(Updated) Modernized Manifest Destiny, “Ontario pulls out of Caledonia talks”

(Correction: it was/is an American developer, not an American company. Plus, a new character)

I think this is a case in point of why the Neoconservative forces in the U.S. and in Canada de-affirmed the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Final update is at the end.

Manifest Destiny is a thing of the past, but its philosophy didn’t die with the forced relocations. The American company developer Henco attempted to encroach on Native lands in 2006, and I speculate that George W. Bush’s having signed NAFTA treaties which eroded some limits on U.S trade borders enabled Henco to proceed to Canada and attempt stealing Native soil from Six Nations. While it wears only a shadow in sound comparison to the Seige of Wounded Knee 1973, (I think it’s more so comparable now than before; however, I don’t have the expertise about treaties and prior circumstances in Canada to say how much more or less it is. There was a treaty violation here. I’m not sure it’s my place to say more in general) it bears valid comparison in the display of overt racism against the First Nations.

Krisztina Kun, a staff member at SFPIRG, and eyewitness to the standoff remarked that the blockade was characterized just as much by racial tension as it was by disputes over land ownership.
SOURCE
 

Crossposted at Progressive Historians

The American Developer Henco attempted to acquire land in Canada by deceptive means.

SIX NATIONS AREN’T GOING TO BACK DOWN
SOURCE
“Henco Industries, the developer that is squatting on our land, went to court and got an injunction. Judge David Marshall of the Ontario Provincial Court thought he had a fool proof plan to get rid of the people protesting Ontario’s persistent violation of Six Nations Territory. On March 16 (2006) he issued a strange convoluted order. He announced that at 2:00 on Wednesday, March 22nd, the Ontario Provincial Police OPP would come in. They would read the order to us. Anyone who didn’t leave immediately would be arrested and taken to the police station where they would be photographed, fingerprinted and released. He also ordered that anyone who returned would be charged and placed on probation for a year. The trouble is he seemed to have forgotten about due process and the honor of the Crown. He didn’t mention a hearing or a trial. Neither Ontario nor Henco was required to prove they owned the land in question. This may have something to do with the report that Judge Marshall and the Crown Prosecutor, Owen Young, both claim parts of our land themselves.”

So, in addition to Henco deceptively trying to steal Six Nations Territory; the Judge and Crown Prosecuter were as well. This led to a huge protest, where Six Nations came together to stand against the attempted theft of their land by Henco, Marshall, and Young.

In the present case, protest was triggered by the construction of a massive housing subdivision in Caledonia, the Douglas Creek Estates (Henco Industries), of which 10 out of a projected 600 houses have been built. A number of clan mothers and other traditional authorities, based in the confederacy, along with young leaders, sought to challenge a new reality that would seem to finalize a process of encroachment over one of several contested tracts. They called for an encampment on the land, a call accompanied by intense emotion among Indian people of all political persuasions; and many have responded, including warrior groups from reservations across the Northeast.
SOURCE

I heard the radio plea for help from the clan mothers by web surfing, relatively soon after it occurred. Their calls had the sense of urgency that stopped everything else if it was heard. That link was taken down; however, there’s a lot of video footage here:

The Autonomy & Solidarity website is produced and maintained by a network of anti-capitalists who believe that revolutionary transformation will come from the self organization of workers and oppressed people.

  The government knew that the Douglas Creek Estates (DCE) lands were contested when it allowed them to be sold. If the government had developed a comprehensive land claims settlement process and had negotiated in good faith with Six Nations from the start, this problem would never have taken the form it has.
People from Six Nations occupied the Douglas Creek Estates to stop a housing development from being built on contested land. Now that the situation has been escalated, non-natives on and off the Haldimand tract can best resolve this issue by pressuring the Canadian government to establish a fair and comprehensive settlement of all outstanding land claims with Six Nations.
SOURCE

I heard someone say on a video clip that I can’t find again, “The military took care of THEM then; let the military take care of THEM now,” or words to that effect. His racist remarks reminded me of the signs that used to say No Indians Allowed!

The following is no longer up on the web, either. Therefore, it really wasn’t about stealing land to build a Casino after the attempted encroachment and land theft. The reason I sat that, is companies like Henco use land for sacred or religious purposes.

