4TheRcrd Mag.

Flocks of Vancouverites are meeting at Grandview Park (on the Drive) on July 1st, 1:00PM. They stand in solidarity with assaulted Aboriginal and Indigenous women of Canada. I’ve always thought Nations were about exclusion, but I could be wrong. Every time I take a trip abroad, a sense of exclusivity purveys each entry and departure, from wherever to wherever. I often think of those who oppose such nation-building, and exclusivity, like Edward Said, Noam Chomsky, Harriet Nahanee, or Betty Krawczyk, Yvonne Johnson, and many many others.

So, more locally speaking, what’s the story with the Anti-Canada day? I’ve heard a bunch of lawyer types talking about Harriet, Betty and Yvonne (it echoes like a phrase of oppression) with shock in my office, and I wanted to write about it as someone who is part of the establishment but as someone who does NOT condone such exclusivity, or perversion of law. Sounds controversial?

What’s the Event
July 1st, is the The Real Indigenous National Day of Action & Resistance, not just Canada Day! It’s something anyone with an education (read “informed”) would empathize with. Varying (in fact, too many to mention) grassroots organizations are calling on Indigenous people and their allies to take grassroots ACTION on Canada Day. It’s argued, and evident, that the day symbolizes epic state atrocities and oppression against Indigenous people including: genocide, land theft and occupation, brutality, police and military violence and abuse, and mass child apprehension and deaths. READ on…

Brief Background on Harriet Nahanee:
Despite her frail health, Harriet was sentenced to fourteen days at the Surrey Pretrial center; a men’s prison and notorious hell hole. “Warrior” Harriet Nahanee is one of many examples of the state’s vile mistreatment of Indigenous people, in particular those who expose and dissent Canada’s theft and occupation of Indigenous lands (her story is not dissimilar to Betty’s). Harriet was a 72-year old Pacheedaht grandmother, who married into the Skwxwu7mesh Nation, and was arrested and imprisoned for protecting the Eagle Ridge Bluff site that is slated to be destroyed in the expansion of the Sea-to-Sky Highway for the 2010 Olympics — which I’m sure you’ve heard of. In prison, without proper medical care, Harriet Nahanee contracted pneumonia. Shortly after release from custody, she was hospitalized and passed away within a week. Harriet represents hundreds of other Indigenous people who are criminalized and abused by the Canadian state when they choose to stand up against and not assimilate into Canadian capitalist society.

Historical Background
For years now, there are over 500 murdered and missing Aboriginal women in Canada, yet Canada does not acknowledge this as a ‘Justice file’, or as the responsibility of the justice system. Instead, the unjust deaths are treated as ‘cultural,’ and put under a ‘Canadian Heritage file.’

How does Canada Compare?
Canada remains one of the only countries that does NOT have an independent body to investigate police and RCMP brutality, murders and hate crimes. Instead they investigate themselves, and as a result many police and RCMP literally get away with murder. When Pivot Legal Society announced the completion of its report, including affidavits documenting [Vancouver] police brutality and violence, the police chief (Jamie Graham) simply “retired.”

Some Basic Statistics
The estimated number of homeless persons in Canada ranges from 100,000 to 250,000, 25-30% of which are Indigenous. Due to skyrocketing housing prices and a lack of affordable housing and social housing (more focus is made on accommodating hungry visitors, aka “tourists”), the number of homeless people will surely rise during the lead up to the 2010 games.

So, again, meet at Grandview Park (on Commercial Drive) at 1pm, a march will follow!

CONTACTS & LINKS:
anti.canada.day@gmail.com
http://harrietspirit.blogspot.com/

PHOTO CREDIT: thetyee.com