This is a very rough draft of an article that Im writing. Im not sure what news organization I will send it to, although it surprises and concerns me that nothing about the events in Rexton have shown up in Al Jazeeras Opinion section, so thats a primary candidate. An Inconvenient Truth Obscured by Burning Police Vehicles There are at least two interrelated stories in the events of October 17th in Rexton, New Brunswick: First Nations land rights and protest over hydraulic fracturing. The Canadian Supreme Courts judgement in the Marshall case of 1999 confirmed that the Peace and Friendship Treaty signed in 1761 did not provide for a transfer of land from the First Nations people to the Crown. All of the land that we settlers call Crown Land is actually, legally, owned by the First Nations people. This is a fact that is conveniently not taught in our school system, where we are led to believe that we defeated the savages and relegated them to a few squalid reserves - out of sight, out of mind. It is beyond the scope of this article to recount the entire long history of Canadian governments (federal and provincial) disregard for its treaties signed with First Nations. However, it may be helpful to review the most recent and local cases, in order to establish that the events at Rexton do not constitute an isolated incident. Restigouche (1981), Listuguj (1998), Esgenoopitij (1999-2001), all in violation of treaties. [need more detail here] To very little fanfare or concern from anyone outside the most arcane circles of people who follow Aboriginal rights and anti-fracking protests (although, obviously it did not escape the attention of the provincial government), Chief Arren Sock announced that the Elsipogtog First Nations and the Signitog District Grand Council would be resuming control of all land not privately owned in their territory. Sock said that, being compelled to act to save our waters, lands, and animals from ruin, the First Nations people would be reclaiming responsibility for stewardship of all unoccupied native lands in their territory. This is the land not ceded by the 1761 Peace and Friendship Treaty, land we generally refer to as Crown Land, comprising approximately 48% of New Brunswick. The announcement was made in Rexton, in front of the Irving compound where five thumper trucks were being prevented from leaving by a blockade erected several days before. The response from the provincial government took sixteen days, but it was unambiguous. Beyond this declaration by Chief Sock, it was almost a perfect storm for another incident. This essay wont even cover, except in passing, Canadas resistance to the UNs Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, or our Prime Ministers 2009 G20 statement that: We have no history of colonialism. So we have all the things that many people admire about the great powers but none of the things that threaten or bother them. Two days prior to the events at Rexton, UN Special Reporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples James Anayas visit concluded (a visit the Canadian government had been not permitting him to make for about a year and a half and after three written requests), and his initial report cited what he described as a crisis when it comes to the situation of indigenous peoples of the country. Then, on the day before the raid, came our Prime Ministers Speech from the Throne, in which he paid lip service to Aboriginal people but made the underlying disregard for their sovereignty clear with a bit of colonial utopian imagery of settlers who forged an independent country when none would have otherwise existed. The next morning, the protesters in Rexton woke up to an armed incursion. By now, the particulars of excessive force have been well documented. But there is a more fundamental issue. Reality check: What happened in Rexton on October 17th was an armed incursion into sovereign Miqmaw territory, and, following on Socks announcement, it was a message that clearly indicated to the Miqmaw what would happen if they insisted on exercising of their sovereignty over 48% of New Brunswick. So, how do our governments feel about First Nations sovereignty and land rights? One of the RCMP officers at Rexton that day summed it up quite well when he yelled: Crown land belongs to the government, not the f**king natives! Alward continually confirms his willingness to consult with First Nations about hydraulic fracturing in New Brunswick. However, he has consulted with them, they have said no, but he will not take no for an answer, promising further consultations and profit sharing with First Nations as shale gas development that First Nations have rejected proceeds nevertheless. However, in order to engage in seismic testing, SWN must have the consent of the First Nations people, and they most decidedly do not - and they wont get it, because the short term benefits and long term drawbacks are not in the best interest of those living in New Brunswick seven generations down the line. Recent events have again ignited a debate about hydraulic fracturing, with pros lobbed at those who are against it and cons fired back at those who are for it. The pros and cons of fracking are now irrelevant in New Brunswick. The First Nations people have declared that they are resuming direct control of what us settlers term Crown Land, and they have said no to any fracking on it. End of debate. Or is it? Does the law really matter when those in the right can be so easily demonized? In the mainstream media, when there is not the usual disregard of facts, there is outright contempt for an understanding of modern colonialism and oppression in Canada. We have Rex Murphy commending every one of our recent political leaders for their gallant efforts at treating contemporary Aboriginal issues with the greatest delicacy, while utterly failing to acknowledge that Canadas recent history is rife with examples of treaties with First Nations not being honoured and that the incident at Rexton was a threatening armed incursion on sovereign First Nations land. We have Alward explaining how an imminent threat to public safety was behind the RCMPs decision to raid the protest site, as well as the RCMPs interpretation of this attack as an enforcement of an injunction that has no legal merit. We have sensationalistic images of burning police vehicles and endless repetitions of the Canadian-native-breaking-the-law narrative. Harsh words were spoken. Molotov cocktails were thrown. Six police vehicles were set on fire. When you enter their sovereign territory, that they just recently and defiantly reasserted control over, and point assault rifles that can fire thirty shots in about two seconds at their women (some pregnant), children, and elders, how do expect them to react? It begins what could spiral into a cycle of violence, and no one wants that, least of all the Miqmaw people. So, it behooves our governments (provincial and federal) to resolve the issue of shale gas extraction and the First Nations opposition to it within a recognition of First Nations sovereignty and land rights, especially their recent decision to reclaim this part of Turtle Island (the First Nations name for North America). Either that, or they send in armed men to threaten and weaken, again and again, as they have done so many times before. Canadian colonialism never ended; it is an ongoing process. And New Brunswick is now the focus of a growing resistance against it.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 10:52:16 +0000
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