DISROBING OF THE MODERN SMALL POX BLANKETS:

Dismantling Colonial Capitalist Institutions    within our Anishinabek Society

BY: Johnny Hawke     ACTION

Everything in the “White Mans” World is centered upon Capitalism, whether in his Governance, Religion, Education, Economy, Medicare, Welfare, Media, Judicial, or Military, each institution is structured to benefit the Capitalist system which has only contributed to the destruction of the Earth and its  Peoples.                                                                                                                                                                    The White Man has infected us with Capitalism by disguising his institutions with our cultural symbols and placing them within our communities so he no longer has to kill us out in the open but rather we destroy ourselves internally. These institutions are the modern day Smallpox blankets in which we need to disrobe of as quickly as we can, replacing them with our own socio political institutions in order for us to remain as Anishinabe.                                                                                                                                                                                     The Indian Act, Reserves, Chief and Councils, Aboriginal Policing, Aboriginal Self-Government, Economic Development, Social Services, Aboriginal Child Welfare, etc. are painted to look like our own institutions which exploit our cultural symbols so we are fooled into believing that these things belong to us. Underneath they are still colonial and benefit only the “white man” for his capitalist agenda.

When institutions, agreements, organizations are dressed up to look “Aboriginal” we tend to think we are gaining a little bit more authority back to govern ourselves but really it is just the Self Administration of our own Extermination. These things are still “white” even though you may see a thunderbird pasted on a police vehicle or a medicine wheel on an Aboriginal Children’s Aid organization.

Red Tomahawk (left) was one of 43 men assigned to seize Sitting Bull, he took command and shot Sitting Bull in the back of the head.

Some of our people are fooled by these elaborate disguises, some have even called Aboriginal Police our modern day Warriors but little do they know that our people are over represented in the justice system and correctional institutions as a result of these “modern day Warriors” who impose and defend a foreign justice system. Also we like to think Chief and Council represent us but under the illegal Indian Act they represent and are only accountable to the “White Man”

Question: Would it make sense to create our own beer and slap a logo of a sweatlodge on it and sell it to our people so only individuals and the government can profit?

Why are we allowing the same thing to happen in other ways?

EXPOSING THE WOLVES IN SHEEPS CLOTHES “Disguising a Turkey as an Eagle using Eagle feathers doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a Turkey, which is a bird that can’t fly, don’t get fooled” – John Hawke

First Nations: Everything enforced in the Indian Act is illegal including the elected Chief and Council system because it is in breach of the Canadian Constitution, Royal Proclamation, the Two Row Wampum, 1764 Niagra Covenant Chain Belt and the Treaties which acknowledge our title to our Lands and Rights including the Right to our own form of Self Government.

AFN/Chiefs/Union of Ontario Indians: These types of Chiefs organizations claim to represent their People however the leadership is elected only by Chiefs and they are funded by the Government. They want to embrace Capitalism over our own Traditional Indigenous Economic Systems so in turn they become hypocrites in advocating for our Culture, Rights, Treaties and Sovereignty. You can’t advocate for these things and then not put them to use for what they encompass and teach. They advocate and photo opt waiting on the Government to acknowledge our Sovereignty while real Sovereign Nations like the Six Nations Confederacy led by Clan Mothers, Hereditary Chiefs and Warrior Societies are taking action instead of waiting on the Government to do it for them.

Anishinabek Police Service: These officers are enforcing Canadian Laws in our own Community which breaches our Right to be a Sovereign Nation with our own laws.  Anishinabek Clan system is responsible for correcting inappropriate behaviors therefore there is no need for lawyers, judges, jails in which we become a product  set up only to benefit the Capitalist system.

