be dismissed and turned over to the International Centre for Transitional Justice, out of Canada's control and influence, by people of Canada. Count on it! Canada is the guilty party in a court action, and we Canadians are now making reparations under international law and oversight (ICTJ). Funding the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is part of Canada's reparations. However, the Government of Canada does NOT control the funds ($5b publicly announced), nor does Canada control the staff, staffing, the TRC process, nor the results and nor the recommendations, etc. Canada may fund and control its own Truth and Reconciliation department of INAC, for the considerable work we/Canada will have to do to provide information to the Truth Commission. However, those are Canada's own costs and Canada pays for that from its own budget, as will the churches, RCMP, and other 'agencies' required to provide information to the Commission. The TRC does not fund the work of INAC nor of other 'agencies' from which it requires information. And the Government of Canada does NOT allocate TRC funds to INAC, for the work of INAC! NO!!! no? AHH!! But, YES!!! That is EXACTLY what Prime Minister Harper and INAC Minister Strahl have cooked up, to suck the TRC money back into the Corporation of Canada! INAC is funding its own work - an entire department of its own staff reporting to the Minister - with funds from the 'TRUTH' Commission budget, much to Commissioner LaForme's surprise and dismay. Many Canadians share that dismay and deep concern. Canada's integrity is at stake. Canadians cannot be seen to be attempting to control a court-supervised truth-telling process about 'Indian' Residential Schools, in which Canada is the guilty party. The government's actions would be appallingly arrogant and insincere at any time. In a year of 'sincere apology', such behaviour is thoroughly reprehensible. There will be no clawback of Truth Commission money by Canada. These lines of budget and reporting MUST be untangled IMMEDIATELY!!! The Government of Canada DOES NOT CONTROL THE TRC !!! The Government of Canada only controls it's own responsibilities, and presumably INAC. It is Canada's responsibility to fund the Truth Commission. That's all. The Truth Commission will tell Canada what to do from there. Strahl's 'department' will provide information as needed to the TRC, and fund it's own work in doing so. I understand we are likely to have an election soon. Count on the independence of the 'Truth Commission' and the Crown's 'Duty to Consult' as election issues, arising from the people of Canada. Count on it. Because this isn't about this election or any election, nor about any politician or political party. This is about Canada. It's about the collective integrity of the Canadian people. And all of the peoples of Canada will have to have a say about that. Count on that too. ******************* If you agree that Canada's attempt to control the 'Truth' Commission is in error, please send emails of support and concern to TRC Commissioner, Justice Harry LaForme c/0 trc-cvr@irsr-rqpi.gc.ca (Note the email address of the 'Truth' Commission(TRC) - "gc.ca" - Government of Canada. Gotta get their own secure server!!) And send please send emails of concern to Harper.S@parl.gc.ca, Strahl.C@parl.gc.ca, Dion.S@parl.gc.ca, Neville.A@parl.gc.ca, Layton.J@parl.gc.ca, Crowder.J@parl.gc.ca, pfontaine@afn.ca, And to the International Centre for Transitional Justice reps for the Canada program: egonzalez@ictj.org, jmendez@ictj.org, macosta@ictj.org, mfreeman@ictj.org, And if you wish, First Nations Chiefs of Ontario Angus Toulouse, Ontario Regional Chief c/o kathleen@coo.org COO Policy Advisor pam@coo.org

Another blogger's view ... http://cameronholmstrom.blogspot.com/2008/08/aboriginal-truth-and-reconciliation.html

When I first read this about the Conservatives not giving Justice LaForme and this Commission the independence that it must have in order to perform it's duty, I was left shaking my head wondering what the heck they were thinking. Why would they jeopardize this process? Why would they bring any doubt as to the independence of this Commissions? At the end of the day, as Justice LaForme pointed out, this is part of a class-action settlement, it's not an arm of the government. By it's very nature it's independent of the government.

For their part, of course the Conservatives are denying this completely, stating that the government would never dare to interfere with the commissions independence ...

The facts show us that the Conservatives have a propensity for interfering with independent bodies and commissions to meet their own ideological goals, and I believe that Aboriginal Canadians have every reason to be afraid that they would do this again in regards to this extremely important commission.

