#Sipekne’katik First Nation

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Update to the fishery dispute between Sipekne’katik First Nations and the federal governments.

[blogynews]

"Shocking Revelation: Ottawa-Halifax Uncovers Over 50 Indigenous Fish Harvesters Charged or On Trial in the Maritimes – What's Really Going On?"

After three years since the Sipekne’katik First Nation initiated a self-regulated lobster fishery that sparked protests and violence in Nova Scotia, federal prosecutors are moving forward with charges against numerous Indigenous fishers, some of whom are planning to challenge the charges on constitutional grounds. On September 17, 2020, the Sipekne’katik First Nation issued five lobster licenses…

[blogynewz]

"Shocking Revelation: Ottawa-Halifax Uncovers Over 50 Indigenous Fish Harvesters Charged or On Trial in the Maritimes – What's Really Going On?"

After three years since the Sipekne’katik First Nation initiated a self-regulated lobster fishery that sparked protests and violence in Nova Scotia, federal prosecutors are moving forward with charges against numerous Indigenous fishers, some of whom are planning to challenge the charges on constitutional grounds. On September 17, 2020, the Sipekne’katik First Nation issued five lobster licenses…

[blogynewsz]

"Shocking Revelation: Ottawa-Halifax Uncovers Over 50 Indigenous Fish Harvesters Charged or On Trial in the Maritimes – What's Really Going On?"

After three years since the Sipekne’katik First Nation initiated a self-regulated lobster fishery that sparked protests and violence in Nova Scotia, federal prosecutors are moving forward with charges against numerous Indigenous fishers, some of whom are planning to challenge the charges on constitutional grounds. On September 17, 2020, the Sipekne’katik First Nation issued five lobster licenses…

[tepkunset]

Non-native fishermen have destroyed and stolen thousands of dollars worth of fishing equipment owned by fishermen of Sipekne'katik First Nation. (You know I’d really like to know where are all the people crying over how vandalism in protest might as well be cold-blooded murder now.) This comes in addition to forming blockades and threatening to ram boats. Businesses across the province are denying services to Mi’kmaq in support of these terrorizing acts. Online, people are sharing horrible threats. It is blatant racist violence and discrimination, and the fishermen/media continues to call our people the lawbreakers.

“The gear that we were collecting was what was in violation of the law," Sproul said. "There's nothing more to show that fishermen have the true, just, lawful position here than the fact that we conducted that activity yesterday and nobody stopped us.”

The fact that the RCMP have done jack shit to stop the non-native fishermen destroying Mi’kmaw lobster traps has painted a very clear picture. It’s the same picture that’s been hanging on the wall for centuries, and surprise surprise, flowery talk of #reconciliation doesn’t change that. And the quote above is a perfect example of how fully aware these fuckers are of their privilege.

Anyway someone should tell Sproul that a) the Mi’kmaq have the legal treaty right to hunt, fish and gather for a moderate livelihood, b) the traditional lobster season for our people is in September and October, and c) that the only people breaking the law here is his ignorant ass and his cronies.

Sharing this link again, as it is a very well compiled doc: Ways to support Sipekne’katik First Nation, and resources to educate yourself and share with others.  Financial support for supplies is especially helpful right now.

[anarchistettin]

Mi’kmaw lobster fishers who were blockaded, attacked and assaulted while exercising a treaty right to harvest lobster late last year say internal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) documents expose systemic racism in the bureaucracy and preferential policing by law enforcement.

APTN News obtained hundreds of internal records that reveal public servants and law enforcement agencies knew potentially violent protests against the Mi’kmaq were coming, yet did little to intervene.

“That’s pretty unnerving. It’s even more unnerving to know those documents exist,” said Jason Marr, a lobster harvester with Sipekne’katik First Nation.

[sereniv]

Watch "All eyes on Mi'kma'ki" on YouTube

Here is a video, and a link talking about the Sipekne'katik and their fight for their treaty rights to be honored and fight against the commercial fishermen who want to break it.

The link is to the Sipekne'katik website, specifically to information in the form of pictured documents on how to support and donate to them during this and so on.

Please spread around even if you cant donate, and support indigenous food sources as much as you can.

Whether you're vegan or not, there is always indigenous people you can support for your food rather than western ag, so if you can please do that.

MORE LINKS:

More ways to donate and more info-

And here are some places you can buy food from and thus support indigenous communities-

Please share!

[st-just]

So there’s been a rash of *ahem* ‘mysterious’ arsons of Catholic churches in places with high indigenous populations recently. And I do kind of appreciate the amount of obligatory institutional playing dumb you need for this passage

The RCMP in Indian Brook, N.S., say the fire at St. Kateri Tekakwitha Church was reported Wednesday morning at 4:20 a.m. The church serves the Sipekne’katik First Nation, about 64 kilometres north of the port city.