Aboriginal Economic Development: First Nations are now

collaborating with Mining, Gas, Oil, Mineral and Forestry Companies to extract resources on their Traditional Territories becoming sell-outs to the very foundation of what makes them “First Nations.”   White man still controls these businesses.   We have our own Anishinabe Economic systems based on common ownership and cooperative management of the means of production and allocation of resources which works in harmony with the Earth. Remember only after all the fish are gone then you will know you can’t eat money.  We cannot remain as Anishinabe with Anishinabe principles and values if we embrace Capitalism. Either Capitalism will fail or being Anishinabe will fail.

Aboriginal Social Services: Social Service Agreements that are administered by First Nations create dependency on the state, which is the institution that protects Capitalism. It is Capitalism that creates poverty conditions which requires our society to implement these Social Service Programs. It also diverts the working class and people living in poverty from uprising and replacing the Capitalist Society to a Socialist Society.

Aboriginal Child Welfare: Some feel this institution is a modernization of Residential Schools. It removes Aboriginal children from their families, communities and cultures, and places them in mainstream society. Child welfare workers removed Aboriginal children from their families and communities because they feel the best homes for the children are not Aboriginal homes.

Aboriginal Self Government: Portrayed as some form of sovereignty & nationhood, self-government is the exact opposite. It transforms band councils into municipal governments under provincial & federal control. Reserve lands become fee simple property that can be bought & sold on the free market.

It’s the same goal as the 1876 Indian Act and the 1969 White Paper: the legal, political & economic assimilation of Indigenous peoples into Canada. Some bands are already well advanced in their self-government deals, including the Nisga’a, Sechelt, Westbank, Nunavut, James Bay Cree & Inuit, as well as the Gwich’in & other Yukon bands. In this way, self-government will really be the self-administration of our own oppression.

Aboriginal Healing and Wellness Strategy: Healing Centers, Councilors and Social Workers and the work they do are based on Indigenous Culture which helps to “heal” individuals. This is very much needed but once a person becomes “healed” they go back into their impoverished communities and continue destructive behaviors as a result of social conditions which stem from capitalism. The Funding of this strategy is administered and depended on by Government sources. Social workers make a living off of “Aboriginal Misery” and the core issues are not being “healed” which makes our people again a product for the Capitalist system.

CONCLUSION:

With our expectation of receiving our Rights and Sovereignty and Land Claim Settlements from the Government and the dependency we have on Colonial Capitalist Institutions enforced under the Indian Act  we have become extremely passive and disillusioned to get these things back for ourselves. Just because we are “Aboriginal” we expect these services and for the Government to respect our Nation to Nation agreements. The Government will never relinquish these things and they have made sure of that because they have made us to comfortable to fight for what is ours. That time is now over.

We have our own Clan Governance system that can replace these Institutions. However if our people truly want our Sovereignty then it requires the individual to become responsible for participating in our own Anishinabe Governance. The time of depending on Cops, Welfare, Chief and Council etc is done, we need to organize immediately and dismantle these institutions replacing them with Anishinabe Institutions. Those who choose other wise can assimilate into Canadian Society and give the last bit of Anishinabe they have left to the White man which is their Brown skin and clear the way for the rest of us who choose to be who we really are.

The time of being Hypocrites is over it is now time to walk our talk.  Some of us are the incarnate of our ancestors and we are rising up to expose these frauds and replace them with Truth.

“I am a red man. If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and plans, in my heart he put other and different desires. Each man is good in his sight. It is not necessary for Eagles to be Crows. We are poor but we are free. No white man controls our footsteps. If we must die, we die defending our rights.”                                                                                                                                                                                – Sitting Bull Hunkpapa Sioux

All Sell Outs Get the Hell Out

By Zig-Zag Warrior Publications

The National Indian Brotherhood which is now known as the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) came from Grassroots beginnings of radical Indians but is now a Govt Funded Bureaucratic organization where only INAC Band Chiefs vote to elect a National Chief.  It claims to be the national representative of Indigenous peoples across Canada, one that fights for our title & rights. In reality, it is a state-funded organization comprised of Indian Act band council chiefs, who act as neocolonial agents in the interests of government & corporations.