WHY would the Government of Canada jeopardize the independence of the court-ordered Truth Commission? Well, it is also true that all political parties and indeed all aspiring politicians in Canada have a stake in the economic status quo. Canada's economy is in 'good shape' because of the natural resource industries. Canada's resource wealth comes from traditional Indigenous land, which Canada and the provinces develop without consultation, consent, and with no share of revenues to the Indigenous communities who have Aboriginal Rights on the land. Throughout the years of discussions of Canada's 'Indian' Residential Schools and Canada's 'Apology', NOT ONCE has it yet been mentioned that the government's real purpose in attempting to destroy Indigenous cultures - by 'retraining' their children - was "to take the land out of Indian hands". (Egerton Ryerson, 1847) Obviously, the Government does not want to discuss that issue! However, in five years of testimony it is likely that some Indigenous people will come forward to the Commission, or directly to the media, to reveal this sordid truth about 'wonderful' Canada: Canada's economy is entirely dependent on wealth taken illegally from Indigenous Peoples. Canada's governments' solution to its economic dependence on stolen property? Lots of nice policies and laws and even Constitutional protection for "Aboriginal and Treaty Rights", but then stall and trick and deceive and walk away and denigrate and smear Indigenous Peoples and call that 'negotiations' for 'land claims'. Now this strategy takes on an even more heinous aura, as it is apparent that the land is being paved and developed on, mined, logged and otherwise desecrated as quickly as possible, to keep it out of land claims settlements. Boy, talk about bad faith bargaining? Our federal governments of Canada since 1867 wrote the book on that!! It might all come tumbling down if the truth about Canada's economy was revealed. The really ironic thing is ... if Canada would stop running and hiding like the thief and villain it is, step up and own up and talk about real solutions for independent and shared economic development, they would find very willing partners in negotiations with Indigenous Peoples. They have a stake in the stability of Canada's economy too and a willingness to reach solutions that balance the rights of all. And in this day and age, who's going to tolerate the government's past and current sly and sleazy way of doing business for very long? No intelligent person that I know! And the incredible patience of Indigenous people is finally giving way to younger generations no longer willing to live in fear of the government's punishments for their activism in seeking justice. Which is all by way of saying ... for heaven's sake, Canada, stop the insanity and deal in good faith! Starting with respecting the complete independence of the Truth Commission from government, political or bureaucratic interference. We have one chance to put Canada on the right path. Let's not blow it! *********** Hamilton, ON http://grannyrantson.blogspot.com/ My Canada includes rights of Indigenous Peoples. Love it or leave it eh. Peace.

Canada is "Sorry"?

... For Genocide?

Residential school apology in context

If there is one thing that Mr. Harper's "apology" provided that could be considered groundbreaking or new, it's the idea that there can be crimes without criminals.

by Mike Krebs

The Dominion

No discussion of the residential school system can be meaningful without acknowledging that this was an act of genocide.

"I want to get rid of the Indian problem. I do not think as a matter of fact, that the country ought to continuously protect a class of people who are able to stand alone… Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic and there is no Indian question, and no Indian Department, that is the whole object of this Bill." —Duncan Campbell Scott, head of the Department of Indian Affairs and founder of the residential school system, 1920

On June 11, 2008, Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party, issued an "apology" for the residential school system that over 150,000 Indigenous children were forced through. The hype before and after the statement was enormous, with extensive coverage in all major media.

If there is one thing that Mr. Harper's "apology" provided that could be considered groundbreaking or new, it's the idea that there can be crimes without criminals.

This event had a strong emotional and psychological impact on Indigenous survivors of residential schools all across Canada, who suffered attempted forced assimilation as well as countless acts of violence, rape, and other abuses. Descendents of those subjected to this system were equally affected. People packed into community halls and similar venues on June 11 for what was bound to be an emotional day for survivors, regardless of their view on the meaning of the "apology." Some survivors reportedly felt that the statement was a step forward, while many others were highly critical.

In trying to understand the responses of Indigenous people across Canada to this "apology," it is first important to address what it did not do. It must be judged in terms of the ability of Indigenous people to move forward in the process of true healing, not only from the effects of the residential school system, but also from Canadian colonialism as a whole. Examined in context, the deficiencies of the "apology" are much greater than any positive impact it might have.

A crime of genocide

"I don't want to hear it. You know, you might as well send the janitor up to apologize…if it's just empty words or a nicely written text." — Michael Cachagee, survivor of Shingwauk Indian Residential School

If there is one thing that Mr. Harper's "apology" provided that could be considered groundbreaking or new, it's the idea that there can be crimes without criminals.

more... http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/1928

We need to start believing each other By Maurice Switzer BayToday.ca Thursday, July 17, 2008I’m not sure if my grandfather Moses Marsden would qualify as one of the beneficiaries of the Prime Minister’s June 11 apology. Our family never knew much about the southern Ontario “training” school he attended in the 1870’s, other than he ran away from it before he completed Grade 3. It was one of those things that Indian families didn’t dwell on. If Grandpa had told his family about the kind of experiences I’ve heard residential school survivors talk about, I don’t know if they would have believed him. It’s almost beyond comprehension that elected Parliamentarians and church leaders in a civilized society would institutionalize child abuse. ... We try to assure participants that they are not responsible, nor should they feel guilty about historic injustices. “But, if it happens again,” we caution, “it will be your fault.” And surely that’s the purpose of the national apology process – to admit that there has been a problem so we can avoid it recurring. Having a better understanding of the past should help all of us in Canada build a better future. As a Supreme Court judge wisely observed in ruling on a historic land claim – we’re all here to stay.

http://www.baytoday.ca/content/editorials/details.asp?c=26806

Maurice Switzer is a citizen of Alderville First Nation. He serves as director of communications for the Union of Ontario Indians and editor of the Anishinabek News.

