Twas the Moon of Winter time

Effects of Religion in my Territory

By Johnny Hawke ACTION

‘Twas in the moon of wintertime when all the birds had fled That mighty Gitchi Manitou sent angel choirs instead                                                                     Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.                                                                   – Huron Christmas Carol by St Jean De Brebeuf

We are now in the season of celebrating Christmas which is really Capitalism in disguise and at its best. Capitalism has exploited a Christian holiday which in turn is a Dictatorship Religion that has exploited the teachings of a prophet of a man named Jesus Christ. During this season of over indulgence I am reminded of the history of my people and this Traditional Wendat Territory where we now reside in and the influence Religion has played upon the oppression of my people and the similarities our people have with the man named Jesus.

This area is one of many where the Christian Religion was first introduced to Turtle Island. This was the Traditional Territory of the Wendat the Anishinabe Ojibways trade partners and allies. Ojibway lived north of Gerogian Bay and relied heavily on the farming industry of the Wendat (Huron) of this area.

Religion causes Huron to loose their Homelands

Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons was a French Jesuit settlement in Wendake, the land of the Wendat, near modern Midland, Ontario, from 1639 to 1649. It was the first European settlement in what is now the province of Ontario. Eight missionaries from Sainte-Marie were martyred.

Established in 1639 by French Jesuits the mission acted as a centre and base of operations for Jesuit missionaries in the region as they worked amongst the Huron. It also provided an example of a functioning European community to the Huron. The mission was built near the Huron settlement of Quieunonascaranas, led by Chief Auoindaon.

The Jesuits preached the Christian Gospel to the Huron, often adapting the story to local customs and symbols. One of the most famous examples of this was the “Huron Carol, a Christmas hymn written by Jean de Brébeuf. A translated version of this song remains popular in Canadian churches to this day.

Iroquois aggression was on the rise. In Iroquois villages Jesuits sexually molesting young girls in Seneca and Mohawk communities. Iroquois also wanted to dominate the fur trade in the northern lands being persuaded by European Influence. When the Huron accepted the Jesuits and Christianity within their communities they became a target of the Iroquois. The weakened Wendat Nation was little match for the strengthened Iroquois who had used their trading alliances with the Dutch to gain firearms.

Eight of the missionaries St. Jean de Brébeuf, St. Noël Chabanel, St. Antoine Daniel, St. Charles Garnier, St. René Goupil, St. Isaac Jogues, St. Jean de Lalande and St. Gabriel Lallemant (1649) were martyred in the Huron-Iroquois wars. They were burned alive at the stake by Mohawk Warriors.

Owing to the proximity of their deaths to Sainte-Marie, the French recovered the bodies of Brébeuf and Lalemant to be buried at the mission.

In 1649, thousands of Huron refugees and a few Jesuit missionaries from Sainte-Marie among the Hurons took refuge during the winter on what is now Christian Island during the Huron-Iroquois wars. The Jesuits called the island St. Joseph Island. With insufficient food, many of the First Nations people starved during the winter. The island’s occupation by Huron Catholics and Jesuits was the basis for its name of “Christian” Island. Specifically, it was named in honour of the Canadian Martyrs.

The Jesuits and most of the Huron refugees left the island and travelled to Quebec in the summer of 1650. The remaining Huron, along with the surviving remnants of the Petun, an Iroquoian group living at the base of the Niagara Escarpment near present-day Collingwood, left the island in 1651. The Petun had suffered serious losses in Iroquois raids in late 1649 and 1650. Their descendants eventually settled in the Detroit-Windsor area. Some were later forcibly resettled by U.S. authorities in Oklahoma.

Religion affects Anishinabe Way of Life

Christian Island is now inhabited by the Anishinabe Ojibway and Pottowatomi peoples of Beausoleil First Nation. Our ancestors were nomadic, traveling from northern Georgian Bay and the United States around Lakes Huron and Michigan. They forced the Iroqouis back south in retaliation of the attacks on their allies the Huron and attempted take over of the Fur Trade in their northern territories. The Ojibway of this area have been defending this area from the Iroquois, British, USA to recent times Ontario Government in the fight for water at Site 41 Elmvale.

The early Canadian government tried to assimilate the Ojibway into the larger society. They encouraged the Beausoleil Band to give up their nomadic ways and traditions and take up Christianity. We settled at Coldwater in 1834-1842 as part of the Coldwater Narrows Reserve. Later the Anishinabe were displaced to Beausoleil Island in 1842, and still later, were displaced to Christian Island in 1856, where we have remained.

During these times from 1700 to late 1800’s Christianity was introduced to the Anishinabe. The Midewiwwin Society became less relevant and eventually driven under ground. Throughout the oppression of Christianity Anishinabe ways of thinking became polluted.

Our People have also been taken away by the Unite and Cathloc Churches put in Residential Schools, stripped of their culture, languages and sexually abused.

