CPTnet
May 18, 2004
ASUBPEESCHOSEEWAGONG: Displacement and courageous returns
by Lisa Martens
In Chiapas, Mexico, it was high drama - hundreds of Indigenous people
walking hundreds of miles to return to the homes from which armed groups
had violently displaced them.
Here in the Anishnaabe Nation (including Grassy Narrows), when Anishnaabe
women Roberta, Kaaren and Barbara return to the land from which they have
been displaced, it means that they build trapping cabins and trails. Their
return does not make the newspapers.
Other Anishnaabe do not make it home. The father of a friend of mine moved
to the nearby town of Kenora after his displacement and died, perhaps of
alcohol poisoning, in a police holding cell.
In Colombia armed groups have displaced millions from their homes.
Here in the Anishnaabe Nation, the deaths happen more slowly and are
disguised as the victims' fault. Police killed Geronimo, a young Anishnaabe
man, probably intoxicated with alcohol, in August 2003. In Kenora, a town
near Grassy Narrows, another Anishnaabe man, Max Kakegamic, was beaten to
death in 2000. Police charged one person and later released him. The other
person seen at the crime scene, a nephew of one of the investigating
officers, was never arrested. A few days ago, another indigenous man was
nearly beaten nearly to death in Kenora. A gang operates in Kenora who
call themselves the KIB: Kenora Indian Bashers.
In Palestine and Israel, settlers have been occupying Palestinian land for
over 50 years. Instead of giving in to genocide, some Palestinians try to
rebuild bulldozed homes, go to school, and raise their families.
Here, in North and South America, Settlers have occupied Indigenous land for
over 500 years. In the Anishnaabe Nation around the Grassy Narrows area,
the displacement has been going on for over 120 years. Instead of giving in
to genocide, some of the Anishnaabe at Grassy Narrows have slowed and
stopped logging trucks trespassing on Anishnaabe land. They slow the
clear-cutting of the their home.
Instead of giving in to genocide that stretches wider and longer than
clear-cutting, the Anishnaabe in this region
trap
hunt
pray
harvest medicines
harvest wild rice
laugh
snow-mobile
get jobs to support their families
put on community Art Shows
teach their children old and new things
re-build connections to their old community from which they were displaced
grieve, in their way, the occupation of the land
educate their occupiers
plan next steps
and tell stories.
The CPT steering committee supports an on-going project in this region. I
do not know what, precisely, the work will be since the immediate threat of
violence between loggers, police and community members has receded. Whether
we do the work as CPTers or not, it is good to work against our violence,
here.
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