'Indian' Residential Schools

School kids who never made it home

Karen Boden, the Canadian Press

1

Karen Boden, the Canadian Press

Karen Boden, the Canadian Press

Panel probes fate of native students who were there one day, gone the next

"I've gone across the country. People have come to me and said: 'Can you find my uncle? ... He died in that school and nobody knows where his body is.'"

"How are you going to answer for why those kids got killed?

"How are you going to answer for why they got buried ... on the residential school grounds instead of brought home to their grandparents and parents?

"It was so simple to step on an Indian (child) and murder him without any questions. Back in those days, there were no questions asked."

***

Granny's question: Will Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission "ask the questions" about the missing children today? Will it answer the questions?

Or will HARPER stop the investigation due to the "COST"?

July 10, 2008

Sue Bailey The Canadian Press Ottawa (Jul 10, 2008)

Gilbert Johnson starkly recalls being hauled from his bed as a boy at the Port Alberni native residential school before he was "severely beaten" by a dorm supervisor.

"I got caught crying under the blankets at night over my buddy's death," he said.

"You were not allowed to cry for him, and you couldn't even spend a day at home mourning your buddy."

More than four decades later, Johnson, now 54, still doesn't know why his friend Mitchell Joseph suddenly died one night at the school on Vancouver Island.

"That young boy was an innocent boy. He couldn't have been any more than 11."

Port Alberni is notorious for the number of children raped and beaten by dorm supervisor Arthur Henry Plint, who was described in court as a "sexual terrorist" and sentenced to 11 years in 1995. He is now dead.

Mitchell Joseph's death was never explained, Johnson says.

And he was far from alone. Untold numbers of aboriginal children forced to attend institutions that were meant to "Christianize" them never made it home.

It will fall to the five-year truth and reconciliation commission to decide if it can and should explore what happened to students who were there one day, gone the next.

A working group of former pupils, native leaders, church officials, government staff and historians is to make related recommendations soon, said commission spokesperson Kimberly Phillips.

Its work is separate from the commission but supports the mandate "to create as complete an historical record as possible of the Indian residential school system and its impacts," said Phillips.

Who will pay to trace the fates of missing children is an open question, however. It's estimated the required research will cost at least $20 million -- one-third the commission's total $60-million budget.

"Our government agrees that this is an important issue," said Ted Yeomans, a spokesperson for Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl, when asked if Ottawa would foot the bill.

"We will discuss it," he said, with the commission once it has seen the working group's report.

Families often weren't notified until months later that a child had died*. Bodies were frequently buried at the schools instead of being returned to loved ones for spiritual ceremonies crucial to native custom.

Federal records indicate that tuberculosis killed thousands of students and sick kids were housed alongside healthy ones.

Influenza also felled many among the roughly 150,000 children who passed through 132 schools from 1874 until most were closed in the 1970s.

But there's no official record of how many other youngsters died. Into that gaping void has flowed a stream of unproven claims and rumours of abusive staff who got away with murder, their victims buried in unmarked graves or disposed of in other ways.

Finally confirming or debunking some of that longstanding speculation will be "very, very expensive," says author and historian John Milloy, one of Canada's leading researchers on residential schools.

"Particularly if it's to fall within (the commission's five-year) time frames."

Milloy helped craft recommendations for the truth commission on how to work through a massive collection of federal and church records that, if stacked skyward, would soar 750 metres.

They don't include a potential motherlode of details in provincial death records, or the priceless wealth of information that could be gleaned from former students like Gilbert Johnson.

"We didn't come up with a firm estimate, but $20 million is probably a safe and maybe even a low guess to figure all that out," Milloy says.

So many people are clearly haunted, he stressed.

"I've gone across the country. People have come to me and said: 'Can you find my uncle? ... He died in that school and nobody knows where his body is.'"

In the meantime, native leaders in British Columbia are assembling an investigative team that's to include the RCMP and the provincial coroner's office, said Sharon Thira, executive director of the Indian Residential School Survivors Society.

"Because over the years we've had -- I can't even name how many -- allegations of children dying in schools."

For his part, Johnson isn't convinced the government will ever be able to explain what happened to his childhood friend.

"How are you going to answer for why those kids got killed?

"How are you going to answer for why they got buried ... on the residential school grounds instead of brought home to their grandparents and parents?

"It was so simple to step on an Indian and murder him without any questions.

"Back in those days, there were no questions asked.

The Canadian Press

* Families were never informed of the fates of their children who did not return home with the others at the end of the year(s) of 'schooling'. To this day they have not been informed. They were forced to sign over guardianship of their children to the 'state' or the church. There was no control at all on the government, the churches or the staff.

No one was accountable for the children who died. No one was told.