Mohawk Warrior Society Louis Hall has this to say on Jesus and others, “Ancients like Socrates, Confucius, Chrishna, Zoroaster, a total of 16 “crucified” saviors were all credited with virgin births. This doesn’t add to their lustre but deducts from it as they tend to be regarded as myths by modern, learned sophisticates.

To say that any historic hero was virgin born and performed supernatural activities is to legendize them and make them unto myths, no service to their names and deeds, but to cast doubts that they ever lived. Deganawidah was born, lived and died and left behind a great instrument of peace as yet unappreciated by a criminal and ignorant mankind.” Louis Hall

Conclusion

Jesus was a man whose teachings were exploited for the gains of a Capitalist Regime, Religion and Government. The man was a rebel who challenged the status quo of the time. Deganiwida was just a man and his teachings were exploited by Capitalist Colonials who made the USA.  Jesus and us Anishinabe have a lot in common however Christianity is something that has been used to oppress us and take our lands and divide us and we have been crucified in the name of Jesus many a times.

Fuck Christmas, Jesus would Rebel against the Status Quo, Smash Capitalism

“Religion is Ego disguised as Humility” – Bill Maher

A Warrior Manifesto

By Louis Karoniaktajah  Hall, Mohawk Warrior Society

Man is born to be free. He has the right to live. He has the right to his own nationality. No one has the right to take away his nationality. No one has the right to force him to join another nation. Every nation has the right to exist and to an area of land for its territory where it can exercise its own system of government and society according to its customs and traditions.

In the Iroquois way, every man is a warrior – lately, the girls and even older women have demanded instructions in the arts of the warriors, handling guns, etc. They mean to have a part of any future armed struggles for survival. As a youth, every Iroquois male is taught the arts of war, so that he’ll be ready to defend his country and his people. This makes it unnecessary for the Iroquois government to have an expensive War Department with its high salaried military echelon of officers of various degrees and ranks. It makes a standing army unnecessary who have nothing to do but sit around waiting for an order to go somewhere and kill some people. After a young Iroquois learns the skills of war, his teacher sends him back to the fields or other occupations.

Every Iroquois is also taught the Great Law so that he’ll know when it is violated. This is necessary because the War Chief and his men are charged with the task of seeing to it that the Great Law is followed which makes every male Iroquois a policeman and it is his duty to stop any crime being committed. There is no need for an expensive police department with a big bunch of men sitting around waiting for a crime to be committed. By the same token every Iroquois is also a fireman, so there’s no need for a fire department.

The Rotiyaner (Chiefs) legislate laws and decide issues in their Council. The War Chief and his men (called Warrior Society by the immigrants from Europe) enforce the Chief’s decisions. The Clan Mothers watch their Chiefs and see to it that no provision of the Great Law is violated. If both the Rotiyaner and the Clan Mothers go against the Great Law or do things which are against the welfare and happiness of the People, the Great Law provides the people have the power to depose them. The power lies with the people, who have to do the fighting and other work to preserve the nation. The Chiefs and Clan Mothers are of the people, elected by the people and are accountable to the people.

It is the function and duty of the Mohawk Warrior Society to defend and protect the people of the Mohawk Nation. Due to the genocidal assimilation policy of Canada, United States and other European governments in America, who mean to speed up the extinction of the Indian race, the Warrior Society has the option to proclaim to the world that the Warriors shall resist by every means, any and all motions to destroy and erase the Mohawk Nation from the face of the earth and that it shall stand on its human rights to exist as a nation, which rights are also guaranteed to all nations of the world by the United Nations. The proposed parliamentary legislation in Canada and the Congressional legislation in the United States to turn Indian lands into municipalities and counties, are acts of aggression against the Indians.

Since it means the oblivion of the Indian race, the destruction of a distinct people, it is also an act of war. The moment the legislation are enforced, the government thereupon declares war on the Indians. It follows that the Indians shall fight . It’s a bad time for the white race in America to start trouble with the Indians. White scientists have created monsters which can be turned against their own people. A condition has developed when even a handful of Indians can cause havoc and create scenes of desolation from one end of the continent to the other. The white man in America has mighty fire power but as a chain is as strong as its weakest link, the white man’s chain of defense has might weak links.

During peacetime and careless moments, the Mohawk Territory was stolen from the Mohawk Nation. This manifesto includes a map of the Ganienkeh (Mohawk) Territory in Canada and the United States. It includes islands in the St. Lawrence River including the Island of Montreal. We, the Mohawk Warrior Society, do now demand that the Mohawk Territory be restored to the Mohawk Nation. Ours is the strongest naturally legal right known to man, aboriginal right.

