We
can’t think of anyone who would have a motivation for doing this.
[“Canada’s “Indian Affairs†financed war machine to attack Mohawks on
Jan. 12, 2004†– Jan. 27, 2008].
We know that the Canadian government is riddled with
corruption. They aren’t as careful to cover their tracks because they
don’t see us as people. They think we are powerless, have no voice and
are blind. They have secret meeting about us. We have no rights.
They can plan to deprive us or even kill us.
The people
written about are objecting to the nicknames we gave them, such as
“ambulance chaser†and “turn coatâ€. They are not denying the factual
substance of the information found in the documents we reviewed. None
have expressed any concern for those who are suffering from poverty,
poor health, inferior education and unemployment because they are
withholding or diverting our funds.
None have called for an
investigation. No criminal charges have been laid. This proves that
Canada does not live by the rule of law. To them, as long as something
is authorized by someone higher up, it’s legal even if it’s in blatant
violation of their legal mandate set out for them by the laws passed by
Parliament.
Back in 1978 when I was working for Indian Affairs
in Ottawa, the Assistant Deputy Minister, Cam Mackie, had a Christmas
party in his swank spacious office on the 21st floor. No Indians were
invited. A fellow non-native employee invited me to go up there. Cam
Mackie was walking around wearing a t-shirt with the message, “Let’s
have an Indian Affairâ€. Honest to goodness!
It was supposed
to be a joke. Just reading it felt like a knife right in my gut. I
was terrified for the future of my three little girls. How could I
protect them as a single mother and a native woman?
“You are disgustingâ€, I said and went home to protect my little
ones.
My fear was real. Indigenous women are still being victimized. 500
are missing and not investigated. Everyone knew that it was open
season on young native girls like Betty Osborne who had been raped and
killed by four non-native young men. Everyone in the community knew.
Nobody did a thing. It went unpunished for almost 20 years. Here was
sanction of the abuse of Indigenous people from the highest level.
Closer
to hand, it was open season on young native boys. Kevin White, a Cree,
was dying of AIDS contracted through association with Indian Affairs
and high government homosexuals.
[“Where Eagles Dare to Soar – Indians, Politics and AIDSâ€]. Not
to mention the “Starlight Tours†in Saskatchewan where police
left our young boys about 30 miles out of the city to perish in the
freezing cold.
This
abuse of our young people cannot happen without the express complicity
of the colonial hierarchy. When water goes down the toilet, it’s a
sick maelstrom that sucks in a lot of people.
Those who betrayed the Mohawks of Kanehsateke may have
started out with good intentions. They get into the momentum,
forget to take a stand when necessary and try to drag us down
with them.
They
fell under the Svengali spell and started selling land like La Trappe
without the people’s consent, negotiated away the beach or supported
political manipulations with lawyers, third party managers, compliant
band councils, and allowed the same law firm to represent the colonial
government, the church and the
Indigenous people. What a party they must be having with three
major funding sources. These people are shocked to see themselves exposed.
Perhaps
they were so entranced by their access to foreign colonial power and
the promises that they thought they were doing the people a favor by
making decisions without our consent and taking part in these
manipulations behind our backs. Or just sitting there and doing
nothing.
No one can complain they
weren’t interviewed when it’s all there in black and white. Were we
interviewed before they signed away our rights? What makes them think
they can trash the democratic principles of rule by the people and
think they are above everyone else? Once elected, forget about us!
The conference calls, discussions and reports in the documents
were
pure sleaze. Those involved knew they were hurting us. We invite them
to publish the full text on the internet without their spin doctors
slanting it and lawyers burying the news.
They’ve become props
for outright dictators. They planned, schemed and sat there idly while
our communities go without basic necessities like clean water, decent
food and housing. They’ve diverted our funds to hire armed forces,
manipulate the
media and oppress and attack us.
It appears to be okay to call us “squawsâ€, “wagon burners†or “welfare bumsâ€. It’s not okay to call an “elected official†who
betrays his people a “turncoat†or a lawyer who to tries to profit
from our misfortune an “ambulance chaserâ€.
They say if we had all the facts we would find that the nicknames
are wrong. As far as MNN is concerned, they could be worse!
Hey
wait a minute! How could we get to “know all the facts†when the
meetings are all secret or behind closed doors? If government was open
and transparent the way it’s supposed to be in a society that supposed
to treat everyone equally, we might find out more about this shocking
abuse of governmental process and misspending of our money.
Why hasn’t anyone been criminally charged for misappropriation of funds and for exceeding their authority or fraud?
Why
were people in Kanehsatake jailed for objecting to the attack made on
us by a paramilitary force paid with money diverted from
our health care, education and social programs?
Some of our communities are within spitting distance of the glitz
and glamour lived by high public officials in Ottawa, Montreal and
Quebec
City. People grow fat on publicly funded buffets while there isn’t
enough money to get decent education, healthcare and even proper
nutrition for our people.
Why can’t they admit the horrendous reality of what they’ve done?
What can we do to stop them?
Why do these people feel that they can lie to and manipulate us?
They’re worried about silly nicknames? I am sorry,
this is no kid’s party. We are real people that the bureaucracy is
trying to trample into the ground by using our own resources they’ve
stolen. How low on the UN scale do we have to live before Canadian
politicians and Indian Affairs stop yawning?
They cannot admit to themselves how disgusting and vile their
actions
are. They stand behind guns that are pointed at us, manipulate the
media and sabotage our right to freedom of speech, while they down more
martinis and tranquilizers.
There’s
nothing charming about poverty. There’s nothing charming about the
misuse of our funds. There is nothing charming about Cam Mackie
walking around with a T-shirt announcing that it is open season on our
young people.
We’d be interested in hearing from our so-called “elected leadersâ€
without
the crutch of their spin doctors and public relations firms. They
should be tried in open court, just like we are when we try to exercise
our traditional sovereign rights that we have never given
up. Steven Bonspille, Ghislain Picard and Phil Fontaine, get out of the way! Your genocidal services are not required.
Kahentinetha Horn
MMNN “Muzzled†Mohawk Nation News [for now]
In the meantime, we are in the process of retrieving our “abducted†website. Please contact us: Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com,
Katenies20@yahoo.com
The gross corruption revealed in “Access to Information†documents from Public Security and Emergency Preparedness Canada and Indian Affairs has not made the front pages of the corporate media. [Dossier No. 1336-A-2006-0034]. 