SOURCE
Court rules in favour of casino project

Last updated Jun 23 2006 01:36 PM MDT
CBC News

A court ruling allows the Stoney Nakoda First Nation to begin construction of a casino and hotel west of Calgary.
The court ruling Wednesday has likely put an end to demonstrations by three elders of the band who claimed they owned the land, which they said was sacred and used for ceremonies.
Construction on the casino and hotel development was supposed to start last summer, but the elder women and their families refused to move for survey and construction workers.

Remember all the debates about NAFTA, the “North American Union,” NASCO, and all that fun stuff?

December 21, 2001
The National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII) is pleased that HR 2299, the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 recently signed by President Bush provides funding to establish the safety mandates now required for Mexican trucks to roll under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
SOURCE

Maybe all of that opened a door for Henco to walk onto Six Nations’ Territory.

The agreement will eventually eliminate tariffs currently imposed on US sales in Central America, open up the market for US goods and services and make investment easier.
While it is expected to have limited economic impact for the US, the Bush administration sees the pact as an important element in its mission to spread democracy and combat terror.
Along with the six new nations within Cafta – and the Nafta agreement with Canada and Mexico – the US currently has free-trade agreements with Australia, Chile, Singapore, Jordan and Israel.

SOURCE

To conclude, there’s just one element missing from “Modernized Manifest Destiny” in order for this to be complete: the suppressing and oppressive religious element.

Source

Evangelists divide Huichol communities, cause conflict

Thirteen families have recently moved into Emmanuel after being forcibly run out of the Huichol pueblo of Santa Catarina. Their story is increasingly common across Latin America, where Native pueblos have been targeted for conversion by evangelical sects -and are pushing back with force.

Consisting of a half-dozen small duplexes of brick and yellow stucco, Emmanuel was paid for by state authorities and project residents, with help from a church in nearby Zacatecas. Religious supporters from Minnesota and New York state have come south to help build the cement block church under construction.

The Religious Right, the present generation of philosophical Puritanical descent is still trying to convert, assimilate, and suppress the “savages” and the pagans in my view.
Remind me of the Religious Right’s intentions of philosophical Puritanical descent(Thankyou stormbear).

[Update]

Ontario pulls out of Caledonia talks

A violent confrontation last week in Caledonia, Ont., has prompted the Ontario to pull out of this week’s scheduled negotiations with Six Nations and the federal government.

“Ontario considers last week’s confrontation unacceptable,” Lars Eedy, spokesman for the provincial aboriginal affairs ministry, said Tuesday in a release. “Violence is never a solution to any dispute.”

Developer Sam Gualtieri was hospitalized with face and head injuries Sept. 13 after confronting a group of protesters in one of two houses on the Stirling Street subdivision he is building for his daughters.

I said the following in My Journey To Wounded Knee

I believe this is a core issue of the Siege of Wounded Knee 1973:

Self-defense Summary: Should the law punish those who use force to defend themselves against criminal acts?

To conclude, allow me to explain with an analogy from my personal experience. I had a lawnmower that I was proud of, because I bought it when I first bought my own house. But, one day I heard it being dragged off my back porch after hearing the chain loosened. I put down my book and looked on my back porch; it was gone. I ran to find it, imagining where the thief would have taken it. I found him pulling it in broad daylight down the street, while I was running. Now, I’m not foolish. I looked to see if he had any weapons or anything, deciding I could go for his knees first if he refused to return it. I yelled about 15 yards away from him after looking for possible witnesses, “Hey! You know, it’s funny…that looks exactly like the lawn mower that was just on my back porch.” “Oh, is it?” He said. He continued, “I think it is.” “You don’t mind if I take that back from you, now do you?” I angrily said. “Not at all,” he replied. I said, “I didn’t think so,” while I grabbed it back from him and stomped back home. Funny thing is, the police said I was foolish and they couldn’t do anything, since I got my lawnmower back. Did I have a right to do what I did? What if he had tried to come into my home and I used deadly force? I don’t own a weapon, but the kitchen is very close by.

So, the Neoconservative forces in the U.S. and in Canada who de-affirmed the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples severely “mind” when those Indigenous Peoples try to keep the land that was stolen and promised to be returned one aloof day. If they kept their promises today – there wouldn’t be these types of conflicts.

A double standard is operating. When the thirteen “United Colonies” fought for Independence even before the U.S. became a country from Great Britain, it was a fight for Independence, but when Indigenous Peoples fight and strive for theirs…it’s impeding progress, or hubris to that effect. 

