CPTNet
July 24, 2003
ASUBPEESCHOSEEWAGONG UPDATE: July 4-20
During this period the team continued accompaniment of the
Asubpeeschoseewagong community and moved toward a focus on building
connections between Kenora and Grassy Narrows people.
Loggers visited the Grassy Narrows community in three unprecedented visits.
They sought to strike some kind of deal with Band Council members. The Band
Council is the Canadian-legislated governance structure in the community.
Several Band Council members are prominent Blockade leaders on their
personal time. CPTer Jerry Stein was present at a meeting where a local,
small, logging company, Devlin Timber, offered a written proposal to work
with the community and make space for them to do some logging or other
forestry related work. Loggers keep asking, "What exactly do you want?" One
community member responded by saying, "Our principles have been clear for a
hundred years; people just don't want to listen." Members of the community
continue to reiterate that they want clear-cutting to cease on their
traditional lands.
July 4
Over the next week, a freelance photographer, a group of Catholic Sisters
visiting Sister Irene (the school principal), and a couple independent
radio announcers from Toronto, visited the community and the permanent road
blockade at Slant Lake. The visitors and team members made several trips to
large clear-cuts in the area to document the destruction.
July 5
The team spoke with a member of the community who recounted a time in the
past when an angry community man had outwitted 80 provincial police
officers, killing one and wounding another before escaping. Blockade
organizers know their community well and are aware that emotions run high
in this hunting community, but blockaders want actions at the blockade to
be nonviolent. The conversation reminded CPT that the situation here is
fragile.
July 12
Jerry Stein, Jason Brack and Erin Kindy joined a community member in
threshing wild rice from last year's harvest. First, someone danced on a
tarp covering the rice in a pit in the ground to loosen the hulls. Then the
rice was winnowed, danced on again, and finally the remaining hulls were
loosened by hand. The process is very labour-intensive, but community
oriented. This is blueberry season, and numerous community members head out
almost daily to blueberry patches throughout their traditional territory.
In the past, community members moved their homes nearer the berry patches
at this time of year. Now community members take their families and trucks
out into the bush seeking the sweet blue fruits that bears also covet.
Community traditions persist and adapt through time.
Today was the opening of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) gathering in
Edmonton, Alberta. The AFN is the national leadership body for First
Nations across Canada. Several community members attended the gathering,
set up a table about the blockade, and reported high levels of interest
among meeting participants. During the gathering, Phil Fontaine was elected
as the new AFN National Chief. The previous National Chief, Matthew Coon
Come, whom Fontaine defeated in this election, visited the logging blockade
in the winter and supported it. People at Grassy wait to see what stance
Fontaine will take toward the blockade and their land, trapping and timber
rights. Resource issues are prominent for First Nations across Canada, and
Grassy Narrows is known in Aboriginal and environmental circles around the
country.
July 20
In the past two weeks the team continued to deepen church contacts in
Kenora. CPT wants to encourage relationships between people in Kenora and
the Grassy Narrows community. Local people must work together for a
resolution of the deep-seated prejudice and injustice in this region. Jerry
Stein, as a retired Catholic priest, was able to strengthen connections
with the Keewatin Catholic Parish, and Stein and Jessica Phillips shared
about the work of CPT at Asubpeeschoseewagong with a small group of
parishioners on Sunday evening, July 20. Members of the team also shared
Sunday meals with several church-going families and talked about the work
of CPT in Northwest Ontario. Many Kenora residents know little about the
issues affecting First Nations here, beyond the occasional articles in
local papers that cover the logging road blockades of the Grassy Narrows
community.
Team members during this period were: Tricia Brown, Newberg, OR; Erin
Kindy, Tiskilwa, IL; Jessica Phillips, Eldora, CO; Matt Schaaf, Winnipeg,
MB; Jerry Stein, Nazareth, TX and team intern Jason Brack, Ft. Collins, CO.
__________________
To stop receiving messages from CPTNET on MennoLink, send a message with
only the word, "suspend," in the body to server@MennoLink.org.
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative among Mennonite and Church of
the Brethren congregations and Friends Meetings that supports violence
reduction efforts around the world. Contact CPT, POB 6508 Chicago, IL
60680; Telephone: 773-277-0253 Fax: 773-277-0291.
To receive news or discussion of CPT issues by e-mail, fill out the form
found on our WEB page at http://www.cpt.org/subscribe.php
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Aug 02 2003 - 22:28:35 EDT