RCMP spokesman Cpl. Chris Marshall says the province’s fire marshal has been called in to determine the cause of the fire, which damaged the south side of the building on Church Street. He could not confirm why investigators described the source of the fire as suspicious.

“It could be a multitude of factors,” Marshall said in an interview. “It could be anything from finding an accelerant to speaking to witnesses in the area, to possible video surveillance.”

And then without actually connecting the thoughts, spend the rest of the article talking about all the mass graves that have been found near the residential schools run by the Catholic church over the last couple weeks. Like yeah thanks for the helpful context but you’re right it could be a total coincidence!

[allthecanadianpolitics]

There’s growing opposition to a construction project that is underway to widen the Windsor causeway as part of the twinning of Highway 101 between Three Mile Plains and Falmouth.

Opponents say the construction is harming the fish population in the Avon River and disrupting their migration towards the Bay of Fundy.

Now, the Sipekne’katik First Nation community is coming forward and calling for the project to halt until an Aboriginal rights review and a consultation with the Mi’Kmaq people is complete.

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada @nspoli

[thepowerofindigenousknowledge]

Indigenous Knowledge Potential Impact over Colonialism

According to the United Nations, “over 2 million people living in 17 non-self governing territories around the [world] continue to live under…colonial rule [today]” (Langley, 2021). In Canada, colonization occurred when Europeans migrated to North America and began to control the Indigenous populations whom already resided there. Colonizers forced their own cultural values, religious views, and laws on the Aboriginal peoples (Biin et al, 2018). They took over the land and created policies that did not favour the Indigenous people (2018). In contrast, decolonization is the process of dismantling the ideologies, superiority, and privilege of Western thought. It also involves valuing and reawakening Indigenous knowledge while simultaneously weaning out settler bias’. For allies of Indigenous peoples, decolonization means examining your own beliefs about Indigenous culture (Biin et al, 2018). In addition, it entails learning about yourself in relation to your community and the people around you. Furthermore, decolonization is an ongoing process that requires everyone to be involved and responsible. Decolonizing our institutions means that each of us creates inclusive, respectful spaces that honour Indigenous culture (2018).

Unfortunately, colonization continues to affect the Indigenous communities in many ways. In 2020, the British Columbia government planned to build a 320 unit subdivision which infringed Indigenous territorial rights (Smith, 2020). In the same year, the Six Nations of the Grand River expressed their unwillingness to cooperate with the building of new housing on their territory. Following this, more than twenty Indigenous people  were arrested for preventing workers from continuing construction on the housing (2020). The Sipekne’katik First Nations were the first Aboriginal peoples to open a self-regulated lobster fishery in Nova Scotia. Sadly, other commercially licensed operations reacted violently towards the Sipekne’katik’s facilities, including burning down one of their lobster compounds (Smith, 2020). These are just a few examples of the infringements on Indigenous land rights, and violence taken upon them due to colonial outlooks and western privilege.

There are several working definitions of what Indigenous knowledge truly means. According to Bruchac, it can be seen as a network of beliefs and traditions intended to preserve and communicate Indigenous relationships with culture and landscape overtime (2014). There is also great emphasis placed on environmental knowledge as they rely on local resources and meticulous observations of the interactions between living things and natural processes within ecosystems for human survival (2014). In other words, they take the maintenance of their natural environments very seriously as their surroundings will provide them with resources if they are properly taken care of. Korff goes into great detail on how important land is in Aboriginal cultures stating that the land owns them and every aspect of their lives are connected to it (2021). They have a deep spiritual connection to their land, as it was a gift from the Creator, and a place where their ancestral roots, stories and traditions are embedded (Korff, 2014).

In addition to the afore mentioned definitions of Indigenous knowledge, Joseph developed a series of attributes that aid in better understanding the concept (2018). One of these adjectives is that Indigenous knowledge is moral, meaning there is a right and wrong way to interact with nature and a responsibility to care for and respect the natural world (2018). If Indigenous knowledge was more widely practiced, and implemented into policies, people would treat the world around them with a greater sense of duty to maintain it. Furthermore, there would be less arguments regarding land ownership, as everyone would view themselves as being owned by the land. Indigenous knowledge also consists of the concept of interconnection. This means that all parts of life are not seen alone, but as a part of a whole (Joseph, 2018). This extends to people, suggesting we are all meant to be working together towards a common goal. No one is less or more than any other. If everyone shared this perspective, there would be no  colonial bias’ that any culture, religion, ethnicity, etc. is better than any other. Instead, everyone could live in harmony and accept those around them without prejudice or judgement.

