On March 22nd, members of the Mohawk Nation blocked access to a gravel quarry located in the Bay of Quinte region, in Tyendinaga territory just outside of Belleville in Southeast Ontario. At the heart of the dispute is a real estate development project on land that is the subject of negotiations between the local Band Council and the federal government.

The only problem is that even if the government recognizes the claims of the Mohawk Nation on this territory, the negotiations have already been trampled upon for years and made almost irrelevant. Throughout the entire negotiation process, developers continue to operate on Mohawk territory, such as in the case of this gravel quarry.

After several days of the blockade, the Mohawks decided to deal a larger blow by paralyzing the rail line that links the cities of Kingston and Toronto, for over 30 hours. It effectively put a halt on the transportation of freight by Canadian National Railways, to the dismay of the Canadian bourgeoisie.

The Canadian state's response was quick: injunction against the demonstrators, police intervention, and an outrageous and racist media blitz against those that dared to "disrupt the functioning of the Canadian economy" (although not a single soul was interested in the economic conditions of the First Nations...).

The right-wing attacks quickly centered on Shawn Brant, an activist who has become a spokesperson for the demonstrators. He is known throughout Ontario, by thousands of poor and homeless people in Toronto, whom he defended while campaigning with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (or OCAP). He is one of the unfortunately rare activists who work for the unity of all the oppressed people living on "Canadian" territory, and because of his outspokenness, he became the target of choice for the bourgeoisie.

On May 3rd, Shawn Brant was brought with hands and feet cuffed before an Ontario Court-a foreign court to the Mohawk Nation-to face such charges as mischief, disobeying a court order and breaching court conditions. It comes as no surprise that the decision to carry out criminal proceedings against Shawn Brant were personally instigated by Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police (O.P.P.) Julian Fantino (also known as "Little Mussolini").

As underlined in the words of Kahentinetha Horn, a well-known Mohawk activist (whose comments are available at www.mohawknationnews.com), the colonial state is incredibly eager to launch criminal charges on members of the Mohawk Nation, while ignoring those who were and are responsible for the genocide of the indigenous peoples, the take-over of indigenous land, and the destruction of their environment. After all, Canada stalled on investigations into pedophiles and child abusers in state-run residential schools that served as forced residences for thousands of Native children, resuming them only after the child abusers had died. And authorities still continue to keep the matter silent, refusing to complete the investigations and compensate the victims, possibly waiting for them to die also.

Along with the government's criminal action against Shawn Brant, CN has started its own civil procedures against the Band Council of Bay of Quinte, Shawn Brant, and two other Mohawk people, who they claim has cost the railroad giant no less than $108 million in damages for the blockade of the railroad! What right does CN have to demand such a massive compensation, after they have failed to compensate a single Native tells much about the theft of Native land operated by the Canadian bourgeoisie!

This hullabaloo on the judicial scene has something to do with a decision taken by the Assembly of First Nations, who called for a day of action to further rattle the Canadian economy, this June 29th. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of actions, of the same sort being carried out by the Mohawks of Tyendinaga since mid-April, could multiply nation-wide from one end of the country to the other-in other words, everywhere that is inhabited by Natives whose rights were despoiled by the development of Canadian capitalism.

A report recently published by a Senate committee showed that the regular government procedure when replying to Native territorial claims does not work. At best, these "negotiations" are simply a means for the state to stall for time, sometimes indefinitely, before dealing with the problem. At worst, this endless process reinforces the practice of genocide against the Native people.

The indigenous nations are merely using the only means at their disposal to defend themselves and their land against increasing aggression from the state and the bourgeoisie. The so-called "damage" they have done, which amounts to a mere scratch against the economic livelihood of the ruling class, is the only sense of justice they have available.

Self-determination for the First Nations!
Abandon civil and criminal lawsuits against Shawn Brant and defenders of the First Nations!
The resistance of the oppressed will never die!

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First published in Arsenal-Express, No. 7, May 25, 2007.
Arsenal-Express is an electronic newsletter that presents the viewpoints from the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) of Canada.
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