The Mohawk Nation entertains no such ideas as becoming extinct but has decided it’s time to take back what’s ours and to exercise our rights to have our own government and society on this land of our ancestors, with no interference from any foreign nation or government. The people shall live off the land and the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy known as Gayanerekowa, world’s first national constitution, shall continue as the constitution of the repossessed Mohawk land. The co-op system of economy, a most practical and worthy economic system, used by our ancestors and particularly suited to Indians, shall be used in the repossessed Mohawk Law. We shall grow food on every available acre, keep livestock and preserve the environment. Needed is a lot of land for corn fields, potatoes and other foods, hay fields and grazing land for beef cattle, dairy cattle, horses, buffalo and timber land for building materials. Other native nations of Asia and Africa have regained lost lands and human rights. Germany, Italy and Japan, after being unconditionally conquered in 1945, were given back their lands. They were not put on reservations as were the Indians. It’s too unjust! It is time the Indians in America got the same deal. Canada and the United States law claim to the civilized state and proclaim to be progressive countries. Surely, they can afford to restore some of the stolen areas of this huge land to its rightful owners where they, also, can enjoy the good life, instead of being captive nations. No nation should be so deprived it has to live on reservations under the bootheel of foreign nations. Now that the Indians have the ability not only to make peace but also to destroy the white man’s peace, it is time to require Canada and the United States to render real and true justice to the true owners of this land by restoring some of the stolen lands.

Meanwhile, the governments of Canada and the United States are passing legislation to make Indians extinct via forced assimilation. This legal massacre is without equal. This tyranny is on display in full view of the world. The world is a witness. We shall communicate with every nation on earth and their embassies at the United Nations with a request for foreign relations with the countries contacted, even if only on paper. We shall let the whole world be a witness to the victorious struggle of the Mohawk Nation to regain full attributes of nationhood.

Memo to myself: Quit being a racist

By Drew Hayden Taylor, Windspeaker Columnist

It’s been said that you can’t please everybody. That is true. And as a professional columnist, I have, over the passing years, pleased many, annoyed a few, and downright pissed off a handful.

This column is about that last subsection of the population. There is a person out there named Alexander who is quite miffed with me. According to a posting he placed on my Web site, I am a racist. I was quite surprised to find that out, but then again, who wouldn’t be, excluding those with red necks (not red skins) and white pointed hats and gowns.

But first, some background.

Several months ago, I was on The Next Chapter, a CBC radio program about authors hosted by Shelagh Rogers. The theme of this episode was canoes in Canadian literature. I told one of my favorite stories, about how, when I went white-water canoeing, I discovered the true difference between Native and non-Native people.

Picture a river, and 100-metres downstream is lots and lots of white water and sharp pointy rocks. Now place in that river two canoes, one filled with white people and the other filled with Native people. What does each canoe do? The white canoe starts paddling as fast as they can towards the sharp pointy rocks and turbulent white water. What do the Native people do? They go for pizza. Or they drive further downstream and put the canoe in the calm water, after picking up a pizza, of course.

In reality, portage is not a French word. It’s actually an Aboriginal word that means “Do you know how much I paid for this canoe?” I always considered this a simple and funny story. Alexander did not. He wrote:

“I sincerely demand an apology from you for the racist, ignorant and vile comments you have stated during that interview, directed at European settlers of America. As the definition of racism states that if one derives attributes, differences, and characteristics on the basis of race then the person in question is a racist, and thus Mr. Drew Hayden Taylor due to the fact that you have clearly associated “white people” or “People of the dominant” culture with counter-productivity, and that you have clearly stated that the difference is between white and Native (or red skin), you by definition is a racist…. Anyhow, all I demand is a satisfactory apology for your comments and acknowledgement that they are racist.”

I responded. Very politely, I might add. In reference to his apology, I told him I was sorry that my comments upset him but that was as close to an official apology as I was willing to give. As a humorist and satirist, we have a certain amount of leeway to play with social constructs and political perspectives than most people. Chris Rock and Richard Pryor have said more controversial things about white people then I have and probably ever will.

I also had problems with Alexander’s definition of racism. Admittedly, I am no expert on the subject of racism, so I consulted somebody who was. Alok Mukherjee, chairman of the Toronto Police Services Board, and former acting chief commissioner and vice-chair of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. He is a far smarter Indian than I am on this issue without a doubt.

“For me, racism is an ideology of superiority practiced by the group that sees itself to be superior to an Other on the basis of race. That is to say, skin color, physical features, hair, culture, social status, etc.

The key word is “practiced,” that is to say, the ability or the power to act on the belief of superiority to exclude, diminish, hold back, oppress, deny equal status, etc. to the Other who is considered to be inferior. [Emphasis mine]

Let us reverse the equation. Women sometimes make nasty remarks about men. Are they being sexist? Black people use sarcasm when talking about/to white people. Are they being racist? People with physical disabilities rail against those who see themselves as “normal.” Are they being able-ist? In each of these cases, the criticism, the sarcasm, the fulmination may be an expression of frustration, a critique, anger, helplessness, etc.

A final point. It is a characteristic of dominant group membership that the privilege that comes from such affiliation is not seen or recognized by the member, though the Other is acutely conscious of it.”

So there, Alexander. I am not in a place of privilege, power or superiority. If so, I would surely dress better. So, to quote the words of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr, and the American Indian Movement, I’m rubber, you’re glue etc.