Biin, D., Hodgson, C., & Wilson, K. (2018, September 5). Colonization. Pulling Together Foundations Guide. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://opentextbc.ca/indigenizationfoundations/chapter/43/

Biin, D., Simcoe, J., Erickson, M., Antoine, A.-na-hi, Cull, I., Hancock, R. L. A., McKeown, S., Pidgeon, M., & Vedan, A. (2018, September 5). Decolonization and indigenization. Pulling Together A Guide for FrontLine Staff Student Services and Advisors. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://opentextbc.ca/indigenizationfrontlineworkers/chapter/decolonization-and-indigenization/

Bruchac, M. (2014). Indigenous Knowledge and Traditional Knowledge. In Smith, C. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 3814-3824. New York: Springer.

Joseph, B. (2018, April 6). What does indigenous knowledge mean? A compilation of attributes. Indigenous Corporate Training Inc. Retrieved April 2, 2022, from https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/what-does-indigenous-knowledge-mean

Korff, J. (2021, September 2). Meaning of land to Aboriginal people. Creative Spirits. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/land/meaning-of-land-to-aboriginal-people Longley, R. (2021, February 16). What is colonialism? definition and examples. ThoughtCo. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.thoughtco.com/colonialism-definition-and-examples-5112779

Smith, M. D. (2020, December 15). 10 pivotal First Nations rights disputes to watch in 2021. Macleans. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.macleans.ca/news/10-pivotal-first-nations-rights-disputes-to-watch-in-2021/

[tzifron]

@allthecanadianpolitics

KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – Things are getting really bad in Digby County. Last night a Mi’kmaq lobster boat was torched and completely destroyed in Comeauville, Digby County, just a hop and a skip away from the Saulnierville wharf.

The boat belonged to Robert Sylliboy of Sipekne’katik First Nation, who used it to fish during the commercial lobster season. He told CBC that he uses a smaller boat when he exercises his First Nations treaty right to a moderate livelihood fishery.

“My dad always taught me , it’s not about how many times you get knocked down , it’s about how fast you get back up ! .. I’m not going anywhere . I’ll stand tall for my nation ! This is part of the uphill battle,” Sylliboy wrote on Facebook.

Syliboy also said he is not going to point fingers at who or what may have caused the fire.  However, there’s no doubt it was somebody aligned with angry white fishers, trying to fan the flames of racism just as things began to quiet down a bit.

It’s high time for DFO Minister Jordan to put an end to this racist violence.

Jordan must send a clear message that the Mi’kmaq moderate livelihood fishery is here to stay in exactly the way that it is being exercised now, meaning with the environmental checks and balances put in place by the Sipekne’katik First Nation.  

It’s the 21 years of DFO inaction and looking the other way that encourages white fishers to believe that a Mi’kmaw moderate living fishery can be stopped. Until they are made to understand otherwise, provocateurs will continue to play these racist games.

Somebody could get killed.  

[sarkos]

“Partnering with Vancouver-based Premium Brands Holdings Corporation, a number of Mi’kmaq communities will put up C$250m (£145m) for their share of the purchase. The Mi’kmaq will have full ownership of Clearwater’s coveted offshore fishing licences, which allow the harvest of lobster, scallop, crab and clams in a massive tract of ocean known as LFA 41. They also plan to bring more Indigenous peoples into the company’s ranks.

For decades, Clearwater has been a giant in the industry, with a monopoly on offshore fishing licences, which allow for year-round lobster harvest. But as of last year, amid lagging performance, the company signalled it was looking for a buyer.

The Membertou First Nation, based in the Cape Breton region, had previously shown an interest in expanding its reach into the commercial industry, when it paid Clearwater C$25m (£14.5m) for two of the company’s eight licences in September.“In order to be in business, you first have to play the game,” Paul told CBC News after the purchase was announced. “You have to play to win, and we won.”

In addition to Membertou and Miawpukek supporting the deal, a number of other groups in the region, including the Paqtnkek, Pictou Landing, Potlotek, Sipekne’katik and We’koqma’q First Nations, have also expressed an interest in acquiring a stake in Clearwater.

[...] Paul has said the purchase of Clearwater is a purely commercial venture and that he and others remain committed to establishing a moderate livelihood fishery, guaranteed by their treaty rights.

But he also acknowledged the Clearwater deal was the result of years of fighting for a seat at the table.“Today, we are keeping our hero, Donald Marshall Jr, in our hearts,” Paul told community members. “It’s a moment we know he would look on with great pride.”“