The Role of Collaborator Chiefs Canada’s control over Natives has taken many forms including police & military violence, churches, Residential Schools & Indian Agents. Today chiefs & councilors acting as collaborators have become a vital part of the colonial regime’s ability to control Native peoples.

Colonialism always prefers to deal with collaborator chiefs, who can more effectively control their people than can direct government agencies. This is most often done by setting up puppet governments comprised of Native collaborators.

The state gives its full support and recognizes only them as the legitimate representatives of the colonized. It is a common practice of colonial powers historically and in Asia, Africa & South America. It is sometimes referred to as neocolonialism

These chiefs serve to pacify & confuse Natives appearing to fight for rights & title when in reality they are working right along with the government & corporations. Many are themselves politicians, businessmen and lawyers, who gain wealth, status & power from the colonial system. This involves acting as a legal agent (i.e as a band council or political organization) on behalf of Natives, legalizing the theft & exploitation of our ancestral territories.

By helping government impose its policies & strategies on Natives, these types of collaborators aid in the assimilation of their own people.

Assimilation of First Nations In 1969, many chiefs & councilors opposed abolishing the Indian Act they helped mobilize thousands of Natives into struggle against the ‘White Paper’. Today many claim it is an obstacle to economic development and should be scrapped.

Already bands have signed agreements that remove them from the authority of the Indian Act (i.e., self-government & modem-day treaties).

What’s changed? Since the 1960s tens of thousands of Natives have passed through colleges & universities. Many were trained in business, administration, or law, skills which were useful for their careers in the Indian Act system as chiefs, councilors, or clerks. During the same time, Indian Agents were phased out and control over local governance was transferred to the band council itself.

Today, band councils handle multi-million dollar budgets & are involved in many diverse businesses, including logging, fishing, mining, airlines, garbage clumps, oil & gas, etc. In many cases, they have entered into partnerships with transnational corporations. This development has only’ been possible through their assimilation into the colonial society (which they seek to perpetuate upon their own people).

The assimilation of chiefs & councilors is not hard to see: business suits, golf tournaments, fancy hotels, etc are all signs of corporate culture & reflect the real interests of the Aboriginal business elite. In order for them to achieve even greater wealth, status &, power, they promote the assimilation of their own people into the capitalist economic system as slaves for the corporations.

Self-Government Today band councils & their political organizations (i.e., the AFN, First Nations Summit, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, etc.) are selling away our lands & resources as part of self-government or modem-day treaty negotiations. They are surrendering our rights & title through their constant erosion in these negotiations & agreements (which always recognize the ultimate power and authority of Canada, its provinces, and its constitution)

Portrayed as some form of sovereignty & nationhood, self-government is the exact opposite. It transforms band councils into municipal governments under provincial &·federal control. Reserve lands become fee simple property that can be bought & sold on the free market.  As part of self-government, bands are expected to attain economic independence & the ability to raise their own revenue.

This is accomplished by giving them greater legal and economic capacity to sell or lease land, set up partnerships with corporations (i.e., logging, oil & gas, mining), exploit natural resources, impose taxation, etc.

All of this involves significant changes in legal codes & political administration. For this reason new laws on First Nations governance, financial accountability, etc. are now being enacted, which are designed to facilitate the expansion of band councils to municipal governments.

Sound familiar? It should. It’s the same goal as the 1876 Indian Act and the 1969 White Paper: the legal, political & economic assimilation of Indigenous peoples into Canada.

Some bands are already well advanced in their self-government deals, including the Nisga’a, Sechelt, Westbank, Nunavut, James Bay Cree & Inuit, as well as theGwich’in & other Yukon bands.

Money ~ Economic Development High levels of poverty, unemployment & social dysfunction among Indigenous peoples are used by the state corporations & the Aboriginal business elite to promote ever-greater corporate invasion of our territories under the guise of ‘economic development’.  The solution we are told is money.  The more the better. But is that really true?