Don't ask don't tell: We have had to hold repeated public actions (See pic above: Inside Metropolitan United Church, Toronto) to get our government to even acknowledge that:

" some of these children died while attending residential schools"

Their families are, to this day, waiting for the "official guardians" of the children to properly inform them of the cause and manner of the children's death or disappearance, and their place of burial.

Apology gesture appreciated. It's a beginning.

Indigenous Elders are now waiting for Canada to tell them the truth about the tens of thousands of their children who did not come home.

Where are the missing children buried? Why?

It will fall to the five-year truth and reconciliation commission to decide

if it can and should (??)

explore what happened to students who were there one day, gone the next.

"IF" ??

No "if" about it!

Please email bloglink and your support for full investigation to

Harper.S@parl.gc.ca

and your federal MP (same email format)

granny

Thoughts for Canada Day 2008

Time to settle claims

OPINION

Posted June 30 2008

http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1094534

Friction between aboriginals and the mining industry is bad for North Bay and Canada. The apology for the residential schools tragedy made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper should be a new beginning. The First Nations are equal and proud Canadians.

But hundreds of outstanding land claims must be settled.

Of late, there have been very serious confrontations between mineral exploration crews and natives opposed to their presence.

The right to prospect, or search for minerals on Crown land is embedded in tradition and law. Anyone in Ontario can purchase a prospector's license. The lonely prospector who takes great risks, and the people who grub-staked" him, or put up the money for essential supplies, are part of Canadian mythology.

Grub-staked by New Liskeard businessmen, Ed Horne paddled from Lake Temiskaming to Lake Osisko in Northwestern Quebec and found what was to be the Noranda mine and the start of a huge mining empire.

Recently prospectors looking for diamonds discovered the nickel deposits at Voisey's Bay in Newfoundland.

Mining pumps billions into federal and provincial coffers every year and creates thousands of well-paid jobs. That Canada is in better economic shape than the recession- hit United States is largely due to its diverse mineral riches.

Yet native groups are often resisting exploration crews and have had some leaders jailed for blocking them. They have garnered considerable public sympathy. In response, the McGuinty government is expected to change the Ontario Mining Act.

North Bay has no mines, but it has a large mining supply segment which employs close to 2,000 people. Recent news from Sturgeon Falls indicates this community will also get many jobs thanks to a new mining-related enterprise.

It must be stated that North Bay is fortunate in having many First Nation communities close by. Hardly a week passes without The Nugget reporting positive news from an aboriginal group. Saturday's paper told of happy customers at the new Old Chief Fish Market. This is the first time the native community has sold fish through a co-operative business model regulated by its own laws and conservation plan and endorsed by the MNR.

If anything or anyone threatens Lake Nipissing's fish stocks the non-natives of North Bay will stand united with the First Nations to block them.

But without exploration, mining will die. The Mining Act must not be replaced with another bureaucratic nightmare. What is needed is a fast and effective dispute settlement mechanism. And the mining industry must move to improve its relations with First Nations, and make them part of the industry that can offer real economic opportunity and equality.

And the feds must move to settle land claims. Apologizing is not enough.

Article ID# 1094534 ----

Apologies aren't enough

Group calls for justice, land claim settlements

Posted By BY ANGELA SCAPPATURA, THE SUDBURY STAR

Posted 4 hours ago

http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1094934&auth=BY+ANGELA+SCAPPATURA%2C+THE+SUDBURY+STAR

Indigenous and non-indigenous people gathered at Victoria Park to assert their support for the struggles of aboriginals in Canada on Saturday.

Heavy rain did not prevent more than a dozen people from attending the day-long event, which included a drumming workshop, personal stories and musical performances.

The event was organized by Sudbury Against War and Occupation and was designed to raise awareness of aboriginal issues.

Gary Kinsman is a member of Sudbury Against War and Occupation and said the inaugural event displays solidarity between both indigenous and non-indigenous people.

"I think it's important

because what we're showing is that the government's apology around residential schools was not enough," he said while standing beneath a tarp protecting a barbeque and food from the rain.

"The government policies around indigenous people are, in general, pretty bad."

Many of the day's events highlighted the group's concern surrounding First Nations land claims. Kinsman, who is not an aboriginal, said there needs to be justice for the community.

"There has been attempts to criminalize, to throw in jail the various leaders of indigenous struggles," he said. "We're here to say that's not going to be tolerated, that people in Sudbury are going to join together and oppose those policies until there is justice for First Nations people."

The smell of burning tobacco wafted through the small room as traditional aboriginal drumming group, Sha Daa Kim opened the day's workshops.

Aboriginal elder Barb Riley addressed the gathering and said it is time for the Canadian government to settle land claims.

She said the day of solidarity signifies that settlers (Caucasians) are learning the value of land.

"I hold a mortgage to my residence here in Sudbury. If I didn't pay that mortgage, the bank would come after me and foreclose," she said. "I think that is what the First Nations should start doing. Foreclosing on the land. Not take the land back, but make them pay through royalties."

