The land defenders at 1492 Land Back Lane seeking to protect Haudenosaunee territory in southern Ontario from a housing development continue to be criminalized (a process that can include injunctions and criminal charges) and judicialized (criminal justice proceedings that divert from the ability to protect the lands and waters).
On September 7, Haudenosaunee land defender Skyler Williams posted on Facebook: “[The Ontario Provincial Police] has begun to arrest our people away from the camp. Today alone there were 5 arrests and 15 in the last week.”
The following day, the Brantford Expositor reported: “[Those arrests include] non-Indigenous allies and people from other Haudenosaunee communities. The arrests also include Courtney Skye, a Mohawk researcher, and Oneida journalist Karl Dockstader.”
Courtney has tweeted: “Why was I at #1492LandBackLane? The boys there wanted chicken noodle soup so I made a large pot and filled my yeti to take it there warm. Another auntie made fresh bread to go with the soup.”
She adds: “I was sitting on the banks of the Grand River with my auntie/sis. I was literally arrested within feet of our river in my homelands.”
This statement from the Yellowhead Institute, where Courtney is a researcher, highlights: “Indigenous people defending their land from unwelcome development is perhaps the longest trend in North America. The fact that land defenders continue to be criminalized for asserting their rights and laws reflects ongoing colonization in Canada.”
And Karl has commented: “Not having access to my disclosure [the details on the reason for his arrest], being restricted from going to the site and from talking about it with Foxgate [the property developers] — I see all of those as direct tools of press suppression.”
That’s a concern shared by Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) who issued this statement, as well as the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) who tweeted this message.
The Expositor article adds: “On Monday, Haldimand OPP announced the arrest of two more people -a 34-year-old and a 31-year-old – both of Guelph. They were charged with disobeying a court order and mischief by attending the McKenzie Meadows development.”
The next court date for some of the land defenders is Friday October 9.
Skyler says: “We are calling on all our brothers and sisters across turtle island to participate in a national day of action. Regardless of where you are, we must continue to stand together. If across the country we stand together our voices will be heard and cannot denied.”
Notably, the Executive and Associate members of the Yellowhead Institute, joined by members of the Indigenous Faculty at Ryerson University, have made three demands in this situation including calling: “on the Province of Ontario to develop policy prohibiting the use of injunctions on Indigenous people in cases of disputes over land use.”
This statement from Haudenosaunee women succinctly explains: “Injunctions authorize police violence against our people.”
They add: “Our sovereignty is inherent while Canada’s perceived authority is a product of violent colonialism and genocide. Injunctions seek to make this reality invisible, a tool of the court to sanction more violence and dispossession.”
The land defenders have set up this GoFundMe account to help with their legal costs associated with this criminalization. They are also asking for financial support to help them maintain their presence and build winter ready buildings through e-transfers to landback6nations@gmail.com.