I am not making a judgment as to what First Nations should do or should not have done; however, I would like to offer some general information based on some historical analysis. If one warrior had been present at the Sand Creek Massacre, I dare say it would not have been accurately reclassified from a “battle.” Everyone knows that Washita was a massacre; it just hasn’t been reclassified as such. Why? Because of the eleven warriors who defended themselves and their people, who weren’t normally at Black Kettle’s village (as the rationalization seems to go). So, the U.S. government continued to punish commit genocide against the American Indian until the last Massacre at Wounded Knee.

The feelings and actions were totally justified after the Sand Creek Massacre.

Dee Brown. “Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.” p. 94:

“The white man has taken our country, killed all of our children. Now no peace. We want to go meet our families in the spirit land. We loved the whites until we found out they lied to us, and robbed us of what we had. We have raised the battle ax until death.”(1)

And, one thing they did not have then that is available now is instant communication. There is the internet, there are telephones, there are lobbying groups that lobby for American Indian vital issues. I am not pretending to have the answer, but what I do know are two things.

First, regardless of whether or not peaceful negations were strived for or defensive war was used, they were going to steal the land and exterminate them regardless.  Trusting was a great liability. Also, Geronimo considered surrendering a great mistake. Second, is if the answer is not found and implemented soon and very soon indeed, George W. Bush and the Neoconservative forces in the U.S. and in Canada who de-affirmed the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples are going to finish what Custer started in the sacred Black Hills.

When does it end?

“Judge denies Stay”
“Drilling to continue”

Powertech, a Canadian mining company, began drilling uranium exploratory wells in the Dewey Burdock area northwest of Edgemont a few weeks despite the approval of their permit being appealed in court.

Black Hills Announces Additional Texas Pipeline Acquisition

Rapid City, SD – Black Hills Energy, Inc., the integrated energy subsidiary of Black Hills Corporation today announced the purchase of the assets of the Kilgore to Houston Pipeline System from Equilon Pipeline Company, LLC. The pipeline will be operated by the Company’s Houston-based oil pipeline and transportation company, Black Hills Operating Company, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Black Hills Energy Resources, Inc.

The Kilgore pipeline transports crude oil from the Kilgore, TX region south to Houston, TX, which is the transfer point to connecting carriers via the Oiltanking Houston terminal facilities. The 10-inch pipeline is approximately 190 miles long and has a capacity of approximately 35,000 barrels per day for sweet and 23,000 barrels per day for sour type crude oil. In addition, the Kilgore system has approximately 400,000 barrels of crude oil storage at Kilgore and 375,000 barrels of storage at the Texoma Tank Farm located in Longview, TX. These storage facilities will eventually be interchangeable between the two tank farms.

Project OVERVIEW

The Keystone Oil Pipeline (Keystone) is a proposed 2,969 kilometre (1,845 mile) pipeline with an initial nominal capacity to transport approximately 435,000 barrels per day of crude oil from Hardisty, Alberta, to U.S. Midwest markets at Wood River and Patoka, Illinois.

– snip –

The commercial commitments support the expansion of the Keystone Pipeline to a nominal capacity of approximately 590,000 barrels per day and will involve the construction of a 473-kilometre (294-mile) extension of the U.S. portion of the pipeline from the Nebraska/Kansas border to a hub near Cushing, Oklahoma. The expansion and extension target in-service date is fourth quarter 2010.

The total length of the proposed Keystone Pipeline is 1,845 miles (2,969 kilometres).
o Approximately 1,078 miles (1,735 kilometres) of new pipeline will be constructed in the U.S.
o The Canadian portion of the proposed project includes the construction of approximately 230 miles (370 kilometres) of new pipeline and the conversion of approximately 537 miles (864 kilometres) of existing TransCanada pipeline from natural gas to crude oil transmission.

When does it end?

Add to all of that the fact that theCanadian company has the legal right to condemn land for a crude-oil pipeline through the eastern part of the state (South Dakota in this case) – and presto!

Now you know why the Neoconservative forces in the U.S. and in Canada who de-affirmed the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples didn’t want to sign the Declaration.

If I remember correctly, “Vaulting ambition” was Macbeth’s downfall.

Macbeth’s castle. Hautboys and torches.

That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur

To prick the sides of my intent, but only

Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself

And falls on the other.

Enough said.