Riley said the government needs to reassess its "paternalistic" attitude toward First Nations.

"We are smart people, we don't need people making decisions for us," she said. "Maybe we did at one time when they put the residential schools in place, but many of our people now have law degrees and PhD's to run their own businesses and affairs."

Riley was a student at a residential school and said the recent apology made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper is meaningless if they don't settle land claims.

"It's just words," she said. In soft, even tones, she

described what she believes is a genocide being committed against First Nations people. She said the residential schools was part of it. Now, she said, the removal of children from aboriginal homes and placement with the Children's Aid Society is another version of it.

"It isn't helping our children," she said.

Article ID# 1094934 ___

Aboriginals await action after apology By BOB WEBER The Canadian Press Sun. Jun 29 - 4:31 AM " border="0"> Mi’kmaq Grand Chief Ben Sylliboy in 2007. (Eric Wynne / Staff) One apology, no matter how heartfelt, doesn’t erase a century of estrangement. Even if most aboriginal people believe the federal government is sincerely sorry about residential schools, that doesn’t mean they’ll be waving flags and singing O Canada on Tuesday with reborn patriotism. Many say it will take time and meaningful action before they see Canada Day fireworks as anything more than pretty lights that fade away almost as quickly as they burn. "Call me up in a year’s time," said Mi’kmaq Grand Chief Ben Sylliboy of Cape Breton, who was forced into a residential school at age six with his two sisters. "They make it sound good, but they don’t follow up on what they’re saying." Many aboriginals, including leaders such as Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief Phil Fontaine, had warm praise for both the words and the emotion behind the June 11 apology from Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In that apology, Harper said the government was sorry for taking native children from their families and sending them to church-run schools far from their parents and their culture. The words may have been a good start. But it’ll be a while before many aboriginals feel truly reconciled with their country. "(Canada Day) will be pretty much the same for me," said residential school survivor Harvey Tootoosis of Saskatoon. For him, the real work will begin with the five-year Truth and Reconciliation Commission. "With the apology, we can move forward with the reconciliation part and live together as equals." Patricia Nadeau of Winnipeg, who calls her year of residential school at the age of five "the most horrible, horrible time," says she still can’t trust the government that inflicted it on her. "The apology helped a little bit, but it can’t erase a lifetime of distrust. My experience at residential school always made me feel distrust of government and official authority." Proof of Canada’s sincerity will come when it supports the cultures it once tried to destroy, she suggested. "I’m very frustrated with the (amount of) money that’s given out to save (aboriginal) languages." Everyone shares the responsibility of turning words into action that will bring together aboriginal and non-aboriginal people, added Chief Ed John of North Vancouver. "(Moving) that apology to action doesn’t mean it’s just government or aboriginal peoples, it means broader Canadians as well." Too many people still don’t understand the damage that was done to roughly 150,000 students who attended the 132 schools for much of the last century, said Keni Jackson of Watson Lake, Yukon. He says he can’t even walk over the ground where the Carcross residential school once stood. "All my troubles are in that building. I just want people to understand. That’s the frustrating part of it for me — having people who don’t understand." Still, some say the apology has given Canada Day new meaning. "I feel good about the country again," said Charlie Gaudet of Yellowknife, who spent seven years in Inuvik’s notorious Grolier Hall. "I feel there are a lot of Canadians who are sympathetic to us. I would have liked to have seen this happen years ago, but I just feel a weight’s off my shoulders, and I think Canadians across the country have a better sense of just how damaging this residential school stuff was." And just like millions of his fellow Canadians, Tootoosis will crane his neck Tuesday night to ooh and aah. "I still celebrate Canada Day. I’m Canadian. We’re celebrating Canada together." Pretty lights are worth something after all.

Stephen Harper government and native chiefs collude in neo-colonial sham apology

http://www.trudeausociety.com/home/Frontpage/2008/06/23/02226.html

by Peter Tremblay

The affirmation of inviolable rights and the quality-of-living of aboriginal peoples from conditions of on-going oppression, exploitation, and disenfranchisement, could very well rely on aboriginal peoples, with other Canadians, uniting against apparent mischievous neo-colonialism and neo-fascism.

The Stephen Harper government recorded a $10.2 Billion surplus. The federal government that made an "apology" to Residential School victims has money for new weaponry for U.S. neo-colonial expeditions in Afghanistan; corporate welfare "incentives" for Big Business elites; federal prisons; but no money for First Nations elementary school students in Attawappiskat in Ontario, and other parts of Canada, and also no money to fight overall healthcare problems and poverty, including homelessness effecting aboriginal peoples across Canada.