In Alberta during the 1970s, large deposits of oil & gas began to be exploited by energy corporations. In some cases, they made deals with Chiefs to drill on reserve lands, providing royalties to bands. By the early 1980s, some bands were receiving millions of dollars annually from the corporations.

Far from alleviating the problems in these communities this money served to create new problems. In Hobbema near Edmonton, a rash of suicides made this area known for having the country’s highest suicide rates in the mid-80s. Drugs & alcoholism, division and internal violence increased; by the late 1990s, Hobbema was known for its gang violence, including robberies, drug dealing, assaults & killings.

On the other hand, the Lubicon Cree in northern Alberta were, until the 1970s; largely self-sufficient. Some 80-90% ‘of the community were self-reliant, relying largely on hunting, trapping & fishing.

This all changed in the ’70s, when energy corporations built roads into the north & began operations. By the mid-80s, the Lubicon were 90% dependent on social assistance.

They were unable to rely on traditional food gathering methods as most of the wildlife had been forced out of their hunting areas by industrial logging, oil & gas drilling, road-building, etc. They were also sick & dying, with high rates of disease & suicide.

Clearly, economic development is not the solution. Based largely on resource exploitation or some form of industrial activity, economic development always has a negative social & ecological impact. Money can’t solve problems that don’t arise from poverty. The severe social dysfunction affecting our communities-is drug & alcohol abuse, suicide, imprisonment, disease, etc.

It may be compounded by poverty, but are not simply the result of a lack of money. Instead they are the direct result of colonialism & genocide. This includes not only the Indian Act system & Residential Schools but also the ongoing dispossession of our ancestral lands & their destruction through economic development.

These factors lead to loss of culture & identity, which contributes to social dysfunction & makes Natives vulnerable to assimilation.

Conclusion In the context of colonialism, there are no legitimate representatives of our peoples on any regional, national or international level. The AFN & band councils are illegitimate entities existing only through the Indian Act and state funding, both of which are the result of colonization (a crime under international law). The main function of the AFN is to assist in developing & implementing government policies on a national level. Without groups such as the AFN, Canada would have far greater difficulty organizing its colonial system. Without the band councils it would have far greater trouble maintaining its colonial system.

First Nation in crisis says feds not doing enough

Eabametoong First Nation seen here

OTTAWA — An Ontario First Nations community that declared a state of emergency recently over growing youth crime says the federal government is not doing enough to help.

The Eabametoong First Nation, also known as Fort Hope, said Wednesday that assistance efforts from Ottawa have so far fallen short.

The comments follow visits to the reserve — more than 200 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont., and accessible only by plane — by officials from Indian and Northern Affairs and Health Canada on Friday. The First Nation had one day earlier also hosted Sharon Johnston, wife of Gov. Gen. David Johnston, and Ruth Ann Onley, wife of Ontario Lt.-Gov. David Onley.

“We are very appreciative of the support that the federal government has provided thus far, but we are still left with the impression that the government is not taking our state of emergency seriously,” Eabametoong Chief Lewis Nate said in a statement.

The 1,200-person native community this year has seen three homicides, about 50 arsons and various cases of animal mutilation.

A lack of ministerial representation in last Friday’s meetings with the federal departments and no public acknowledgment of the situation from Prime Minister Stephen Harper are among the issues singled out by the First Nation in Wednesday’s statement.

The federal government has said, in response to the Eabametoong’s crisis, it would provide $400,000 in funding, including $200,000 for repairs to a school that was subject to arson; $25,000 for emergency equipment and $50,000 to pay for security personnel.

But according to Nate, that’s not enough.

“Help is trickling into the community, but we need long-term support,” he said. “For our community to start healing, we need counselling for our people, we need a safe place for detox to address the drug epidemic.”

A spokesperson for Indian Affairs said the department takes the First Nation’s concerns “very seriously” and officials were “committed to visiting the community again.”

Health Canada, meanwhile, said it “continues to work with the community . . . to put in place programs and expertise to help the community implement its action plan.”