AKANONHSTÁTON NE IETHINISTÉNHA OHÓNSTA (PROTECTING MOTHER EARTH) CAPACITY BUILDING FOR KANEHSATÀ:KE

On December 6 & 7, 2014 a two day information session on tar sands and pipelines resistance titled “AKANONHSTÁTON NEIETHINISTÉNHA OHÓNSTA (PROTECTING MOTHER EARTH) CAPACITY BUILDING FORKANEHSATÀ:KE” was organized by community organizer and Indigenous rights activist Ellen Gabriel and a local organizing committee with the support of the Indigenous tar sands campaign. Invitations were sent out to Kahnawake Nation and to the local community of Kanehsatà:ke Nation. Invited speakers included Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign veterans: Eriel Deranger (Dene) communications manager of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations, Melina Lubicon Massimo (Lubicon Cree) energy and climate campaigner with Greenpeace, Dallas Goldtooth (Dakota) of the Indigenous Environmental Network- KXL campaign, Heather Milton Lightning (Cree, Nakota, Blackfoot, Ojibway) of the Ruckas Society and Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign and Ben Powless (Mohawk) of Ecology Ottawa’s #EnergyEast campaign. The following is the declaration that came out of the meeting including two videos documenting the presentations and the closing actions in Oka Park.

DECLARATION BY THE Kanien’kehà:ka Kanehsatà:ke Territory December 6th & 7th, 2014 Kanehsatà:ke Kanien’kehà:ka Territory

We the Kanien’kehà:ka people of Kanehsatà:ke are gathered here today to assert our authority and jurisdiction upon our un-ceded traditional. Settlers call this part of Kanehsatà:ke “Parc Nationale d’Oka”, however we have never surrendered our rights to our ancestral lands and resources. We are here today to remind the Government of Canada, Quebec and the authorities of this fact. Kanehsatà:ke existed long before Europeans arrived in the Americas and is the oldest Kanien’kehá:ka community, part of the Iroquois Confederacy.

We call upon Canada and Quebec to STOP their collusion to defraud the Kanien’kehá:ka of Kanehsatà:ke of their lands, territory and resources. We oppose the illegal theft and appropriation ofour lands and resources to third party interests such as Gazoduc, TransCanada, Enbridge and otherdevelopers. Canada continues to defraud the Kanien’kehá:ka and other Indigenous peoples of our lands, territories and resources by outlawing our traditional form of governance; the Longhouse/ Haudenosaunee, who have been forbidden from negotiating with Canada and its provinces. Consequently, Canada and all Crown actors continue to appropriate Kanien’kehà:ka lands through coercion and oppressive colonial laws, without our Free Prior and Informed Consent causing further dispossession and alienation from our traditional lands and resources.

The continued dispossession of Onkwehón:we Peoples – Indigenous Peoples, through appropriation of our land by Canada and Quebec for unauthorized development is unacceptable. The Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawks) of Kanehsatà:ke have for many generations, informed the government of Canada that it can no longer tolerate the delay in settling our long standing historical grievances.

Resource extraction and their accompanying pipeline by companies like TransCanada, Enbridge, Gazoduc and condo development by GDB Construction violate the land rights of the Kanehsatà:ke Mohawks and threaten the health of the environment. This past year has witnessed various environmental catastrophes like pipeline bursts, most recently on the Athabasca River, the July 2013 Lac Mégantic railway catastrophy etc, validating our concerns that extractive industries and their related activities threaten the safety and well being of All our Relations.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva: “In its prevailing form, the model for advancing with natural resource extraction within the territories of indigenous peoples appears to run counter to the self-determination of indigenous peoples in the political, social and economic spheres.”

Onkwehón:we – Indigenous peoples rights are protected under various human rights instruments and norms, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We call upon Canada and Quebec to honour its obligations to the UN Charter and all other various human rights instruments within the UN which promote and protect the human rights of Indigenous peoples.

Our goal is to preserve, promote and protect Mother Earth for present and future generations. Development must be sustainable and leave the environment as healthy and prosperous as when it begins.

According to our customary laws, it is the women who are vested with the title and custody of the land, culture and people. As well, it is the obligation of the men to protect the people. Resolving our longstanding historical grievances must follow our customary laws and be based upon a gender balanced discussions. The government of Canada, provinces and third parties must respect these customary laws of the Haudenosaunee people or we will never resolve these issues. As Haudenosaunee with the right to self-determination, we are obliged under our customary laws to ensure that we uphold this sacred trust and right to protect our lands, resources, peoples and all our relations.

The reiteration of our actions in reminding Canada and its provinces of our rights and authority is a duty and obligation we must maintain for the present generation and for those who are not yet born.

Skén:nen – in peace
Kanehsatà:ke Kanien’kehà:ka Onkweshón:’a

Ekosi Maha
Clayton Thomas-Muller
@CreeClayton

Social Media:

Kanehsatake Declaration Against TransCanada’s Energy East Pipeline:

Members of the Kanehsatake community assert their land rights at so-called Parc National D’Oka andmake a declaration against TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline project.

Akanonhstáton ne Iethinisténha Ohónsta (protecting Mother Earth) Guest Speakers Highlights:

Akanonhstáton ne Iethinisténha Ohónsta (protecting Mother Earth) guest speaker highlights discusssome of the critical issues of tar sands extraction and it’s infrastructure as well as the Indigenous resistance to these projects.

Dec 13, 2014 - Declaration of Kanehsatake NO Energy East!