Here's a question for consideration that Prime Minister Stephen Harper government's apology brings to mind. Would you accept an apology and money from the group, that continued to rape your son, daughter, some other relative, or close friend? Most people might be expected to answer a resounding 'no' to such a question. But, to contemplate the ethical implications of 'yes' to such a question, is to begin to understand the mentality of two groups. The first group is the perpetrators of the apparent Crimes Against Humanity, who continue to rape aboriginal peoples of their vital cultural memories, their land, their health, and their basic rights as human beings. The second group consists of the so-called "representatives" of aboriginal peoples, who have endorsed an apology from the continued apparent perpetrators of the Crimes Against Humanity.

In the last several years, there has been a growing pan-aboriginal consciousness in Canada, united against the elite-driven agenda in opposition to aboriginal peoples. In order to apparently weaken an evolving grassroots political consciousness, that the majority of Canadians, have empathized with, the elites came-up with a brilliant strategy, which was cut from their on-going "game plan" against aboriginal peoples. That strategy, consistent with the first arrivals of European empires in Canada, has been to "divide, rule, and conquer". In order to accomplish this, the Stephen Harper government relied on getting strategic support from the very neo-colonial impostor aboriginal governments, which were set-up under the Indian Act. This is the same Indian Act, that the South African apartheid system was based upon.

Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice has been the target of a campaign against Native poverty.

In the view of many aboriginal people, the apparent operational intent of the so-called apology, is to create a political divide between the aboriginal people who continue to face worsening exploitation and oppression, and others who have been financially persuaded to support respective co-opted native chiefs, who derive their power from the Eurocentrcized Indian Act. Consider the following quote in the Montreal Gazette on 16 June 2008, LINK

I met my cousins Mariah and Maryanne for supper. They asked me if I'd applied for any of the residential-school settlement money. They said they were getting $35,000. "I'm going to get a new car," Maryanne said. "I already got one," said Mariah. "Do you feel healed?" I asked. They both laughed.

It is apparent that most aboriginal peoples are not laughing at an apparent strategy of divide, rule on conquer being executed against aboriginal peoples once more.

Thohahoken Michael Doxtater who is director of the Indigenous Education Project at McGill University, remarked in his same Gazette editorial submission:

[W]e expect the apology to create more divisions among indigenous peoples. Longstanding schisms already exist between traditional confederacies like the Iroquois-Blackfeet-Innu peoples, and organizations and band councils created under Canadian law. We already saw the positioning of those "favoured nations" in the House of Commons Wednesday -- "aboriginal" incorporated bodies invited to the apology.

These incorporated bodies are the apparent impostor governments created through Indian Acts to replace traditional and representative aboriginal governments.

The corporate owned mass-media has sought to mostly support, and to spread public relations, on behalf of the Stephen Harper government, so as to repress the very issues that the Stephen Harper government seeks to drown out, in an apology inspired by neo-colonialism.

Professor Doxtater cites the following ignored issues:

There's the uninformed sterilization of native girls up into the 1980s. And the sorry inventory of conditions on reserves where disease, drinking water, housing and intergenerational transmission of trauma, create enormous social problems. In the 1980s, an Indian Affairs treaty implementation report said Canada owed indigenous people for land, resource, and treaty obligations that amounted to $11.5 trillion. Across the continent, vast tracts like the Great Lakes watershed have underlying title retained by indigenous people whose communities are treaty-based.

	The continued lack for proper school infrastructure in aboriginal communities across Canada demonstrates the lack of sincerity of Stephen Harper government's apology. The conditions of these rudimentary schools is another fact of on-going abuses against aboriginal peoples including children in First Nations communities.

The $2 billion dollars that the Stephen Harper government has boasted to spend on "redressing" Residential Schools compensation is therefore in no way nearly enough to redress on-going atrocities against aboriginal peoples. However, it is enough to pay off certain elites and other people in "Indian Country" to "deal with their own". The co-opting of already weak impostor aboriginal governments, further denies the kind of vigorous representation that aboriginal communities had been seeking, in their evolving cross-Canada aboriginal consciousness with other Canadians, in opposition neo-fascistic elites.

Mass media as a tool of the Stephen Harper government, is poignantly revealed by their attempts to systematically repress such voices as critically acclaimed author and learned activist Rev Kevin Annett. The Canadian published articles critical of Stephen Harper's apparent hypocritical apology, but those issues have been ignored by Canada's daily newspapers.

Professor Doxtater further remarks that, "Harper's apology appears to continue the tradition of word games in Canadian-Indian politics. Apologizing to "aboriginals" kills the "Indian" diplomatically anyway." The affirmation of inviolable rights and the quality-of-living of aboriginal peoples from conditions of on-going oppression, exploitation, and disenfranchisement, could very well rely on aboriginal peoples, with other Canadians, uniting against apparent mischievous neo-colonialism and neo-fascism.

Residential schools ripped children from parents' arms

Letter

Published: Wednesday, June 18, 2008

As a small child, my grandmother Elizabeth regaled me with many colourful stories of her youth. She was born in 1874 in the B.C. Interior, the very same year that the first residential school opened.

Some of her most painful memories (still at over 95) were of tiny children being ripped from their parents' arms -- of mothers running after the wagons full of crying children, then finally wailing and moaning in grief as the dust settled in the dry tracks.

The mandate of the government then was "to kill the Indian in the child." They were the children of my grandmother's friends, and some were her very own cousins.

The agony reverberated throughout the region. And that was the beginning of what would become horrors too great to utter aloud.

Who would listen to a small Indian child? Who would care if she sobbed all night? No one.

Corinne Lambert Murphy,

Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que.

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/letters/story.html?id=fa199bc9-7b68-4e63-b7b0-d833b4dba29c

Kahentinetha Horn, Katenies (Mohawk Nation Elders) attacked at the border - Cornwall If Canadians are so damned sorry about the abuse of Native people, why is this still happening? Why do people remain silent when Mohawk elders and grandmothers are attacked like this? *** A few months ago, Julian Fantino put out the word, warning Kahentinetha not to set foot in Ontario or else. Kahentinetha Horn is well known in Canada as a former model, current publisher of MOHAWK NATION NEWS http://www.mohawknationnews.com, and an international Indigenous activist. She is currently in hospital, moved from Cornwall to Ottawa, after suffering a heart attack during her arrest with her daughter Katenies, during at a routine border crossing within the Akwesasne/Kahnesatake border community. Our prayers are with her. (Updates below.) ONE ELDER SAVED BY A HEART ATTACK - ANOTHER ELDER MISSING IN ACTION: MOHAWK GRANDMOTHERS ATTACKED AT CANADA-US BORDER CROSSING ON UNCEDED HAUDENOSAUNEE LAND by Iakoha’ko:wa of Sharbot Lake of Haudenosaunee Territory Monday, June 16, 2008 Mohawk Elder and Grandmother, Kahentinetha Horn suffered a heart attack, Saturday, June 14, 2008 during a vicious, unprovoked assault by OPP and border agents at Cornwall, in Akwesasne community. She had been beaten and handcuffed when she collapsed. Earlier when she was pulled over, Kahentinetha immediately contacted her brother, a lawyer, on her cellphone. The entire incident was being filmed as her brother rushed to the scene just in time to call an ambulance for her. Meanwhile, Elder and Grandmother Katenies of Akwesasne was beaten and taken prisoner to an as yet undisclosed location. We are very concerned about her safety. We demand to know of her whereabouts and that she be released immediately. A few months ago, Julian Fantino put out the word, warning Kahentinetha not to set foot in Ontario or else... She is the publisher of MNN and regular internet reports that are very critical of police and government actions toward Indigenous people. Her articles often clearly state the legalities/realities of the situation that Canada is a corporation plundering unceded Turtle Island. The land and resources belong to the Ongwehoneh people. Canada's huge debt to us will bankrupt them forever. The other day, while Stephen Harper was making a public apology to Indigenous for the crimes of the residential schools, he was also preparing to send the army in at 6 nations. Brantford city mayor has requested it, stating his city police cannot handle another "Mohawk uprising", in other words, peaceful protests against housing development where non resident, nonNatives attack the protesters while the police watch. The Ontario Conservatives call for military intervention every day. On Saturday, border agents were pulling over every Native person. Kahentinetha and Katenies were traveling in Akwesasne in the course of their regular activities and were caught up in the dragnet. Did Fantino set up a trap for the two outspoken, Mohawk grandmothers? We suspect that Kahentinetha would have been killed at a secret location had she not had a heart attack and been taken to hospital. Immediately following this incident, many Mohawks and supporters started to gather at Akwesasne. Kahentinetha and Katenies' attackers want them to accept being Canadian or else they will kill them and anyone else who resists colonization. This low level warfare is playing out on the "border" between Canada and the US, an imaginary line drawn right through the Mohawk community of Akwesasne and through Haudenosaunee territory which is a vast area on BOTH sides of the Great Lakes. This Great Lakes area is also a proposed center for the NWO. Many military plans are underway including nuclear submarines in the Great Lakes and JTF2, Aerospace Warfare Center and NATO FOB (Forward Operating Base) at a new base being built at Trenton, near Tyendinaga Mohawk community. Tyendinaga was attacked by OPP/SWAT in April when Mohawks protested housing development there. If Canadians are so damned sorry about the abuse of Native people, why is this still happening? Why do people remain silent when Mohawk elders and grandmothers are attacked like this? We are under constant surveillance and threats and attacks while our land continues to be plundered and pillaged. Was this a failed assassination attempt ordered by Julian Fantino, commissioner of OPP and head of the biggest gang in the area? We must demand answers and get answers. This attempted genocide must cease. We will never give up. Call or write to politicians, media, action lists including international. Get the word out now!!! K..... will be speaking with Kevin Annett on live radio today at 4:30 pm Montreal time. Iakoha'ko:wa Sharbot Lake, Haudenosaunee Territory PLEASE SEND YOUR OBJECTIONS TO: QUEENIE ELIZABETH II, Buckingham Palace, LONDON UK; Governor General MICHAELLE "Haitian-Against-the-Nation" JEAN, 1 Rideau Hall, OTTAWA, ONTARIO info@gg.ca; Canada Prime Minister STEPHEN HARPER, House of Commons, OTTAWA, ONTARIO harper.s@parl.gc.ca; Ontario Premier DALTON McGUINTY, Queen's Park, TORONTO, ONTARIO mcguinty.D@parl.gc.ca; United Nations unat@un.org; Indian Affairs Minister Strahl.c@parl.gc.ca; Brantford Mayor Michael Hancock 519-759-3330 nborowicz@brantford.ca; Ontario Attorney General 416-326-2220 or 1-800-518-7901; Minister Ontario Aboriginal Affairs Michael Bryant % Lars.Eedy@ontario.ca ; Neil Smitheman, Brantford ambulance chaser n.smitheman@fasken.com 416-868-3441; Aaron Detlor adetlor@sympatico.ca; Bev Jacobs bjacobs@nwac.hq.org; Julian Fantino OPP Commissioner julian.fantino@jus.gov.on.ca; s "Paul Leblanc of \"Indian\" Affairs" , Sylvia McKenzie Justice Canada , Emanuel Chabot Public Affairs 7 Emergency Preparedness , Louis-Alesandre Guay <"Justice Canada lguay"@justice.gc.ca>, Gilles Rochon Aboriginal Policing , "Chuck Strahl Minister of \"Indian\" Affairs" See http://www.mohawknationnews.com ******** UPDATE re Kahentinetha Horn - Mohawk Grandmothers Attacked at Canada-US Border Crossing June 16, 2008 1pm Kahentinetha Horn has been transferred to an Ottawa hospital while the whereabouts of Katenies remain unknown. Outrage is growing in Indian country. Who will be next in the roundups? There is no doubt that this incident 'an attempt to take a human life', of Kahentinetha Horn - makes the false apology given by the Harper government to Native peoples for past tortures and maltreatment completely null and void. Token drugstore Indians like Phil Fontaine paraded around on TV to receive this apology are all on government payrolls. They represent and speak for no one but the government. It shows the hypocrisy insidiously embedded in the Harper government. This incident was not carried out by regular border patrol personnel. It was carried out by a team of professionals who are installed at this particular border crossing for the sole purpose of apprehending Miss Horn and doing away with her permanently. Behaviours and actions like this only come about when ordered and sanctioned by the highest levels of Harper's government and CSIS. This attempt on Miss Horn's life failed this time, but we are confident that Harper, CSIS and Fantino will continue in their efforts to silence Ms Horn forever. This attempt is just a variation of extraordinary rendition where one is whisked away to an undisclosed location, tortured and later found dead in a ditch somewhere. Karakwine will be speaking with Kevin Annett on live radio today at 4:30 pm Montreal time. Stop the Genocide. Speak out while you still can!!! Iakoha'ko:wa Sharbot Lake, Haudenosaunee Territory PLEASE SEND YOUR OBJECTIONS TO: QUEENIE ELIZABETH II, Buckingham Palace, LONDON UK; Governor General MICHAELLE "Haitian-Against-the-Nation" JEAN, 1 Rideau Hall, OTTAWA, ONTARIO info@gg.ca; Canada Prime Minister STEPHEN HARPER, House of Commons, OTTAWA, ONTARIO harper.s@parl.gc.ca; Ontario Premier DALTON McGUINTY, Queen's Park, TORONTO, ONTARIO mcguinty.D@parl.gc.ca; United Nations unat@un.org; Indian Affairs Minister Strahl.c@parl.gc.ca; Brantford Mayor Michael Hancock 519-759-3330 nborowicz@brantford.ca; Ontario Attorney General 416-326-2220 or 1-800-518-7901; Minister Ontario Aboriginal Affairs Michael Bryant % Lars.Eedy@ontario.ca ; Neil Smitheman, Brantford ambulance chaser n.smitheman@fasken.com 416-868-3441; Aaron Detlor adetlor@sympatico.ca; Bev Jacobs bjacobs@nwac.hq.org; Julian Fantino OPP Commissioner julian.fantino@jus.gov.on.ca; s "Paul Leblanc of \"Indian\" Affairs" , Sylvia McKenzie Justice Canada , Emanuel Chabot Public Affairs 7 Emergency Preparedness , Louis-Alesandre Guay <"Justice Canada lguay"@justice.gc.ca>, Gilles Rochon Aboriginal Policing , "Chuck Strahl Minister of \"Indian\" Affairs" See http://www.mohawknationnews.com *************************************************************************************** Mohawk grandmothers attacked by Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) guards --> The report below is also linked at: http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2008/06/cbsa-attack.html --> Background articles and interviews are linked at: http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2008/06/katenies-cbsa-background .html